She closed the door and smiled. “Figuring out what to throw in the slow cooker with the meat.”
“You’re not putting asparagus in there, surely.”
She chuckled. “No, honey. I know how you and your dad feel about asparagus.”
I relaxed and sat at the island. “Not that it really matters. I may not be home for dinner tonight.”
“Oh, yeah? Is Flash taking you out?”
“That’s the plan,” I said.
“Any word on the job?”
I shook my head. “It’s only been a day. I doubt they’ll make a decision until next week at the earliest.”
I hadn’t got the one I’d applied for last week, so it was onward and upward for the next opportunity.
“You don’t sound excited.”
“I’m not,” I admitted with a sigh.
“Why?”
“Because it’s in Portland and doing that commute home from the interview made me want to choke a puppy.”
Mom laughed. “Yes, I remember when I worked in Wilsonville, even back in the day, the traffic was awful.”
“Yeah. I wish there were bigger firms on this side of the river, but I may just be stuck with Oregon.”
She reached over and squeezed my arm. “You’ll figure it out. Adulting is hard.”
I grinned. “Yeah, it is.”
“Fill me in on Flash.”
“What would you like to know?”
She pulled out a cutting board and set it on the island in front of me, then handed me a knife. “Tell me something I don’t know while you slice these tomatoes, please.”
“Well, since I don’t actually know what youdoknow, that might be difficult.” I grabbed a tomato and began to slice. “But good try getting me to spill the beans.”
Mom sighed. “You always have been smarter than me.”
“Not smarter, Mama, just less trusting.”
“Well, that’s true.” She smiled gently. “And since Flash had a hand in you being less trusting, I’d love to know what changed.”
“It was all a big misunderstanding.”
“A misunderstanding about Madison?”
“Yes,” I admitted. “I thought they were sleeping together, so I kind of freaked out.”
Mom frowned.
“What?” I asked.
“Why would you think they were sleeping together?”
