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“Right,” Mom said. “How are you?”
“I’m good,” I said.
She glanced at me before she washed another plate and rinsed it.
“I hate it when you lie to me.”
“I’m not lying,” I said.
“You’re thin, and you look troubled. What’s bothering you?”
I laughed. “I’m not thin, I just don’t eat like I used to. I’m not troubled.”
Mom stared me down until I buckled.
“I had a rough time in Oregon when we went camping,” I said. “We washed away, and we were lost in the forest for days.”
Mom’s hands stilled, and she looked at me. “I didn’t hear. It was in the news?”
I shook my head. “I’m not important enough to end up in the news, not unless it’s something serious.”
“And that wasn’t serious?”
I shook my head. It had been serious in my life and in Celine’s. It had done nothing in the grand scheme of things. No matter how set I was on making a big name for myself, on making my millions, I was still barely a blip on the radar in the bigger picture. All things being equal, the world would not stop turning if something happened to me.
“Who’s we?” Mom asked.
“What?”
“You saidwewere lost in the forest for days. It wasn’t Gino.”
I shook my head. I didn’t know how she knew.
“You remember the Forger family I stayed with when I was in college?”
“Yes, with the girl who stole your heart.”
I blinked at my mom. “She didn’t steal my heart.”
“Is it why you’re so thin?”
I groaned. “I’m not thin, Mom! I actually work out to look like this.”
“On purpose?”
I laughed, shaking my head. “Yeah, on purpose.”
“She’s still back there, and you’re running,” Mom said.
I sighed. “How do you do this? How do you know what’s going on without me telling you anything?”
Mom turned and put a wet hand on my cheek. “I’m your mother, Lorenzo.”
She said it like it was explanation enough.
We washed dishes in silence for a while. I stacked the plates, the pots, the pans so we could put them away when it was all done.
“How did you know that Dad was the one?” I asked.
