After I locked the door, I dug my phone out of my purse to check the time.I had a few hours to kill before Mom would be done with work.I grabbed the thick rom-com from my stack of books, climbed into Ryan’s bed, and started reading.
Around four-thirty, I heard the clinking of glasses and the occasional traces of voices coming from downstairs.The extrovert in me hated being holed up in Ryan’s room, but I’d made him a promise.In a way, it reminded me of dorm life.While everyone else was partying, I had to stay in and study.
I took my phone off the nightstand and called Mom.
She answered after one ring.“Hey, Ivy-bean.It’s been a while.How are you?”
“I’m good,” I said, unsure of which topic to broach first.
“You don’t sound like you mean that.”
“Are you cooking right now?”I asked because Mom ate early and often made homemade meals for one.
“Nope.You caught me before I got up to start dinner.”
I took a deep breath.“I probably should have told you this sooner, but I’ve been searching for my biological dad.”
She kept quiet.
I opened my mouth to apologize, but then she spoke.“I suspected as much when you and Chad went up to Atlanta and made that supposedimpromptuside-trip to Memphis.”
I fought off a frown.“Chad oversold it with Graceland, didn’t he?”
Mom’s tone went gentle.“Chad’s never been an Elvis fan, and I still don’t understand why.”
I chuckled.“You’re right, but he loves Paul Simon.”
“Seeing as you’re finally telling me about your search, I’m guessing you’ve found him.”
I took a deep breath.“Yes.”
I didn’t know what else to say.Part of me felt like finding Lark was a betrayal to Jeff, and that made me realize maybe Mom wouldn’t want to know and probably wouldn’t want to meet him.
I really should have thought longer and harder about this rather than spontaneously following my stupid heart.
Thiswas when I needed Chad to be around.He didn’t need to be there to hear Lark semi-reject me, he needed to be here now that I was navigating uncharted waters with Mom.
Actually, I wished Ryan were here more than Chad, and I wondered why I didn’t do this when he was still in the room.
That brought me up short.
Chad and Kristen were my ride-or-dies.How did Ryan jump into the front seat?
I knew I could fall for him, but it struck me that I was already falling.
Crap.
“Well, what’s he like?”Mom asked, dragging me from my monumental thoughts.
I stared at Ryan’s dresser and blurted, “He runs a bar and he’s a biker.A real one and he’s a member of a club.”
“A gang?”Mom asked.
“No, it’s a club,” I said, remembering my conversation with Alexandra and the way that she made it clear that the club was more like a family andnota gang.
“There’s something off here.I wish you were sitting in front of me, but from your tone…What aren’t you telling me?”
I wondered if there was something about being a mom that had her dialed into me and every little nuance, and even over the phone I couldn’t pull anything over on her.
