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“You’re sure you’re okay with this?” I asked Stephan. “I’m used to dealing with my mother. This really isn’t a big deal.”

“It’s a big deal to me,” Stephan said. “I meant what I said. This is an important time. The first shift is hard enough. If Liz is causing friction, that’s only going to make the shift harder. And there’s no place I’d rather you both be than close to me.”

Both. Butterflies took off in my stomach and fluttered all the way up to my chest. My cheeks heated. It was a good decision for Dylan, of course. Being close to his father would make his first shift a lot easier. But for me, it was more complicated.

I wasn’t here to rekindle anything with Stephan. This was for Dylan.

“And your space is your space,” Stephan continued. “I don’t… expect anything.”

He cringed at his own wording, and it made me chuckle a little. “Good,” I said, “because this is only for the summer. Just to get Dylan through his first shift.”

Stephan nodded, but something flickered in his eyes, an emotion that was gone too quickly for me to identify.

“We’re not moving back to Lakeview,” I said. “I want to make sure that’s clear. Our whole lives are in Atlanta—Dylan’s school, my job, and our whole community. We’re not going to drop everything and move here.”

“I never expected you to do so,” Stephan said. “Maybe if this summer goes well, it could become something of a summer tradition.”

Summers in Lakeview? After the summer I met Ace, I thought I’d never come here again. Now I imagined spending every summer away from the blistering Atlanta heat, and instead enjoying the warm mountain sunshine and swimming in thecool lake. I imagined seeing Dylan and his dad shift together and take to the Lakeview skies…

Something in my expression made Stephan take a small step back. “But we can talk about that later, of course. One day at a time.”

“Right,” I agreed in a voice that only wavered a little. “One day at a time.”

There was clattering and a frustrated sound behind Mom’s closed door. I sighed. “We’ll meet you at the house in a few.”

Stephan narrowed his eyes in the direction of the door. “I can stay.”

“Thank you for that, but we’ll meet you there. I’ve got to pack a few things, and… I should talk to her.”

“You don’t deserve to be treated that way.”

“Well, she’s my mother,” I said with a small shrug. “Gotta play the cards you’re dealt.”

Stephan wrinkled his nose in frustration. I couldn’t help but smile—it was a cute expression on such a tough guy. I’d forgotten he did that. I knew he wanted to push back, but then he sighed. “All right. But if it takes more than an hour, I’m coming back here.”

“Definitely won’t take that long. I’ll see you soon.”

His hazel eyes searched my face, then he nodded and left. The car engine roared as he started it up.

I climbed the stairs and stepped into my small room to toss my stuff into my suitcase. It only took a few minutes for Mom to stomp out of her room. She stood in the doorway to the room, red-faced, her arms crossed under her breasts. “You know he’s going to break your heart again.”

“That’s not what this is about, Mom.” I threw my dirty laundry into my open suitcase.

“If you’re not careful, you’ll have a repeat of that summer,” she said. “Ace will charm the pants off you the way he does tohalf the tourists here, and then you’ll leave here with another baby to raise all on your own.”

I burned with embarrassment and anger in equal measure. Mom didn’t know what the hell she was talking about—but she was right about him leaving me high and dry. I knew there was no use trying to explain how it would be different now, not when she was a little drunk and a lot pissy, but I still felt like I had to defend Stephan. He was more than just a summer fling, now. He was Dylan’s dad, whether my mother liked it or not. “That’s not what I’m here for. This is for Dylan, okay? I know what I’m doing.”

Mom rolled her eyes. “If you say so. At least get a few child support payment checks out of him.”

I bit my tongue. Arguing with her over this would get me nowhere. Maybe Stephan was right about getting out of her house. My mother and I always got along better with a lot of distance between us.

Mom lingered for a moment, waiting for me to respond to her poking and prying, but I ignored her and focused on my packing. Soon, she gave up and drifted back to her own room, where she surely had the dregs of a wine bottle waiting for her.

I finished stuffing my clothes back into my suitcase, then dumped my toiletries on top. With my suitcases zipped and ready to go, I went back to Dylan’s room and knocked on his door. “Hey, kiddo, how’s it going in here?”

Inside, Dylan’s suitcase was in an even worse state than mine. He was balling up his shirts and stuffing them into the luggage, then leaning all his weight onto the bulk to try to get it to close. “How was this packed before?”

“The clothes were folded,” I said with a laugh. “You know, it’d be easier to get them into the drawers at your dad’s if you went ahead and folded them now.”