Chapter 98. Chef’s Special

TARA

I had just ended the call from Aidan, and he said they were ten minutes away from the house. I didn’t want to spend that time thinking about what Kayla’s cryptic text meant, but one thing I thought about was how cruel Kayla was.

Feeling the need to check up on my mom and make sure that she was okay, and that Kayla was nowhere near my family—I had no idea why I thought of that—I decided to call her. Besides, we had barely spoken much in the past week when I was dealing with the mess from our pasts.

She picked up on the first ring, and her voice already did something to calm my unsettled heart. Her voice was low, but familiar, like a season of the year I missed, spreading over me like butter.

“Hi, Mama,” I said, smiling into the speaker even though she could not see through the phone.

“My Tara,” she said in reply, reminding me of the many nicknames she had for me during my childhood. Emotions gathered in my throat, both from reminiscing about