Maura's mother arrived home just as she was draining a batch of cooked spaghetti into a colander. "Oh, my gods!" she said, her exclamation carrying down the hallway. Entering the kitchen, she went directly to the stove and stirred the bubbling savory mixture of ground beef, onion, and tomato sauce, inhaling deeply. "Dinner smells heavenly. I'm starving."

"Good. Sit down. I'll fix you a plate." Maura dumped the noodles back into the warm pot, adding a splash of olive oil. She bumped her mother out of the way with her hip and began folding in the sauce.

"Thanks. I need to put these in some water first."

Maura hadn't missed the bouquet in her mother's hand. "I didn't forget your birthday, did I?" she asked, teasing.

Her mother stood on her tiptoes to reach a vase from the top shelf of the cupboard, but she grinned over her shoulder. "You know my birthday isn't until next month." She filled the vase with water and arranged the flowers inside, fussing over them until they stood erect. "They're from a customer."

"A customer? You're not . . . dating anyone, are you?" She could hardly say the word, let alone think of her mother romantically involved with anyone but her father. Her parents were still technically married, after all. Weren't they? Would her mom have to eventually file for divorce, or would she simply remove her wedding band and tell people she wasn't married anymore?

But her mother only laughed. "Like I have the time—or the inclination—to date." She shed her cardigan and draped it over the back of the chair. Then she slumped into a seat and kicked off the shoes she wore every day to her job at the bank. Maura tried not to notice how the heel on one was secured with duct tape at the base, colored black with a permanent marker. Maura's heart shattered a little, and she made a mental note to buy her mom a new pair when she got her next paycheck.

"Then who gave you the flowers?"

Her mother yawned widely, her jaw popping. "A very nice couple." When she saw the look on Maura's face, she rolled her eyes and added, "Newlyweds. I helped them secure a home loan. Satisfied?"

"Yes," Maura said, smiling. She turned her back on her mother and began fixing plates of pasta.

But when she turned back, her mother was staring off into space, rubbing the gold wedding band around her ring finger with the pad of her thumb. She had never seen her mother not wearing her ring, so she supposed she didn't have to worry about her mother moving on. At least not yet.

"Here you go," Maura said, placing the plate on the table in front of her mother, along with a fork and napkin.

"Thanks, hon. Oh, no bread for me," she said, removing it from her plate. "I'm trying to cut down on the carbs."

"But it's bread, Mom. How can you say no to bread?"

"Easy. No." She laughed. "I've gained ten pounds since your father . . ." Her words trailed off then.

"I think you look great," Maura mumbled. "You don't need to lose any weight."

Her mother reached out to squeeze her arm. "Thank you."

As Maura poured water for them, she wondered if her mom still hoped her dad would return one day, or if that hope had started to fizzle. It wasn't fair that he had completely uprooted their lives with his leaving. Her mother had been forced to get a second job, her self-confidence had taken a nosedive, and now they had to sell the home they loved. As much as she wanted her dad back, there were days she wished he wouldn't return. Some days she was so angry she didn't know what she would say if he suddenly did show up.

"You're home awfully early," her mother commented, breaking the silence. "No work tonight?"

Maura shook her head. "No."

"Oh! I almost forgot to ask. What about your car?"

"I called a tow truck from school. It's still at the shop. They won't get to it until tomorrow." Maura thought briefly of Colin McCallum in his blue jumpsuit, his sandy hair mussed and slightly sweaty. She smiled.

"You should have called or texted me. I could have picked you up after I got off work."

"That's okay. I got a ride home with a . . ." Maura hesitated, not exactly sure what Luke was to her. He wasn't exactly a friend. "My English partner brought me home."

"You should have asked her to stay for dinner," her mother said. "You made enough to feed an army."

"Him. My English partner is a guy." Her mother raised a brow and grinned. "It's not like that, Mom," Maura added. "At all."

"Well, you could have asked him to dinner and then worked on your project."

"No way. He's a total ass. I'm going to tell Mrs. Raines I can't work with him."

"Uh-oh. What did he do?" her mother asked as she pushed the mound of pasta aside and helped herself to salad greens.

"Nothing specifically. He just has a very unfortunate personality."

"Honey, there will be plenty of situations in life when you have to work with people you don't particularly care for. You can't let that get in the way of you doing your job."

Maura sighed. "Yeah, I know."

"You hate when I'm right, don't you?"

"Can you please pass the Parmesan?" Maura answered, the corner of her mouth lifting. Her grin soon morphed into a frown, though. "Do you think there's something wrong with me?"

"What?"

"Do you think there's something wrong with me?"

"Does this have anything to do with your partner? Is that why you don't like him?" Her mother's eyes narrowed. "Did he say something to you?"

"No . . . it's just . . . I don't know. Hardly anyone at school talks to me anymore. It's like people go out of their way to avoid me."

"Did you have a fight with Leanne?"

"No. Leanne and I are good."

"What about Blake and Olivia?"

Maura stabbed a tomato wedge. "They have their own stuff going on these days."

"Oh. Well . . ."

"All the other friends I had flaked out on me after Dad left. I don't get it."

"I know. I'm sorry," her mother replied. They continued with dinner in silence, each of them lost in their thoughts. "Do you . . ." her mother began again hesitantly some minutes later. But she didn't finish her thought.

"Do I what?"

Her mother lay down her fork and folded her hands in front of her. She shrugged her shoulders. "Do you think that maybe you can be a little . . . intense sometimes?" When Maura opened her mouth to respond, her mother hurried on. "I mean, you've always been focused on school and your grades, but you changed after your dad left."

"No kidding!" Maura snapped, her temper flaring. Luke's words about her being unable to handle the truth immediately came rushing back. She closed her eyes and counted silently to three. "Do you think I'm intense?" she asked.

