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Bella pulls me through the crowd, pointing out the things she or the girls helped prepare. She's really pleased with herself for thinking of and creating a ring toss game on such short notice. It was a last-minute addition to the carnival-themed event because the principal refused to sign off on a dunking booth.

She buys me a bag of cotton candy and hands over a hundred-dollar bill, telling the vendor to keep the change. When I ask her what she's doing, she holds up her wallet with a wicked grin.

"Rabbit and Ali told me it would be tacky if I just handed over a check to cover Bob's medical expenses. They didn't say I couldn't buy one of everything and donate my change to the cause."

"I love you." I chuckle and kiss her softly. "Can we go somewhere to talk real quick?"

She nods and leads the way to the gym that's still being set up for Mr. Banner's retirement party. I'm not surprised to see the girls there. Angela and Ben are organizing the food while Alice and Jasper hang streamers with their friends.

They wave when they see us and go back to work.

"What did you want to talk about?" Bella asks, playing with the buttons on my jacket.

"I got a visit today at work."

That sexy but still terrifying growl is back, and she plucks one of the buttons right off, crushing it in her hand.

"If you're about to tell me that your ex-wife came to see you, I will hunt her down and—"

I laugh and cover her mouth with my hand. "No, kitten. It was my mom."

"Oh." She throws her head back and laughs. "Why didn't you just say that?"

"You're the one who jumped to conclusions. One of her friends saw us while we were at the movies last week and spilled the beans. She's pissed that I've kept her out of the loop."

"Ah. Is she mad you kept putting off telling them?"

"You have no idea." I tell her about the entire office visit, and she doesn't even try to control her laughing.

She looks around. "Well, where is she?"

"Back at the house. I invited her, but she didn't want to blindside you in public. And she wanted to stay and bake the girls their favorite cookies."

Bella "accidentally" drops a wad of cash in the donation box on the way out of the gym despite Angela's dirty looks. We spend a couple hours helping where we can and end up raising a lot of money. There isn't a dry eye when Mr. Banner stands to give a speech full of thanks.

Bella throws Alice the keys and tells her not to crash her car before turning to me.

"Let's go home."

I hold the door open for her. "Are you nervous about meeting my mom for the first time?" I ask when I get in, remembering how anxious I was before Renee and Charlie's first visit and that happened before we got together.

She shakes her head. "I'm a lot of things, but not nervous. I can't wait to meet the woman who made you the man you are today."

I kiss her palm, and she rests her head against the window. "I can't wait for all the embarrassing stories she's going to share with me."