I know it’s ridiculous, but the thing that keeps popping into my head is all those books he recommended to me on BookFriends—I read every single one, but he never asked me for any of my recommendations in turn. I’ve always believed that the best way to truly know someone is by reading their favorite books, and he hasn’t made any effort to do that.

I shake my head, trying to shrug it off. I’m being silly, right? But the thought nags at me as I try to drift back to sleep.

The buzzing starts again, and I realize it’s my phone on the nightstand. I reach over to grab it; my mom has sent me a text. At 6:14 a.m.

Hey sweetie pie! Sorry for the whole mess in Mexico. Call me when you can, we should catch up!

My stomach sinks at the brightness in her tone—it feels forced. Georgia’s been trying to get me to reach out, but our mother never reaches out unless she needs something. What does she want?

My finger slips and I accidentally hit the video call button.

“Shit,” I whisper—I don’t want to disturb Ryan, and I’m also not in the mood to deal with my mother.

But it’s too late, she’s already answering, and I slip out of bed and quietly shut the door behind me.

“Jojo! How are you!”

“Um, I’m okay.” I hurry through Ryan’s living room and let myself out to his tiny balcony, shutting the sliding glass door behind me.

When I glance back at my phone screen, my mom’s face comes into view: she looks worried. “What’s wrong?”

I open my mouth to tell her it’s nothing, but the words catch in my throat. I try to hold it in, but within seconds it all bubbles over, and soon I’m crying as I tell her everything about Ryan, that my plan to save our jobs didn’t work and now he’s moving and I don’t know if I can handle it.

When I finish, she sighs and says, “Oh, Jojo. I’m so sorry.”

I wipe my eyes, surprised at my outburst—I’ve never broken down in front of her—but also because she’s never seemed to care much about my emotional state. “Yeah. Same.”

“But it doesn’t make sense—it sounds like he cares about you! Why would he leave? I think you need to ask him what’s really going on.”

Before I can explain that he thinks it’s best for both of us, she continues:

“You know how I wanted to find Darrell and ask him why he left me in Puerto Vallarta? Well, he showed up on my doorstep last week. He said he took off because he was scared, just like I thought. He apologized and begged me to give him another chance.”