Page 46 of To Love the Stars too Fondly

She bridged the space between us, our lips meeting in the center. More chaste than most of our other kisses, but there was something more to it, a stability I’d hidden from for so long. This was real, as real as anything I’d felt since El.

And I had no doubt, bittersweet as it was, that if El had any awareness from the afterlife, she’d want this for me too.

The time would come to tell Alex about El. For now, I focused on the bliss filling me as we kissed on the doorstep. How long had it been since I’d felt safe in someone’s arms? A few years too many, at least—

“Oh!”

I broke from the kiss, then recoiled to see my mom’s startled figure not ten feet away, laden with groceries. “Mom! Hi!”

Alex recovered smoothly, fearlessly swooping in to help my mother. “Allow me, Mrs. Stern,” she said, taking one of the gallons of milk my mom tried to balance along with the bags.

Mom looked somewhat taken aback, though not unhappy. “Terra, care to tell me who this dashing grocery thief is?”

I rushed forward, pulled from my stupor, and took a bag from her arm. “Mom, this is my girlfriend, Alex.”

Mom’s expression tried to soften, but some lingering confusion caused her to furrow her brow. “Well, let’s get these inside so I can meet you properly, Alex.”

I unlocked the door, allowing everyone else passage. Thankfully, it was all clean, no pile-up of dishes in the sink, so while it was certainly dingier than anything Alex had ever lived in, it wasn’t entirely embarrassing.

Alex helped Mom with the groceries. “You’ll be amused to know, Alex,” Mom began as she organized everything on the counter, “that just a few days ago, Terra was being hedgy about the fact that she was seeing someone.”

I blushed. Things had progressed quickly, but when it was right, it was right. Right? “We’ve done a lot of talking since then,” I replied.

“Talking, sure. Like you were doing on the doorstep.” Mom’s knowing look left me withering, but she returned to studying Alex, that confusion returning. “Well, I have to do the obligatory Mom interrogation. Sorry, hun. Are you in school?”

“Graduated. Bachelor’s in Business from Cornell.”

“Wait, really?” I said, feeling just as startled as Mom, from the look of it.

“That’s impressive,” Mom added.

Alex shrugged, and I couldn’t tell if her modesty was sincere or feigned. “Started in person, took a break, finished online.”

“Well, what do you do for a living?” Mom continued.

“I make my money from investment properties,” Alex said.

“And running a gym,” I interjected. “Or is that just a hobby?”

“It’s hobby income, though I run the business side of things too. Chiara does most of the teaching.”

Mom leaned against the counter. “I gotta say, as a mom, I like your credentials. I assume that’s your fancy car in my spot?”

When Alex affirmed, Mom met my gaze, looking rather impressed. “She has a house too,” I added, to which Mom responded by looking Alex up and down.

“Alex, I could swear I’ve seen you before, or maybe I know your family. What’s your last name?”

I had thought it would be a point of pride. I didn’t expect Alex to suddenly fake her smile. “Winthrop.”

Nothing changed on Mom’s countenance. “Sounds familiar. It’ll come to me. Is your family from here?”

“Yeah.” Alex looked very focused on reading the ingredients on the box of pasta noodles. “I grew up in Paradise Valley. I moved to New York when I was about ten for my mother’s career, but we would always come back during the winter.”

“Ah, a proper snowbird….” Mom’s brow furrowed. “Winthrop,” she said, as though tasting a new food. “Is you mother a senator?”

Alex didn’t look up. “Yes.”

Mom did a terrible job at hiding her appall. “Oh! Well, that’s great!”