Page 9 of The Forsaken Vampire

“Same thing.”

She chuckled. “I was a pain in the ass too. So, why didn’t it work out with Ethan?”

“I just didn’t see it going anywhere.”

“You’re the one who ended it, then?”

“Yes.”

“He must have been hurt.”

“Yeah…I think he was. I feel bad.”

“Don’t,” she said. “That’s just how life is. He’ll meet the right woman and forget all about you. And you’ll find the right man at the right time.”

“I didn’t want it to end, but I didn’t want to marry him either.”

“That makes sense.”

“It does?” I asked. “I feel like it makes no sense.”

“It felt right at that moment in time, and you wanted that moment to last a lifetime. You should enjoy those moments while you can because when you meet your husband, they’ll never come again. It’s like having children. Enjoy that time before you’re responsible for a family, not that you’ll wish you didn’t have a family when you do have them.”

“It sounds like you’re encouraging me to sleep around,” I said with a laugh.

She gave a shrug. “How are you supposed to find your husband if you aren’t putting yourself out there?”

“Father would lose his shit if he knew you were saying all this to me.”

“No, he wouldn’t. He suspected this was why you were upset today but didn’t want to have the conversation himself. He’s protective of you and your happiness, but he understands you’re a grown woman entitled to these experiences at this time of your life.”

“I never would have expected that.”

“He’ll never talk about it, but he understands.”

I looked down at my hands, seeing the blisters I’d gotten that afternoon because I refused to wear gloves when we battled. “How did you know he was the one?”

Her eyes shifted away as her eyes glazed over with old memories. “It’s not a moment or a thought. It’s just a feeling that you get…and then you can’t remember when you got that feeling because it seems like it’s always been there.”

“You guys are still in love.”

“Oh, it gets better as you get older.”

“It does?” I asked in surprise.

She gave a big nod. “Definitely.”

“Even though you’re old?”

She laughed. “Oh honey, we aren’t old. Your father and I—”

“Okay, I know where this is going.”

She chuckled. “It deepens and deepens. And just when you think it can’t deepen any more, it does. And then when you have children, the connection is even more profound. You know, he wanted to have children long before I did. I had to make him wait.”

“He’s such a good father that I believe that.”

“Yes, he’s a good man,” she said. “The best I know.”