of my life, so I don’t know much about humans or what kinds of skills are considered normal for you.”
“Well, I can’t speak for everyone, but on Prospect, we’re not as modern as other colonies. I mentioned that we grow most of our food. There are only a few eating establishments that sell meals in the colony. Some people hire someone else’s wife to make them extra portions of whatever she’s serving for dinner. That’s what most single men do, if they don’t have a family member to prepare meals for them.”
“Why only single men?”
“Well, married men have wives, whose mothers have taught them how to cook. It’s…” She sighed. “It’s old fashioned there. It’s not like we have much choice. The miners make the best money, but they work a lot of hours to earn that wage. Women aren’t allowed to work the mines until they’re beyond their childbearing years. We only get offered low-paying jobs otherwise, if we’re young and healthy, and all home tasks are left for us to do. It’s just expected.”
“What kinds of tasks?”
“Cleaning, cooking, doing laundry, and rearing any children. Even the men who don’t work in the mines expect that kind of service from women.”
“You don’t appear happy about that.”
She debated on if she should be honest or not as she peered into his dark blue eyes. It had caused arguments at the table before, usually with her parents. Blade wasn’t them, though. “I understand that working in a mine is physically taxing, but I don’t think it’s fair that women should do everything else. Men should at least help. They do get days off. That’s not how it works, though. My father comes home and my mother waits on him hand and foot. I’ve never seen my father do dishes, clean up after himself, or even offer to take out the trash. It all falls on my mother and me.”
“That doesn’t sound fair.”
“It’s the mindset that everyone on Prospect has.” She took a bite of her food, surprised that Blade had agreed with her. It made her like him even more. No man from her planet would have ever said such a thing.
“Does that mean one day when you marry, you’ll have to be with a man who doesn’t help you?”
She lowered her gaze. “Yes.” She put down her fork, feeling a need to confess. “I was dating a fellow teacher. My parents have been pressuring me hard to get married, and my mom kept inviting Jacob to dinner. He wasn’t as bad as some of the other men who attempted to court me, and he respected my boundaries, so I kept agreeing to share meals with him. I thought maybe he’d be different than most, since he’s a fellow teach…but he’s not. He flat-out stated what he’d expect of me as his wife.”
“You’re engaged?” His voice deepened.
She snapped her head up to find his dark blue gaze locked on her. “No. Jacob has mentioned marriage, but I keep putting him off. I don’t have feelings for him. It’s just that…my parents will shove someone else at me if I outright refuse to date him anymore. Jacob has always been very respectful of me. Other men haven’t been.”
“What exactly does that mean?” He looked angry now.
“Other men have attempted to touch and kiss me, even though I didn’t want them to. Jacob has always been a perfect gentleman. I’ve never had to worry about being alone with him if my parents step out of the room. He’s also never said crude things to me. I’ve experienced that as well. Some men have described what they want to do to me in graphic detail.”
Blade definitely appeared angry. He stopped eating, put his silverware down, and fisted his hands on the edge of the table. “Did your father punch them?”
She shook her head, surprised by the question. “I didn’t want to gain a reputation for causing trouble. That would certainly happen if my father beat on any of my suitors. The colony is a small place, Blade. So I never told him. I just refused to see some men again by claiming we weren’t compatible. My parents don’t want me to be unhappy. They just want to find me a husband.”
“And you want to go back there?”
She shrugged. “It’s where my parents are.”
He opened his mouth to say something, but a loud beeping began to sound, surprising them both. Blade stood fast and hurried away. Hailey hesitated, then rushed after him. He was too