CHAPTER ONE
MAIZE
THREE WEEKS LATER
As I get dressed for work, I can hear my parents chatting, and it makes me smile. I’ve been trying to soak in these little moments because eventually I’ll move out and get my own place. My dad wants me to live here until I’m fifty, but that’s not happening. It’s one of the reasons I’ve been thinking about starting a catering business as a side hustle.
“Oh stop,” Mom says with a giggle as I pull my hair into a tight ponytail. After all these years, they’re still madly in love, and sometimes I wonder if that’ll be in the cards for me. Not even my gourmet meals can snag me a man. I’m doomed to become a nun or be a single woman with twelve dogs and horses to keep me occupied. It’s something I’m coming to terms with.
I’m picky, and I’ve got rules–well, a
