All right, so she was ashamed I knew her secret from years ago. Fine. I understood. I would probably feel the same way too if I’d lied to someone for almost thirty years.

Then she shook her head dramatically, clutching her chest again, and my sympathy disappeared. “How can you bring another man into your life? Into the lives of the boys? They already had a father. A great one—”

“What are you talking about? I’m not getting them another dad. I love him, and I know he feels the same way, and even if we got married one day in the distant future—” I scoffed, not believing what my mom was trying to imply. “—no one could ever replace, Rodrigo, Mom. How could you think that from me just finding someone I like? I thought you were going to freak out because you hate everyone I’ve ever dated, but this one is different. It’s so different. He’s wonderful. He’s probably too good for me. But he has nothing to do with Rodrigo.”

I could see her shake her head, see her shoulders shake, and I came up behind her and wrapped my arms around her neck.

“I think about him all the time. I talk to the boys about him. None of us have forgotten him, and we never could. But don’t you think he’d want us to be happy?”

She didn’t say a word and my stomach turned.

“Mom, I love you. What is it?”

Her chin lowered until it touched my forearm, and she said nothing for a long time. “I’m sorry, amor. You’re right. You’re right,” she finally admitted.

“I know I’m always right.”

She sniffled, wet sounding and reluctant. “No te creas.” Her palm went to one of my hands, interlocking our fingers. “I miss your brother,” she whispered softly, like saying the words too loudly would cut her. “I caught myself buying him a Christmas present twice this year.”

I wanted to ask her for more, to tell me more about when she thought about him. But I kept the question in my mouth. I loved to push and push for more, but with something like this…. What she gave me was more than enough. It was a start. Or maybe if it wasn’t a start, it was something.

“I only want the best for you. That’s all I’ve ever wanted. I’ve made so many mistakes, Diana. I know I have, and I don’t want you to repeat them. I haven’t always been the person you wanted me to be, and I’m sorry.”

Ugh. “Mom, you’re fine. I know I haven’t always been the person you wanted me to be either, but you’re kind of stuck with me and I’m stuck with you.” I gave her a squeeze. “I love you anyway.”

“Te quiero mucho, amor.” Her small fingers gave mine a squeeze that was a lot stronger than someone so little should be capable of. “Not everyone can marry a man like your cousin, I understand.”

I rolled my eyes so far back I wasn’t sure how they found their way forward again. God. I should have expected this from her. I wasn’t sure why I let her continue to shock me.

When she released my fingers and gave the back of my hand a pat, I decided to just let it go. “Okay, I’m fine now.” She didn’t turn around to look at me as she acted like nothing had happened. “You could have told me earlier there were more people coming. I could have worn a nicer dress.”

I gave her shoulders, not her neck, a squeeze as I took a step back. “Who are you trying to impress? You’re already married.”

That had her peeking one teary eye at me over her shoulder. “I don’t know where I went wrong with you.”

A knock came from the front door just as I said, “Me neither.”

I was 99 percent sure as I walked out of the kitchen that my mom threatened me with her shoe, but I was too relieved that we’d gotten that conversation over with to do anything but smile at the person standing on the other side of the door. Miss Pearl’s hair was a pale halo around her head and she’d put on a turtleneck with Christmas trees on it and cute dangling earrings with snowmen on them.

“Merry Christmas, Miss Pearl.”

The older woman gave me a smug smile. “It’s Christmas Eve, Diana, but Merry early Christmas.”

God help me. I laughed as I leaned forward to give her a gentle hug. “Come in. Come in,” I told her as I backed up to let her pass.

And that was when I finally took in the man who had been standing right behind her. In a soft gray flannel shirt with the top button undone was Dallas. He took a step forward. “Hello, light of my life.”

I scrunched up my nose. My heart was racing instantly from one beat to the next, from one blink of my eyes to the following one. Was this ever going to get old? I sure as hell hoped not. “Hi, Professor.” I reached up on my tippy-toes and felt him press his mouth against me, the kiss slow and sweet, a reminder to my heart of what we’d done in my bedroom three nights this last week. Of what I hoped we’d do in my bedroom, with the doors locked, tonight, too. He’d left to help Trip with something the day before so he hadn’t come over last night. I trusted him—both of them, really. I didn’t need to ask what they were up to.

“Thanks for having us.”

Rolling my eyes, I pecked his mouth again. “Don’t thank me.”

“Okay, you can thank me,” he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out something pink. Dallas reached up over my head so quickly, I couldn’t get a good look at it until his fingers grazed the sides of my face and something came down over my hair. His eyes flicked down to mine as he settled the pink material over the hair I’d left down and curled. “I made you a cap.”