As horrible as it was, I had been avoiding my mother like the plague since I'd arrived at the beach house. It wasn't anything she'd done or her reaction to my sisters news, but something that lied solely inside of me. I had spent the better part of the last two years avoiding any conversation with Mom that brought up my ex-fiancé. She'd never met Ashton while I was in high school, I'd been insistent on keeping him at an arms length from my helicopter mother and over protective brother and father. Though Bren had been well aware of who I was dating, he'd never went out of his way to introduce himself either. In the two years we were all under the same roof, he'd only spoke to Ashton once, and it'd been to threaten him.

I knew deep down it was far from healthy keeping everything that happened from my family. But the depressed, emotional little girl who'd idolized her older sister still resided inside me, however much I may hate her. I also knew the minute word of what had happened got to Mom and Dad, it'd cause an even bigger mountain between the two of them as they tried to work through what happened and what to do without hurting their kids by choosing sides.

"Food for thought?" Mateo said through a mouthful of a tuna sandwich. I scrunched my nose in disgust and averted my gaze to the beach.

"Nothing." I muttered. "I just. . . I think I need to sit down and talk with Mom."

Thankfully he finished chewing, drowned it with water and raised a thick, dark brown when he finally responded. "About what?"

"Everything." I sighed, propping my chin on my hand. "Anything. I just feel like I've been avoiding her for the last few days."

"You've had a lot to work through, Mads. You've been overwhelmed."

I looked back at him. "But she doesn't know that or why. She probably thinks she did something."

He was quiet for a while, stirring the tiny umbrella straw in whatever alcoholic beverage it was he'd gotten, then finally locked eyes again and whispered, "I say talk to her then. I'd give anything for one more conversation with my mom."

My head bowed slightly at the comment. I had known Mrs. Morales well. She'd babysat me on countless occasions and tutored me through most of middle school. She'd passed away from ovarian cancer my junior year of high school. Mateo had long since graduated since, but we'd all come together for the funeral. It was the first and only time I'd ever seen Mateo or his father cry and it'd shattered me to my core. She had been a second mother to me, without a doubt.

"She loved you, you know, Ma." Mateo spoke softly, reminding me he was there and that we were still in public. "Always used to tell me that you'd make a great wife some day. She told me, in Spanish, "Mateo, she has beauty and brains, you'd be a fool to allow another to love her when you are right there." And I just laughed. Deep down I felt every word of that like a punch to the gut, though. She told me she knew that you and Ashton wouldn't last too. Said that you were so far out of his league the boy would end up your lapdog or something along those lines."

I smiled fondly at the words. They sounded so very Mrs. Morales that I could swear she sat at the table with us.

"She was the best."

He lifted his head and smiled weakly, "She was."

*

I found my mom face down on a black towel on the beach as soon as Mateo and I parted ways at the front of the beach house. She must have heard my approaching footsteps because, she groaned, lifted her head and snapped, "Please leave me be, Marvin. I do not need your approval for this anymore."

I couldn't fight the smile that inched its way across my face. "Its me, Mom. Dad's playing some shooting game with Bren inside."

My mother's shoulders noticeably relaxed and she rested her head back against the towel. "Can you do me a favor, sweetheart?"

"Sure." I lowered myself on to the sand beside her. "What do you need?"

"Rub some more tanning oil on my back?" she turned her head so I could see her face. "I want to have that nice sunkissed look when I go back home. As much as I'd love it, I don't get to spend every day on the beach."

I extended my arm and dug through her whicker beach back before pulling out the oil and started massaging it into her back and legs.

"How have you been, Mom?"

She was quiet for so long I thought she'd possibly fallen asleep. Finally, she breathed out, "I've been great."

"Mom." I said shortly. "How have you been? Tell me the truth."

Her entire body deflated. "It's been hell. I thought. . . I thought the split from your father was the best decision for all parties. But it's been so hard, honey. The dating pool is atrocious nowadays. Men all want just one thing and sure, that was fun in the beginning, but I'm too old for all that."

I rubbed her shoulder and frowned. "I get it."

"No, sweetheart, you don't, and I pray to God that you never will. I pray that you and your sister find everlasting love and happiness. That you never have to worry about infidelity or feel worthless about yourself."

Tears filled my eyes hearing the words. I swallowed every word that formed with the knot in my throat and touched the back of my hand to her cheek.

"I understand far more than you realize, Mom." I eventually decided on saying. "I'm sorry that you felt that way."

She rolled over on to her side so her green eyes were narrowed at me. "Oh, honey, no. I would never wish that on my worse enemy. But I also don't want you to think ill of your father for what happened. What happened was between the two of us and the two of us alone. None of you kids should have to be subject to choosing anything."

