Chapter 17
BECCA
Telling Theo the truth about losing my scholarship—the whole truth—felt a little like picking off an eight-year-old scab. Except the skin underneath wasn’t angry and red and raw like I feared. It was closer to being healed. A little pink, a little tender, but better for having been exposed.
It’s wild to have been an adult for years and then, in the blink of a single summer, find myself wading through ancient history, processing emotions I thought I’d never have to think about again.
But I can’t be sorry it’s happening. To say things out loud, to own them, then realize I’ve grown enough to move past them … it’s the most liberating thing I’ve ever experienced.
It almost makes me wish I’d looked Theo up a long time ago.
I look over at him, his arm propped up on the open window, sunglasses on, salty sea breeze ruffling his hair. He catches my eye and smiles.
Maybe not. Maybe I wasn’t ready before. Or he wasn’t. I guess we’ll never truly know.
Either way, I’m glad we’re here now. If nothing else, it feels good to make peace with the past in a way I didn’t think was possible.
Both of our mothers are standing on the porch of the beach house when we finally pull up. They aren’t even trying to hide their glee, and Theo lets out a chuckle from beside me.
“They look awfully proud of themselves, don’t they?” he says.
“They really do,” I agree. But I can’t bring myself to be annoyed.
I haven’t seen my mom since Christmas, and the sight of her triggers a deep ache in my chest. As soon as Theo turns off the ignition, I’m out of the car and heading up the stairs to hug my mom.
I don’t even pause long enough to close my door.
“Please tell me you aren’t mad,” Mom whispers as she pulls me into a hug.
I lean back and give her a pointed look. “I should be. When have you ever been this sneaky?”
“It’s me,” Kim says from where she’s standing beside us. “I’m a terrible influence.”
Mom laughs. “She really is. This was all her idea.” She hugs me one more time. “You should be mad … but you aren’t?” she asks.
The hope and vulnerability in her voice make it clear she’s been worried. And rightly so. She took a gamble, considering she and I still haven’t had a real conversation about Theo. It was definitely a risk—one that was probably far outside her comfort zone.
“Not mad,” I say, and she exhales, her shoulders relaxing.
“We should talk later,” Mom says, and I nod.
“Yeah, we definitely need to.”
Behind me, Theo finally reaches the top of the porch steps, our bags in hand. He puts them down and pulls his mom into an enormous hug. Then he greets my mom, making room for Kim to step over and offer me a hug.
“It’s so good to see you, Rebecca. I hope you can forgive us for tricking you both.”
“I’m just excited to meet Hector Villanova,” I say, keeping my face serious, my tone perfectly even.
Kim’s eyes widen as she looks from me over to Theo. “Oh. Right. Well, that, um, well I suppose I could—”
“Busted,” Theo says, shaking his head like he’s disappointed, and his mom bursts out laughing.
“I’m so sorry I lied!” she says. “I was watching TV right before I called you, and when you asked me the guy’s name, it just popped out!”
“You’re lucky I don’t watch much TV,” Theo says. “I might have caught on sooner. It was Becca who figured it out as soon as I mentioned his name on the plane.”
“You must have thought I was so terrible,” Kim says to me. “I promise, every decision we made, we made with love.”
Funny how we’re ignoring the fact that those decisions made with love have everything to do with our mothers wanting me and Theo to be together.
They didn’t just invite us on vacation. They invited us to an episode of Love Island where we’re the only contestants.
“Can I show you the house?” Mom says. “It’s a little old and a lot quirky, but it’s right on the beach, and there’s a pool out back, so I think we’ll enjoy being here.”
Mom gives us a quick tour, and Theo carries our bags upstairs where there are two bedrooms and a bathroom he and I will share. Once he drops off my stuff, he offers me a warm smile, then heads back downstairs, finally leaving me alone with my mom.
I sink onto the bed, suddenly weary from all the traveling.
“You promise you aren’t mad?” she asks, her voice low. “You can be honest now that Kim isn’t listening. I promise I can take it.”
I huff out a disbelieving laugh. “I can’t believe you did this, genuinely, but yeah. I promise. I’m glad I’m here.”
“Are you sure? I know I brought you here under false pretenses. But if this isn’t what you want, we can leave right now and get our own place. Have a vacation with just the two of us like you expected.”
“No, I don’t want to do that,” I say. “We’re already here. Plus, Theo and I talked, and we think it’ll be fine. Maybe even fun.”
“You talked?” Mom asks.
