Page 133 of Catch the Sun

My bedroom looks the same, not a thing out of place. Bookbinding items lay strewn across my desk and my bedsheets are rumpled from the last time I slept in them. Even my lava lamp burns bright, splashing a magenta glow across my cantaloupe walls.

I lean into the walker, my fingers curling around the grips.

“I’ll give you some privacy,” Mom says from behind me, her hand extending to squeeze my shoulder. “Take your time and relax. I’m going to make us a hot meal.”

I stare blankly at a horse poster taped to my wall and imagine myself riding under a Michigan sky. “I’m not hungry.”

“You should eat. You’ll need your strength while you heal.”

“I’m healing fine. Moving around, getting stronger every day.” True enough. My muscle atrophy has dwindled, thanks to weeks of physical therapy. I even took a few steps without the walker this morning. “I’ll eat when I’m hungry.”

“Ella.”

“What was it you were going to tell me at the hospital that first day when I woke up?” My teeth clench as I keep my gaze pinned across the room. I hear my mother’s sharp intake of breath behind me before it ghosts along the back of my neck. “You haven’t brought it up again. Sounded important.”

A few quiet beats tick by. “Your grandmother is in hospice care. I didn’t want to worry you.”

“You already told me she was sick.”

“Yes, but it’s worse than I led you to believe. She doesn’t have a lot of time left.”

My heart twists. Grandma Shirley and I have never been all that close, but she’s my family. And aside from me, she’s all my mother has left. “I’m sorry. Iwish I could visit her.”

“I know, sweetheart,” Mom says. “I’m going to make us some din—”

“But that’s not it,” I interrupt.

She pauses, sucking in that breath again. “What?”

My chest thrums with a tug of intuition. Mom is keeping something from me. I know it. She’s upset about Grandma Shirley, sure, but that’s not what she was going to tell me at the hospital that night. I turn around slowly, holding on to my walker for support. My mother stands there, one hand pressed to her collarbone as her eyes shimmer with unspoken words. “Tell me,” I urge her.

Her eyes dip to the carpet.

“Mom…please.”

“Fine,” she relents, her throat bobbing through a swallow. “It’s…about Kai’s father. Ricardo.”

I blink.

It takes a moment for the words to process because I wasn’t expecting them. “What about him?”

“Well, we became closer over the past few months while you were in the hospital. We started dating,” she confesses. “I didn’t want to shake you up. I know it’s strange. I haven’t dated anyone since your father left and that was over a decade ago, so I hope you don’t think any less of—”

“Mom,” I cut her off. “I think it’s awesome. Why would you be afraid to tell me that?”

Her lips thin as her head swings back and forth and her shoulders lift with a shrug. “I…don’t really know. I’m sorry. I thought you’d be rattled and take it the wrong way.”

Frowning, I shake my head back at her. “No way. I’m happy for you. Of course I am.”

“Really?”

“Really.” My eyes narrow as I simmer in the bombshell. “Brynn didn’t tell me.”

“I asked her not to. I thought it would be too much for you to process. You were so fragile, Ella. I wanted to be careful.”

“Well, it’s fine. It’s more than fine,” I say, feeling a prickle of joy for the first time in a while. Mom has been lonely. She deserves to settle down and enjoyromance again. “I’m happy for you.”

Her smile tightens as she bobs her head quickly. “Thank you. I’ll go whip up a casserole. You should eat something.”

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