The look on my mom’s face when I walk into the kitchen, hand in hand with Angie?…Priceless.

Both palms go up and cover her mouth to choke back her surprised gasp.

“Hi Polly.” A broad smile covers Angie’s face as her fingers slip from mine. She goes over and wraps my mother in a hug.

Mom is in tears within two seconds, flat. She and Angie sway side to side.

“How come I don’t get welcomed like that when I come over by myself?” I tease as I edge my way past them to deposit the bottle of wine I brought on the counter.

With happy tears spilling down her cheeks, my mother swipes a dismissive hand in my direction. “Oh my god, the two of you!” The pad of her finger moves along the rim of her eye to push back the wetness. “You can’t just spring this sort of thing on me and expect me to keep it together.” She laughs gleefully as she and Angie pull apart.

Angie pokes fun at her. “Those are happy tears, right? I just want to make sure.”

“Ecstatic tears,” Mom says. More sniffling. More laughter. “I’m about to melt into a pool of joy, right here on the kitchen floor.” Her gaze turns to me. “When did this happen?”

I lift a shoulder nonchalantly, bringing a slice of fresh homemade bread to my lips. “A couple days ago.” I’m doing a pretty good job of downplaying my excitement.

Angie comes up and tucks herself beside me. Instinctively, my arm comes around her. “A couple days ago? I thought you’d be counting the hours!” She leans forward and steals a bite of my bread.

“Ninety-eight hours,” I say then turn my wrist over to check my watch. “And twenty-three minutes…And forty-two seconds.” She giggles into my chest and I press a kiss to her scalp.

A pot of something overboils on the stove and my mother hurries over to stir it. “Well, I’ll tell you that I’m ecstatic at this news. Tell me how it happened.”

Angie looks into my face and I look into hers, nothing but joy pulsing between us. “It just happened,” I say. “We talked about things and we found common ground and now, here we are.”

“We’re taking it slow,” Angie adds cautiously. I call bullshit. We both dove back into this thing, headfirst. The feelings between us are too strong, too powerful to tamp down. It’s not like we could just twist a dial and turn down the volume. Our passion for each other is loud and unapologetic and out of control.

I bite back a smile. “Yes, we’re taking it slow and I’ll be patient but if you think you’re ever getting away from me again, you’re mistaken, little lady.” I grin, lifting the last bite of the bread to my lips.

She intercepts, plucking it from my fingers and popping it into her mouth. “I’ve gotta say that I love the way that sounds,” she says as she chews.

Mom tastes the sauce then throws a glance at me over her shoulder. “Crack open that bottle of wine. I need a glass to celebrate.”

A big, broad body comes strolling down the hallway. “What are we celebrating?” Madden asks, walking into the room. When his gaze falls on Angie, a single bushy brow rises high on his forehead. “Well, hello there…”

“Hey Madden.” Angie’s cheeks go pink as my brother turns his suggestive gaze on me.

His hand comes up for a high five. “Finally, man!” he bellows as our palms connect. “Took you long enough to seal the deal.”

“Come on, dude! Don’t tell me you didn’t have faith that I could get my girl back!”

My brother shrugs. “I was starting to have my doubts, man.”

I squeeze her to me and she giggles. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” she reminds us all.

Mom is at the stove sprinkling herbs into the pot. “Oh honey, it might be a little too late for that. I’ve already got your wedding dress all picked out…” At Angie’s semi-horrified gasp, my mom laughs. “…No pressure.”

The jovial mood in the room fizzles out when Clyde steps into the kitchen with a grave look in his eyes.

One glance at her husband and my mother abandons the sauce, dropping the spoon onto the counter. “Honey…” She swallows hard, her expression shrouded by apprehension. “What’s wrong?”

A quivering breath comes out of the man’s throat. No one else in the room dares to take a breath.

“It’s cancer,” he says, “And it’s bad.”