Summer is settling in for good. Gone are the cool spells. It’s too warm to think, and Matt gave me today off from work at the Mancave with orders to rest. He said the garage can go on for a day without me, and that it’s too hot inside the small office anyway with the air conditioner sputtering, on its last legs.

There’s no arguing with him when he gets superprotective.

Mary and Cole are staying with their other grandmother today, and Hailey is coming over, with the little ones. Mom offered to come over and help me make cold lemonade and cookies to have on the back veranda where it’s cooler.

“You should sit outside and wait for me,” Mom says, taking out the trays of fragrant cookies. “Rest your feet.”

“Mom, stop fussing. My feet are fine.” It’s only been two weeks since our trip to Destiny and back. My bump hasn’t even gotten much bigger. “Put the tray down here, and I’ll bring plates.”

She sighs and grumbles, and I honestly don’t ever remember her putting her feet up in her life, ever—though truth be told I don’t remember her pregnant with Gigi or Merc. I was too little.

“These came out good.” Mom places the tray on the counter and flits around the kitchen, gathering plates and glasses before I even take a step toward the cupboards. “I made you some butter cake, too. Did you see it? It’s here, all wrapped up.”

“Mom! Slow down. And stop baking for me. I shouldn’t eat so many sweets.”

“Oh, honey, I love baking for you. Baby needs to eat. And I mean, God knows when your sister will give me a grandchild. She’s a flighty one.”

“Flighty? And what’s this discrimination? What about Merc?”

“Merc would want to settle down.”

“Merc? Are we talking about the same guy here?”

“Deep inside of him, he wants to find a good girl and start a home. I know it.”

Okay, Mom… I huff, blow a strand of hair off my face, and fan myself. So warm.

“Go on, go sit outside. I’ll bring everything,” Mom insists, shooing me out, and I blink because… she’s wearing dangling earrings shaped like peacock feathers?

Really?

Something’s been different about her, lately, and I wasn’t able to put my finger on it until now, but there it is, plain as day.

She’s a sexier version of my mom.

Dressed in a flowing dress that ends above the knees, a wide belt cinched at her waist, considerable cleavage, with her hair pulled back in an artful chignon, and make-up.

Yep, that’s make-up. Discreet, for sure, just a touch of mascara and eyeshadow, but it makes Mom’s pretty eyes shine.

I stop and turn around. “Mom?”

“Yeah, Tati. What is it?” She places her fists on her hips and smiles at me.

“Why are you dressed up? What’s going on?” I glance around us. “Is there a photographer lurking around? Are we having a surprise party?”

She frowns. “Surprise party? No, not that I know of. Why?”

“You’re all… dressed up.”

Her mouth opens and closes.

Then she laughs. “Oh, that? You only just noticed?”

Warmth seeps into my face. “Well, yes. What’s going on? You’re… Mom, are you dating someone?”

“You make it sound like it’s a bad thing. I know I’m kind of old for that…”

“What? No. Mom, I don’t think that.”

She’s young. She had us young. She’s barely forty. “Who is the guy?”

“A neighbor. Mr. Nelson.” Color rises to her cheeks. “Paul.”

Oh my God. Mom is blushing because of this Paul. Never thought I’d see the day. It feels weird. A bit embarrassing. I mean, it’s my mom, and she’s blushing like a schoolgirl. She’s dating someone.

But that’s just my daughterly hang-up.

“I’m happy for you.” I catch her hands in mine, those callused, hard-working hands that look much older than the rest of her. “I hope he makes you happy. Don’t let him…” I swallow hard, flashes of Jasper Jones and Ross going through my mind. “Don’t let him hurt you, Mom, okay? If he doesn’t treat you right, you walk away.”

Her eyes fill up. “Okay.”

“You deserve only the best,” I whisper, and hug her. “The best in the world.”

* * *

“Can’t wait to see Ashley baby,” Mom says as she sets up the table on the veranda. “I don’t see her often enough, or Shawn baby, for that matter.”

Mom for some reason decided to decorate the names of Hailey’s kids with the ‘baby’ tag. She says, if asked, that it’s to differentiate them from others, but what others? Not like we have any other Ashley or Shawn in the family.

I dread to find out what she’ll be calling mine.

A honk from the street sends us crossing the house to the front porch. Hailey’s car is parked right in the front, and I go down the steps to greet her. She smiles at me from behind the wheel.

“Heya,” she says, and kills the engine. “Long time no see.”

That’s true. “We should meet more often.” I wiggle my fingers at the kids in their baby seats in the back. “Hey, guys.”

Shawn waves back, his smile uncertain. His hair is dark, falling straight like a curtain over his forehead. So cute. Ashley is facing backward, in her super baby seat, and can’t see me. Her small head bobs like an apple in a bucket.

So funny.

Hailey gets out of the car and together we get the kids out. She takes Shawn who is heavier, and I pick up Ashley who weighs practically nothing.

I bury my nose in her blond curls. Why do babies smell so good? Like milk and sugar and powder.

Mom leads the way to the back, and we sit in the comfy bamboo chairs with the big flowery cushions. I bounce Ashley on my knee, and Hailey places her chair strategically to prevent a hyperactive Shawn from tumbling down the steps to the garden.

She’s so pretty. She’s like this urban goddess, with her chic haircut, the highlights, the tall, curvy body. I’ve always felt like a little girl beside her.

Not anymore, though, I realize as I lean closer, listening to tales of Shawn’s feats of destruction, laughing until my side hurts. No idea when the change happened, and I doubt it has to do with the way my boobs grew bigger these past few months.

It’s how Matt loves me, I think and lean back, wiping tears of laughter from my eyes. The way he looks at me, the way he holds me, like I’m the most beautiful woman in the world. It took me a while to believe it—heck, a couple of years—but it’s finally seeped in, the knowledge that he only wants me, and no other girl.

That’s enough to make a girl feel like a princess, right?

Ashley squirms on my lap, and I stroke her fuzzy head. My life is perfect.

Almost perfect. Evan is moving to St. Louis this week, and I really hope he’ll tell his daughter the truth, that he’ll find peace, and a love of his own.

And Ross… Yeah, not going to think about him any longer. I hope he finds his own peace, somehow. He, and Jasper, and everyone in Destiny. I won’t feel responsible for them any longer.

I’ll save my time and energy for those who love me, those who earned a place in my heart. And there are many of those around me, and more I have yet to meet.

Right, Bean?