“We did. And we’re on the same page about not wanting any kind of relationship right now. I’m glad we’re here because it feels good to put the past behind us and be friends. But that’s all.”
Mom’s shoulders drop. “Well, I suppose that’s better than enemies. But are you sure? That picture of the two of you—it looks like you’re more than friends.”
“That was…” I pause, not sure how to quantify that moment.
It was thrilling and fun and totally unexpected.
But it also felt like an echo of the dynamic we’d had when we were together, like we were slipping back into old habits.
Which makes me think I can’t truly trust my feelings about it.
“It was just a blip,” I say. “It didn’t mean anything. ”
Mom narrows her eyes like she doesn’t quite believe me.
“But maybe it could mean something,” she says. “The two of you clearly still have chemistry. I don’t want you to be so pragmatic that you miss out on something—”
“Mom, I get it,” I say, cutting her off. “I listened to your voice message.”
She presses her lips together. “I just want to see you with your sparkle back,” she says. “That’s all I want.”
“I know it is. And I love you for that. But I don’t know if Theo is the right answer.”
She nods. “Maybe he’s not. But maybe you could just … see what happens?”
“That’s everyone’s favorite thing to tell me lately,” I say. “See what happens. No. I want to know what happens. Beginning, middle, end. I don’t feel like that’s too much to ask.”
Mom chuckles. “You and your father. He about lost his mind when I told him what I was planning. He said to tell you if you decide to disown me, you better not cut him off too.”
“Did he really say that?” I ask, suddenly missing my dad.
“He did. But he was underestimating the most important part of this whole trip.”
“What’s that?” I ask.
Her eyes take on a knowing glint. “Theo.”
“Mom,” I groan. “You can’t do this all week long. I’m here. Theo is here. You’ve made it very obvious what you want. But we’re adults. It really is up to us. And neither of us wants a relationship right now.”
She gives me a knowing look. “Are you sure about that?”
I furrow my brows, my heart rate spiking the tiniest bit. “Why do you look like you know something?”
She glances at the door like she’s about to say something she doesn’t want overheard, then she scoots a little closer, lowering her voice to say, “Do you really think I would have done this to you if I wasn’t sure about how he feels?
I wouldn’t set you up to get hurt, Becca.
Not after everything you’ve already been through. ”
I’m still struggling to wrap my head around what she’s telling me. “Are you saying he’s talked to his mom about … me?”
“He hasn’t,” Mom says carefully. Then she grins. “But he did talk to his brother, who talked to his mom.”
Her words make my cheeks heat. But no. It can’t be. “That sounds like third-hand information.”
She shoots me a pointed look. “Pretty sure we can trust the source.”
She’s right, but I shake my head anyway. He’d been so quick to agree with me on the plane.
Except, did he agree? He said I made some logical points, but he didn’t explicitly agree with them.
“I can’t decide if it’s good or bad that you told me that,” I say.
“Just think about it,” she says. “That’s all I ask. Just go into this week with an open mind.”
I huff out a sigh. “Fine. But you’d better behave. No more trickery. You can’t make us go on dates or force us to spend time together if we don’t want to. I’m here, and I’ll keep an open mind. But I won’t be manhandled.”
Mom smirks. “I mean, a little manhandling might not be bad…”
“Mom!”
“Okay, okay!” She holds up her hands in surrender. “I promise. Now, come on. Kim says there’s wine on the back patio, and I’d love to have a glass before it gets too late.”
Sure enough, we find Kim and Theo sitting by the pool, wine glasses in hand.
“There you are,” Kim says. In the center of the table, two empty glasses sit next to a chilled bottle of wine, slick with condensation in the muggy heat. “Will you have some?”
“Please,” Mom says as she sits down.
Kim pours her glass and hands it over, then turns to me. “Becca?”
I sit down next to Theo, deliberating for a long moment before finally relenting. “I’m still so full from dinner. But maybe just one glass.”
“Shouldn’t have had that fourth hushpuppy,” Theo says.
I look over and scowl. “You aren’t going to let me forget that, are you?”
“Not a chance,” he says with an adorable smirk.
Our mothers exchange a glance—that will probably happen a lot this week—then Kim turns her attention to me.
“So how do you like working in Atlanta, Becca?”
“I like it,” I say. “I love being able to walk to the hospital, and there are some great surgeons on staff who have made me feel welcome. That doesn’t always happen with surgeons and travel nurses.”
“It must be so fascinating moving from hospital to hospital,” she says. “I’m sure they all do things a bit differently.”