Her mother reached for the salad dressing. "I think you are frustrated. I think you are stressed out. I think you've had to carry a lot of worry on your shoulders for the past year."

Maura sat back and folded her arms across her chest. She took another deep breath, this time because of the growing lump in her throat. "Do you think he'll ever come back?"

Her mother didn't immediately answer, though she blinked several times. "It's been over a year," she said finally, her gaze unflinching as she looked Maura directly in the eyes. "I think if he was going to come back, he would have done so by now."

"He might still," Maura said in a small voice. "You never know."

But her mother was already shaking her head. "I haven't heard from him at all. No phone call, no email, no letter. There has been no sign of him whatsoever. Nothing. Honestly, Maura, I don't know what to think or how to feel anymore."

Maura's chin began to quiver. A teardrop balanced on the edge of her bottom eyelid. Her mother reached out to take her hand, but Maura clamped her arms around herself even tighter, as though trying to hold herself together. "We're doing okay on our own, aren't we?" her mother asked.

Maura nodded, the teardrop finally falling. "I just miss him," she said. Her mother didn't say anything. When Maura looked up, her mother's eyes had filled with tears, too. "Do you miss him?"

Her mother closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out in a steady stream of air. "So much sometimes, I think I'm going to die." She straightened then and cleared her throat, swiping at the tears on her cheek. Her smile was forced. "So. Tell me about this partner of yours," she said. "I'm sure there's more to the story."

"There's nothing to tell," Maura said. "He's my partner. He's also an inconsiderate buffoon."

Her mother laughed and wiped her cheeks again. "Does this inconsiderate buffoon have a name?"

"Luke."

"Well, that's a start. Have you known Luke for long?"

"Not really. Do you remember Evelyn, the girl who gave me a ride home the other night?"

"I may be old, Maura, but I'm not that old. Yes, I remember her."

"They're brother and sister. Well, step-brother and sister," she amended.

Her mother ate her salad in silence for a few moments, but Maura could tell she was winding up for a new round of questions.

"Is he cute?"

"Who?"

Her mother gave her a look. "You're deflecting."

"He's not bad, but like I said, his personality gets in the way." Maura pointed a finger at her mother. "And before you tell me I should give him a chance, the answer is no. I've already tried."

Her mother sighed. "Don't you ever just want to cut loose and have fun?"

"You know, most parents would give their right arm for a kid who would rather stay home studying instead of one who goes to parties and gets drunk."

"I'm not saying you have to get drunk or be irresponsible, but some balance would be nice. I'm worried you're going to one day look back on your high school years and regret that you didn't have any fun."

Maura pushed her plate aside, not in the mood to have this discussion. "Do you mind if I go?" She was going to add that she had studying to do, but she thought that might be the wrong thing to say under the circumstances.

Her mother stared at her for several seconds and then waved her hand. "Sure."

Maura stood. "Leave the dishes. I'll take care of them before I go to bed." She bent and kissed her mother on the head.

As she was taking the stairs to her room, her cell chimed with an incoming text. It was from Evelyn.

Need a ride to school tomorrow?

Maura closed her bedroom door and flopped down on her bed. She hadn't thought about how she was going to get to school in the morning. No doubt Leanne would give her a ride if she asked. She considered before responding, though. A few minutes alone in the car with Evelyn might give her a chance to get to the bottom of a few things.

Sure, she texted back. Thanks.

Great!

In the morning, however, she got a surprise.

"Maura?" her mother called from the foot of the stairs as she was gathering her books and papers from the floor where she'd strewn them the night before. "Your friend Luke is here."

Maura froze. She'd been expecting Evelyn. But of course, Evelyn didn't own a car. She didn't even own a driver's license. How had she forgotten? She peeked out her window and, sure enough, Luke's car was parked out front in the driveway. There was no sign of Evelyn.

"That conniving little . . ." she muttered. She shoved her feet in her shoes, grabbed her bag, and made her way down the stairs.

She found her mother and Luke in the kitchen, Luke seated at the table holding a mug of tea in his hands, looking awkward and uncomfortable. "There you are!" her mother said when she spied Maura hovering in the doorway. She glanced at her watch. "I've got to run or I'm going to be late." She took one last sip from her mug and placed it in the sink. "It was nice to meet you, Luke. Come back anytime."

"Goodbye, Mom!" Maura said, practically pushing her out the door. She turned to Luke. "Where's Evelyn?"

"She's not feeling well."

"Oh. I can call my friend Leanne—"

"Are we going to argue about who drives you where like we did yesterday?"

She blinked. "Sorry. I was trying to spare you the inconvenience. Give me a few minutes and we can go."

Without another word, Maura walked out of the kitchen and shut herself in the downstairs guest bathroom. WTH? she texted to Evelyn. You set me up.

Cough cough, came her reply. Maura powered off her phone and would have screamed if Luke wasn't in the next room.

She found him standing in the living room holding a framed photo of her family that had been taken only months before Maura's dad disappeared.

"This is your father?" he asked, pointing to her dad.

"Doesn't the red hair give it away?" she said, sounding a little more sarcastic than she intended.

He turned to face her, his brows pushed together. He opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it again.

"What?" she demanded.

Luke returned the photo to its spot on the fireplace mantle. "I have a proposition. How about we skip school today?"

"You're joking, right?"

"Will you . . . I want you to go somewhere with me."

She narrowed her eyes. "Why?"

"We need to work on our project."

"Now?"

"We're on a deadline, aren't we?"

"Well, yeah, but˗˗"

He took her hand and pulled her toward the door, giving her barely enough time to grab her bag from where she'd dumped it on the couch. "Come with me," he said. "I'm feeling suddenly inspired."

*****

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