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I’ll survive. It’s just a few hours away, and we can meet in the middle
occasionally for dinner.”
    I knew my mouth was hanging open, but I just couldn’t believe it.
Hillary Shultz—the mother that volunteered for every school function so she
didn’t let me out of her sight—was actually okay with me moving away. “What’s
going on here?”
    “What do you mean?” She started mixing whatever she was making in
the bowl. I finally looked around the kitchen and saw that every surface was
covered with some type of baked good. “There’s a bake sale and I said I’d
help.”
    “Help or cater it?” I started to move a pie to sit on the
barstool at the island, but quickly put it back as there was no other place to
put it. I leaned over and covered her hand to stop the mixer. “You’re upset. It
is okay to be upset with me.”
    She put the mixer and bowl behind her and leaned on the island,
taking my hands again. “I’m not upset with you.” I looked around the bakery-filled
kitchen. “Okay. I’m upset, but not with you. I’ll just miss you. I barely see
you now and you live twenty minutes away. What’s going to happen when you live
across the state?”
    “Mom, I promise I’ll visit. I’ll want to come home to you because
I’ll miss you like crazy, too.”
    “Oh, now, I don’t really believe that at all. I know how it is to
get away from the parents. Once you’re out there and making a life for yourself,
you’ll forget all about us back here.” She reached behind her and picked up the
bowl and mixer again. “That’s how it should be. I’ll be okay. So when do you
start?”
    “I go in three weeks.”
    “Three weeks!” She slammed the mixer and bowl down. “That’s not
much time to move and find an apartment. What’s he thinking only giving you
three weeks?”
    I was actually given two months, but I didn’t want to wait that
long. I wasn’t about to tell her the truth about that, either. I only needed to
give a two-week notice to my current employer, and I could live out of my car
until I found a place if needed. I wanted to get started on my search as
quickly as possible.
    “Three weeks will be plenty of time. I can search for a place
online, and then maybe we can drive there one weekend to check out the better-looking
ones.” She beamed when I said we could go looking. I really did want her help. After
all she is my mom.
    “I would love to help you find a place. It’s got to be safe. I
will only allow you to move into a safe building, and if we need to help you
with the rent, you let us know. I need my baby safe.”
    “Mom, it’ll be fine. Let me help you pack some of these up. You
really need to open your own bakery. It’ll give you something to do, and you
could make a killing at it.”

 
     
     
     
    Chapter 2
    I should have taken Matt’s offer for a little longer
than three weeks. It had sounded like plenty of time, but I was exhausted from
moving so quickly. Walking in through the doors for the first time was a little
intimidating. It was a busier place than I thought it would be. The way Matt
described his company was a little ma-and-pa-style office, but what I walked
into was way more than just ma and pa—it looked as if the distant relatives
moved in.
    I had to thank mom again when I called her to tell her how the
first day went. I couldn’t believe the help she was organizing the move and
making the trips to see the apartments with me. I thought she was going to
break down several times when she was helping me unpack this weekend, but she
held it together pretty well. I was the one that was crying like a baby when
she left.
    I wasn’t exactly sure what to ask for as I walked up to the
receptionist’s desk. I was glad she was on the phone so I had more time to come
up with something to say. Did I just say who I was and expect her to know me,
or did I ask for Matt?
    I heard loud footsteps to my left. A young blond woman carrying a
box of office supplies walked up to