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“You mean you didn’t want to hear about my dream?” I ask, taking a sip and burning my tongue. Then I note the serious look on her face and my heart jumps. “What is it, what’s wrong?”
She pats my leg affectionately. “Nothing is wrong sweetie. I promise. I just have been thinking. Thinking and observing lately. And as your mother, I think it’s time we had a talk about…love.”
“Oh god,” I groan, wincing. “This is worse than the sex talk you gave me when I was eleven.”
“Amethyst,” she chides me. “You know I love you. I love living in that house with you, I love working with you. I love that we’re as close as we are. Maybe it’s not always good or healthy to have your daughter as your best friend, but I think we get a free pass. You’re the light of my world, my absolute everything, and I’m so incredibly grateful that I got to raise such a strong, beautiful woman.”
“Mom,” I say, the unease building inside me. “Are you sure nothing is wrong? You’re not dying or something?”
The idea strikes me sharply in the chest. It’s my biggest fear, losing her, even though it’s fairly irrational.
“Oh, come on,” she says, slapping my arm. “I just had my physical, I’m as fit as a fiddle. You can credit your grandmother for all the fresh vegetables and tinctures she made me have growing up. Kitchen witches know what’s best for your health. And the job does keep me active and on my feet. No sweetie, it’s nothing to do with me. I’m concerned about you.”
“Me?”
“I know what it’s like to be in love with someone who doesn’t love you back,” she says, and it feels like a slap to the face. I flinch, my blood going cold.
She notices and winces. “I’m sorry, that came out wrong. What I meant to say was—”
“What are you even talking about?”
“About you and Wolf.”
“Oh my god,” I mumble, getting to my feet, my latte spilling over the sides of the lid as I throw my arm out. “Why is everything about me and Wolf? Lenore harps on me about it all day long, Pagliacci brought it up last night. We’re just friends. Sure, I think he’s cute but that’s all it is and all it will be.”
“Amethyst, sit down,” she says, patting the spot beside her. “Please. I’m not trying to get you all defensive, but I have to speak what’s on my mind, whether you like it or not. Look, I know your father, that whole relationship was just a…failure. And I know I haven’t really been with anyone since Ted. But I still know something about love, and I know that you’re just going to get your heart broken if you don’t get out of the house more and try and meet someone else.”
I blink at her, dumbfounded. “You’re concerned that I’m single?”
“I’m concerned that what you’re feeling for Wolf won’t be reciprocated. No, scratch that. Can’t be. You know it can’t be, even if he does feel the same way, and I think he does.”
I swallow hard, my chest feeling like it’s on fire. “What makes you say that?”
“Oh, come now. I was there last night when he saw you dancing with that boy. I’d never seen him get so jealous before. But he’s a vampire and you’re not. You’re not going to live forever the way that he will, never mind all the other complications.”
I’m barely listening. The fact that my own mother noticed how jealous Wolf was acting makes me feel like I have butterflies in my stomach. Poisonous butterflies maybe, but still.
“You need to get out,” she adds imploringly. “Meet someone normal. Human. You know there are a lot of them in the city.”
“I do meet guys,” I tell her. “All the time.”
“Yes, maybe. Maybe you go to Palm Springs or Los Angeles or Las Vegas and maybe you have your fun. And that’s all good. But you’re not getting any younger.”
I shake my head. “Oh my god. You’re giving me that talk? I thought you were a more forward-thinking woman than that!”
“I just don’t want you wasting your time on Wolf, something that can’t and won’t and shouldn’t happen.”
Her words sting, even if they are the truth. “You love Wolf, Mom. If I had to be with anyone, shouldn’t it be with someone like him?”
“I do love Wolf. Truly. He is a good, honest man and, if he was human, I would be so happy if the two of you were together. You suit each other so well and I know he would do anything to put you first and make sure you’re happy. But he isn’t human, so you have to find someone else. Someone else like him, if you have to. But you need to put him behind you and move on. Maybe you’re in love, maybe you just think it’s a crush but either way it will only hurt you in the end. I don’t want you wasting your life pining for him when he’s eventually going to meet someone else, a vampire that’s suited to be with him, and you’ll be devastated.”
