Chapter 30: Her Mom Was Here

Rex

She nods against my chest. "Yeah. My mom was here today."

"What?"

"My mom. Her name was Valeria."

Shit. What are the odds?

"What are the odds, right?" she asks my thoughts. "And on her birthday of all days."

I tread lightly, not sure which way this will go. But the look on her face isn’t filled with sadness. If I could name her expression, it would be something closer to awe. Eyes wide and shining, lips glossy from her tongue sneaking out to lick them, apples of her cheeks high and pink. She was melancholy earlier, while still maintaining some happiness. But now, she seems content, almost. As if meeting this girl with the same name as her mother with the same birthday as her mother, made sense in her world. "What did you say to her and her mom?"

"I asked if she’d like to come to the salon for a birthday treat. I explained to her mom that it would have been my mom’s birthday today so she wouldn’t think I was a complete psycho. And, um."