Complete Me (Book Three of The Kirkland Family)

Complete Me: Chapter 28

"Sorry, sweetheart," her mother crooned. "Was this the...first time you and Cole..."

"Yes," Rose sighed.

Her mother nodded. "The first time with someone is usually a little awkward."

"I have a hole in my head, Momma."

Momma gazed at her...and started blinking heavily. Rose asked, "Are you trying not to laugh again?"

"You do have a hole in your head," Momma said slowly. "It isn't funny."

Rose closed her eyes and scooted down in the bed, trying to get more comfortable. All the events since she met Cole crashed through her mind. "Momma?"

"Yes, sweetie?"

"He says he loves me."

"I know," her mother said quietly.

Rose peeked at her. "You do?"

Her mother smiled softly. "No man pays that much attention to a woman without feeling some kind of strong emotions. And he clearly isn't a psychopath. Though I had him pegged at the commitment-before-sex type."

Plucking at the thin blanket, Rose said, "He is, actually. He kept telling me that we should wait. But I couldn't help it...I didn't want to stop."

"Well, honey...I'm not sure if you want advice, or..."

"I don't know, Momma," Rose sighed.

"Do you love him?"

"I don't know."

"Hmm...I didn't peg you as someone who wouldn't commit first," her mother said carefully. Then she laughed. "Why did it take so long for us to have this talk? I managed to sit Josie and Violet down when they were teenagers, but you..."

Rose blushed violently. "It is awkward enough now," she said.

"Yes, it is." Momma sighed and sat back in her chair. "Cole is a good man. If you don't — or can't — love him back, then it is only fair that he knows."

"I know," Rose whispered. "I'm just... I just don't know."

Momma pursed her lips. "Do you know what is blocking you from knowing?"

"I think...I think it's because...because... Oh, Momma, this is going to sound so...so strange."

Her mother waited patiently.

Rose inhaled deeply. "I think it's because the only man I've ever loved was Mr. Shaw, and...and I didn't love him romantically, but I think about Cole, and I think about Mr. Shaw, and...and it feels the same. I never got the chance to have any romantic feelings for anyone, so I don't know if this is that with Cole, since I know that wasn't the case with Mr. Shaw, and...I just don't know."

"I don't think that's strange at all."

Rose blinked at her. "I don't know how to love!"

Her mother thought about it, and then she said, "I think you know exactly what you don't want. Your experience with love is flawed. So far, you've been betrayed, jilted or abandoned. You know the perfect man for you, but you only see what you don't want in a man. So, I guess the question I should ask is, do you see any of those flaws in Cole?"

Rose thought about it. "He doesn't respect Mr. Shaw's memory. He wants to sell his house and sell his half of the store, and...and that irritates me."

Hannah Kirkland frowned at her daughter. "That's it? Honey, he didn't know Mr. Shaw, not like you did, and to be honest, you only knew him for ten years. Do you know anything about the man before that?"