Page 7 of It's a Brewtiful Day
“It’ll never happen with him, or with guys ingeneral?” The whisk scraped across the bottom of the pan.
“In general, I suppose. They’re just not…” But I wasn’t sure what the right word was.
“The fantasy?”
“What? No.”
“Sage, you read so many romance books and you go out into the real world expecting to find them, but they’re not real. They’re a fantasy. They simply don’t exist.”
I tightened my grip on my stemless wine glass. “That’s not true, and you know it. You have your own real-life hero.”
“Just because Chad is a firefighter…”
“Not just because of that.” I interrupted. “He’s sweet and he lets you be you. He doesn’t try to change you, and he respects and adores you.” And as far as I knew, he never cheated on her either.
She sighed and added in her giant bowl of cheese. “You need to separate yourself from your fantasy world and lower your expectations or you’ll end up all alone.”
“Would there really be anything wrong with that?”
Cassie sighed louder and faced me. “Do you want a running list?”
Rolling my eyes, I leaned back on the stool and took a gulp of wine. “I’m tired of discussing my lack of a love life. I’m perfectly happy being alone.”
“Alice has a single brother.”
“I’m not interested.”
“He’s a sweetheart. A fox,” she said that word like it was supposed to mean something, “and apparently quite the charmer. He’s younger than Alice too, so probably closer to your age and a real artsy-fartsy type.”
“Does he likeOnce Upon a Time?” It was my favourite show of all time, and I’d watched it enough to have it memorized. A few years back, I’d even purchased a red leather jacket to be more like Emma Swan, and if I was more of a badass, I could’ve pulled off the look.
“What is your fascination with that show?”
“How can you not like it? It’s so amazing.” The romance, the adventure, Captain Hook in particular, or Robin Hood, or even Prince Charming.
“Wipe the drool off your face.” She handed me a paper towel. “So back to Alice’s brother.” Her glasses slid down her nose a smidgen. “You should meet him. If nothing else, it’ll get you a free dinner and it’ll get you out of the house at least.”
“I get out of the house. I walk every day. I work most days. Believe me, I am getting out of the house, and I don’t need a free meal from a strange guy to entice me.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Because I’m not getting any younger, right?” The big 3-0 was knocking on my door, and I barely knew what I was doing with my life.
My sister, on the other hand, always had a ten-year plan in the making.
Bachelor of Education degree by twenty-two. Master of Education by twenty-five. In between her two degrees, she wanted to meet her soul mate, be married within two years of that, and pop out her first child before she was thirty. Sadly, Mother Nature was more in control of her childbearing years than she would’ve liked. Otherwise, Cassie hit all her personal goals, and then some, with most of her personal goals achieved earlier than expected, just proving again to the world how different we were.
“You said it, not me.” She was beating the cheese into a sauce. “Can you pour the macaroni in please?”
I took another gulp and picked up the colander, dumping the contents to add to her homemade cheese sauce.
Cassie stirred until all the pasta was covered, and it looked so delicious. “Did you get an invitation to Alex’s wedding today?”
Our cousin from our dad’s side. Growing up, we’d all been the best of friends, but since reaching adulthood, we hadn’t spent as much time together. Life and all that.
“No, but I haven’t rooted through the mail yet.”
“It wasn’t there when I sorted through it.” My mail was usually just dropped on the ledge by the front door. “Anyway, she’s getting married in Mexico.”