“It didn’t die; it just . . . changed. I’m not sure I’m cut out for travel, constantly living out of a suitcase. I’m thinking something more administrative might be a better fit . . . until we have kids. Then I’ll stay at home like you did with me, Mamma.”

“Well, there’s nothing wrong with staying home with the kids if that’s what you want,” Daddy said. “I just don’t know if I can ever give that boy my blessing. I can’t trust him. Even your friends don’t seem keen on him, so your mamma tells me.”

I glared at Mamma. “You just had to go and stir the pot, didn’t you?” I accused her.

“Don’t go gettin’ smart with me, young lady, or I’ll snatch you baldheaded,” she said, using her favorite Southern threat to pull out all my hair. “I talk to Lily and Robin on the phone when I call and you ain’t home. It’s your fault for never pickin’ up. But I’ll tell you, Mac, they don’t have anything good to say about him.”

“They’re just jealous because we don’t spend as much time together anymore. But it’s not my fault. I don’t have enough time to go around. The little free time I have left after studying I like to spend with Owen. He makes me happy.”

“He’ll ruin you, that’s what he’ll do,” Mamma warned. “Mark my words, Mackenzie Marie Kirkland. Owen Fischer will crush your dreams and control you until you’re a miserable shell. I’ve seen it with my own two eyes when it happened to your aunt Carol. Don’t think it can’t happen to you too.”

“Listen to your mamma, Mackenzie, she’s talkin’ sense,” said Daddy. “You don’t want to let nobody run your life.”

I should have listened to the warning back then. I should have followed my heart, not my fear. But I didn’t see the difference between the two back then, because young love is blind. And when we’re blind, we follow the voice we trust, even when that voice isn’t trustworthy.

It would be years before it dawned on me that in marrying Owen, I had in effect married a version of my father. A psychiatrist could have gotten rich off of dissecting that disturbing realization—if I’d had the money.

Chapter 28

Robin

SATURDAY

Saturday afternoons are my favorite time of the week, especially during that sliver of time when the house is unearthly still, hovering between two modes of chaos. It’s during this brief hour when Grant busies himself with mowing the yard or some other outdoor project, Ryan and Willow get caught in video game warfare, and Lucas and Collette are finally down for some synchronized napping. After squeezing in a couple hours of work for Lily, I was ready for me time—the only time of the week I get to myself. A glass of wine, my favorite Netflix binge, feet propped up on the sofa, and it’s all about me.