Page 130 of Sweetheart

A beat passed.

"If this is about the shirt thing from earlier, I can explain," I added.

"It's not that." Mrs. Bishop turned to face me and met my eyes. "I'm just worried about Sam."

"Why?" I asked.

"Do you want the truth?"

The way she said it made me hesitate, but I nodded anyway, bracing myself for whatever she was about to say.

"It's hard for me, Scarlett. I love seeing how happymy sonis right now with you. I'm actually thrilled that you're here. But I can't forget what happened."

I frowned as she went on.

"Sam's always been a happy kid. Carefree. Easy-going. But beneath all that, he has the biggest heart."

"I know," I said.

"When you two stopped beingfriends…" She shook her head. "I've never seen him so sad. Even when he broke up with Brisa, Sam bounced back like itwas no big deal. But with you, it was different."

As I tried to process this, Sadie continued.

"Sam cares about you so much.He always has."

She took a deep breath.

"I just hope…you'll becareful with him.And I know I probably shouldn't say this, but I'm going to anyway. Don't hurt my son, and we won't have any issues.If it doesn't work out, fine. But try not to break his heart.Okay?"

"Okay," I said quietly. "For the record, it broke my heart when our friendship ended."

"I hope you don't think I'm crazy now," she said.

"I don't."

"Being a boy mom is hard sometimes."

"You've got to look out for the ones you love," I said with a smile. "I get it."

She tilted her head. "Sam told me he's helping you witha list?"

"Yes," I said, "I love lists."

"Me too.Checking things off is so satisfying."

"It really is."

"How's that going?" she asked.

I shrugged. "Pretty good. I putsomeitems on there that aren't practical. One in particular is more like a dream that may never happen. So…"

"Never say never."A soft smile touched her lips. "When I was your age, Ihad a list."

"You did?"

She nodded."I wanted to do things like roll down a hill in Ireland."

My eyes widened. "That's awesome!"

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