When Hayley arrived I got into the car without a word and we drove home to the apartment in silence. Once inside, Hayley finally spoke.
“I thought we could do takeout tonight.”
We couldn’t afford to do take-out nights all the time. Take-out nights were reserved for birthdays and the last night of school summer vacation. Sometimes even Thanksgiving.
Something was up. “Aren’t you supposed to be on a flight somewhere right about now?”
She shrugged, avoiding my gaze as she wandered into the kitchen.
I followed her, watching as she pulled take-out menus out of our kitchen drawer.
“What do you want? Chinese, Indian, Thai, Lebanese?”
“I want to get this ‘talk’ over with.”
Hayley regarded me, taking in my tension and the hard look in my eyes. Finally she sighed. “This is good news, India. Truly it is.”
“Just say it.”
“Theo proposed. I said yes. And we don’t want to wait. We’re getting married this December.”
My mouth dropped open. “I haven’t even met him.”
She pinched the bridge of her nose at my shout. “And that would be a concern if you were younger. But you’re starting junior year. You’re sixteen. Before we know it, you’ll be going off to college.” She stepped toward me and grabbed my hand. I let her squeeze it. “And, sweetheart, you can go to any college you want now.”
“How?”
“Theo is…well, he’s wealthy. And he’s already made it perfectly clear that he wants the very best for me, and that means the very best for you.”
“Are you trying to buy my acceptance of this whole ridiculous thing? You are aware that this isn’t normal, right?”
Hayley dropped my hand. “Don’t be melodramatic. I just want you to know that yes, or course it will be difficult to leave behind school and your friends here and move to Massachusetts, but the upside is that we’ll never have another financial worry in our lives. Ever.”
Jesus, how wealthy was this guy?
As if she read the question on my face, Hayley smiled dreamily. “He’s an incredibly well-respected attorney from a wealthy family. Boston’s elite.”
“And he’s marrying you?”
“Nice,” she snapped. “Very nice.”
“I didn’t mean it like that.” I shrugged. “I just…I thought those people stuck to their own.”
“Usually. But Theo doesn’t care about that stuff. He just wants to marry the woman he loves.” She waved away my negativity with a shake of her hair over her shoulders. “He married a well-to-do woman, and they had a daughter, Eloise, before she died of cancer a few years ago. He hasn’t been serious about another woman since, until me.”
“Oh my God.” I shook my head in disgust. “You think you’re living in a fairy tale.”
“Don’t talk to me like that.”
“You’re hauling me across the country to move in with some guy I’ve never met!” I heard the hysteria creep into my voice, but couldn’t seem to stop it. “Let’s remember the last guy you chose that I had to live with. Or have you already forgotten?”
Understanding dawned on Hayley’s face. It was shocking that I even had to say it out loud. A good mother would have known exactly why I was taking this so hard. “Oh, sweetheart.” She moved toward me but stopped when I flinched back. “Theo is not like him. Not anything like him. I’m not a stupid kid anymore. I wouldn’t make that mistake again.”
I stared at the floor, trying to will my heart rate to slow. I could barely hear anything over the whooshing of blood in my ears.
I started at Hayley’s touch and looked up. She’d decided to ignore my body language and cross the room to take hold of my arms. She ducked her face to stare into my eyes.
“No one,” she whispered fiercely, “no one will hurt you. I promise.”
Liar.
LIAR.
LIAR!
The scream rang out inside of me but somehow I swallowed it.
This was happening.
