It Starts with Us by Colleen Hoover

Atlas gives his head a little shake, and his mouth ticks up in the corner. “I
love you. Be home soon.”
“I love you, too.”
As soon as we end our call, I hear Emerson’s sweet voice, so I
immediately turn around. My mother is standing in the doorway holding her.
She’s smiling like she caught some of that conversation.
I stand up to grab Emerson from her, and she clings to me. Should be an
easy night. When she gets cuddly like this, it means she’s ready to fall asleep.
I motion for my mother to have a seat next to me.
“This is cute,” she says.
It’s her first time here. I would show her around, but Emerson is already
rubbing her face into my chest, trying to fight her tiredness. I want to give her
a chance to fall asleep before I stand up.
“What a magnificent place for a garden,” my mother says. “You think he
chose this place on purpose, hoping you’d come back into his life?”
I shrug. “I was actually wondering that myself, but I didn’t want to
assume.” I pause, then turn and look at her after her question actually
registers. Back into his life? I never told her Atlas was a friend from back in
Maine. I just assumed she didn’t remember him.
I assumed she had no idea that the Atlas in my life now was anyone from
my past.
She can see the surprise on my face, so she says, “It’s a unique name, Lily.
I remember him.”
I smile, but I’m also confused as to why she never brought it up before
now. I’ve been dating him for over six months, and she’s been around him a
handful of times.
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, though. My mother has always been a
little hard to get to open up. I can’t blame her. She spent years with a man
who left her no voice, so I’m sure it’s been hard for her to learn how to use it
again.
“Why didn’t you ever say anything?” I ask her.
She shrugs. “I figured you would bring it up to me if you wanted me to
know.”
“I wanted to, but I didn’t want it to feel awkward for you being around
him. Not after what Dad did to him.”
She looks away from me, her eyes scanning the backyard. She’s quiet for
a beat. “I never told you this, but I spoke to Atlas once. Kind of. I came home