She finally pushed open the back door and went into the kitchen. She heard the TV on and was actually glad that her mother was still up. She looked around the kitchen, noticing that her mother had cleaned up the dishes from her solitary dinner—leftovers that Laura had assembled for her to microwave. She felt a twinge of guilt. She would have rather been here with her mother than suffer through dinner with Cassidy’s friends. Of course, she wouldn’t have missed the pantry episode for anything.

She went into the living room, finding her mother in her recliner. She turned her head when Laura walked in.

“You’re home already?”

“Yes. I couldn’t take it any longer.”

Her mother muted the show she’d been watching. “What’s wrong?”

“They weren’t very nice to me—her friends.”

“Oh, that’s too bad. You had such a good time with Cassidy’s other friends.”

“Very different than Tanya and her husband. There were three of them. They brought a woman who Cassidy used to date…hoping to set them up again.”

“Oh, I see. And how did that go?”

Laura sat down in the other recliner and popped the footrest out. “I wanted to drown her,” she admitted with a laugh. She looked at her mother, her smile fading a little. “I…I really like Cassidy. We…we kissed.”

“Again?”

“Again?”

“Well, I saw you last night.”

Laura felt a blush on her face. “You saw us? You could have turned away!”

“I could have, yes, but it occurred to me that I’ve never seen you kiss anyone before.”

Laura shook her head, dismissing her mother’s comments. “I’m very attracted to her.”

“I would hope so. I saw that there were tongues involved.”

“Mother! Oh my God!”

“What? I’m just saying…”

Laura held her hand up. “Don’t. Just don’t.”

“Tongues, Laura Sue. It’s not like we’re talking about sex or anything. Are we?”

“We most certainly are not!”

“Well, then…go on. You’re attracted to her.”

“Yes. But I’m not anything like the women she dates. They’re all girlie-girls. Thin. Fashionable. Lots of makeup. They barely eat enough to sustain a bug.”

“Well, we know how you like to eat.”

Laura raised her eyebrows. “You think I’m fat, don’t you?” She patted her full stomach. “I just ate a huge steak and a thousand-calorie baked potato. It’s like she’s trying to make me fat.”

“Did you ever think that maybe that’s one of the things she likes about you? You say she loves to cook. What fun is it to cook for someone if they’re going to eat like a bird?”

“I’m not sure that’s a compliment.”

“Laura Sue, you’re not fat. You get too much exercise to worry about that.”