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I’m in a sheer red mini dress paired with knee-high boots and a motorcycle jacket, waiting for my sister to text me that she’s outside, when my mom walks in, swinging her car keys.
“Let’s go,” she says.
I’m shocked, but I follow her out of the house like an obedient puppy.
On the drive over, I notice a text from Deej.
Deej:I’m sorry. Ryo surprised me with a trip to Paris this morning. I had no idea or I would have told you earlier. I asked mom to take you instead.
Yaya::(
Deej:Are you angry?
Yaya:It’s fine. Go be all cute and romantic with my brother-in-law.
Deej:I’ll expect all the details when I get back.
Yaya:Ditto.
Putting the phone away, I glance at mom’s side profile. She looks so pretty with the sun glowing on her skin.
But why is she here? What did Deej tell her?
As if she can sense that I’m staring, mom turns up the music until the bass is thumping so hard I can feel it in my bones. I can’t tell what she’s thinking. She hasn’t said a thing about Talia or Dare since that day on the front lawn. It’s never been her style to push me into talking about things until I’m ready, but there’s something off about her silence.
Mom parks the car and turns to me.
I brace myself.
“Is Talia going to be here?” Mom asks.
My eyebrows jump. “You… came with me to see Talia?”
She lifts her chin, but not answeringisan answer.
The pieces click together in my head. “You miss her.”
I should have noticed sooner. Mom lit up when Niko joined the family. It doesn’t surprise me that she would feel the same toward Talia.
“Why didn’t you ask me for Talia’s phone number or something?”
“You were walking around like a corpse. I was afraid you’d have a breakdown if I even mentioned that family.”
I wish she was wrong.
“Whatever happened between you and Dare is your business and I’ll give you all the space in the world to process that.” Mom’s bob sways forward as she gives me the mama-bear ‘eye of doom’. “But Talia disappeared as quickly as she appeared and that is not okay with me.”
My bottom lip trembles. To be honest, I miss Talia too.
The stinker.
“On the other hand, you’re my baby,” she signs. “Do you know how hard it was for me and your father to hear you crying every night? It was all we could do to pretend everything was normal.”
I cringe. “On a scale of one to humiliating, how much of those crying sessions did you overhear?”
“Enough to buy stocks in toilet paper.”
Huh.