“You’re really hard to argue with when you say all the stuff I was going to say back to you.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” Her mother’s eyes shone, the way they did when she was feeling emotional. “You’re the most beautiful thing in the world to me, and I want you to have a wonderful time tonight.” She swiveled the stool toward the mirror.

Natalie saw a pretty girl in the mirror. Not beautiful, like Mom said, but pretty enough. The zit was invisible, the hair was okay. A tiny smile pulled up the corners of her mouth. “Thanks, Mom.”

The downstairs doorbell sounded, and Natalie ran to the window and looked down at the street. Parked at the curb was an old beige sedan that looked like a rejected police cruiser. “It’s Louis,” she said over her shoulder.

Mom came to look. “Right on time.” Something must have shown in Natalie’s expression, because she asked, “Now what?”

Natalie sighed. “That car.”

“It’s fine. We don’t even have a car.”

Natalie stared at the floor. “Kayla Cramer’s parents hired a limo for tonight.”

“Trust me, limos are overrated. Come on. Let’s go meet Prince Charming.”

As they went down the stairs, Natalie hissed, “Please don’t embarrass me.”

“I thought that was my job.”

“Mom.”

Blythe flung open the downstairs door, and there was Louis Melville. When he saw Natalie, the expression on his face exploded into a smile that made her feel warm inside. And with his crisply pressed white shirt and fresh haircut, he looked totally cute.

“Hiya,” she said and introduced him to her mom.

“I brought you this,” Louis said, holding out a plastic container. “It’s a corsage.”

“Oh!” Natalie opened it to find a fragrant starburst of a flower. “That’s really nice. Thank you.”

“I got the wrist kind. You don’t have to wear it if you don’t want to.”

“Sure, I’ll wear it,” Natalie said, holding out her wrist so her mother could attach the corsage.

“You two have a great time tonight,” Blythe said. She offered a wave to Louis’s dad, who was behind the wheel of the hideous beige car.

When they got in the car, Natalie looked out the window and saw her mom alone in the doorway, brushing her cheek with one hand and waving with the other.

“Jesus Christ, Mom, I miss you so much right now,” Natalie said to the empty room. She tried to stave off a wave of grief by staying busy. She took a shower, then did her hair and makeup with special care, and put on her favorite—her only—little black dress. Then as she stood in front of the cheval glass in the bedroom, she realized it was the same dress she’d worn to the memorial service for Rick. Ah, Rick, she thought.