Chapter Eleven

Sara I saw Noah’s message while I was still in class, and it made me frown. We were supposed to meet up and do something, and I wondered what it was that made him so busy.

There was a quick lunch break before I had to go to another class. Only, my afternoon class was canceled, and I ended up with free time on my hands. I didn’t know what Noah was busy with, but maybe I could see him for just a little bit?

I was about to call him and ask, when my phone rang in my hands. It was Mom, and I smiled in pleasant surprise as I answered the call.

“Mom, hey!”

I realized it had been a while since I spoke to my mom, and felt a little ashamed of myself. Since it was just the two of us, we were pretty close, and before Noah and I started seeing each other regularly, I’d made sure to call her once a week, sometimes several times a week. She called me back just as much, but recently, I’d been busy.

She had her friends and a few things she did to keep her busy, but I knew she missed me just as much as I missed her.

“Hey, honey!” She said happily. “I’ve been dying to call you for a while now, but I wanted to wait until you had some time between classes. You can talk right now, right? You should have one more class today…”

Mom had my schedule, and probably had it better memorized than I did.

“I’m actually free right now,” I said. “My class got canceled. What’s up, Mom?”

Usually, she called in the morning or in the afternoon when I was guaranteed to be free. Not that it had been happening much recently.

“I wanted to let you know that I’m in the area,” she said, then laughed. “I wanted to surprise you with the visit, but I can't just show up at your school. You’ve been pretty busy recently with your friends, right? Or could there be a boyfriend?”

The shock hadn't worn off yet, so I completely ignored her teasing.

“Wait, Mom, where are you?”

She giggled. “I’m at a hotel not too far from your school. Do you want me to come over there? Or will you come to see me?”

“I’ll come see you,” I said quickly. “Let me know where?”

I wouldn’t mind her showing up at school, but the rumors about me had died down. If anyone I knew saw my mom, they’d just start up all over again.

She told me where to find her. I figured a taxi could get me there just fine, and I headed toward my dorm room.

“Let me just get changed first, okay? I’ll be there as soon as I can. I’ll let you know when I get there.”

“See you soon, Sara!”

We cut the call, and I hurried back to my room. I was dressed casually, but since I was meeting up with Mom for the first time since I came to school, I dressed up a bit. It took twenty minutes before I felt I was ready, and headed outside of campus. Finding a taxi didn’t take too long, and I gave the driver the hotel name. With a bit of traffic, I was there in just under half an hour. I texted Mom as I got out of the taxi, and followed her instructions inside.

She stood in the hotel’s lounge. When she saw me walk inside, her face lit up, and her arms opened wide for me. Smiling, feeling a little giddy, I rushed over to her as fast as I could on my three-inch heels and threw my arms around her in a hug.

“I missed you, Mom.”

“I missed you, too, Sara. So much!”

She gave me an extra squeeze before she released me, and we smiled at each other, eyes a little wet.

“How’ve you been?” I asked, looking her over. “You look as good as always. I wish you’d told me you were coming so we could make plans…”

She shook her head, took my hand in hers and squeezed it.

“I didn’t want to interrupt your classes. I was just so excited! I had to come and talk to you. Besides, it’s been so long since we last saw each other. Don’t tell me you’re not happy to see me?”

“No, no! Nothing like that. Of course, I’m happy.” Then I paused. “Wait, what are you excited about? And I know I’ve been… a little busy lately, but we talk all the time.”

She giggled. “This isn’t the kind of thing you can say in a chat message, or a call, or an email! Besides, I wanted you to meet someone, and it would be awkward meeting online, you know?”

My eyebrows jumped up. Right then, I realized Mom was acting unusually excited, and it wasn’t only because we were together after our time apart. Her grin was a little wide, and she looked like she was swaying on her toes a little.

“What is it, Mom?” I asked, curious as to what had her so giddy.

I knew all her friends, so who was this person she wanted to introduce me to that made my mom so happy?

Her eyes looked over my shoulders, and for a moment, I thought her eyes would sparkle.

“Here he is right now! Sara, I want you to meet my husband, Greg. I hope you’ll love him just as much as I do.”

I frowned, puzzled.

Wait, husband?

