“Good God almighty, yes! Your mother has been beside herself. She can’t sleep, barely eats, cries constantly—I’ve never seen her like this. Please come home. I’ve tried to talk her into calling you, but she’s convinced that she estranged herself from you with that unreasonable med-school stipulation. I didn’t think we were going to survive your birthday tomorrow.”

I began to sob and leaned onto his white-coated shoulder, relieved at every word he’d said but miserable at the reality of leaving Boyce—our nightly talks, his appreciation of my sorry attempts at preparing dishes my mother could make a million times better, the coffee he programmed to start ten minutes before he knew I got up, every kiss we’d shared and all we never would.

“Pearl, tell me what’s happened.” Thomas’s jaw was rock hard, his hands bracing my shoulders so he could see my face. Anger brewed in the gaze he leveled on me, and his grasp tightened. “Did you and Boyce Wynn have a falling out, or is it something worse?”

“No—it’s…” I took a deep breath. “Fifteen years ago, his mother left his abusive father, and Boyce and his brother—and now she’s back. She’s taken the bedroom Boyce promised me. I’m sleeping in Boyce’s bed and he’s sleeping on the sofa. We’re all sharing one bathroom—”

“Say no more, honey.” He slid his arms around my shoulders. “Trust me—just come on home. Everything will be fine.”

• • • • • • • • • •

Thomas had his office manager reschedule later appointments, and I waited in his office until he saw patients who’d already arrived. Following him home after a month’s absence, I turned my stereo low and reviewed possible scenarios despite his reassurances that Mama would welcome me home. I’d imagined letting her know I was doing fine and taking care of myself—easing her worries while discouraging further disputes or ultimatums. I hadn’t anticipated coming to her with an entreaty to move home.

I chewed my lip as we entered my neighborhood and fought tears when we turned into the cul-de-sac. I parked in the driveway, not my spot in the three-car garage, but Thomas beamed, waiting by the back door. I was less sure of what awaited me, which must have shown on my face.

He hugged an arm around my shoulders when I reached him. Opening the door, he called, “Essie! I’ve brought you something. Come and see.”

We walked through the mudroom and into the kitchen as Mama appeared in the opposite doorway, far less put together than usual, and pulled to a halt.

“Pearl?” she said, as if I might not be real. Her eyes filled with tears. “Pearl?” she repeated, coming across the kitchen, arms spreading. “Oh my God. Oh my God.”

I went into her arms, relieved. “Mama. I’ve missed you so much.”

“Mija, you’re here? You’ve come home?” At my nod, she began sobbing. “Perdóname, por favor! I’m so sorry, mija.” We cried into each other’s necks, and she held on to me like she’d never let go.

“Me-OW!” Tux bellowed, trotting as quickly as his stubby legs would carry him to twirl his whip of a tail around my legs and fuss at me for my absence, the same way he had every time I’d come home during semester breaks.

“Tux is right,” Thomas said. “This reunion calls for steak on the grill.” He gathered us both in his embrace and squeezed. “Come on, Tux. I think Mama might allow you a few table scraps tonight. Better take advantage, little man.”

“Merrrow,” he agreed.

“I have work tonight,” I said, sniffling. “At six.”

We all shifted just far enough apart to view each other’s faces. The creases between their brows matched, and they blinked as if I’d spoken gibberish.

Thomas recovered first. “Where do you work?”

“At the inn.”

“Can you stay until your shift begins?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“How about a chat on the patio and three iced coffees? You girls go on outside, I’ll be right out.” He looked at Mama then, and something passed between them. “It’s time to tell her, Esmeralda.”

Her eyes refilled with tears and she nodded as an ice-cold trickle of trepidation tore down my spine.

Chapter Twenty-one

Boyce

During our nightly meeting on the top step, there was something different about Pearl. She was quieter—no gossip about her shift at the inn. My stories about Sam’s red-faced reactions to the things customers sometimes left out in the open when they brought their cars in—polka-dotted panties in a backseat, a sealed box marked fecal matter resting on a dash (“There’s poop in that box! Poop!” Sam said), a strip of condoms curled in a cup holder like a roll of stamps—all produced the ghost of a smile instead of laughter. She leaned her head on my arm and I fell silent, smoking and leaving her to her thoughts.

Once my mother had closed herself into her room, Pearl and I went inside and took turns in the bathroom. I was bedded down on the sofa, lights out, when she came out wearing a thin-strapped blue tank and shorts. I nearly bit my lip in half to keep from moaning my appreciation of it, of her, of her in it. “Good night, Pearl,” I said, doing fuck-all to conceal the lust in my tone, but damn. Instead of answering, she walked toward me, silent. The light from the bedroom behind her glowed dimly, outlining the curves of her body as she walked up to me and held out her hand. I sat up, taking it, and she tugged softly.

No idiot, I allowed myself to be led to my bedroom. She closed the door behind me and switched off the light. The window was open wide, the fan oscillating in front of it like it meant to lift itself right off the dresser, but the night air remained sticky and hot. The only AC units were in the kitchen and the bedroom my mother occupied across the trailer. We were going to be sweat-covered in two minutes flat, but I didn’t give a single goddamn if she didn’t.

“You want me to lay you down, sweetheart?” I asked, pulling her close, hands sliding to cup her ass as she nodded. “Done.” I leaned down to kiss her full mouth, my dick springing to attention in my boxers, fully prepared to give her whatever she wanted, however she wanted it.

She opened that warm, pretty mouth wide and pressed her pliant body into mine, arms looping around my neck, fingers raking across my scalp and forking through my hair. I groaned right into her and she sucked my tongue hungrily, swallowing the garbled sounds that said my body meant to own hers. My dick surged jealously and I fought like hell to banish the vivid fantasy of her mouth taking me deep because I wouldn’t last five seconds if I let those images run loose in my head. And then she dropped to her knees.