“It’s quite beautiful, that’s for sure.” I sat at the table as my mother reheated fettuccine alfredo for us, grabbing two bowls from the cupboard. “Last night was the first night there. I need to go shopping for décor. Korbin is letting me do whatever I want with it, but I’m trying to keep it tame, so I don’t scare him away again.”
Shaking her head, my mother joined me at the table, sliding a bowl across for me. “Honey, if that man leaves you again, you can bet your sweet bippy that I will be the one to keep you apart, whether you like it or not.”
“I won’t argue with that,” I said with a giggle. “I’m getting low on integrity.”
My mother smiled kindly, reaching across the table to rest her hand on top of mine. “There is nothing wrong with you,” she said. “You loved a man and still love him now. I believe you’re soulmates who had to spend some time apart to come back together.”
“You always know just what to say, Mom.”
“It’s my job.”
The two of us ate in comfortable silence, focusing on the delicious meal in front of us. Just as I finished my second serving, there was a knock on the door. I rose to my feet, shooting a questioning expression at my mom as I went to the door to open it.
It was Amanda.
“Peyton,” she said, looking shocked to see me there. “Hi.”
“Amanda,” I said. “Hi, back.”
“Peyton,” my mother called from the kitchen. “Is that Mandy? Let her in!”
“Mandy?” I repeated, and Amanda flushed as I stepped aside, allowing her to enter the house. She was dressed in civilian clothes instead of scrubs, making me think she wasn’t even working. So why was she here?
“Hi, Mrs. Blake,” Amanda said, ignoring me to enter the kitchen. I watched her put her arms around my mother in a tight squeeze before releasing her and going to the cupboard for a third bowl, dishing herself up a serving of fettuccine. Biting my tongue, I went back into the kitchen and sat down, appetite lost, and meal forgotten.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” my mother told Amanda as she sat across from us at the table. “My two favorite girls in the same room.”
I glanced at my mother, too shocked to respond to this. How had this happened? Amanda had been my mom’s nurse for, what, a month? Barely more? How was this strange woman so close to her already?
I didn’t like it.
“Are you working, Amanda?” I asked, trying to keep the rage from simmering in my voice. “You’re not in your scrubs.”
“Susan enjoys a visit even when I’m not working,” said Amanda, and something in her voice was cold. Menacing. I glanced at Mom, who nodded.
“I do love her company. It was lonely when you moved out, Peyton.”
“Okay,” I said, unsure of how else to respond to this. I didn’t care for Amanda, and I wasn’t the only one, but she seemed to treat my mother just fine. Could I really be the bitch daughter who shunned her mother from a friendly relationship?
It was crazy that I was worried about. Amanda was crazy.
“Mandy,” my mom said. “Peyton has great news. Korbin asked her to move in!” She clapped her hands excitedly, as Maggie had done, and beamed between Amanda and me. Amanda looked up from her noodles to glare at me, and a solid blade of fear traveled from the top of my head down to the tip of my toes. But just as quickly as it had been there, it was gone, and Amanda smiled.
“That’s great, Peyton,” she said. “Really great.”
“Thanks,” I said softly, and before anyone could speak again, my cell phone rang. It was Korbin. “Hello?” I said, pressing the phone to my ear. Amanda’s eyes were still on me, and my stomach rolled with nausea. I looked away, unable to hold her gaze.
“Hey, baby,” he said. “Hansen is taking me home right now. Are you there?”
“I stopped by to see Mom,” I said, glancing at my mother, who was back to eating her noodles, oblivious to the tension in the air. I looked at Amanda again, who was glowering at me from across the table, holding the fork in the palm of her hand like a spear, lip trembling in what I could only assume was pure rage.
“Send Susan my love,” Korbin said, making me jump. I could hear the radio playing in the background of Hansen’s truck. “I’ll meet you at home whenever you’re ready. And Peyton?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too,” I said, and my mother’s small smile didn’t get past me. Neither did Amanda’s obvious sneer. “I’ll see you soon.” I hung up the phone and slipped it back into my pocket, ignoring my mother’s pointed looks from the other side of the table. Amanda said nothing, but she was still staring at me.