Samantha Young’s THE IMPOSSIBLE VASTNESS OF US – Review & Excerpt Tour
June 19th
BookWorm221 – Review & Excerpt Clare’s Mad About Books – Review & Excerpt Joyful Shimmy – Review & Excerpt Little Red’s Reviews – Review & Excerpt Naturally Nerdy Books – Review & Excerpt The Sisterhood of the Traveling Book Boyfriends – Review & Excerpt
June 20th
Beware Of The Reader – Review & Excerpt Books For The Living – Review Kindle and Me – Review & Excerpt Melissa’s Book Obsession – Review Read more sleep less – Review To Be Reviewed Books – Review & Excerpt
June 21st
A Fortress of Books – Excerpt Enjoying life a day at a time – Review Mustreadbooksordie – Review & Excerpt MrsLeif’s Two Fangs AboutItBook Reviews – Review & Excerpt
June 22nd
Actin’ Up with Books – Review Books,Dreams,Life – Excerpt Fiction Fare – Review & Excerpt Movies, Shows, & Books – Excerpt Take Me Away To A Great Read – Review & Excerpt What Is That Book About – Excerpt
June 23rd
A Literary Perusal – Review & Excerpt Adventures in Writing – Excerpt BJ’s Book Blog – Review & Excerpt Kimberly’s Hot Reads – Review & Excerpt Read, Write, Design – Review & Excerpt
June 24th
Ali’s Reviews and More – Review & Excerpt Crazii Bitches Book Blog – Review & Excerpt Lacey’s Love Of Literature – Review & Excerpt Nose Stuck in a Book – Review & Excerpt Reading Between the Wines Book Club – Excerpt Tales of the Ravenous Reader – Review & Excerpt
June 25th
All Romance Reviews – Review & Excerpt Book Lovers Hangout – Review & Excerpt Ramblings From This Chick – Excerpt TSK TSK What to Read – Review & Excerpt With Love for Books – Review
June 26th
Angie and Jessica’s Dreamy Reads – Review & Excerpt Book Reader Chronicles – Review & Excerpt Calling All Bookaholics – Review & Excerpt Liezel – Review & Excerpt The Readdicts – Review & Excerpt
June 27th
4 the Love of Reading – Review & Excerpt ADDICTED TO BOOKS – Review & Excerpt Lisa Loves Literature – Review Miss Riki – Review & Excerpt Peace Love Books – Review The Inked In Book Blog – Review & Excerpt
June 28th
Bookalicious Babes Blog – Review & Excerpt Greyland Reviews – Excerpt My Girlfriends Couch – Review & Excerpt Read Love Blog – Review & Excerpt The Life of a BooknerdAddict – Review & Excerpt
June 29th
Blushing babes are up all – Review & Excerpt Book Enticer – Review & Excerpt The Book Avenue – Review & Excerpt The Review Loft – Review & Excerpt Three chicks and their books – Review & Excerpt
June 30th
Shh Moms Reading – Review & Excerpt The Bookish Introvert – Review Total Book Geek – Review & Excerpt Vi3tbabe – Review & Excerpt Witchy Richey’s Booktastic Reviews – Review & Excerpt
July 1st
Book Babes Unite – Review & Excerpt Cocktails and Books – Review & Excerpt Dog-Eared Daydreams – Review Southern Belle Book Blog – Excerpt The Fairest of All Book Reviews – Review & Excerpt 
About Samantha Young: Samantha Young is the New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of adult contemporary romances, including the On Dublin Street series and Hero, as well as the New Adult duology Into the Deep and Out of the Shallows. Every Little Thing, the second book in her new Hart’s Boardwalk series, will be published by Berkley in March 2017. Before turning to contemporary fiction, she wrote several young adult paranormal and fantasy series, including the amazon bestselling Tale of Lunarmorte trilogy. Samantha’s debut YA contemporary novel The Impossible Vastness of Us will be published by Harlequin TEEN in ebook& hardback June 2017 Samantha has been nominated for the Goodreads Choice Award 2012 for Best Author and Best Romance for On Dublin Street, Best Romance 2014 for Before Jamaica Lane, and Best Romance 2015 for Hero. On Dublin Street, a #1 bestseller in Germany, was the Bronze Award Winner in the LeserPreis German Readers Choice Awards for Best Romance 2013, Before Jamaica Lane the Gold Medal Winner for the LeserPreis German Readers Choice Awards for Best Romance 2014 and Echoes of Scotland Street the Bronze Medal Winner for the LeserPreis German Readers Choice Awards for Best Romance 2015. Samantha is currently published in 30 countries and is a #1 international bestselling author.
