Page 46 of Fight Or Flight

He looked nervous. Maybe because she’d told him she didn’t date and he was trying to frame it another way. She quietly hoped that was the case and knew without a doubt that she would say yes. She looked at his eyes as they rose back up to hers.

“My mom wanted me to ask you.”

Natalie stared at him for a long moment. “Your . . . mom.”

“Yes.”

“Gayle is asking me out?”

Ethan huffed out a small laugh. “Yeah. She said she missed you at the wedding and wanted to catch up. She’s making your favourite meal.”

Disappointment washed over her. She couldn’t blame him for not wanting to get involved with her. He was a long-haul type. And she wasn’t. They were just incompatible. She selfishly wanted more than what she could give.

She swallowed, trying to look at the bright side of things. Natalie loved Gayle. She would hang out at her house with Amy all the time. She was a very sweet lady and an absolute master of chicken pot pie.

“All right, I’ll come. What time?”

“Dinner’s at six.”

“Okay.”

He stood in place. He probably wanted to ask her whether they’d talked about selling. But he didn’t. After a few awkward moments, he gave a half wave and returned to his truck. He reefed open the door, hopped in, and drove off.

“Okay, then . . .”

She closed the door and looked down at what she was wearing. “Ugh.”

She turned and leaned against the door. Chelsea stood in the foyer across from her with her hands on her hips. “What was that?”

“Nothing. We need to talk about selling the house.”

“I’d rather talk about what just happened. Did Ethan ask you out?”

Natalie’s shoulders slumped. “No. His mom did.”

Chelsea cringed. “His mom?”

“Yeah. He’s actually Amy’s brother. I was close to his family when I lived here. I’m going over for dinner tomorrow night.”

Confusion marred her pretty face. “Have you guys been spending time together?”

“Yes. He’s been trying to convince us not to sell to developers.”

“Us? He hasn’t tried to convince me of anything.”

Natalie rolled her eyes. “I’m sure if you were here, he would have taken you waterfalling to convince you.”

“Waterfalling? You two went waterfalling?”

“It wasn’t a big deal.”

She said it, but knew it was a lie. It had been a big deal. For her, at least. She never opened up to people the way she did with Ethan on that cliff. And never accepted comfort like that, either. All of her interactions were surface level, with people who were very temporary. No one ever knew how alone she was in life.

“He wants the Monroe property to stay a wetland. Maybe we can hold off selling to developers? See if there’s a family that would buy it instead?”

Chelsea nodded. “Honestly, I’d feel better about selling, knowing the house won’t get torn down. But I’ve been wanting to move apartments, and my savings won’t last that long. Maybe we could give it a couple of months, and if no one offers to buy it, then sell to a developer?”

Natalie nodded. “That seems fair. At least we can say we tried.” She’d tell him tomorrow at dinner. He’d just have to be happy with that.

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