Page 35 of Carson

“You are your best self here.”

The way his thumb brushes over my cheek is nice. It feels so familiar yet new.

“But what if your best self is out there?”

“My best self is wherever I am.”

His face softens as he realizes what I’m trying to say, and he chuckles under his breath.

How ironic that the place my mother said I would be in danger is the one place that also feels like home. I want to run and stay all at the same time.

“It is pretty rad here,” he says, taking my hand in his and swinging them between us. “I’m going to show you something new about this place every day, so you never get bored.”

“I’m going to hold you to that.”

“Okay, so first thing, how about I introduce you to my parents.”

“I already met your dad,” I tell him as he guides me toward the house. “He came by my van last night.”

He stops in his tracks. “Is he why you left?”

I shift my weight from foot to foot as he stares at me. “Yes, but not in the way that you think,” I add quickly. “My mother had a premonition about him.”

His brows pull together like I knew they would.

“I know it sounds strange. It is strange.” I rub my hand over my forehead, trying to make sense of it all myself. “But it’s a long story, and I know your brother will be back to pick you up for church soon.”

He rubs his hand over my arm. “Church is what we call a club meeting.”

“I know, and I also know you can’t be late.” I offer him a genuine smile, because I do have every intention of telling him about the message my mother gave me from her deathbed. Maybe he can help me make sense of it all.

This seems to please him.

The minute we walk into his family’s home, I know he had an amazing childhood. Everything is bright and cheerful. It reminds me so much of the home my mother built for her and me.

“Mom, this is Luna,” he says to a woman standing in front of a window painted with sunflowers.

She doesn’t hear him, so he repeats himself.

I reach out to tap her shoulder gently, half expecting my own mother’s face to greet me.

The woman’s kind face turns, and she grabs her chest. “Oh, gosh, I didn’t hear you come in,” she says, instantly pulling me into a warm embrace. “My husband said you were here.”

“Mom, this is Luna,” he tells her again.

“I’m so happy to meet you, Luna.”

“Luna, this is my mom, Lily.”

“A Lily who loves sunflowers.”

She pulls away from me, her smile growing wide. “You noticed.”

I laugh. “It’s hard not to.”

“It’s all him.” She waves a hand toward the kitchen. “I have to be careful what I wish for out loud. If I say I like something, I’ll have fifty by tomorrow.”

It’s easy to see she’s not lying. One look at Dan tells me this woman is his world.