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She sets down the plate she was wiping and strides over to me, her arms outstretched and ready for a hug. “Screw the coffee—this calls for something stronger!”

I hug her back. Her warm embrace washes away the insecure feelings my mom planted only an hour earlier. Emotion overwhelms me as I continue to hug her back and bury my face in her shoulder.

She pulls back and looks me in the eyes. “Hey, honey, what’s wrong? This is a good thing, right.”

I sob and laugh at the same time. “Yeah, if only my mom saw it that way.”

Rachel pulls me over to sit down on one of the stools tucked under the counter, her frown turning sour. “What do you mean?”

I rub my palms on my pants nervously. “Look, I don’t want to cause friction between families. All Zach and I want is to be together, but my mom basically told me tonight that she thoughtZach wasn’t the right guy for me.” I pause and look up at the ceiling, hating that I have to repeat this. “She thinks he’ll get bored or find someone else. She thinks I’m more suited to a hometown boy. Even though I’m in my thirties, she still thinks she can say stuff like that.”

Rachel clears her throat abruptly. “I don’t care what age you are. That’s utter trash.”

She reaches down and takes my hand in hers as she looks me in the eyes. “Do you want to know something?”

“Yes,” I croak out.

“Well. I know my son, and I’ve never seen or heard him this happy. I’m also not surprised to find you two together.”

My brows shoot to my hairline in surprise. “You aren’t?”

She smiles knowingly. “No. There’s always been something special between you two. I know you felt it. I could see it in your eyes when you were younger. The way you cast glances at him, always looked out for what was best for him.” She squeezes my hand tighter. “I’m so pleased he’s finally come to his senses and found the right kind of love.”

I can’t help the tear that escapes my eye and rolls down my left cheek. “If only things were simple, and I could up and leave and be with him in Seattle.”

“What’s stopping you?”

“My job, family, fear of the unknown, I guess. I’ve lived here my whole life.”

“Luna, sweetheart. There will be other jobs. Your family is right here and always will be.” She squeezes my hand again. “Plus, from what Zach’s said, you have a new family over in Seattle now too. Don’t overthink it. Just do it. Follow your heart in life, and I promise that while not everything is guaranteed to work out, you give yourself the best chance at happiness.”

We sit in silence for a long moment, the weighted truth of her words sinking into my skin. I know. Just like Felicity said I would. I know.

“I need to go to him,” I say.

She nods. “Do what you gotta do to finish up at work and go to him. And, Luna, just remember that you will always have a home here, with us.”

“I will probably have to sell my place to give me the funds I need to rent out there for a while, especially since I won’t have a job.”

Her brows knit together. “I know this isn’t everything, but hear an older, married yet still independent woman out here. My son is a millionaire, and he’s hopelessly in love with you. Let him take care of you since you’re the one moving to be with him. It will be what he's desperate to do.”

Well, she’s right. I cock my head to the side and eye her. “Are you a mind reader or something?”

She chuckles and makes for the refrigerator. “I just know my son inside and out.”

“Luke was never the one.”

She turns around and eyes me carefully. “Nope, he wasn’t. And when you called it off right before college, as much as I care for him like a son, it hurt to see the way it destroyed him, but I knew it was the right decision for you both.”

I nod. “I feel like we’ve lost so much time. Years maybe.”

“Love isn’t that clear-cut you know. Only rarely do two people meet and that’s it. It took Andrew and me a while to work out what we wanted. He was with someone else when we first met.” She snorts slightly. “I kind of hated him at first.”

I laugh. “I never hated Zach. I just felt invisible.”

“You were with someone else, and he was fixated on hockey and his career. You’ve both done a lot of growing since then.”

“I guess. He’s still the same person though.”