We entered to the sound of my mother's trilling, girlish laughter.
She sat on the edge of the bed, with Cary smiling adoringly at her.
She was as much a mother to him as she was to me, and he loved her so much for that.
His own mother had hated him, abused him, and allowed others to abuse him.
He looked over and saw us, and the emotions that swept across his face in that moment caused a tightness in my chest.
I heard Trey's breath catch as he got his first sight of Cary's condition.
I kicked myself for not telling him in advance not to make the mistake of getting weepy like I had.
Trey cleared his throat.
"Drama queen," he said with gruff affection.
"If you wanted flowers, you should've just asked for them.
This is extreme."
"And ineffective, apparently," Cary rejoined hoarsely, clearly trying to pull himself together.
"I don't see any flowers."
"I see a ton."
Trey's gaze did a brief slide across the room, then went back to Cary.
"Just wanted to see what I was up against, so I could beat out my competition."
There was no way to miss the double meaning in that statement.
My mom rose from the bed.
She leaned over and kissed Cary's cheek.
"I'll take Eva out to breakfast.
We'll see you in about an hour or so."
"Gimme a sec," I said, passing the bed quickly, "and I'll get out of your hair, guys."
I grabbed my phone and charger out of my bag and plugged it into an outlet by the window.
As soon as the screen flickered to life, I sent a quick group text message to Shawna and my dad, saying simply: I'll call later.
Then I made sure my phone was silenced and left it on the window ledge.
"Ready?" my mom asked.
"As I'll ever be."
Chapter 13
I had to get up before dawn Tuesday morning.
I left a note for Cary where he'd see it as soon as he woke up, then headed out to grab a cab back to our place.