Chapter 16

We eat in a small dining room, with marble statues in each corner and soft orange lights dotted around the walls. I say we eat, but I mostly nibble at the edges of my pasta. Theodore and Mom don't seem to notice, but Aiden glances at me occasionally, his serious face tight, his eyes angry. I bet he wants to say something.

Molly and Theodore talk about a recent shopping trip. Mom jokes about being a shopaholic, but it all feels slightly forced. Maybe it's the tension in the air, knowing I might have to leave tomorrow. I should want to go.

"She doesn't just shop," Theodore says, looking lovingly at my mom. After learning what happened to her—what, gulp, what my dad did to her—seeing her with such a supportive husband means the world to me. Even if this same husband might go to war with my brothers. Remind me how life got so complicated again?

"You sing too, right, Mom?" I say.

Mom's face lights up as though she's surprised. I'm unsure if it's because I called her mom or because I remember what we talked about earlier. I'll never forget a single word of my first actual conversation with my mom!

"Sometimes … alone, where no one can hear me," she laughs. "I think it's better that way."

"Don't be silly," I say. "I think you sounded amazing."

Theodore and Aiden snap around to stare at me, their eyes wide. Mom is suddenly looking down at the table, her cheeks turning red as if I've said something wrong.

"What?" I ask, shifting uncomfortably in my seat, feeling the hard wood digging into my sit bones.

"She never sings for anybody," Theodore mutters, almost with awe in his voice, almost jealously. "In all the years we've known each other … how many times, dear? Once?"

"That was too much champagne," Mom mutters.

"Nobody, Ania," Aiden says.

"It was so beautiful," I say, thinking back to earlier when she stood with her hand on her stomach, her angelic voice filling the room, almost a whisper to it, like she was telling me a secret. "It seemed so effortless."

"With you, maybe," Theodore says. "With her daughter. That's amazing, Molly. Wow. Just wow!"

"We've spent too long apart," Mom says, finally looking back up at me. "When you asked to hear me sing, I couldn't say no, even if I was very nervous."

"Aw, Mom." I have a feeling there might be tears in my eyes. "It was beautiful."

"This is beautiful," Theodore says, raising his glass. "Mother and daughter reunited."

"I just wish I'd done it sooner," Mom whispers, raising her glass.

"Me too," I whisper, and Mom flinches like I've hit her. What does she want me to do, lie? Does she want me to pretend I was happy to live my life without a mother?

"To new beginnings," Theodore goes on.

Aiden raises his glass, too, but I can feel him looking at me. There's a question in his intense eyes. I don't let myself look at him long enough for him to read any answer.

"How did you two meet?" I say, trying to change the subject.

"She saved me," Theodore speaks with enthusiasm.

"That's an exaggeration," Mom says.

"It is not. I was at a loss with my career and my life. Then one day, while getting wasted at a bar I had no business being at, there she was—my angel, my Molly."

"It wasn't as romantic as he's making it sound," Mom tells me. "I was working as a barmaid, trying to put the past behind me—still terrified, honestly, of …"

"Of my dad," I say.

She nods. "I didn't know what this rich guy wanted with me. I was nervous, cold, and probably mean, but he kept coming back. We did crosswords."

I can't help but smile. "Crosswords?"

"That way, I didn't have the chance to bore her with one of my long-winded stories." Theodore takes Mom's hands, the apparent love shimmering between them. "We could just focus on the crosswords. Eventually, she figured out I wasn't trying to guess the answers. I just wanted each crossword to last as long as possible."

Even Aiden has a slight smile on his face as he watches them.

"What about …" I pause, realizing how rude that would be.

Aiden glances at me. "My mother died almost a decade ago."

"I'm sorry."

"It's life," Mom says. "People pass; people move on. Tragedies happen. Somehow, we learn to deal with it. We learn to keep moving."

I nod, clinging to her words. That's what I'll always have to do. Keep moving. Whatever happens, even if it means letting go of this stuff with Aiden. I mean, what stuff, anyway? It's not like I can give into this desire, feelings that shouldn't even exist if we're going to play like happy families.

I need to be strong. I need to take action, not just let life happen to me. Maybe there's a way I can have my brothers and my mom in my life.

"I want to come tomorrow," I tell Aiden.