“The second part that told me was when I couldn’t imagine my day without him. I didn’t want to.” She lifted her shoulders. “I love being here with you, my sweet girl, but I also miss him and can’t help but wonder if he was able to heat up the chicken I left him for tonight without burning his fingers. Now, that’s love.”

Lauren closed her eyes, because that’s exactly how she felt. Since Carly left, her days felt strange and empty. She spent more time counting the hours until she would be reunited with Carly than she did actually living. The imbalance was a lot to behold.

“I think I’m going to call him,” her mother said, glancing around for her phone. She paused. “This is about Carly, isn’t it? I don’t think I’d realized it had gotten so serious. She’s a celebrity, Lauren. That comes with a whole other set of obstacles.”

Lauren smiled. “I know that. Sometimes I forget, admittedly.”

“Does that…worry you at all?”

“Yes. It does.” But leaving Lauren’s world, and entering Carly’s? It felt like a much larger issue now than ever before. Lauren wasn’t sure what to expect. “I don’t really know what her life is like.”

“Well, kiddo, I think you’re about to find out.” She covered Lauren’s hand with hers. “Do me a favor. You take care of yourself out there. No matter what kind of wheeling or dealing you run into with the new agent or your auditions, you remember who you are: Lauren May Prescott, the best human I happen to know.”

She sent her mother a watery smile, as a mixture of excitement and trepidation took over. “That’s my plan.”

“And you’re going to call me once a day for every state that now will separate us.”

Lauren frowned. “I’ll try.” Lauren immediately winced at her error and prepared herself for the inevitable. “Don’t do the Yoda voice.”

“Me to excuse Lauren Prescott?” her mother said in an always startlingly accurate Yoda voice, which was prompted anytime Lauren used the word try instead of something more affirmative.

“You have to stop doing Yoda,” Lauren said, with a laugh.

“Hmmmm?” her Yoda Mom said.

Lauren closed her eyes and grinned. “I promise to call.”

That seemed to appease Yoda. At least for today.

* * *

Carly clutched the autumn-themed bouquet of flowers too tightly, making the stems all mingle too closely. She couldn’t seem to relax. This was it. Lauren would walk through those doors in a matter of moments, and she’d get to show her around her home city. She rolled her shoulders and swallowed the smile that kept bursting onto her face without warning. She’d never been the most patient of individuals, admittedly, but waiting on Lauren’s flight to arrive had her stomach muscles fully employed and her skin all atingle.