“How are you feeling, my darling? Are you hungry?” she asks.
“Good.” Chloe nods. “Yes, I hungry.”
“Your Aunt Ginny has prepared dinner for us. I hope that’s okay,” Mom says, glancing over at me. Her eyes are narrowing as she hugs me. “You look different.”
My mom is oddly perceptive when I least expect it.
“Dinner sounds good,” I say.
“And…why do you look so glowy?” She grins. “You were so upset at you-know-who when you left, and you look calmer than I’ve seen you in a long time.” She gasps. “Don’t tell me you’re back with you-know-who.”
That’s our lame attempt at not saying Christian’s name when we’re with Chloe. We need to come up with a better name.
“What? No!” I glare at her. “Why would you think that?”
“Sorry!” She laughs. “No, I didn’t think you would be, but I don’t know…there’s something different.”
“Your eyesight is playing tricks on you,” I tease.
“Hmm. Well, you’re probably right about that. I had to get readers yesterday.” She sighs.
My mom is beautiful. She’s a bit of a diva, but a sweet one. And she’s fifty-two, but she looks about thirty-five. I hear her griping about getting older, but honestly, she has nothing to complain about. She’s in better shape than I am, mostly from going to Pilates five days a week, and she gets hit on as much as I do, if not more, when we go anywhere together.
She ushers us into the dining room, where Aunt Ginny has set the table with fine china.
“The girls are here, Ginny,” she calls. “And the table looks lovely.”
“Wonderful. I’ll have the food out in just a few minutes, if you want to get comfortable,” Aunt Ginny says as she walks into the dining room, holding a huge platter of food.
She loves to cook and is so good at it.
“Hello, girls.” She holds her arms out, and I walk into them, hugging her hard.
Aunt Ginny is my mom’s older sister. When my parents divorced, Aunt Ginny moved in with us. My grandparents passed away a few years ago, so sometimes it feels like it’s just us girls against the world. Both my mom and Aunt Ginny have tried to convince me to live with them, and I’m sure it would be nice if I did—to have the extra help with Chloe and financially—but it’s really been important to me to do this with Chloe on my own. My mom and aunt spoil her rotten, and I love that…once in a while. Having that on a daily basis would be exhausting.
“Your dad called earlier.” Mom rolls her eyes as she sits at the head of the table. “I tried to talk him down. He was carrying on about you going out of town again. I told him he was lucky to have someone who saved him millions of dollars and that he doesn’t really need you in the office every day anyway.”
“Did he calm down?”
She lifts her shoulder. “You know your father. He doesn’t really calm down. But yeah, I guess he chilled a little.”
“The man is gonna have a heart attack with all the stress he carries around.” Aunt Ginny shakes her head. “Oh, honey, your phone is lighting up like crazy.” She points at it, and I look down to see a few texts from Dylan.
Miss you already.
Tell Chloe my nails are a hit.
When can I see you again?
I smile at my phone, and my mom laughs under her breath.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d say you’ve fallen for someone,” she says.
“You just asked if I was back with you-know-who.” I laugh.
Her eyes narrow. “No, now that we’re in the light, I can see you better. You never looked this happy with you-know-who.”
My cheeks flush, and I try to change the subject again.
