“What do you mean?”

She gave me a sympathetic look. “I know she didn’t leave because she was homesick.”

“It was because of a guy,” I admitted.

“I gathered that much. It’s Jess we’re talking about.”

“She made a mistake with a guy and I think it scared her.”

“All right, I get the idea.”

“It threw her for a loop, and she just needed to leave. I also think it made her miss Emmett. I should have been looking out for her, but she always acts so tough about boys that I didn’t think I needed to protect her.”

“It’s not your fault, and she knows it. Just give her time.”

“I know. I just don’t want it to change our friendship.”

“Whether this thing with the boy happened or not, your friendship was going to change. You’re both going to college. You’ll have different groups of friends and activities.”

“So you’re saying we’re going to drift apart anyway?”

“No. I’m just saying that your friendship will change—good or bad. It’s inevitable.”

I sighed.

“It’s just part of growing up, but I can take a hint. Enough of that topic and onto another awkward one.”

“Yeah?”

“Toby came by the house last week.” Mom pursed her lips; I could tell she was hesitant to broach the subject.

“What?”

“He says you aren’t returning his calls and that some guy answered once.”

“Oh.”

“So who’s the guy?”

“Oh, just a friend, no big deal.”

“You sure?” Mom studied me skeptically.

“Yeah, nothing to worry about.”

“Do you think you’re going to give Toby another chance?”

“No. It’s over between us.” I crossed my arms, Mom and I had already discussed this enough, and it annoyed me that he brought her into it again.

“You sure about that? He seems to think otherwise.”

“I’m sure.”

A loud knock on the door interrupted us and my stomach dropped as I realized it was probably Levi.

Hesitating a moment too long, my mom got up to open the door. “Well, hello there.”

“Oh, hi. Is Allie around?” Levi poked his head out, as if to double check the room number.

I got up and walked over to the doorway. “Hey.”

“Hey.” He looked at me questioningly.

“Aren’t you going to introduce us, sweetie?”

“Oh yeah, Mom this is Levi.”

“It’s so nice to meet you Ms.—” Levi held out his hand at a loss for my mother’s last name.

“It’s O’Connor but call me Diane.”

“Well it’s nice to meet you, Diane. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Have you? Funny, I haven’t heard anything about you. Unless, is this the friend I didn’t need to concern myself with?” I was busted. Mom didn’t get annoyed easily but keeping stuff from her was a sure way to set her off.

For the first time in recent memory I was at a loss for words.

“Well, I’ll let you enjoy your time with your mother. Call me sometime. Once again, nice to meet you.”

“Wait, Levi. Do you have plans tomorrow night? We would love to have you join us for dinner. Allie’s father will be there as well.”

Please say no, please say no, I repeated over and over waiting for his response. “I would love to join you for dinner. What time were you thinking?”

“Around seven o’clock down in the lobby?”

“Perfect, I look forward to it. Good night, Allie.” Levi wore an unreadable expression as he walked out the door, and for once, I wished he had called me Al.

As soon as the door closed, Mom turned to me. “So yes, I agree, Toby has no chance.”

“Mom!”

“What? I’m not blind. Toby has no chance against him, especially not with the way he was looking at you.”

“Mom, it’s really not a big deal.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.”

I groaned. “Please, can we just drop it for tonight?”

“Sure, I’ll get my answers tomorrow. Besides, I can’t really be that mad at you.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve been keeping a bit of a secret myself.”

My stomach dropped again. “What kind of secret?”

“I’m seeing someone new.”

“Oh? Anyone I know?”

“You know his son.”

“Who?” I asked with trepidation.

“Andrew Thomas.”

“What? You know how much I hate Andrew.”

“Yes, but that doesn’t change the fact that I like his dad. Besides, maybe you shouldn’t be so hard on Andrew. He thought you made the right decision to dump Toby.”

“Of course he did! He’s been trying to sleep with me since the 8th grade!”

“Allie, stop it.”

“It’s true! The kid is a total perv and seriously can’t take a hint.”

“Well, you’re going to have to get over your differences when you get home in a few weeks. You’re not going to ruin this for me.”

I regretted my reaction immediately. The look of disappointment on her face hurt. “Of course not. I’m sorry. It just surprised me.”

“Yeah, I know how that feels.”

“I’m sorry,” I said guiltily.

“So, are you ready to call it a night?”

“Yeah. I’m glad you’re here Mom.”

“Me too,” she said as we hugged.

Lying in bed, I worried about whether Levi was mad that I hadn’t mentioned him to Mom. I contemplated calling him but stopped myself each time. I’d face him soon enough anyway.

***

After a day of sightseeing and catching up with Mom, I was almost ready for dinner. Dad was finally back in town, and I was sure the timing was anything but coincidental. He wasn’t about to let Mom think he was inattentive. She always gave him a hard time about not taking enough of an interest in me. I told her I didn’t care, but she assured me I would care one day. Dad met up with us in my room before we headed down to the lobby.

Levi glanced up from his phone as we approached. Wearing one of his usual Lacoste shirts, he had exchanged his jeans for a pair of khaki slacks. He looked like he had walked off a magazine shoot as he gave me another look I couldn’t quite read.