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“Only sometimes,” she admitted. “I always wanted to travel and see other places, but I have plenty of time to do that after…” Her words trailed off.

“After Nota dies?”

An awful thought. “I didn’t mean it that way.”

Taking her hands, Lauren said, “Listen to me, Mia. You’re young and you deserve to have a life. Other than a little arthritis and terrible driving skills, there’s nothing wrong with Nota that requires a constant caretaker. She has Nick and me and Olaf, and countless other people on this island to take care of her. If there’s something out there you want do, then you need to go do it.”

Vigorously shaking her head, Mia rejected any notion of leaving Anchor Island. “I won’t leave her. She lost Grandpa, and then she lost Daddy. She isn’t going to lose me, too.”

“You moving away is not her losing you. It’s you having a life of your own. There’s no way in hell you could convince me that Nota wouldn’t want that for you.” Lauren crossed her arms. “This has nothing to do with you being gay or straight. You’re playing the martyr and using Nota as an excuse to hide away here on Anchor. That isn’t cool. Take it from me, Mia, making choices based on a lie you’ve told yourself is the best way to end up unhappy and alone. I lived that way for years and I can tell you, it sucked.”

Having her reality so brutally summed up and tossed in her face felt like being gutted.

“Just because you chose to be a loner doesn’t mean you know anything about my life. Taking care of my grandmother is not being a martyr. It’s being a family. Something you know nothing about.”

Lauren flinched at the reminder of her past, but Mia was too busy drowning in hurt and anger to worry about her future sister-in-law’s feelings. Shoving away from the counter, she stormed out of the kitchen and slammed through the restaurant entrance, ignoring the incoming patrons she nearly plowed down in the process.