Melissa: A Hathaway House Heartwarming Romance by Dale Mayer (good book club books txt) 📕

He stopped, looked at her, and said, “I thought you wanted to get better.”

“That’s cheating,” she said.

“Whatever works,” he said with a big smile.

She shook her head, pulled one arm out from under the bedding, and grabbed the glass from him. “Will they all taste like this?”

“No, they’ll be different variations on the basics,” he said. “The bottom line is, it’s one of the easiest ways to get this much nutritional value down you.”

“Fine,” she said. “It still doesn’t taste very good.”

“You’ll get used to it,” he said. “It’s really not an option for you.”

“Right,” she said, heeding his warning. She understood what he was saying. It was just that she’d never been a shake person, never took vitamins or any other supplementation, and found it hard to do so at this stage too.

He looked at her, laughed, and said, “It really will get better.”

“Uh-huh,” she said, not believing him in the least. He was the guy who would tell her what she needed to hear. And whether it was the truth or not, well, the jury was out on that. She didn’t know him well enough. But she knew she was caught in a system here to help support her, and, if she didn’t let them do that, she wouldn’t be giving it a full test, and then how would she know if it was any good or not?

He stepped back and said, “Make sure it’s all gone. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

As soon as he was gone, she set the glass down and sank into the bed. Did he mean that she had to have it all drunk by the time he came back? Because that might be a bit much for her stomach. She was also drinking what water she needed to drink, but this was a lot of liquid. And a lot of liquid meant she would have to go to the bathroom a whole lot faster than she really wanted to. But still, if he was coming back, she didn’t want to be caught without it gone. She picked it up again and valiantly took a big drink. It didn’t seem to be quite so bad this time. She took another big drink and then another one.

By the time he came back, she had it over half gone. He looked at it and nodded. “See? It’s not that bad.”

“It’s not that good either,” she said, trying for some spirit. She didn’t want him to think she was a complete pushover.

“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “It will make a huge difference in your body.”

“Good.” She took another big drink and set it down.

He looked at it and said, “Can you get the last bit down?”

“You’re sending me to the bathroom. You know that, right?”

He grinned. “What goes in must come out.”

“So it makes sense to stop now,” she argued.

He just chuckled and held out the glass for her. She groaned and sucked back the last of it. When she finally set it down, he looked at it and nodded. “Perfect. We’ll see how your stomach handles it tomorrow.” He turned and walked out with the empty glass.

“Wait. When do I work with you again?”

“Tomorrow,” he said, looking back at her. “Remember? You have your schedule in your tablet.”

“Oh. I thought maybe you’d push it off because of today.”

“No,” he said cheerfully. “No time to push off anything. We went a little too far, too fast today, so we’ll adjust it tomorrow.”

“And does that make it easier?”

“Not likely,” he said, his lips tilting up at the corners. “When you think about it, it just means we’ll stop where we should have stopped today.”

“Sounds easier.”

“Well, it may seem easier maybe, but I doubt it.” And, with that, he gave her a finger wave and left.

She sagged back, wondering how her life had changed. But she didn’t have much time to contemplate it. When she looked up, Dani walked toward her from the hallway.

“How are you settling in?” she asked, her tone a little worried.

“I’m doing okay,” she said. “It’s a lot to get used to.”

“It is, but we’re not that different from any other system.”

“No,” she said. “You are different, but I had adjusted to the other center, so I’ll adjust to this one too.”

“It’s all about making sure you get what you need,” she said comfortably. She smiled. “It looks like Shane gave you one of his green juices. Did he?”

“What? They’re infamous?”

At that, Dani burst out laughing. “Maybe,” she said, “but they’re very effective.”

“And how did you know?” she asked.

Dani reached out and touched the corner of her mouth. “Because your lips are still covered in it.”

She groaned. “He didn’t say anything to me about that.”

“Nope, he wouldn’t,” she said. “Not sure he would even have noticed.”

She rolled her eyes at that. “How is that even possible?”

“Well, for one, he’s a guy,” Dani said with a smirk.

“True enough.” She paused. “I can’t believe you pulled together this center,” she said, studying her friend. “And you look so happy.”

Dani gave her a bright smile. “Well, I found a purpose in life. I found a passion to follow, and my heart’s full of love for somebody who loves me back,” she said. “It’s hard to be upset with any of that.”

“No, I hear you there,” she said. “You told me a little bit about Aaron but not a whole lot.”

“Well, there’s just so much that, once I get started,” she said, “I have a tendency to not know when to stop.”

“Nothing wrong with that.”

Dani looked at her. “What about you? Boyfriends?”

“No,” she said, frowning, shaking her head. “After this? Are you kidding? I’m trying to reconcile myself to being alone for the rest of my life.”

Dani’s eyes twinkled. “Well, this place has gotten a reputation,” she said, “for a ton of matchmaking going on here, although not necessarily on purpose.”

“What do you mean by matchmaking? With the staff?”

Dani studied her for a long moment. “You know you won’t stay like this forever, right?”

Melissa shifted