Neal had called yesterday as we were on our way back to Bakersville. He had already spoken with Tate and Danvers and they wanted to set up a conference call next week.

“They want to get everything out on the table. They’ve made some decisions that they want to talk to you about,” Neal had said. We pressed him about what those decisions were but he claimed he didn’t know.

I didn’t like being left hanging. None of us did.

“All of this is exhausting. I used to think there would be nothing better than landing a record deal and playing shows all the time. Now I realize how naïve I was. How naïve we all were. We were living in la-la land,” Garrett said, finishing off the donut.

“Yeah, well the real world sucks. I wanted to live a little while longer in la-la land,” I muttered, pulling the newspaper back towards me. I wasn’t sure what even the hell I was looking for. I poured over the want ads until my eyes hurt. There wasn’t really a job out there that was perfect for an “almost rock star.”

“I don’t know, man. Maybe it’s time we all grow up,” Garrett remarked off handedly.

I gave him a wry look. “You sound like your girlfriend.”

Garrett laughed. “Yeah, I guess I do. But it’s something to think about.”

I folded the paper and carried it over to the recycling bin, shoving it in. Garrett was right. We all had some thinking to do.

“Mitch!”

My mother held open the screen door and pulled me into a hug.

“Hey, Ma,” I said, my voice muffled by her shoulder.

Mom pulled back and gave me the maternal once over. “You need to shave. And a good haircut. Come sit down and I’ll grab my scissors. Your dad just stepped out to pick up some firewood. He’ll be back soon. Your sister isn’t here yet. She ran into traffic on 64.”

She ushered me into the kitchen and pushed me down into a chair. My mother wasn’t the sort to waste time on pleasantries. She’d have you in a chair with a plate full of food while sewing the hole in your shirt before you could even say hello.

For my entire life, my mother had been larger than life. She was the kind of woman that took her role as matriarch very seriously. “I was born to be a mother,” she liked to say and damned if she didn’t mean it.

And she didn’t think twice about welcoming anyone who needed a mother figure with open arms.

After Garrett’s parents’ died, he spent most evenings here, in this kitchen, as my mother fussed over him and made sure he was eating enough vegetables. Garrett loved my mother. She was one of the few people, aside from Riley, who could make the guy smile.

And when Cole’s parents had all but abandoned him, my mom picked up the slack, taking him care packages after he moved into his apartment and making sure he had warm socks and pillows for his bed. She took the man shopping for curtains, for Christ’s sake!

She was a sucker for an abandoned puppy. And Cole and Garrett were her favorite abandoned puppies.

“You should have invited the boys to come with you! I haven’t seen Cole, Garrett, or Jordan in so long! Is Jordan still with that lovely girl, Maysie?” she asked, wrapping a towel around my neck and picking up the scissors.

“He is. They’re getting married in August. So be on the look out for an invitation,” I told her, holding perfectly still as she snipped the long pieces of hair around my ears.

“Oh, a wedding! I can’t wait! I love weddings! I keep hoping your sister will finally find someone to settle down with, but I won’t hold my breath.” My thirty-year-old sister had incredibly bad luck when it came to men. Her high school boyfriend had turned out to be gay and her daughter’s dad, who she had been with for almost three years, had taken off the minute he found out she was pregnant. So now Charlotte was doing the single mom thing and I was pretty sure she wasn’t looking to put on a white dress and walk down the aisle any time soon.

Mom leaned down and peered into my face. “I guess I’ll just have to wait for you to settle down then. Though it won’t be the same when you get married. The mother of the groom doesn’t get to do anything fun,” she pouted good-naturedly. She pulled the hair on my forehead between her fingers and started to snip again. “So how is Sophie?” she asked, her voice deceptively light. I knew what she was doing. She was digging. And Mom was one hell of a digger.

“She’s fine,” I said shortly.

“Fine? That’s it? I ask you how your girlfriend is doing and all you can say is that she’s fine? Maybe you should bring her around for dinner again so I can see for myself how she’s doing.” She got out a brush and swept the back of my neck.

“I don’t know. I think she’s busy,” I replied dismissively.

Mom stilled, her hands coming to rest heavily on my shoulders. “Is there a reason we’ve only met this woman twice? Why won’t you bring her around? Are you embarrassed of us or something?” She sounded hurt and I felt horrible. It was so completely far from the truth.

“No, Mom! Of course I’m not embarrassed of you. All my friends love you and Dad. You know that Garrett and Cole would move in if you’d let them,” I told her, trying to make up for being such an insensitive prick.

“Then what’s going on? Why won’t you bring your girlfriend to see us? You used to bring Gracie around all the time. Is there something wrong with this Sophie that you don’t want me to know about?” she asked, sounding suspicious.