Page 82 of Fauxmance

"When are you seeing him again?" she asked.

"Tomorrow," I said. "The wedding, remember?"

She grimaced. "Ah, I've been to enough of those to last me a lifetime. I'm sure you'll have fun, though."

"Thanks," I said. "For talking that out with me. It helped, as always."

"Any time," she said. "And Magnolia, don't write off your feelings too quickly. I don't know the guy in question, but if you're feeling something, there's a good chance he may be, too.Even if he's not ready to admit it."

I smiled but said nothing in return.

It was clear Doctor M had been reading too many romance novels. I couldn’t fault her for it. I loved love, too. Reading about it, watching it in movies, seeing it in person. However, in the real world, relationships that started out fake hardly ever became real. Heck, though I was a hopeless romantic, even I could see that the real ones often failed. Not that I'd have to worry about that. Bad boy rockers who were eligible, hot, and kind like Hayden were never single for long. And they never went for "sweet" girls like me.

When I got home, Mom was sitting in the living room, purse in her lap, car keys in hand and her eyes on the door. A look of relief crossed her face as I walked in.

"Hey Mom," I said, slowing as I stepped into the living room. "Are you going out?"

"Nope, just waiting for you," she said.

I lifted a brow, and she rolled her eyes.

"I wanted to be ready in case something happened with that elevator again. You have no idea how scary that was, Magnolia. When you didn't come home… Anyway, I just wanted to be ready."

I shook my head. "Mom, I love you. You know that, right?"

"Of course, I do." Mom gave a haughty sniff as she removed her jacket. "But not nearly as much as I love you."

We hugged, laughed, and then sat back on the sofa.

"By the way," I said, "I took the stairs today."

"Probably a good choice."

"I thought so. Elevators can be unreliable."

"I've heard that," Mom said. "So, how did your appointment go?"

"Went okay," I said.

It was her turn to lift a brow.

"We talked about Sean and…other things."

Mom's lips turned down at the mention of my ex.

"There's just a lot on my mind, a lot going on, I guess," I said. "Including the wedding tomorrow."

"Hmm. I thought you'd be excited about that?"

"Oh, I am," I said quickly. "Weddings are my favorite."

She patted my leg. "Same here, sweetheart. You're going with Hayden, right?"

"Yep."

"I liked him—and not just because he filled out that suit so nicely."

I scoffed. "Mom, gross."

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