“Lexi, I don’t think I understand.”
Yep. She’s usingthattone. “Ilied, Mom, to Beaumont during my interview. About being engaged to Tristan Martinelli in order to get the job. We went together to Ne’emba and, and, a-and…” I can’t finish. I’m so choked up I can hardly breathe.
“Oh lordy-lord,” Mom says as she circles the counter and puts her arm around my shoulders. “How could you lie about being engaged? To Tristan, of all people?”
“It’s easier than you think,” I say between sobs. “Especially when you’re far from home and nobody knows you.” Except that Jem felt something was off and started digging so deep she managed to find out about Dad… It hardly matters now. “But then the office assistant accused us of setting up a drug trafficking ring!”
“What?” Mom’s arm drops, and she sinks down on the stool next to me. “Where’s Tristan now?”
“Still on Ne’emba. I spoke to the resort owner, and he didn’t buy into the drug-trafficking story, thank God, but I couldn’t stay.” The moment the police handcuffed Tristan hit too close to home, and that was the domino that toppled the rest. “I just hope they’ll give Tristan a chance to finish what he’s started.”
“Oh my goodness, Lexi,” Mom says. “What about you?”
I pull my sleeves over my palms and wipe my tears. “I don’t know. Maybe Motel Sixty-Nine by the dive bar down the road is looking for a night manager?”
“Oh, honey.” Mom’s hand draws slow, soothing circles on my back. “This too shall pass.”
Yes. Mia Reed will grow old and ugly. Deep fake will rule the internet as AI takes over. This work crisis will fade. I will find something else. Somewhere. Somehow. At least this Ne’emba Island disaster struck while I’m still financially supported by St Chalamet. Even if I could go back and work at Beaumont Hotels, I’m not sure I could look Nathan Beaumont in the eye. And I’m certainly not interested in groveling. But the world is big and wide, and I might have to take a pay cut, but I’ll find a job eventually. Summer and tourist season are coming, and I haven’t tried Alaska yet.
The thing that shallnotpass—not today, not tomorrow, probablynever—is the feelings I have for Tristan. At the thought, a heaving sob rips through me, and Mom hugs me close.
“What really happened, sweetheart?” she asks softly. “With Tristan?”
“I was so stupid. I-I…” The words are stuck.
“As an engaged couple, you had to share a place, didn’t you?” she asks. “A room or a studio or something?”
A cottage. The most romantic place in the world. “A bed! There were mosquitoes, and we had to be behind the net as they feasted at night, so we ended up…”
“Sleeping together?” Mom asks. “But not in a platonic way.”
“Mm-hmm.” There. The truth is out. My face is still pressed to my palms and my cheeks burn.
“You always loved Tristan,” Mom says softly. “And if ever there was a boy who needed love, it was him.” She shifts in her chair, and it scrapes over the floor. “Sometimes the timing isn’t right, sweetheart. And sometimes timing is everything.”
“What do you mean?”
“Time will tell.” Mom stands, and I look up at her. A faint smile plays on her lips. “Sometimes things happen for a reason.”
No more wisdom, please.“Mom, I lied, and look where it got me.”
“Hmm…” She moves to the other side of the counter and pushes the toaster’s lever down. “Life isn’t black and white, Lexi. It’s a shape-shifting splash of all the colors, showing you only what you want to see in the moment.” She leans over with her arms on the counter. “Maybe now you’ll understand why Dad did what he did. Desperation makes people do weird things—wrong things. I don’t agree with what you did, or say your problems justified your actions in any way, but if you can find it in yourself to forgive Dad after all these years, it will be great.I’ve forgiven him, and…” She clears her throat, and that little smile is back. “We’ve been seeing each other.”
Wait. “What?”
Mom laughs. “We started by chatting online. We’re sort of dating, and he was here for two weeks while you were at Ne’emba.”
Holy Mother of God and all the saints in a row.My pulse races. My mouth is dry. This is coming from left field, and nobody peeped a word to me. “How? Why?”
“When you know, you know. I’ve always loved Dad, and he’s done his time. He’s sorted himself out with a new business, restoring furniture. He’s doing great, and well…life is for living. I don’t want to grow old with anybody else.”
“Does Evan know?”
“We’ve been speaking about it.” Mom drops her gaze for a second and hitches her shoulders. “Evan doesn’t have the baggage you have. It helps that he was older when that whole mess happened. I didn’t want to say anything… Not until—” She breaks off and looks up at me. “Not until the timing was right.”
I might have lost the love of my life, but Mom reconnecting with hers sends joy through my veins. I can see she’s happy, truly happy—for the first time in a very long time. “I’m so glad for you. For you both.”
“Thank you.” The toast pops, and she puts it on a plate for me. “What are your plans for today?”
