For a moment, she looked like she heard me. Then she narrowed her eyes. “How do you know? You don’t know her.”

“No, I don’t,” I agreed, “but moms don’t leave for reasons like that. From what you told me, she loved you very much and I don’t see how-”

“She did,” Bette insisted urgently. “But sometimes that’s not enough. That’s what I’m saying.”

“And what I’m saying,” I said bluntly, “is that sometimes people just leave.”

The silence was sharp and freezing. I chopped up vegetables. Bette fiddled with the edges of the paper bag again.

“What are you two girls doing in there?” my mother’s voice sang out from the other room. “I just hate being ignored!”

“Mom!” I cried, frustrated. “Can you just give us a minute?” I flicked my eyes back toward Bette and said quickly, “Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” she said. “It’s-it’s nothing.”

I came around the island to be in her proximity. Then I thought better of it and set the knife down before putting my hands on her shoulders. She wrapped her arms around my waist and held me, looked at me, scrutinized me. It didn’t bother me, though, because she was warm, she smelled good.

“I just-” I attempted to explain, but could only say, “Parents. You know.”

“Yeah. I’m sorry, too.”

She kissed me and then I disentangled, returning to my cooking while she stood and headed for the kitchen door. “Hurry up with that food,” she said, “because we’re starving.”

“Yeah, yeah. Oh, Bette?” She turned. I held out the jar of tomato sauce. “Open this?”

She smiled. “Sure.”

It struck me as just a really weird situation, to be sitting around the table at my dumb little apartment, eating dinner with my mother and my girlfriend of two weeks. Even Kyle thought it was ridiculous; he had said, “Don’t you think it’s a little early to be doing the meet the parents thing?” But it wasn’t like Bette and Lenore didn’t already know each other, and my mother was going to be living with me for four days-what was I supposed to do? Orchestrate events so that they don’t see each other, just so I can avoid situations where my mom thinks it’s cute to tell stories of me running around naked on a movie set?