Page 143 of Stolen Temptation

My mother gives us a blank, hazel-eyed stare.

She has no idea who I am.

After a moment, she breaks into a polite smile, her teeth straight and white. “Hello.”

“I’ll leave you all to chat.” The nurse sees herself out.

Slowly, Kiara and I settle onto the small loveseat opposite Mom.

“Ma, there’s someone I want you to meet.” I take Kiara’s hand.

“Hi.” Her smile brightens. “It’s so wonderful to meet you.”

I unwrap the painting with jittery fingers. “We brought you something.”

After making a complete mess of the paper and twine, I orientOver the Moontoward her so she can see it right side up. The art piece is a dreamy, surreal interpretation of the cow jumping over the moon—one of her favorites.

I convinced Shane to acquire it for our library, and before we hang it there, I wanted to show it to my mother.

Mom drinks in the painting, tracing the curvatures of the brushstrokes in the air without touching the surface.

“This is…beautiful.” She holds it up for a better view. “Is this a Libertas?”

A tiny gasp escapes Kiara’s lips before she covers her mouth. Her eyes start to glisten.

I nod. “Yeah. An original.”

“I used to…take my son to see paintings just like this one.”

“I remember, Ma.”

When she glances up at me, her eyes crinkle, like she’s searching through a fog. “Is that…my Rory?”

Hits me right in the hole in my chest.

A rare moment of lucidity.

My morbid brain immediately wonders if it’sthelast.

But I shove that thought away. For a moment, my mom is back. She…remembers me.

Fuck, I’m almost tearing up.

“Yeah, Ma. It’s me.”

A warm smile lifts her worn, kind face. Traces of her younger self shine through.

We continue to reminisce about the paintings Kiara’s mother created. Kiara even chimes in, recallingseeingher mother paint some of them.

And then my mother suddenly blurts, “Rory, is this your wife?”

My heart backflips twice.

Where the hell did that come from?

Kiara and I share a caught-out look before I clear my throat and face my mother. How the hell did we gethereso soon?

“No, but…I love her, and if she’d have me, I’d be honored to be her husband.”