Page 100 of Scarred Angel

“In the garden.” He grabs his bag and throws it over his shoulder. “Tell her I’m getting picked up in five.”

“Got it,” I say, watching him head for the door.

He turns at the last second, flashing me that handsome grin that is sure to break hearts one day—Maksim suddenly comes to mind—or mend them.

I blow him a kiss, and he rolls his eyes again but doesn’t hide his smile this time.

The screen door creaks as I step out onto the back patio, where sunlight breaks through the clouds in soft streaks. The scent of basil and jasmine hangs in the air, and I smile, remembering the day she came home with potting soil andher first plant. Two days after her retirement from the force. Apparently, she needed a way to keep busy. As if wrangling twins wasn’t enough.

I spot her, in her element, crouched by the flowerbeds with her hair tied in a loose bun, and dirt smudged across her cheek. A pair of shears dangle from her fingers.

“Hey,” I call, resting against the doorframe.

She glances up and stands, brushing the soil from her knees, her eyes lighting with that warm smile I love so much.

“Vali! I wasn’t expecting you today.”

Her arms are around me in the next second.

“Didn’t want to miss you before you disappeared into your little jungle,” I tease, giving her a squeeze in return, and lingering a little longer than normal.

“You okay?”

That’s the thing about Mom, she asks so simply, but somehow it feels like she’s already read the answer before I can speak it. Already knows when there’s something I need to get off my chest.

I open my mouth, close it, and settle for a shaky breath. “Yeah. I think…I am.”

She studies me quietly and tilts her head. “You have that look. The one your father gets when he’s trying to avoid something.”

I laugh under my breath. “You mean theI’m totally fine but actually want to stab someonelook?”

“That’s the one.”

I pick a leaf off a nearby bush, roll it between my fingers, and exhale. “Well…I think—No, I know I’m in love.”

Her hands are still, but she’s not surprised or shocked, just a soft nod, as if she’s been waiting for me to say it. “With Maksim.”

It’s not a question.

“Yeah.”

She hums, thoughtful. “I wondered when you’d tell me.”

I sink into the old iron chair beside the garden table and laugh. “Is it that obvious?”

“To me, always. I know you, Vali.” She sits across from me. “You’ve loved that boy in one way or another since you were little. Even when you didn’t know what it meant. Wherever Maksim went, there you were, like his little shadow.” She chuckles, her eyes distant with the memory. “He hated it most days. But you grew on him eventually. Like a little sister.”

I grimace. The wordsMaksimandlittle sistertogether in a sentence make me cringe.

“You know what I mean,” she says, waving me off.

If anyone knows exactly how I’m feeling, it’s her. Mom was a cop who fell in love with a man she should’ve cuffed and locked away for life. But her heart had other plans. And I’m grateful for that. For her bravery, for the choices she made, the love she andPapibuilt. A love as strong today, if not stronger, than it was before I was born.

But just as Mom understands that the heart wants what it wants, he should be even more sympathetic toward Maksim…for more reasons than one.

“He’ll never accept him,” I whisper.

Mom sighs, wiping her hands on a towel. “Your father’s heart is protective when it comes to you, baby, not cruel. He sees Maksim’s ghosts, sees himself. As parents, we always want our kids to do better than we did.”