“What?” I asked.

She sat back in her chair, folding her arms. “It’s just that I am sensing there’s something wrong between you two. Did you have a fight? Your first trip together as a couple can be stressful. If you two had a little dust-up, it’s nothing to worry about. You know that, right? You’re both just learning to make room for each other.”

“Things have been great,” I said. “But not perfect.”

“It doesn’t have to be perfect, Sweetie. It just has to make you happy. Think about a theme park. There are amazing moments, like when you get on the roller coaster or when you first come in through the doors. Sometimes even just sitting somewhere and having a quiet moment in a busy place can be great. But waiting in line during the summer? It’s a total nightmare. That doesn’t mean going to the park was a mistake, though, right?”

I grinned. “So you are saying men are like theme parks?”

“More than you know,” she added with a sultry little wink.

“Gross, Mom.” I laughed, though.

“Well? Does he make you happy?”

I found myself a little surprised by her words. As simple as they were, I wasn’t sure I’d ever really thought of it that way. I’d always seen the two of them in marital bliss pretty much year-round. “You and Dad are perfect.”

“Hah!” She shook her head. “Your father makes me the happiest version of myself I’ve ever known. That is true. But is it perfect? No. We have our fights. We disagree about things. But I know those bumps are just part of the journey. They’re little reminders. Think of it this way. If the weather was always a perfect seventy degrees and sunny, would you wake up every morning and appreciate it? Probably not. You’d get used to it and forget to be grateful. But, if it’s rainy sometimes or cold or miserably hot, those perfect days feel like bliss. That’s what being with your father is like, and the rainy days hardly ever come. But when they do, I just remind myself to be grateful for them. To be grateful for him.”

I thought about everything she said and found myself trying to wrap it around the situation with Dan and me. Did he make me happy? Yes. Were there bumps? Yes, but I still had doubts. “Okay, but what about Eric? Or Kyle? Or Patrick? Or any of the assholes I’ve dated? All of them made me happy at times, and we both know how all that ended.”

She gave me a sad smile. “I do. But love is a risk. It’s always going to be a risk. It’s the biggest risk any of us can ever take, because we’re completely laying ourselves bare for someone else. It’s not always going to work. Some people get lucky and find the right one quickly, and others are going to take the lumps like you’ve had to. But it’s the same as those rainy days, Pearl. When you find the right one–and I hope it’s Dean, by the way–you’re going to appreciate it so much more because you’ve seen the other side. I hope you won’t let what happened stop you from trying again. I know it can hurt, but it’s so worth it. When the right one comes along, you’ll know it. I promise.”