What the fuck!

My dad had died a little over ten years ago. I still remembered him, just barely, but I did remember he and my mom used to be so happy before the accident that took him away from us. it was hard to say anything good came out of it, but Mom and I grew closer, and she was left with a lot of money and a trust fund for me for when I turned twenty-one, so we were pretty much set.

That was why I felt bad when people paid too much attention to the fact that me and my mom had money. I knew, for the both of us, if we could give all that money up to get Dad back, we would trade it all in a heartbeat.

It had been just Mom and me since then, and while she did meet people now and then, it was pretty rare that she went out with someone.

“Well, we registered the marriage, but we were thinking of doing a wedding soon and inviting close friends and family. He’s just so busy right now and I don’t want to distract him.”

Busy with what?

Fuck, who was this guy that my mom married before she even told me he existed first? What had Mom got herself into? Hurt, anger, shock all mixed as I stared back at her ecstatic face. She turned me, and I moved without protest, to see a man approaching us. He was tall, in a well fit suit that emphasized his broad build, with dark hair and dark eyes. I guess I could say he looked sort of handsome, especially when he smiled and looked at Mom like the sun rose and set behind her.

His looks weren’t really the problem, though!

“Hello,” he said, eyes turning to me curiously when he came closer. “I don’t believe we’ve met before?”

Mom turned to him, holding onto my arm. “Greg, this is my daughter that I was telling you about, Sara. She’s a freshman.”

“Oh,” his eyes lit up. “It’s nice to meet you, Sara. I’ve got to say, you look just as beautiful as your mother.”

He held his hand out to me, and I shook it automatically. Then, he moved to stand beside Mom, wrapping an arm around her. I just watched them, feeling slightly dazed. I saw how Mom smiled at him, and she looked so happy I wasn’t sure if I should say anything, though I was itching to ask a bunch of questions.

Like, when did they meet? Why was this the first time I was hearing about it, and they were already married? There hadn't been a formal wedding, but it was legally binding already?

This man… was my stepdad.

“I would have invited you to lunch,” Mom continued. “But I knew you’d be busy so I was hoping to call you out for dinner. We were both a little too impatient, though,” she said, turning to the man beside her with a secretive smile. “But I’m going to be around for a week or so, so we’ve got plenty of time to meet up!”

“That’s… good, Mom,” I murmured.

She pulled me over to a set of chairs and sat me on the single seat beside the couch, where she and Greg sat down. She started talking about the plans they had for the wedding, and Greg would chime in every now and then, but he mostly just sat there smiling. They were seated close together, holding hands, and my eyes kept moving between Mom and their hands, clasped tightly together.

My chest felt a little tight. I wouldn’t hate this guy just because he wasn’t my dad, and because in the last ten years when Mom didn’t remarry, I knew it was as hard for her to move on as it was for me. Even when she dated, she didn’t look as happy as she used to. I wasn’t sure if she ever would marry again, but I wanted her happy, so of course I wanted it for her.

I just didn’t think much about it. Seeing her glowing seated next to the man, I wanted to be happy for her, I really did. But, I didn’t even know she was dating this man, I didn’t know she’d met someone she was considering marrying.

The mother I’d grown up with in the last ten years would have told me. I felt a little uneasy in my stomach.

Why didn’t she tell me?

It was all I could think.

“I know it’s going to be an adjustment for all four of us,” Mom said. “But I just know we can make this work, honey.”

I blinked. Four of us? Did I miss something important? Mom would have told me if she was pregnant, and she wasn’t rubbing her stomach when she said ‘four of us’ so I didn’t think it was that. So, Greg had a kid of his own? I had a stepsibling “Do you think you can join us for breakfast tomorrow?” Mom asked, looking at me hopefully. “I think it would be a good idea to have all of us together. I know how swamped you are with classes, so I was thinking we could have the wedding somewhere close by for you to be able to attend when you’ve got a short break? We can discuss it some more tomorrow.”

I opened my mouth to say that I would be busy. I had class mid-morning tomorrow. It would be okay if I came early and went back just before class, but I wasn’t comfortable with this. In the end, I couldn’t say no to her.

“Okay,” I agreed.

I wasn’t happy about it, though.