Page 73 of The Air He Breathes (Elements 1)

Mama’s head tilted to the left and her stare followed Tristan. “I guess you have been busy.”

“It’s not what it looks like—” I started, but Emma cut me off.

“Grandma!” she screamed, running to the door and jumping into Mama’s arms.

“My little sweet pea,” Mama replied, wrapping Emma in her arms and getting covered in ketchup. “Well, aren’t you a messy thing today?”

“Mama, Tick, and I were playing zombie and vampires!”

“Tick?” Mama turned to me and raised an eyebrow. “You let a man named Tick into your house?”

“Are you really judging the type of men I let into my house? Do you not remember some of the men who walked into yours?”

She smiled wickedly. “Touché.”

“Tristan,” I called. He came over, rubbing his fingers through his ketchup-filled hair.

“Yeah?” He smiled my way before turning to look at Mama.

“This is my mother, Hannah. Mama, this is my neighbor, Tristan.”

His stare met mine, and I watched his lips turn down for a split second, almost as if he was disappointed in my word choice. Soon enough he was smiling and shaking Mama’s hand. “Nice to meet you, Hannah. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“That’s funny.” Mama nodded. “Because I haven’t heard a word about you.”

Silence.

Awkward silence.

“So, should I join you all in the awkward silence, or should I wait by the car?” a man joked, walking up the steps of the porch with a suitcase of his own. He wore glasses and a mustard button-down shirt tucked into dark jeans.

Mama must’ve been on a nerdy boyfriend kick. I wonder if he’s a wizard.

Silence.

Extremely awkward silence.

The man cleared his throat and held his hand out toward Tristan, probably because he noticed Tristan wasn’t giving him an intense look of confusion like I was. “I’m Mike.”

“Nice to meet you, Mike,” Tristan replied.

“What happened to Richard?” I whispered toward Mama.

“It didn’t work out,” she replied.

Shocking.

“So, Mike and I were hoping we could stay the night here. I mean, we could get a hotel room but…I thought it would be nice for us all to have a dinner together and hang out.”

“Mama, tonight is my birthday party. Emma is going over to Kathy and Lincoln’s place for the night.” I frowned. “You should’ve called.”

“You wouldn’t answer.” Her cheeks blushed over, and she fiddled with her fingers, almost as if she was embarrassed. “You wouldn’t answer, Liz.”

And just like that, I felt like the crappiest daughter ever. “We can still do dinner, though…I can cook your favorite meal if you want. And you can watch Emma. I can call and cancel the plans with Kathy.”

Her cheeks rose, and her smile stretched. “That would be wonderful! Tick—er—Tristan, you should join us for dinner.” Her eyes rolled over his body once with a look of disappointment. “Though maybe you should shower first.”

“You still make the best chicken parmesan I’d ever had, Liz,” Mama complimented me as we sat around the dining room table.