My stomach tightened, and I fumbled with my fingers. I hadn’t ever met someone’s parents before. Did he know how old I was? Michael had told me not to mind that, but … it still felt a bit weird for me.
“Sure,” I said.
He turned off the highway and drove into the St. Barbars’ parking lot. It was a huge building with colorful, blooming tulips lining the white cement sidewalks. I smiled at it, knowing that this place was definitely better than the last place Mom had lived in.
Michael took my hand and guided me into the building. Even the inside seemed so lively. There wasn’t that feel of death and despair I’d felt every time I walked into Orangegate Assisted Living. There was hope on everyone’s face, even the patients’.
When we walked into the building, the nurse at the front desk smiled at Michael.
“Michael, how are you?” she asked. Her eyes flickered to me, and she grinned. “You must be his daughter.”
I glanced up at Michael, lost for words. Michael parted his lips and pressed them back together, glancing down at me and squeezing my hand tighter.
“This is Mia,” he said, quickly recovering. “She’s my girlfriend.”
The nurse blushed, her expression dropping. She formed an O with her lips and quickly shuffled through some paperwork to get us signed in. But even when we signed in and started our walk to Mom’s room, I could feel her staring at us.
When we were out of sight, Michael leaned down closer to me. “Damn, do I look that old?” he asked, trying to lighten the mood.
I smiled up at him and knocked twice on the mahogany door to Mom’s room.
“Come in!” she called, sounding livelier than she had a few days ago.
When we entered, she plastered a huge smile on her face.
“Sweetheart! How are you doing?” she asked, stroking her fingers against my hair.
I placed my hand on her knee and sat down next to her on the bed.
“Great,” I said. “Started school a few weeks ago. I have two more classes to finish.”
Michael placed a hand on my shoulder, nodded to her wheelchair, and smiled at her. “You want to go out? There’s a garden in the back that I think you’ll lo—”
“Hey! What’s going on here? Having a party without me?” James walked into the room with a bunch of roses in his hand. He squeezed Michael’s shoulder and placed the roses on the side table. “Eden, feeling better?”
Mom’s eyes widened. “I haven’t seen you in years.”
“I saw you yesterday, darling.”
I rested my head on Michael’s shoulder. “What about that walk?”
Mom nodded, and James bent over to try to help her into her wheelchair, but Michael stepped in, so he wouldn’t throw out his back. I pushed Mom through the garden behind St. Barbars and let her sit out in the sun for a bit. She’d always loved to suntan when I was younger. She could do it for hours upon hours, getting a tan or burning like a lobster. It was either one or the other.
She waved off James and Michael, telling them we needed some girl time, like she had done for the past few weeks.
“So, you and Michael.” She raised her brows at me and smiled widely. “What’s going on between you two? Are you and he official? Does everyone know? How did Melissa take it?”
I frowned at her. It was always the same questions every day, and I hoped that she’d get better soon, but I wasn’t complaining. I’d take this over never seeing her. It was just sad.
“She’s taking it rough,” I said like I always did, not really wanting to get into it. Just the thought of Melissa made me both angry and unbelievably heartbroken. “I hope she comes around and starts to talk to Michael again, but I’m not sure it’ll be anytime soon.”
“She’ll come around,” she said, clasping my hand. “They always do.” She paused for a long moment, checked behind her to make sure the guys weren’t near, and then asked me the one question I’d never thought I’d hear come out of her mouth. “Are you taking birth control?”
My cheeks warmed. “Yes. Why?”
She eyed me for a few moments, her gaze drifting down my body so slowly, as if she was analyzing me or something. After a couple moments, she shrugged. “No reason. Just wondering.”
I arched an eyebrow and decided to drop the subject as Michael and James approached us, talking about the new buildings being constructed in the city. I smiled at him and wheeled Mom back to her room. James followed us, talking Mom’s ear off about how he couldn’t wait to take her on that vacation, how they’d finally get some relaxation after all this stress, which made her smile that big smile she used to have before Dad started drinking.
