Lina pulled out her phone, intending to call Dillon, but she put it away again. She wasn’t ready to talk about it. Not today. She’d let him deal with the aftermath.
***
Dillon took his time driving to his mom’s house. He sang along with the radio, something he rarely allowed himself to do. Why was that? Was he so uptight he couldn’t even loosen up around … himself? But Lina was changing that, and he realized he was looking forward to telling his mom it was over and starting fresh. Lina might claim she was fine with everything, but she had seemed annoyed the last time they talked about it. The pretending part needed to end. With Christmas coming, the events and the lies would continue to pile up until it ruined both their holidays. But the thought of Lina around at Christmas time wasn’t altogether unpleasant either. He would have to pay attention and figure out a good Christmas present for her, something personal but not too pretentious.
The fence alongside the road leading up to Mom’s house sported a festive line of Christmas lights, dropping and rising in a scalloped pattern. Alec, with a lot of grumbling, had agreed to be the one to put them up. It looked nice. Next year, Dillon would do it. He whistled “Jingle Bells” as he pulled in and parked, greeted the dogs, and jogged up the porch steps.
His mom was banging pots and pans around in the kitchen when he walked in, which wasn’t unusual, but the angry muttering was new. A cupboard door slammed.
“Mom, are you okay? Does your mouth hurt?”
She whirled around and took one look at him before bursting into tears. “I don’t know how to tell you this.”
“Is everyone okay? Is it Rick?”
“Rick’s fine. It’s Lina.”
“Lina?” Dillon took a moment to reassess Mom’s body language. He wasn’t sure whether mad or sad was winning out. Why did it have to do with Lina?
She pulled a square-shaped frying pan out of the bottom of the stack and clanked it onto the counter, on top of a sauce pot.
“What are you doing?” If they were having chicken salad, there was no need for a pot or pan.
“I’m rearranging cupboards. It helps me when I’m stressed.”
“And you’re stressed because of Lina?” Maybe Lina had already told Mom about the breakup. Maybe she had told Mom everything. After all, when Mom sniffed out a mystery, she wasn’t one to be satisfied with a few details.
“I went to Lina’s office today to bring her cookies. A thank you for staying with me yesterday. And they directed me down the hall to where she was … flirting it up with some other man. Giving him her number. He promised to call her.”
Mom turned around and glanced up at him, waiting for him to react.
The frown came naturally, though he didn’t have a right to be upset. Lina hadn’t known his mom would overhear. He and Lina were gym buddies. They’d never talked about whether or not she might date anyone else. And yet he still felt that immediate spark of jealousy.
Mom held her hand out to him, mistaking his expression for heartbreak. “Oh, honey, that’s not even the worst part. He asked if there was another guy in her life. Do you know what she said? No one he needed to worry about. Like they were both okay with cheating as long as no one found out. I’m so sick inside.”
At the mention of cheating, Dillon knew he had to set aside whatever irrational jealousy he was feeling and clear that part up right away.
“Mom, Lina didn’t do anything wrong. We broke up. Decided to just be friends.”
She hugged the stew pot in her hands. “When did you break up?”
This was the tricky part. They’d been over here together on Sunday. “Monday night.”
He could tell she was reevaluating the past week with new eyes. “So, she stayed with me yesterday during my filling, and didn’t say a word about the two of you not being a couple anymore?”
“She didn’t want to make it awkward. I know you’re mad right now, but she cares about you, and she wanted everything to go smoothly for your appointment.”
“But how can she be so ready to move on this quickly?”
Dillon didn’t know exactly what his mom had seen today, and her interpretation of it had been colored by thinking Lina was still his girlfriend. “I’m sure lots of patients flirt with Lina. She was probably just being friendly.”
Mom shook her head at that. “This went beyond friendly. It was practically indecent.” She began putting all the pots and pans back in the cupboard. “Did Lina say why she broke up with you? Why she only wants to be friends? Maybe she wanted to be free to date other people. I know you don’t want to believe it, but maybe that’s how she is.”
“Don’t say that. You know Lina.”
“I thought I did.” Shutting the cupboards with a firm click, his mom straightened and crossed her arms over her chest. “Look honey, I can see you’re still in love with her. How do you think I knew she was the one to break it off?”
“I didn’t say she broke it off.”
