Page 36 of Lovewell Lane (Honeyfield Dreamers #1)

Margo

It wasn’t even noon yet, and I was already one minor inconvenience away from locking the diner’s front door and taking down the sign. Not actually. But I wanted to threaten the action to everyone who looked at me funny.

My mother was in Honeyfield.

She hadn’t said why she was in town, she just whisper-screamed at me. Something about ‘needing her daughter’ and how her latest relationship had imploded because her boyfriend was a complete man-child who couldn’t provide for her. Her words, not mine.

This was probably my fault. She’d been calling for the past few days.

I just hadn’t wanted to answer her calls.

One, because I was busy. And two, because I had much better people to talk to nowadays.

There was no part of me that wanted to be whisked away to another country by my mother who had no respect for anyone else’s wishes.

And now she was perched at my desk in my office, slowly picking at a blueberry muffin with a fork and acting like this was all perfectly normal. Like she hadn’t just derailed my entire day. My entire life, even.

“I thought we could do a little mother-daughter getaway,” she said casually, as if that didn’t make my head want to implode.

That was always her go-to if I resisted her little trips.

It started out with guilt-tripping and then always evolved into tantrums and demands if I stood my ground.

When I was in high school and didn’t want to miss class, she would always say “I need this, Margo.” Translation: I’m spiraling and dragging you down with me.

I kept moving all morning, refilling coffee, taking orders, and carrying food to tables.

I took as much time as possible to avoid coming back into this office and having this conversation.

Leaning against the doorway, I sighed and looked down at her.

She hated that she didn’t have my full undivided attention.

That I was treating this ‘crisis’ like a minor inconvenience.

“A getaway?” I echoed hours after she proposed the idea, sipping on a to-go cup of coffee I’d poured for myself. I was going to need it.

“Just the two of us. We could drive up the coast and find someplace with things to do. Pick a random city on the map and find a concert there. Take a break from this… hovel.” Her eyes scanned the security cameras above my desk that tracked the diner in real-time, like it personally offended her.

“This hovel is where I live. I like it here.” I didn’t bother softening my tone.

She sighed like I was still a small child and was refusing to come inside for dinner. “Margo. This place is beneath you. You can get another job working as wait staff anywhere. Why you chose this place to settle is beyond me— no matter how temporary it is.”

“It isn’t temporary,” I said firmly. “I own this place.”

She let out a condescending laugh and didn’t say anything. “I’m serious, Mom. This is my diner.”

“Look, dear. I had a quarter-life crisis too when I was your age. What do you think made me stick around with your father for so long? Now that was really a low point in my life. You need to get out of this place. Breathe some fresh air. You’ll come around once you take a step away from here.”

“I don’t need to do anything,” I said as calmly as I could manage.

My entire life, I’d been terrified of turning into my mother.

For some reason, I clung to what she said was the biggest mistake of her life.

She claimed that one instance was the reason she was like this.

I was terrified of finding someone and settling with someone like my father.

In reality, I should have been scared of this.

Running. This was what infuriated me about her.

It had nothing to do with my father, she’d always been this way.

I guessed because her parents weren’t all that present in her life growing up either.

It was a lightbulb moment.

I refused to love anyone. Date anyone. Even befriend people to a certain degree, because of her. In her mind, everything was temporary and that kept life fun and interesting. Which I would have agreed with a few months ago, but after living in Honeyfield for almost half a year, I knew differently.

It was sad more than anything. She must be so tired after living in constant movement, never wanting to stay in one place for too long. I didn’t realize how tired I was before moving to Honeyfield. How unsatisfied I was.

“I love living here,” I said out loud. Though it was more to me than to my mother. A lot of things were clicking together in my mind. Something that had been holding me back my entire life had just broken free.

My insistence only made her laugh harder. “Look, I have to get back to work,” I sighed. “Just stay here. And don’t bother anyone.”

I returned to my customers and continued on as if my entire world hadn’t been invaded by my controlling yet absent mother. She was the ultimate contradiction. Meanwhile, I tried to pretend her presence wasn’t making my skin crawl and that Derek wasn’t lingering in the back of my mind.

By the time my last customer left, the air felt thick with the thoughts running around in my head. I cleared a table just to keep my hands busy.

My mother had left the office and sat at a table at some point. I’m sure as some kind of weird intimidation tactic.

“I’m not going on a road trip,” I said finally while flipping chairs upside down to sit on the table.

She blinked at me like she didn’t understand.

“I’ve got a business to run and people depending on me. I can’t just vanish for a week because your boyfriend turned out to be emotionally unavailable once again.”

She scoffed. “That’s not fair. If anything, I’m helping you get out of this place.”

“No,” I said, setting a chair down a little too hard. “What’s not fair is showing up here without warning and expecting me to drop everything like I’m still nineteen.”

That landed.

She crossed her arms, then softened her tone like it was going to make any of this easier. “I’ll stay with you tonight. We can talk more in the morning, they clearly overwork you here. Your nails aren’t even done and your hair is a mess.”

My stomach dropped. “My place is small. I don’t have any spare rooms.”

