Page 77 of Knowing Amelia

“Looks like you have a message,” he says.

Opening my eyes, I see him staring past me to my answering machine.

Sure enough, I glance back, and that little red light blinks on and off.

Before I can even consider pressing play, my phone rings, loud and shrill, as if we’re in an old movie. I hurry over, the caller ID box lighting up with Mom’s cell number. I pick up the avocado-green receiver, my new cordless landline upstairs. “Hello?”

“Liv? Honey,” Mom says, her tone strained. “Where have you been? I’ve left messages.”

“I told you I had plans tonight.” I lean against the counter and clear my throat, glancing once at Logan. “I was on a date.” He smiles at me. Then, shooting a thumb over his shoulder, he stands, brushing his hands down the thigh of his denim pants, before heading into the living room, leaving me alone to talk to my mother.

“A date?” she says, and there’s that edge again. That one that says she doesn’t approve. Ugh. Her too? “Livy.”

“Mom, I like Logan. And Benjamin and I are no longer⁠—”

“Olivia, he’s bought a ring. I shouldn’t be telling you this, but I couldn’t let him shock you.”

“A ring?” I cough, my fingers growing sweaty as I clutch the phone to my ear. I cannot have heard that right. “He doesn’t even believe in marriage. He told me so.”

“Well, it seems as if you’ve changed his mind. My dear, you really need to think about this. He loves you, and up until a couple weeks ago, you loved him too. He’s made mistakes, but we all have. That’s life.”

Shock takes over my nervous system. Words refuse to come.

Benjamin? A ring?

“I’m on your side, Olivia. That’s why I’m calling you. That’s why I’m advising you to give this careful thought. We will support you no matter what, but think things through, darling. A month ago, you loved him. You wanted this.”

A month ago, Benjamin hadn’t told me his theory on marriage or tried to sell my inheritance out from under me. A month ago, I didn’t know Logan. I gulp. “I have thought about it, Mom. It’s over. Ben and I are over. I’ve never been happier than I am right now.”

My mother sighs. “He’s planning on coming next weekend. You have a week. Just let the news sink in, give it more than two minutes.”

But I don’t need more time. After being with Logan, I can’t imagine a life with Ben anymore. It’s like Logan opened my eyes. And now that I can see, I refuse to settle.

“Livy—”

“Mom, maybe I’m still figuring out what I want. But I know what I don’t want.”

“Be smart, sweetheart. Be safe. We miss you.”

“I miss you too,” I say, and yet, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere other than Rendezvous this summer. “I need to go, Mom.”

“Okay. Goodbye, honey.”

I trudge into the living room. She must be mistaken. A ring. Ben would never. My head aches with the furrow of my brow when I see Logan, sitting on my couch, one of my Jane Austen books in his hands.

Wow. I have learned my love language.

His eyes rise from the page to me. Snapping the book shut, he sets it on the table, his forehead wrinkling. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I lie and attempt to conjure Logan reading Pride and Prejudice once more.

“Something.” He stands, strides over, and wipes the moisture from my cheek.

When did my anger turn into weeping? “Mom called about Benjamin.”

“Ah.” His jaw tenses.

“It’s just confusing for my family. I was with Ben a long time.”