Page 103 of Perfect Pitch

She outright laughs at me. “You chose that, baby. Aren’t you the one who said you’d adjust to New York?”

“But New York isn’t Milwaukee. Or Detroit. Or—”

She cuts in. “I get the idea. You’re cold and you’re busy.” She wonders aloud, “Do you want Gramps to check out this attorney?”

“Hell no! He’d have them investigated and up on a rack before I could make a decision about them. I’ll look into them when I have the time.”

Persistence in my family is both a blessing and a curse. My mother reaches for her iPad and coaxes, “Satisfy your mother’s curiosity. What’s the name of the attorney?”

“Mom,” I groan.

“Austyn, if you’re turning into a big name, let’s weed out the ambulance chasers, shall we? I’m just doing a web search.”

I hadn’t given that much thought since I was too wrapped around Mitch before—literally. “Oh. Okay. Let me get the letter. Close your eyes.”

“Why?” she says exasperatedly.

“Because it’s in my room. And, umm...” Shit, how do I explain to my mother I’m not alone? I mean, we’ve talked about sex but in the general sense. Not in the sense where I’m so in love I’m never going to fall out of it.

God bless my mother for having enough sense for both of us. She says, “Austyn, the smart thing would be to put the tablet down and then get the letter.”

“Right. This is why you’re the mom.”

I think I hear her mutter, “I’m also the mom who got knocked up at seventeen, so I hope like hell you listened to all my lectures about protection.”

Ignoring that, I slip back into the darkened bedroom and root on my end table for the letter I received from LLF LLC earlier today. Mitch mumbles, “Something wrong, Beats?”

I lean down and press a kiss to his forehead. “Nothing. Just talking to my mother.”

His lips curve. “‘Kay,” then he’s lightly snuffling again as he drifts off to his dreamland.

I scoop up the device and wave the letter. “I’m so glad Travis sent us our mail.”

My mother clears her throat delicately, her eyes darting to the door behind me. “Is Travis...?”

Travis is a friend who lives in the building. While Trevor has joined me on this part of the tour of the US, he’s checking on our place regularly. But my mother’s question makes me recall how much I haven’t told her about Mitch except his name. I avert my eyes. “No.”

“Is that a bad thing?” she wonders aloud.

“No. It’s just... no.” My voice is firm. I’m not confusing topics of conversation right now.

“For a later time perhaps?” She throws me a lifeline.

“Christmas,” I declare defensively. Maybe—if things keep going on the same path—my mother can actually meet Mitch. I tear open the flap and rip out the letter, using the letter to hide my nakedness. “Oh, the name of the law firm is LLF LLC.”

I stifle a grin as the student Dr. Paige Kensington was emerges as she scans the salient points of the website she’s reading. “It says here the senior partner used to work as the chief counsel for Wildcard Records.”

I fan myself. “I’m going to faint, Mama. Wildcard?” I quickly fill her in on meeting their representative at Redemption. Even she’s grinning enormously. “That’s twice. Are you kidding me?”

“What does the letter say, Austyn?”

“Hold on. I’ll scan it and send it to you.”

She mutters, disgruntled, “You still have to teach me that.”

“At—”

“Christmas. I know. I’m putting you on hold, honey. I want to read this.”

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