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Finally, Ryan stops in front of a dark-haired woman who has her hair pulled back with shiny barrettes. She opens her arms to him and he picks her up, jostling her around, and she squeals. “Happy birthday, Mom,” he signs. She pats his cheek affectionately, and then he steps to the side and motions to me.
“Mom, this is L-A-R-K,” he says, and he waves his hand like he’s Vanna White and I’m the Q no one ever gets. “My girlfriend.”
My face heats, but I push it back. “Nice to meet you,” I tell her in sign language. I hold out the pretty box full of cookies. “My mom made some cookies for you. Happy birthday.”
She looks at me warily, then she steps toward me. I instinctively take a step back, and walk right into a wall. Of man. I look over my shoulder.
“Hey, Lark. Good to see you again,” Mick says. Then he puts his hands on my shoulders to keep me still. No fair.
Their mom stops when she’s inches from me and takes in my facial features, her eyes falling on my nose, my lips, my hair. “This is the hearing girl, right?”
“Mom…” Ryan warns.
His mom rolls her eyes, and Ryan smiles. “Lark is very pretty,” she says. She looks at Ryan and nods. In approval? Maybe. The grip around my heart starts to ease.
“Thank you,” I reply. “And thank you for inviting me.” I take the flowers from Ryan. “These are for you.”
She takes them with a smile and brings them to her nose. Then she hugs me. “I’m glad you’re here.”
Ryan and Mick look at one another and then they both fall into dead heaps on the floor at the exact same time. I take a step back, stepping over Mick’s body to get out of the way. Then I squat down next to Ryan and tap his shoulder. He looks up at me, grinning. “Why are you lying on the floor?” I ask him.
“Well, my mother said it would be a cold day in hell before she let me date a hearing girl,” Ryan tells me. “So when she hugged you and welcomed you, I fainted.” He points to Mick, who is still pretending to be out cold. “Mick did too. See? We’re just overwhelmed.”
Mick lifts his head. “Did the body snatchers take Mom?” he asks. He doesn’t get up, though, and neither does Ryan. They just lie there.
“Maybe she’s going crazy in her old age,” Ryan replies.
His mom scowls. Then she pulls the dishtowel from her back pocket and starts to slap them both with it. They howl and cover their asses, jumping to their feet so they can run around the room with her chasing them. Someone who looks a lot like Ryan grabs him and holds him in a headlock, while she proceeds to slap him with the towel. He pretends like it hurts, but you can tell it doesn’t. Finally, he lets Ryan go and Ryan introduces me to his dad.
Mrs. Shepherd looks at me and smiles. “Would you like to help me in the kitchen?” she asks.
Relief washes over me. “I’d love to.”
“Send her back to me one piece,” Ryan jokes.
“You are not funny,” she says, and she shakes her finger at him.
“Not at all,” I say and I shoot him a look. My security guy follows us and I tell him, “You can go to the car. I’m fine.”
He shakes his head and stares straight ahead. “I’ll wait right here.”
“Really, it’s okay.”
His eyes linger on Mrs. Shepherd and he finds a place in the corner, out of the way, where he can wait. “Nope.”
“You know most of these people can’t hear, don’t listen to music, and have no idea who I am, right?”
“I’ll wait,” he says.
“Suit yourself.”
Suddenly, a familiar face bustles around the corner, wearing an apron. “What else can I do,” the girl asks.
Mrs. Shepherd smiles at her. “You can talk to Lark while I take these outside.”
Mrs. Shepherd leaves the room, and Ryan’s ex-girlfriend stares hard at me. “What are you doing here?”
