A short laugh escapes him when she calls Michael the most boring man alive, and he's met the man briefly just once so he doesn't have much of an opinion himself, but he supposes compared to some of the other eligible bachelors in this town, Michael doesn't necessarily rank the highest. "He's nice, though, at least as far as I could tell, and I think that's what mattered the most to Joel. He always has your best interests at heart, we both do."
His smile slowly turns down into a frown, though, when she mentions the reporter who'd been using her for a story. He hasn't gotten along particularly well with reporters over the past few years, he's very familiar with how nasty they can be, and he has crystal clear memories of the headlines that had been created about him for the local paper because he'd read every single article that had to do with the death of his mother and brother. Even after he'd been released, before the case had gone cold, the papers would never read that Vera and Dane Waters were survived by Spencer; rather, it was always mentioned that the reclusive librarian had been the original suspect of those murders. He'd stayed away from reading what had been written after the incident with Mark and the lighthouse, hadn't wanted to see what sort of nonsense they could come up with about him and Joel.
He supposes he shouldn't be altogether surprised that there are reporters who are still after this story; it's a small town, after all, but he feels his chest constricting with anger, and he has to take a breath to keep himself calm even though his irritation is evident in the way his knuckles have gone white from his grip on the counter's edge.
"Having to deal with people like that doesn't mean dating isn't for you," he says, taking extra care to keep his tone controlled. "People like like are hungry for glory, for power, for the next big thing that will earn them attention when really, it'll be gone just as quickly as they'd found it because there's always going to be something else. It's nothing to do with you, Raleigh. You're not something broken that needs fixing, you're bright and kind and you've got that natural sort of instinct to take care of the people around you so believe me when I say it's not you."
He hesitates for a moment before reaching out to place a gentle hand on her knee. "Whether you think it's for you or not is your decision and yours. I can't stand here and promise that if you just wait until you hit twenty-nine, you'll find the love of your life because you might find it tomorrow and in truth, you'll probably find it when you're not even looking. I know that's not what you're saying, that's not necessarily what you're looking for right now, but... The best advice I can give is to tell you that all the stress and worry and pressure of finding someone, it's not worth. Date who you want to date when you want to date them." He gives her knee a light squeeze. "You're an incredible woman, Raleigh. I doubt you'll find very many people who would disagree."
no subject
His smile slowly turns down into a frown, though, when she mentions the reporter who'd been using her for a story. He hasn't gotten along particularly well with reporters over the past few years, he's very familiar with how nasty they can be, and he has crystal clear memories of the headlines that had been created about him for the local paper because he'd read every single article that had to do with the death of his mother and brother. Even after he'd been released, before the case had gone cold, the papers would never read that Vera and Dane Waters were survived by Spencer; rather, it was always mentioned that the reclusive librarian had been the original suspect of those murders. He'd stayed away from reading what had been written after the incident with Mark and the lighthouse, hadn't wanted to see what sort of nonsense they could come up with about him and Joel.
He supposes he shouldn't be altogether surprised that there are reporters who are still after this story; it's a small town, after all, but he feels his chest constricting with anger, and he has to take a breath to keep himself calm even though his irritation is evident in the way his knuckles have gone white from his grip on the counter's edge.
"Having to deal with people like that doesn't mean dating isn't for you," he says, taking extra care to keep his tone controlled. "People like like are hungry for glory, for power, for the next big thing that will earn them attention when really, it'll be gone just as quickly as they'd found it because there's always going to be something else. It's nothing to do with you, Raleigh. You're not something broken that needs fixing, you're bright and kind and you've got that natural sort of instinct to take care of the people around you so believe me when I say it's not you."
He hesitates for a moment before reaching out to place a gentle hand on her knee. "Whether you think it's for you or not is your decision and yours. I can't stand here and promise that if you just wait until you hit twenty-nine, you'll find the love of your life because you might find it tomorrow and in truth, you'll probably find it when you're not even looking. I know that's not what you're saying, that's not necessarily what you're looking for right now, but... The best advice I can give is to tell you that all the stress and worry and pressure of finding someone, it's not worth. Date who you want to date when you want to date them." He gives her knee a light squeeze. "You're an incredible woman, Raleigh. I doubt you'll find very many people who would disagree."