“What the future holds for us?” John mused. Prospect Park to watch the leaves change colors. Thanksgiving at Estrella’s house—and hopefully not here. Sweating over what to get Mary for Christmas. The joy of watching Mary bundle herself into winter gear. Rejoicing when spring comes again because then summer will be around the corner and we will be able to celebrate our one-year anniversary. “Oh, just being together, mostly.”

It was a dumb answer, obtusely evasive, and he doubted it would hold Naomi at bay. But he refused to give her what she was fishing for.

Naomi cleared her throat. “Are your parents together, John?”

“Translation,” Mary said, propping her chin on her hand, “what are your thoughts on marriage?”

Naomi glared at her daughter but didn’t refute the claim.

Now John was the one clearing his throat. “No, my parents aren’t together. But maybe it would help answer some of your questions, Naomi, if I just came clean about something. I’m crazy about Mary. I think she’s the most wonderful person on planet Earth. And the idea of getting to spend time with her, grow with her, fills me with nothing but happiness. That’s what I see for our future. Us. Together.”

He said most of that right into Mary’s eyes. She went pink in the cheeks and bit her bottom lip.

“And children?” Naomi asked, her hands clenched together so tightly they were white at the knuckles, as if she already knew the blowback she’d get for this question.

“Mom!”

“Naomi!”

Naomi winced at both Mary’s and Trevor’s admonishments, but her eye contact remained steadily linked with John’s. He’d never felt more grateful to have been raised by Estrella than he was in that particular moment. Maybe his mother was a bit too nosy for her own good, but she’d never have subjected anyone to a conversation this blatantly intrusive.

And that was what ultimately got John. That Naomi felt she had the right to invade into Mary’s life like this. This was so much worse than Estrella pulling strings behind the scenes, even though it sounded like Naomi had done some of that as well. It never failed to amaze John what some people would do ostensibly in the name of their children. Looking at Naomi right now, her back stiff, her hands clenched, her face set and lined, he realized that she truly believed she was right for asking these questions. That she was doing this for Mary’s own good.