JENNIE

Everything changed after that night.

I hadn't allowed myself to think about a future with Dr. Lisa Manoban, but that restriction vanished as the sun rose the following morning. We had everything working against us. Her schedule, the age difference, and the Felix situation. Despite it all, I wanted to try, and she seemed to as well.

We saw each other as much as we could during the final week while Felix was out of town. Lisa inflicted her "new classics" movies on me while I tried to teach her how to use Snapchat. She told me the filters were stupid, so I put flowers in her hair and showed her how gorgeous she looked. She'd ripped the phone out of my hands, threw it onto her bed, then tossed me down beside it, her hands going for the button of my shorts and an evil grin on her face.

On Thursday evening, she texted me she was leaving the hospital and invited me over for a late dinner. I quickly replied.

Jennie: See you soon.

I was halfway out the door, my purse slung over my shoulder, when my mom's voice rang out from the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" she asked lightly. "Felix's?"

I skidded to a stop. It wasn't until that moment I realized I hadn't told her we'd broken up.

My mom was a genuinely busy person. When I was in high school, she'd been crazy active in volunteering. PTA vice-president. Music boosters. Senior class trip chaperone. She didn't do it to invade my life, and hadn't either. She just liked being involved and couldn't sit still. Even during the weekends when she was home from her demanding IT job, my mom was go-go-go with her nine million hobbies.

The latest one was her garden in the back yard. She was growing everything from vegetables to roses, and determined to make it all the best it could possibly be. She was out there from sunup to sundown, digging and planting and fertilizing and watering.

It meant I rarely saw her this summer.

I closed the door and pivoted on my heel to face her. She wore an old marching band t-shirt from my sophomore year, cotton shorts, and a baseball hat to shield her eyes from the sun. She stood at the fridge filling her water bottle. Even in worn-out clothes and no makeup on, she looked good. Young and pretty, with sharp eyes and mouth that was quick to smile.

The easiest, fastest way to get out the door was to say yes. It wasn't a lie technically. I mean, I was going to Felix's.

My mom and I were close-ish. In high school, I'd felt like I could tell her anything, but the year away at college had changed us a little. After eighteen years of it just being the two of us, I thought we both liked the privacy. We got to be women on our own.

"Uh." Guilt coated my insides. It tasted like a lie as I said it. "Felix's. Yeah."

The water dispenser dripped, and my mother wiped her hand on the side of her shirt. "Oh, I saw Dr. Manoban yesterday."

My breath caught. "What?"

"I took my car into the dealership. Turns out I had a nail in the back tire, and she was there, waiting on an oil change."

"Yeah?" Could she hear how I forced casualness into my voice? "Did you say hi?"

"Yeah." Her tone was matter-of-fact, but then her eyebrows pulled together. "Well, sort of. She was on the phone at first." She screwed the cap shut on her water bottle. "I wasn't trying to eavesdrop, but I heard her asking for restaurant recommendations to take her girlfriend, so I told her about that seafood one we went to last month. That place was great."

My heart slammed to a stop. "Girlfriend?"

She must not have heard me squeak out the word. "She gave me the strangest look." Her eyes abruptly zeroed in, and I used every ounce of acting strength I possessed to look indifferent, even as I cracked into a million pieces inside. Somehow, my mom didn't seem to notice. "If anything," she continued, "she was kind of rude."

It hurt to speak, and I didn't know what to say anyway, so I just stared at her.

"Frankly, I'm surprised she has time to date." The change in my mom's expression wasn't subtle. The corners of her mouth ticked downward as she soured. "I hope it doesn't bother Felix."

"What?" I didn't understand what she meant, but also the world was starting to turn upside-down. Lisa had a girlfriend. How was it even possible? When was she squeezing in time to see this other woman?

My mom shrugged. "You said you hardly ever see Dr. Manoban. Now it sounds like Felix has to share his limited time with someone else."

And in my mother's eyes, Lisa still had a lot to make up for.

I blinked, readjusted the purse on my shoulder, and stalled to give my brain time to come back up to speed. "I didn't know she had a girlfriend." All I could think about was getting answers from her. "But I've gotta go."

"Okay." My mom brightened. "Have fun."

As I opened the door and trudged through it, the voice in my mind whispered back it was highly doubtful.

