“Would you just look at this place?” says my mother as she walks around my kitchen. “My gosh, I remember it being so much bigger.” She got here just before midnight, and she chuckles as she drags her fingers along the kitchen counter and makes her way over to the apothecary I love so much. “But it’s been a long time since I was here.” Mom tugs a drawer open and crinkles her nose before she slams it shut. “They didn’t refurbish everything, did they?”

I frown and wonder why my mother is being so negative. She hasn’t had one nice thing to say about my house since she walked in the door a half hour ago, and I’m surprised she hasn’t started a punch list of things to fix. It’s not as if she has to live here. Maybe I’m just cranky because it’s late, so I paste on a smile as I walk over to the chest of drawers she’s not impressed with. “I’m glad they didn’t. I adore this piece so much. It’s a slice of history and tradition, don’t you think?”

“It’s a slice of something all right.” She chuckles. “Which reminds me. I did find a great place for blueberry pie down in the southern part of this state. They know how to do it in Maine. That’s for sure.”

Finally. Something positive. I jump on it. “I have a pint of blueberries I picked last summer in the freezer. We could have them in pancakes or muffins tomorrow if you want.”

“That sounds lovely,” says Mom as she places my teakettle on the stove with a thud, and the gas burner ticks as she lights it to heat up water. “Where’s your tea?” she asks, but she doesn’t wait for an answer as she opens and shuts the cabinets until she finds my tins.

As Mom reads my handwritten labels, I ask, “Would you like me to get your bag from the car?” She came inside with just her purse earlier and a desperate need to use my bathroom.

“Yes, thank you. I only need the one on the passenger seat tonight. We can unload all the others in the morning.”

All the others? I frown, wondering what she means by that. I can’t imagine how much she’ll need to stay with me for a few weeks, but I don’t ask as I walk to the front door to go find out. When I get to her car, I discover it’s packed to the brim. It’s as if she’s brought everything—oh my god! I think my mother plans to move here. And since this is her brother’s house, and she’s been walking around it as if she’s figuring out how to make it habitable, she might think that also means living with me.

Oh boy. I love my mother, but there’s a reason I lived in an apartment with friends once I got out of college. Living with her will mean I’m under her scrutiny. And I can only imagine the grief she’ll give me for spending every night at Lance’s house. Breathe, Dawn. I close my eyes and open my arms to the universe as I seek to calm myself.

I don’t know for sure Mom wants to live with me, so there is no sense in freaking out yet. Once I’ve let the earth’s restorative energy flow through me and my pulse has slowed to normal, I open her car door and grab the bag. I bring it into the living room and drop it with a thud near the stairs. I can carry it upstairs later. Once she’s had her tea, I’ll show Mom her room and make sure she doesn’t need anything.

I take a deep breath and blow it out slowly as I readjust my thinking to be positive before I return to the kitchen and say, “It looks like you’ve left Florida for a while. Are you planning on moving to Maine?”

Mom frowns at me as she lifts her mug to her mouth and blows on it. “Yes. Don’t you remember our discussion about that? Honestly, Dawn. Your head is in the clouds more often than not. Or have we reached the point in our relationship where you just tune me out now?”

I sigh. “I don’t tune you out. It’s just that when we talked about it, you weren’t definitive.” I walk over to make myself a cup of tea too. “It doesn’t matter. I’m glad you’re here.”

“Good.” She smiles at me. “Because I’m happy to be here.” She lets out a yawn and then says, “I’m beat. Can we catch up tomorrow? I could really use some sleep.”

“Of course,” I say, and I walk with her to bring her to the guest room. Once she’s settled, I take my tea and go to my room. When I get there, I chastise myself for thinking the worst about my mom. For all I know, she’s planning on finding a place of her own and reconnecting with childhood friends to keep herself occupied. Since she’s got a background in the restaurant business, she may even have plans to open the magical teashop or bakery she’s always talked about. I don’t know what I’m worried about. I bet she’s even going to like Lance and be thrilled for me having found my soul mate.

After I get my bedtime routine done, I climb under my covers and immediately miss sleeping with my furnace of a bear, Lance. My sheets feel cold to me, and I wonder how I ever managed to sleep well before I met him. I grab my phone from my nightstand and send him a text. I miss you. I clutch my phone to my chest as I let the memory of him holding me flood my mind.

My cell buzzes, and I look at it to see Lance texted me back. Miss you too. Is your mom all settled?

I smile and text him back. And like kids, we have a silly conversation back and forth until I can barely keep my eyes open. I fall asleep with my phone in my hand and with Lance in my heart.

The next morning, I awake to the scent of coffee in the air, and I immediately roll over to feel for Lance beside me. But when I open my eyes, I realize I’m in my bed and that the coffee was likely made by my mother. I check my phone and smile when I see a good morning from Lance with a heart emoji. After I send him a quick text back, I head downstairs and find Mom humming to herself as she makes pancakes.

She turns to me with a spatula in her hand. “Good morning, sunshine. It’s a glorious winter day. Don’t you just love the way the sun shimmers on the snow-covered field?”

I smile at her and make my way to the coffee pot. “It is beautiful.” The pot clatters as I remove it. “You’re up early.”

“That’s because I have a lot to do. I need to get a meeting with Tori, shop for some warm clothing, and goodness this place is a mess.” A pancake splats as she flips it. “I did a little organizing. How old do you think that cauldron is anyway? I’m going to need a new one of those too.”

The wonderful afterglow of my thoughts about Lance vanish to be replaced with slight panic as I notice a pile of dried leaves, roots, a few claws, animal teeth, and numerous other oddities one might use for spells sitting on the counter. She must have cleaned out my supplies, which kicks my panic up a notch more because I bet she rearranged too. I recall the time she decided the liquor bottles in my bar should be organized to be visually pleasing. But more pressing than how I’m going to find things is why she cleaned. “Hold on a minute,” I say. “What do you mean, you ‘need a new cauldron,’ and why are you meeting with Tori?”

“To start the transition, Dawn.” She shakes her head and grabs two plates from the cabinet. “And since you love that apothecary so much, we might as well see about getting it shipped to Florida for you too.”

I blink in shock. And then I wrack my brain, trying to figure out when exactly we had a conversation that would make her think I’m leaving. Let alone giving up my position in the clan so she can take my place. And then it hits me. When she first mentioned coming to visit, she suggested that she might be willing to take my spot as the clan’s medicine woman. But I never agreed to it, and now I have to figure out how I’m going to tell her I have no intention of leaving.