I nodded slowly and she reached out and rested a hand on my knee.

"I am so happy to see you with Mateo. I haven't seen you smile like you have the last few days in ages." she said, changing the subject momentarily. "After you abruptly canceled the wedding, I wanted nothing more than to promise to you that everything would be okay. That in time, you'd find a man who did want to marry you. That wouldn't get cold feet last second. That you shouldn't waste your tears on a crappy fiancé when your husband was out there waiting for you somewhere."

I dropped my gaze to the sand. "I probably wouldn't have believed you."

"It's a funny, fickle thing. Love. It comes when you least expect it to." she stared off into the distance dreamily. "One day I'll find it again too."

I leaned over and rested my hand against my mother's shoulder. "You sure will."

There was a long bout of comfortable silence, the water and splashing of toddlers and kids all that was heard for a good ten minutes before Mom asked a question I was sure had been eating at her since she'd caught Mateo and me together a few days ago.

"So," she was slow in the question, which couldn't mean anything good. "I know you probably don't want the wedding spectacle any time soon but I'm getting older every day and I know Mrs. Morales would have loved beautiful little curly haired grandbabies—"

"Oh, no, Mom!" I groaned, slapping hands against my face in embarrassment. "I am not talking about this."

She huffed and sat up so we were shoulder to shoulder. "With your sister pregnant. . ."

"Mom!"

"Oh, come on, Madison. You have always loved kids. You're amazing with Zoey. I'm sure you'll be amazing with your new niece or nephew. You'd make an incredible mother."

I crossed my arms and shook my head. "I don't even know if Mateo wants kids."

My mom started giggling like a schoolgirl and nudged me with her knee until I looked at her.

"What?"

"Sweetheart, respectfully, you could ask that man for the world, and I have no doubt in my mind he'd go to the ends of this earth to give you anything and everything."

I threw a curious glance her way, "Really?"

"Sweetie, I know that you spent a good majority of your life thinking Mateo was this disgusting, infuriating manchild, but there was never any ill thought about you in that boys mind. He stared after you with hearts in his eyes like a little cartoon character."

"No way."

She patted my cheek. "Ah, to be so oblivious and naïve to the world."

"Mom—"

"Mateo is a good kid, Mads." she interrupted before I could deny further. "I don't know when he finally confessed his feelings, but I'm glad he did. Seeing the two of you happy is one of the few things in my life that has my heart bursting with joy right now."

She pulled me into a hug and rested her chin on top of my head as she stroked my hair. Something she hadn't done since I was a small child.

"I know being here can't be easy. If I had been in your shoes, I would never attend a wedding again. But I'm so happy you're here. So is your father. I'm sure Bren and Sarah are more than happy to have you here as well."

I smiled into her chest, noting in my head that maybe it was best if my confession stayed buried somewhere deep down, never to resurface in the presence of my already mentally fragile mother.

*

By the time I convinced Mom to head in for the night, I found Mateo lounged in bed watching some romantic reality show. To my surprise, he seemed genuinely invested in the show, and I couldn't help but smile when he cursed to himself quietly when it went to commercial. Returning to our reality, he glanced toward the door and a smile tugged at the outer corners of his lips when he saw my own smile.

"I assume the talk went well?"

I shrugged a shoulder. "Eh."

His brow quirked as it had at the restaurant this afternoon. "That's not promising."

I pulled an oversized shirt over my head before undoing my bikini top and crossed the room to join him on the bed. "She wants grandkids."

"Oh yeah?" Mateo snickered. "Because two isn't enough?"

"She thinks she needs at least one from each of us." I joked, falling back against the mountain of pillows behind me. "Is your back really this bad? Where you need this many pillows?"

He nodded. "Unlike most people, I don't just lay around and make all my employees do all the work. I help when I can."

"I respect that." I shot him a smile. "I'm sure they respect the hell out of you too."

"Ssh." He waved his hand dismissively as soon as the show came back on, slowly leaning back so he was only a few inches away. "You see Angel? The girl with the black hair? She's my pick."

It didn't take me long to catch up on the show, but I found that it wasn't nearly as interesting to me as watching the man beside me so in tune with his masculinity that he was watching a show like this.

"Mateo?"

He tore his eyes from the TV and stared at me. "Yes?"

"Was it a lie?" I wasn't sure I wanted to know the answer. "What you said to Sarah yesterday."

He stared at me for a while, then stretched his arm behind my head and pulled me closer until my head was inches from his chest. But he didn't respond. It wasn't until twenty minutes or so had passed that I realized he wouldn't.