She waved a manicured hand. “I’m not picky.”

I laughed in her face at that. “We can check to see if the Lakeside Inn has any spare rooms.”

“You’re putting your mother up in a hotel,” she sniffed. “In a town like this, I could be robbed or kidnapped.”

“It’s a nice town, Mom.”

I bit the inside of my cheek. No way was I letting her crash at Derek’s place, and my couch was too small for even me to sleep on.

Which was how I ended up standing in front of Derek’s front door late at night, with my mom, who insisted on linking our elbows together.

I knocked twice.

The door opened, and Derek looked like he’d just finished cleaning up after dinner— sleeves pushed up to display those forearms that I loved so much, hair a little messy, and his smile at me made my heart ache.

“Margo?” he asked, blinking.

“Hi,” I said sweetly. “Quick question. I know we agreed that I would never have any guests over, but my mom decided to visit unexpectedly. She doesn’t want to stay at the Inn. Could we make an exception?”

I made crazy eyes at him after asking and subtly dragged my finger across my neck. Telepathically, I was screaming at him to say no. He watched my reaction and looked amused if anything.

He leaned against the doorframe lazily, one eyebrow raised. “That’s a strong pitch.” He looked over at my mother. “It’s nice to meet you,” he said politely.

I lowered my voice, glancing toward the driveway. “I totally understand, I know we have a strict agreement. We won’t bother you again.” I wheeled my mother and I around to start walking back to my car, ready to drop her off at the Inn and be done for the night.

“Of course, she can stay,” Derek called. He looked like he was biting back a laugh.

“Derek,” I said. Hoping he would pick up on the fact that I wanted him to be an asshole. The one time I was relying on him being a dick, and he couldn’t follow through.

He smirked. “She can take the guest house. I have a spare bedroom open for you, Margo.”

I physically cringed before replacing it with a smile. Turning to my mom, I smiled and started walking her around the main house to the guest house. I quickly glanced behind us to make sure Tessa wasn’t in view before giving Derek the middle finger behind my back.

He watched us walk away for a long while before closing the door.

I did my best to tune my mother out as I readied the guest house for her to sleep in. She had a lot to say about how small it was, my taste in art, and my lack of a television.

“I mean really, Margo, how can you live here,” she complained while pulling at my blinds. “I made sure to show you the world, and you pick this.”

I rolled my eyes and bit my tongue for the thousandth time that day. A metallic taste flooded my mouth.

“Alright,” I sighed. “There are fresh sheets and pillowcases. You’re welcome to anything in the fridge. Please don’t come and knock on Derek’s door. He has a daughter and she’ll be asleep, so text me if you need anything.”

My mom nodded. “So are you sleeping with him? If not, I’d take a bite out of that. Maybe you should stay here and—”

“No,” I barked. “Good night.”

Without another word, I grabbed my backpack with everything I needed to sleep over and stormed across the backyard and into Derek’s house.

He was already waiting for me, lounging lazily on his couch while he watched me with an amused glint in his eyes.

When he saw how furious I was, he sat up and his face turned serious.

“Everything okay?” he asked.

“Why didn’t you say no?” I asked, talking at the speed of light. “I was clearly hinting at you to say no. The one time I need you to be an asshole, and suddenly you’re all smiles? A gracious host? Fuck you.”

He stood up to stand before me and gently wrapped me up in a hug. “She’s your mom,” Derek said. “I wasn’t going to put her out.”

“My mother belongs far far away from here,” I seethed. “She called this town a hovel .”

He let out a small chuckle.

“You seriously find this funny?” I asked. I stared at him like he’d just kicked a puppy.

“You’re very protective of this town, it’s cute.”

I nearly bit his head off. He must have seen the rage building inside of me because he corrected himself, “It isn’t funny that you’re mad. I’m amused that you care more about her calling the town a hovel than anything else.”

“Whatever,” I muttered.

He pulled me over to the couch and sat me down on his lap. “Why are you so upset that she’s here?”

I groaned, not wanting to get into it. “She always does this. She falls head over heels in love with a shitty man and changes her entire life for him. Then, when it all comes crumbling down, she runs to me and it’s my job to fix her.”

Derek nodded solemnly. “Ah. So she wants to stay here?”

“No,” I laughed without any humor. “She wants me to run off with her to some foreign country, only for her to find a man there and ditch me.”

Derek’s shoulders tensed at that. He rubbed at my neck and hummed.

“I’m obviously not going to leave,” I assured. Wanting to lighten the mood I added, “If she gets too comfortable, I’m blaming you.”

He didn’t look at me when he answered, he just leaned down to kiss my shoulder and squeezed me tighter.

“I can take it. Let me run you a bath, baby.”

My mood completely changed at the sound of him calling me baby. He must have felt my ears perk up because his chest rumbled behind me with a laugh. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

With that, he scooped me up in his arms and whisked me away to his room. I’d never felt more loved than when he washed my hair gently while I sat naked in the warm tub. His hands made sure to rub my neck with every pass.

How could I ever want to leave this?

Silence fell between us again. But it wasn’t uncomfortable.