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“What are you doing here?” I say, giving her a hug.

“I wanted to surprise you. Although I realize now that I probably should’ve checked in first,” she says, hugging me back tightly.

“No, no, I’m glad to see you. Just shocked.”

We break apart, and she gives me a once-over, her eyes focusing on the helmet I’m still holding in my left hand. “Since when do you ride motorcycles?”

“I don’t,” I reassure her. “We were just going around the block. That’s all.”

I sense Hayden behind me before I can even hear him, and my mother’s curious gaze lands on him. It’s in this moment that I remember I never told her about my relationship with Hayden other than the fact that he’s someone I was planning the funeral with. Oops.

“Hey,” he says, coming to a halt right next to me. “I’m Hayden. It’s nice to meet you.” He holds out his hand for a handshake, his other hand landing on my lower back.

“Oh, hi. I’m Yvonne,” my mom says, shaking his hand. “Robin’s mom. It’s nice to meet you too.” Her eyes drift back and forth between us, her expression confused but intrigued. “So you are … um …”

“Robin’s boyfriend,” he says.

My mom fixes her gaze on me as she lifts an eyebrow.

“So, I might’ve forgotten to mention that.” I give her an apologetic smile.

“You wound me,” Hayden says, but when I tilt my head to look up at him, he’s grinning. “I guess I don’t stand out amongst the sea of boyfriends.”

“Oh, shut up,” I say, whacking him in the stomach with his helmet. “You’re obviously in the top three.”

“I liked it better when you hit me with a pillow,” he mutters, wrestling the helmet out of my hands. “I’m taking this back before you hit me elsewhere with it.”

My mom looks elated at our little conversation. She hasn’t seen me with a boyfriend since I was in high school. My ex didn’t like the whole “meeting the parents” thing.

“Um, let’s go inside,” I suggest. “How long are you visiting for?”

“Until next week, if that’s alright with you?” She follows me up the porch steps to my house.

“Yes, of course. You can stay as long as you want.”

“I’m excited to see Mortimer,” my mom says as I unlock the door for us.

“Hayden is his favorite these days. Mort likes him better than me.”

“That’s not true,” Hayden says. “He only likes me because I secretly feed him treats.”

I slip out of my sneakers and sigh. “Stop spoiling him.”

“He’s a cat. What’s the harm in spoiling him?”

“He has a point,” my mom says, bending down to greet Mortimer, who immediately came running.

“He’s going to get fat,” I protest.

“Don’t fat-shame him,” Hayden says at the same time my mom says, “He’s always been fat.”

They look at each other and laugh. I roll my eyes, but I’m pretty ecstatic to see my mom for the first time in months. It’s nice that she immediately gets along with my boyfriend.

Boyfriend.

That word still sounds weird to me. Maybe that’s why I didn’t fill her in. I haven’t quite wrapped my head around the fact that I’m in a relationship. The traitorous voice in my head also reminds me that my boyfriend won’t be staying in town. He says our relationship won’t end when he leaves, but I still can’t quite imagine how it will work. I don’t doubt that Hayden wants me. I don’t doubt that he truly wants to make this work, but circumstances aren’t on our side.

We can’t always have what we want. From my past experiences, I’ve learned that everything can be taken away at a moment’s notice.