The Mariner's Gift Read Online Free PDF

soft brown hair that she wore in a cute A-line bob. Her eyes were sky blue and hid nothing. She shook her head, her hair swinging cheerfully against her cheeks.
    “None of my business. But…” She plucked some tinsel from the box and draped it over a particularly naked branch.
    “ But… ” Zola was surprised her mother’s tongue was still intact from biting it these last two hours. She looked over at her father reading the sports section. He glanced up and shrugged as if he had no clue what they were talking about. Traitor. “Mom, I love you dearly. But I’m going to have to strangle you with these chili pepper lights if you don’t just come out with it.”
    “ Okay. ” Zola could see the relief pass over her mother’s face, like she’d just set down a load of bricks. “You father and I—”
    Zola shot another look in her father’s direction. He was now hiding behind his paper.
    “Your father and I,” her mother continued, “would like to see you settle down.”
    “Oh my God.”
    “Now just hear me out.”
    “Mom, I know what you’re going to say.”
    “No, you don’t.”
    “Yes, I do.”
    “Well, I’m going to say it anyway. You’re not getting any younger.”
    Zola stared at the ceiling, wondering if she could actually get away with murder by chili pepper lights.
    “Well, you’re not. And this job of yours is too stressful. All you do is work. And when you’re not working, you’re here.”
    “What’s wrong with that? Most parents would be happy their only child visits a lot.”
    Her mother waved that remark away with a well manicured hand. “Of course we’re happy. But maybe you’re visiting with us when you could be visiting…other people.”
    As if in exclamation, Zola’s phone chimed. She looked down at the exact moment her mother did. Oliver. And this wasn’t the first text he’d sent today. In fact, they’d been texting most every day for the last two weeks. She desperately wanted to see him. But she also knew that when she did, she’d probably sleep with him. And that would get complicated. She had to make sure she was emotionally ready for this and all that went with it. She wasn’t the one-night stand type, despite her hormones arguing otherwise. And then there was the fact that every time she asked about his personal life, like his daughter Lauren, she could sense him shutting down. If he couldn’t open up to her about his family, how could she expect anything to go anywhere between them beyond just one night?
    “Mom.”
    “Why don’t you just go over and say hello? Take him some cookies?”
    Zola couldn’t help but smile at that. Her mother was inadvertently telling her to show up at Oliver Tworek’s boat and seduce him with warm baked goods.
    “I don’t know that I’m ready to take cookies,” she said. “Cookies are a serious statement, Mom. Cookies scream domesticity and commitment. Might scare him off.”
    “Okay.” Her mother rolled her eyes. “Then take him some wine. Take him something , Zola, and make the first move.”
    Zola plopped down on the love seat. It was fun pushing her mom’s buttons. But deeper down, she was more afraid of that first move than she’d care to admit. Texting was one thing. Sex was another.
    “Honestly, Zola. What more does this man have to do to get your attention?”
    “Oh, he’s got my attention. That’s not the problem.”
    “Then what is?”
    “For one thing, he lives here. I live in LA.”
    “I don’t see that as an obstacle,” her mother said. “You manage to come up here all the time. And I’m sure he could be persuaded to go there. Besides, all you’ve been talking about for the last year is moving back to the bay area.”
    “Yeah, but I don’t want a guy to be the deciding factor. I was thinking something more along the lines of a job opportunity or a prison sentence. Something more permanent like that.”
    “Tell me something.” Her mother walked around the tree and sat down. She reached out and