Page 77 of The Glass Dolphin

“Smells good,” Maddy said.

“Bacon and eggs wedding day breakfast,” Chelsea chirped. She’d shown up yesterday afternoon, all smiles, and Maddy hadn’t asked her any questions about Robert, because she didn’t want Chelsea to shut down.

Maddy hummed and sat at the kitchen counter. She let her daughter serve her, and when Chelsea sat down with her own plate of food, Maddy casually took a bite of scrambled egg and looked at her daughter. “How was meeting Rob’s parents?”

A smile bloomed instantly on Chelsea’s face, and oh, Maddy knew that look. “It actually went really great, Mom.”

“Mm.” Maddy picked up a piece of perfectly crisp bacon. Chelsea liked it well-done, and that was fine with Maddy. Ben would think it overdone, but he got to like his bacon how he liked it.

“Don’t just hum,” Chelsea said, her smile slipping and her frustration leaking into her voice. “Tell me what to do.”

“You haven’t told me anything about him,” Maddy said.

“That is not true.” Chelsea rolled her eyes. “We’ve been dating for months now. Maybe eight or nine? His parents are really nice. Still married.” She started rattling off facts about them, about Rob’s life in Boston, where he’d grown up in Wellesley.

“This is all great,” Maddy finally said, their breakfast long gone now. “But Chels, how do you feel about him? Do you really know him? Does he know you?”

“We’re working on it,” Chelsea said.

“That doesn’t actually answer my questions.” Maddy stood and picked up her plate, then her daughter’s. “I’m not going to tell you what to do if you can’t even tell me how you feel about him.” She moved over to the sink and started rinsing their dishes. She loaded them in the dishwasher, waiting for Chelsea to speak.

Once she’d completed the chore, she looked pointedly at her daughter. Chelsea ran both hands down her face. “I don’t know, Mom.”

“I don’t know is not good.”

“It’s good,” she said slowly. “I like him far more than anyone else I’ve been out with in college. I’m almost done, and then…” She let the words hang there. “I know I’ll still be able to meet men once I’m not in college, but it kind of feels like I won’t.”

“Rob’s not in college.”

“Yeah.” Chelsea didn’t expand on that, and Maddy wished she could take all of her worries and iron them flat. “He’s great.” She stared at something only she could see. “I like him a whole lot.”

“You’ve said that twice now,” Maddy teased.

Her daughter blinked and focused on Maddy, who raised her eyebrows. “I’m not going to move in with him.”

“I didn’t know that was on the table.”

“He offered last night,” she said. “But I know that brownstone is going to come through.”

“Eloise’s?”

She shook her head. “No, she said it’s rented already. Had she known I needed somewhere, but…she didn’t.”

“You found somewhere else?”

“Yeah, I think so.” Chelsea sounded confident enough, but Maddy moved over to stand in front of her.

“Listen,” she said. “I don’t want this to be one of those things where you try to pretend everything is going to be fine when it’s not.”

“Mom, I don’t do that.”

“Yes, you do.” Maddy cradled her face in one palm. “I know you, Chels, and you do.” Her daughter didn’t argue with her again. “If you don’t have somewhere to stay, you tell me. Right away. Up front. I don’t want you living in a dangerous situation. We have options.”

“Like what?”

“A long-term hotel,” she said. “A vacation rental. There are places that aren’t your friend’s couch or your car. Promise me right now you will not get yourself into a bad situation. You just have to say something.”

Tears filled Chelsea’s eyes, and she nodded. “Okay,” she whispered.

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