“Maybe. We’ll see.” I figured saying, Yes, absolutely, would probably freak her out more than was necessary in this moment.

“Okay, then. You bring him over, and I’ll do my best to love him, too.”

“That’s all I can ask for! But don’t tell him about the love part. I technically haven’t told him yet,” I said. The last thing I needed was for him to find out that I loved him because my mom didn’t know how to keep a secret.

I told her I’d see her at seven and followed up with a text to Noah, making sure he could show up at that time.

I actually pressed my phone to my chest, squealed, and spun around. I never thought this would happen to me, and not even in my wildest daydreams did I ever imagine that it would be with Noah Douglas.

The rest of the day passed by in a blur. I didn’t have any dog-grooming appointments, but I always made sure to spend at least an hour of my day trying new ways of marketing. Today it was to contact current and previous clients to let them know that I was now doing dog sitting in addition to grooming and that I would offer them fifty percent off their next dog grooming if they referred me to a friend.

Then I got ready and drove over to my mom’s. I let myself in the front door and found her in the kitchen, where she was stirring up her famous bolognese sauce.

“It smells good!” I told her, kissing her cheek hello.

“Here, taste. You need to eat more,” she said, offering me some of the sauce on a wooden spoon. I blew on it and then tasted it.

“Amazing as always,” I said. “What can I do to help?”

She asked me to go set up the dining room table. I got out a tablecloth and the nice china that we almost never used except for holidays. It was strangely thrilling to be setting it for three people instead of two.

Once that was done, my mother had me making the salad while she told me about her favorite class and how she thought her professor might be flirting with her. Even though he was too young for her.

I hoped he was flirting. My mom was still a hottie and deserved the ego boost. Good for her. I took the salad and the bread out to the table.

At exactly two minutes before seven o’clock, the doorbell rang. I wondered who it could be because I’d fully expected Noah to be late and had already prepared my mother for this fact.

But to my surprise, it was him. All cleaned up and wearing a blue button-down shirt and khaki pants. He’d even put product in his hair and pushed it back from his face. He had a mixed floral bouquet with him.