Page 4 of Follow Your Bliss

“I don’t care what Misty thinks. We’re not dating. We’re not even friends.”

“You’re not datingyet. You have to give her more of a chance than that one time you took her to dinner. I don’t know why you never asked her back out again. She’s such a beautiful, religious girl.”

I breathed out heavily, trying to figure out how to explain this to my mother. Again. “I only took her out because you and Mrs. Rebecca were so pushy, but the date was a disaster.”

An understatement. At the end of a miserable date, Misty subjected me to twenty handsy minutes of refusing to get out of my car unless I agreed to come inside and sleep with her, even after I told her I was celibate. I finally lured her out with the lie that I’d go inside and think about it. But once her feet hit her porch, I jogged back to my car and drove away. Mom thought I was exaggerating.

“She’s not the one for me.” I wanted to add,she’s the oneyouwant me to be with. Orshe’s the love child of artificial flowers and the cardinal sin of lust. But I kept my mouth shut to make Mom happy. Because I still felt so goddamn guilty.

“You’re just not used to classy women who like to take things slowly.”

I took a deep breath, stretching my head back. My stomach churned. Discussion of my ex—my biggest mistake and reason for all my guilt—incoming.

“Please listen to your mama, for once. I told you that Kasey was bad news, and you didn’t believe me. She did such a number on you. I want you to be happy, Jason, but I’m afraid you wouldn’t know true love if it walked up and slapped you in the face.”

A laugh choked out from my throat. “God, I hope my true love wouldn’t slap me in the face. That’s abuse, Ma.”

Mom’s chuckle made me smile. I’d missed her so much while I was gone. And knowing that she loved me no matter what, and that she only wanted the best for me, made these phone calls and her overbearing nature a little easier to take.

She was right about at least one thing. Kasey tried to cure me of my spiritual side, to iron out all the beautiful, miraculous mysteries I saw in life with her science-only way of thinking. I hadn’t exactly been a good church boy when I met her, but leaving her had been like opening the door to my heart again and finding the world was bright with colors, not just black and white.

My gaze drifted up to the wood-strip cathedral ceiling of my converted-church home. Spiritually, I was a lot like it—strong foundation, good bones, but under constant renovation as I evolved. After I came to my senses and came home, there hadn’t exactly been church hymns waiting here for me. But my own personal faith was. And my family was.

Unfortunately, they all still thought I wasn’t capable of making my own decisions about work, my life, or my love life.

“I wouldn’t want anybody to slap my beautiful boy’s face. I love you, you know that, right Jason?” My mother’s fearful, heartbroken tone warbled back into these conversations, and it made my chest hurt. I’d done that to her. Broken her heart, and she’d taken me back in anyway.

“I know Mama. I love you, too.”

“I just want you to have a good woman who puts you first and lives a faithful life.”

The last thing a woman needed to do was put her partner first, but I wasn’t revisiting that old argument again. “I know you’re just looking out for me.” I stood up and stretched my back, yawning and looking out one of my few non-stained-glass windows. It was past midnight, and I was ready to go to sleep.

Something moved on the edge of my property. I looked closer.

“Alright, my sweet boy. I’m going to bed. Got to be up early to help your sister get ready for her couple’s shower. Good night, honey. I love you.”

A light switched on in front of the St. Dorothy statue and switched off immediately. But it’d been on long enough for me to catch sight of someone digging in my azaleas.

“Alright Ma. Love you too. Good night!”

I hung up and looked out the window for a minute, my phone’s keypad open in case I needed to call the cops. The person paused a minute, stuck the shovel into the ground, and pulled down long hair from a bun on their head. With the street light casting a silhouette from behind, that was definitely a very shapely woman digging something up in my garden.

Phone still in hand, I grabbed a bright flashlight and went out to investigate.

Chapter 2

The Bucket List

Rose

How far the hell down was this time capsule? Covered in mud, bitten up by mosquitoes, completely soaked through with sweat—why? Just….why was I here? The hole before me was big, but not nearly as big as the favor Lily would owe me.

I jammed the shovel into the earth again. What should I ask her for? Photographs of my dresses for my website I still had to build? Too small an ask. I could probably talk her into doing that for free, anyway. Kick her boyfriend out of her apartment so I could live with her? As if that would happen. And why would I want to live with her constant judgment?

“I don’t know what I’m looking at, but it seems pretty shady.”

I whirled in a panic at the voice as a flashlight lit me up from behind. A ripped, shirtless man leaned against the statue of St. Dorothy, flashlight pointed off to the side so I could look up into his—oh no—very familiar face.

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