“Yes, you’re right.”

“And, by the way, if you weren’t coming home because of me, why didn’t you tell me that? I thought it was because of your job and because you hate Vale Park. Not that…” She sighed, as did he. That was her cue to stop. “It doesn’t matter. You’re here now.”

“Yes, I’m here now. With agirlfriend. Isn’t that great? Aren’t you happy?”

Heidi tilted her head and studied her son. He didn’t sound happy. And wasn’t that the point? Wasn’t that always the point? That her kids were happy? “Honey, areyouhappy? This has nothing to do with me.”

His expression flashed with remorse before his spine stiffened. “Yeah, I’m totally happy. Iris is great. She’s my best friend.”

Hearing him say that about the woman she’d spent the better part of the morning obsessing over and then quite literallyfuckingwas not far off from a kick to the crotch. She prayed her facial expression was one of congratulations and not indignation. To say she was struggling was the understatement of the century. How was she supposed to handle this? Just let it all go? Did she need to tell him what happened? She was always so concerned with him being honest that not being honest in return would be a huge breach of her principles…right? “So, tell me, how long have you two been together?”

“About six months.” His answer was quick, to the point. Totally not like him to not want to elaborate.

“And do you, y’know, know a lot about her?”Prod, Heidi. Prod away.“Like, past love interests and all that?”

Zac’s face twisted, and he pulled his head back. “Um, that’s a weird question, Ma.”

“Oh?” She chuckled, hoping it didn’t sound as forced as it so definitely was. “I guess I just want to know how you two got together. That’s all.” She shrugged. “Plenty of time to talk about that, right?”

He narrowed his eyes. “Yeah, sure.”

“I do have some, well, y’know, slightly, I guess you could call it bad news. Or good news? I don’t know.” Heidi ran her hand through her hair, a nervous tic she hoped Zac didn’t remember. “I sort of”—she chuckled again—“y’know, invited Evan Childers over to spend Christmas with us.” Zac’s mouth, once again, dropped open. Exactly how she thought he’d react. “Yeah, he’s in town, so I thought, why not? You two were such great friends in school.”

“Um, Mom, we had a huge falling-out senior year. You know this! We haven’t spoken in years.”

Heidi shrugged. “I know, I know. But, hey, you’re in town; he’s in town. Christmas is a time for rebirth, right?”

“Wouldn’t Easter be the time for rebirth?” He asked while rolling his eyes.

“You know what I mean. Mending fences and all that jazz.”

He pushed away from the desk, irritation hanging from him like soggy clothes. “All that jazz? This is nuts. Please tell him he’s uninvited. Facebook him or something. I’m not going to spend Christmas with someone who, like, hates me, or whatever.” It was the first time since he’d arrived that he’d sounded like a kid again. It caused her stomach to bottom out.

“Whoa, whoa! Drama, party of one.” She rushed over to him, placed her hands on his arms, and turned him toward her. “I will not be uninviting him. You will be fine. You’re a grown man. Handle it and move on. If things are awkward, I’m sure he won’t come back. Don’t worry.”

“This, right here,” he stated.

She let her hands fall from his arms. “What? This what?”

“This is why I don’t come home, Mom. Because you meddle. And I hate it.” And with that, he turned, whipped the office door open, and left in a flurry of angst she hadn’t witnessed in person in nearly a decade.

“Shit,” she whispered, hand over her mouth, frantically searching her brain for a way out of this. She needed to talk to Iris, but that wasn’t going to end well.

Also, how could Iris cheat onherson?

What a tramp.

Heidi deflated instantly. Iris wasn’t a tramp. This whole situation was so messed up.

The first thing she needed to do was figure out how to uninvite Evan like Zac said. It’d be rude as hell, but she could do it. She didn’t want to do that, though. She liked Evan, and she knew deep down that Zac missed him. Truthfully, she knew he missed Evan a lot more than he would ever admit to her, which was hard to admit to herself. She was the problem in this scenario. She understood his hesitancy, though. The woman she had been when the kids were growing up was far different from the woman she was now.

And then, after the awkward Evan-ness of it all, she could talk to Iris. For now, though, she needed to put what had happened behind her. It wasn’t going to happen again. That much was sure.

Having the entire family together for Christmas was Heidi’s one chance to prove to them all that she was a changed person. She had made herself a priority. She had transformed everything, from the way she handled situations to the way she loved herself. She was lighter, happier, and so much more eager for the next phase of her life. They would see. She would show them all. Heidi Nowak was back and better than ever.

The only nerve-racking part: How was she going to tell her entire family that she was into women and probably always had been? Oh, and that she’d had sex with her own son’s girlfriend?

Heidi’s stomach sank as she stared out the window at the accumulating snow. “You sure know how to fuck things up,” she whispered to herself, her warm breath causing condensation to billow against the glass. “You have to fix this. Tell the truth. It’s the only thing that matters.”