Page 39 of Just Another Meet Cute

After what felt like forever, the door opened and Mom shut off the lights. This time she didn’t try to come over to me. She went straight to her side of the bed and lay down.

After a minute or two, she lightly touched my arm. Her voice was soft. Sad as it drifted over to me. “I am sorry. For everything.”

I didn’t trust myself to answer her. Not yet. But I didn’t move away either.

Hours later, I knew that neither of us were asleep. Our breathing was too even, too controlled, like we were trying too hard to pretend to be asleep. It was better than admitting that we were awake.

“So, were you telling the truth when you threatened not to see Aunt Sarah anymore?” I finally asked out loud. Careful to stay away from dangerous topics like lying moms and misunderstood dads.

She let out a sigh. “It was just an empty threat. We’ll have to see her sooner or later if we move back.”

Her words hung in the air between us for a few seconds. “What do you mean if we move back?”

“Uh …” Mom hesitated like she was afraid to tell me. Like she hadn’t already dropped enough bombshells on me tonight. What could possibly be worse than lying to me my entire life?

“Your dad and I have been talking, and we’ve been thinking about moving back to Austin permanently.

So we could be close to family. Although at this moment, I doubt Aunt Sarah will be very happy with us right now.

” Now it was her turn to word vomit. It was easy to see where I got that particular trait.

“Your dad interviewed for a position at the University of Texas a few days ago, and I’ve been house hunting in the meantime.

There’s a nice one about fifteen minutes from your aunt’s house that’s within our budget.

It’s a one-and-a-half-story with the primary bedroom downstairs, so you can have the entire upstairs to yourself.

Your room has a cute little dormer window for you to set up your desk or bookshelf.

A few rooms need to be repainted, but that’s an easy fix.

You could even paint your own room. You don’t have to if you don’t want to though. It’s just an idea.”

Turns out that Mom had one last bombshell up her sleeve.

But compared to the other secrets, this one wasn’t so bad. In fact, it was actually nice. I mean, I could have—should have—been mad that she was uprooting me again . That we would have to move. That I would have to change schools. Start my senior year at a new place.

But the idea of moving back to Austin, of being back home, overshadowed all that.

Despite living in Houston for a year, I never considered it to be my home.

I never bothered to get to know anyone or make any friends.

I never even got a toll tag in Houston because I never needed one in Austin.

Instead, I took the longer routes and inside roads because getting an actual Houston toll tag made things seem too permanent. Too real.

“So what do you think?”

“I think … I think that sounds nice.”

The mattress creaked as she rolled over to look at me. The room was still too dark to see her face. There was only a faint bit of light coming from the nightlight in the bathroom. “Really? ’Cause we could even make one of the other bedrooms a guest room for when Linh stays over.”

“She would probably like that.” Actually, she’d probably love it. “But what about Dad? Would he be okay with being so close to Aunt Sarah?”

“He’s not looking forward to it. But since it’s important to us, he understands.” Mom laughed out loud. “And it definitely helps that he’ll have his own house to escape to instead of a tiny room.”

I nodded, even though I knew that she couldn’t see me. “As long as he’s okay with it. He’s done … enough for us already.”

“He has,” she said softly. I could hear the emotion and affection in her voice. And I knew no matter what she did or said, I couldn’t stay mad at her for too long. “By the way, if we move back, then you can see Ryan a lot more. Or is it Ian this week?”

I snorted at her innocent tone. “Yeah, I’m not going to talk about that. You don’t deserve any gossip about my life tonight.”

“Fine. When do you want to go back to your aunt’s house?”

“Whenever she’s not pissed anymore.”

“So never?”

“Yep.”

“Sounds good to me. Your dad will probably enjoy staying at the hotel for a few days. Finally have some peace and quiet. Maybe visit the pet spa.”

We both laughed this time. Not so much at the weak joke, but more at the relief that both of us felt. It was like a weight was lifted off our chests, as corny as that sounds.

“Nina?” Her voice was cautious in the darkness. Like it was testing the waters between us. “Do you want to go see the house with us when your dad gets back?”

Such a simple request, but I knew it wasn’t that easy.

If we got a house here, we would be closer to Aunt Sarah and Linh.

We wouldn’t be able to keep our families separate anymore.

Our two families, the two separate families, would have to combine to be one.

We’d be living in the same house and putting down roots.

We’d be taking that step forward. Together.

And as scared as I still was, I owed it to Dad to try now. No matter how much the thought terrified me. “Yeah, I do.”