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“He’s always working so hard,”Mrs. Arkentooth said from the kitchen. “I know it’s so difficult for him. Mason has had to look after this family ever since his father passed. And my condition only made things worse. He’s sacrificed so much for the family. I know he’d give everything for us, and that worries me. He needs to live his own life,too.”

Ifelta painful tightening around my heart. “I understand,” I said. “Family is everything. I’d do anything formine.”

“Yes!”She came back into the living room and handed me the refilled glass of water. “Which is why I’ve been trying for so long to convince Mason of the importance of starting his own, of looking to the future. The boy needs to get out and meet someone. A mate becomes your family, afterall.”

“That’s right,”I said,stunned.

“Anyway,that’s why I’m so thankful you’ve given him an opportunity to work, Mr. Luna. He’ll always be reliable to you, I promiseyou.”

She seemed worried,and I suddenly realized that she must’ve thought I’d come to deliver badnews.

“Mrs. Arkentooth—Imean, Eliza—please. Listen… You must think I’m here to speak to Mason about his work, but the truth is… Well, the truth is that there isn’t anywork.”

“Oh,”she said, lookingflattened.

“No,no. What I mean is, Mason… He andI…”

At that moment,the lock to the front door turned. We both looked over as the door pushed open and Mason walked in, bags of groceries hanging from hisarms.

“Mom, I’m back—”

The moment he saw me,he lost his grip on one of the bags and it fell to the floor, sending oranges and potatoes rolling across the floor. I stood up and strode over to him. I was unable to stop myself. I’d wanted to see him and hold him so badly that it all just came out. I wrapped my arms around him, pulling him tightly against my body. He stood there in stunned silence for a moment before lowering the other bag to the ground and slowly returning myembrace.

“What are you doing here, idiot?”he askedsoftly.

Itookhis face in my hands and kissedhim.

“Oh,”I heard Mrs. Arkentoothutter.

“Ineeded to see you,”I whispered back to him. “No more secretmeetings.”

He raised an eyebrow at me,and Mrs. Arkentooth cleared herthroat.

“Someone mind explainingwhat’s going on?” shesaid.

“Sorry,Mom. I know it’s out of nowhere but, well, Christophe and I are together.” He gave me a questioninglook.

“We’re together,”I said, taking hishand.

“This is all so sudden,”she said, looking shocked. If she wasn’t already sitting down, I would’ve been worried for her safety. “A surprise. A nice surprise. But sosudden.”

“There’s a lot to explain,”Mason said. He gave me another look, and I knew exactly what it meant.Let me do the talking. I gave him a slight nod. Telling her exactly how we’d met would probably not be the wisestidea.

We satdown on thecouch.

“Mom,have you ever heard of something called a fated matemark?”