Page 21 of When Love Is Unexpected

"Oh, boy," Mom says. "He confronted you?"

"It wasn't a confrontation," I say. "Just a very heated discussion."

"Where was Sam?" she asks.

"He was standing about thirty feet away, waiting. Eric accused me of breaking up with him because Sam is back in town."

"You can understand why it might look that way to him, given the timing."

"He asked me if I'm in love with Sam."

Mom waits for an answer as if it could be anything other than no.

"Mom," I say, "you too?"

"Laila, Sweetie," she begins, reaching for my hand. "You can lie to Eric, Sam, and even yourself, but you can't lie to me."

I look at her, shaking my head, not quite grasping what she's trying to say. Okay, I'm grasping, but I'm not accepting what she's suggesting.

"You were crushed when Sam left," Mom says, knowing I can't argue with that truth nugget. "You cried every day for a week after he left. Then, once you started talking to him on the phone, you couldn't wait to hear from him each and every day. I expected the enthusiasm you showed every time he called to wear off after a few weeks, but it never did. These past two weeks, you were moping around because you hadn't heard from him. From the outside looking in, you looked like a woman in love."

"That's impossible," I say. "Sam and I are just friends. Why complicate things by suggesting there could be more?"

"Because if there is more, it has to come out before he leaves again."

"That's two months away," I say.

"Two months will fly by, and he'll be gone if you don't stop him."

"I can't believe you're telling me this, Mom."

"I love you, Baby," she says, squeezing my hands. "I want nothing more than to see you happy. Sam makes you happy."

"You know what he told me today? He said he would rather have me as a friend for the next sixty years than do something that could end our friendship."

"Like what?" she asks.

I was afraid she'd ask.

"His sister is getting married. Sam will be the only remaining member of his family who is still single. I guess they put a lot of pressure on him because he doesn't have a special someone." I put air quotes on the words “special someone” for emphasis. "He asked me if I'd pretend to be his girlfriend on this trip to keep his family off his back."

"Oh boy," Mom says.

"You don't approve."

"I don't like deception, Sweetheart. If his family finds out, they'll never trust you again. They'll forgive Sam, but they might not forgive you. So, no, I don't like it."

"I never thought of that," I say.

"Well, that's why God made moms. We think of everything."

I laugh, and she laughs with me. This is a reminder of why I believe my mother is the most wonderful person I know.

"So, what do I do?" I ask. "Call the whole thing off? What do I tell Sam? He thinks I'm all in, but you're right. I don't want to make enemies of people who matter to me because they matter to Sam."

"Your father and I agreed to this trip because we want you and Sam to have time to reconnect and figure out if there's something more than friendship between you."

"Dad has turned out to be quite a matchmaker," I say. “Katherine, then Loren, and now me?"

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