During the drive over, I attempted to organize my thoughts on what I should say. Should I mention the meeting with my mom and see if she'd come out with it? Or did I go in, guns blazing and full of wrath? That was a tall order. Sure, I was angry. It was inside me somewhere, but it was buried under two tons of hurt and disappointment.

I nearly slammed on the brakes when I pulled up to the vacant house down the street from Lisa's. The 'for sale' sign on a white post flapped in the breeze, and a large red sticker cut a diagonal across it, boasting it was now sold. Which meant I couldn't hide my car in its secluded driveway anymore. I had no choice but to park in Lisa's, where I knew Somi would see it.

Fucking great.

I parked, went inside without announcing myself, and found Lisa in the kitchen. She took one look at me, and concern swept through her expression. She'd been setting the table, but hesitated. "What's wrong?"

I slapped my purse down on the island and gave her a hard look. "You ran into my mother yesterday."

"Oh. Yeah, I did." She abandoned her task and strode toward me. When I took a step back, her concern grew ten-fold.

"She said you were rude to her."

"If I was, I'm sorry. She completely caught me off guard. As soon as I got off the phone, she was right there, and I didn't know what to say. I don't think she realized she was giving me a restaurant recommendation on where to take you to dinner."

"What?" Circuits crossed in my brain and fried out. "She told me you have a girlfriend."

It was her turn to look confused. "Isn't that . . . you?"

Me? Her question physically knocked me back. I was thrilled and scared at the same time. Putting a label on us meant it was serious, and I wanted that, but I also didn't want the consequences that came with it.

My reaction didn't go over all that well with her, and her expression went plain. "I'm forty years old." She sighed. "Honestly, I don't have time for games. I like you, and you like me, and we've been doing . . . whatever it is we've been doing for over a month now." She put her hands on her hips, showing off her perfect frame and her toned arms. "Even though I know it's complicated, I'd like to keep doing it. Don't you?"

I did, but I was scared. Felix was the only real boyfriend I'd had. Was I ready for another relationship so soon? And with my ex's dada?

Lisa's posture softened. "Talk to me."

"I do, but . . ." My gaze dropped to her feet as I finally gave up fighting what I knew was unavoidable. My voice was small. "We have to tell Felix."

When she moved, Lisa's shadow joined mine on the tile floor. "We do." Her hand covered mine resting on the countertop, and she used it to slowly lead me into her embrace. I could sense her gaze on me, and it forced my attention back up to her. "I thought I was going to have to fight you on this." Her dark, deep eyes studied me, gauging my feelings. "I was thinking I'll do it next weekend. You'll both be heading back to school, so it will give him some space right after."

It made sense. It'd probably be easier for Felix's to get through his feelings if he didn't have to see his dada every day, or at least live under the same roof.

"Shouldn't I be the one to tell him?" He was my ex, and until recently, had been my best friend.

Lisa shook her head. "I need to do it. He's going to be . . . upset."

"Do you want me there when you—"

"No. I'd like to explain it to him alone. That way he can focus on me instead of you."

I tugged my eyebrows together and pressed my lips into a line. She wanted to spare me from Felix's anger and take the blame, but that wasn't fair. We hadn't planned on getting involved, Lisa and I had just . . . happened. I didn't like her having to do this on her own, but she was older and wiser, not to mention Felix's dada. Their relationship was the most important thing in Lisa's life. I had to trust her to know what was right.

"You're sure?" I asked reluctantly.

"Yes."

"Okay," I said. "I don't like it, but if you think that's best—okay."

She gave a slight smile. "Good. I'll feel better when it's done. No more hiding."

I shot her a funny look. "Who's hiding? You told someone you have a girlfriend. Who were you talking to?"

"Chief of surgery. I was asking him to clear my calendar for Wednesday."

My breath caught, but I hoped she didn't notice. Did she know? "What's Wednesday?"

Her expression was coy, and good lord, she was sexy as sin like that. "Someone's birthday." She dropped a quick kiss on my lips. "I should tell you, twenty is the worst birthday."

I was stunned. Felix was terrible at dates and usually forgot. Even when he remembered, it felt like a last-minute scramble. He wasn't one to look ahead in his calendar. But Lisa? She probably had alerts programmed into her phone, and the idea that one of them included me made my heart flutter.

"Do you have plans?" she asked.

I draped my arms over her shoulders and pulled her close. "I do now."