Page 48 of Yours, Forever

Max hunched over the desk, his head in one hand, his eyes closed. A frown on his handsome face. It halted me; I had never not seen him perfectly poised. Even in his underwear—not that the image intruded in my mind too often or anything—there was a certain elegance to him. At that moment, he looked almost vulnerable.

I frowned. I would have to think about that later. More pressing matters were at hand, because Ihadignored my mom's calls for a couple of days, and I had to guess she'd been the one insisting on the landline in the morning.

"The café keeps her busy," he said. "I can tell her to call you."

"I think you should come visit us!" My mom used her excited tone, the one she thought was inviting.

To me, it sounded like pressure.

I put a hand on Max's shoulder. He straightened, and sighed in relief.

"Mom, hi."

"Eva! Finally! Why didn't you answer? Oh, well, at least I got to talk to your husband. I was telling him you two should come visit me. Two birds with one stone; I get to meet Max in person and you finally get to meet Todd."

Max reached for the post-its and wrote,should I leave?

I shook my head. My mom hadn't stopped talking during the exchange. I still had my hand on his shoulder, and unconsciously squeezed it. He straightened.

"We were thinking about dinner," she continued. "Come enjoy the city. There's nothing to do in Laguna Island! And if you like the city vibe, you could move here. That way I'll help when you give me grandchildren. There are houses in my neighborhood,and I'm sure buying one isn't a problem now. The school here is a good school—"

"I am not pregnant," I interrupted. "We're not having children any time soon. Please stop. And I'm not moving to the city."

"Are you really not pregnant? Why would you marry so quickly? Unless you've been together for years and you hadn't told me, Eva." Her tone turned judgmental. "I swear. I don't know what you're doing there in that small, boring town. Poor Max must be bored! Are you bored, Max?"

"Not in the least, Olga. It's a lovely town."

"Oh, well. In that case, I suppose you're made for each other." She paused, but I didn't get to wrap up the call before she added, "Are you going to get the Venturelli house, then? You always loved it. I can see it, you know? You and Max living there, if you are set on staying in Laguna Island. It has enough rooms, probably, for when I come to visit."

I blanched. Just like that, a well-kept secret was out. It never occurred to me that my mom would go on one of her tangents, and end up revealing one of my dreams.

Max snapped his gaze at me.

"Mom, why did you call? To ask us to go meet you there for dinner?" I bit my cheek and crossed my arms. Hopefully that would be enough of a distraction… for both of them. "We'll have to look at our calendar. We have a pretty busy few weeks coming up, actually."

"Yes. If I couldn't be at the wedding, the very least we can do is have a nice meal together. I was thinking we should go to—"

"I have to go back to work." I let my finger hover on the hang up button. "I'll text, okay?"

"Eva! I hope you do write—" she tried.

I spoke over her. "We'll have dinner. In a few weeks. Text me if I forget."

"Honey—Max—" she sighed, exasperated. "Fine. Talk to you soon. Bye, Max. Lovely to meet you."

"Bye," Max and I said in unison, and I pressed on the button to end the call.

The silence was deafening in the wake of my mother's phone call.

"Is she always this… energetic?" Max said.

I snorted. "That was diplomatic."

"My best attempt. That was a lot."

"She's always a lot."

He studied me, like he could read what I felt and chose not to say. "Should we plan to go visit her?"