What Now

8. Puzzle Pieces

"What about bears?"

"Lydia, there aren't any bears out here," Sean answered with a sigh.

"How do you know?"

"Because I do," was his very predictable guy excuse.

I sucked my teeth. There is no way he could know if there were bears up here or not. We were hiking in the woods for Christ's sake. There could be a whole cave of bears for all we knew. Okay, maybe not an actual cave.

"Besides," he continued as he stopped and shot me a look. "This was your idea, anyway."

It took me a couple minutes to catch up to him. He was a few feet ahead of me and was definitely more used to this type of thing than I was. I was too busy being paranoid about snakes, coyotes, and now...bears.

I took his outstretched hand as I carefully stepped over some large branches that had grown into the ground. He was technically right with his claim. When we woke up this morning, he recommended that we stay in, relax and maybe read or watch some movies.

I suggested that we go hiking since it was a beautiful day out. I told him I wanted to explore since I had never been here before and it would be good exercise. At this current moment, I wish I had listened to him.

Refusing to own it, I rolled my eyes. "Maybe it was my idea-"

"It was."

"-but still, I've never been hiking like this before. Its normal for someone who isn't outdoorsy to get a little nervous about things with venomous teeth or claws big enough to slice you open."

"How about this," he started as he led me further into the woods, "if we see a bear, I owe you $100. If we don't see one, then you owe me $100."

"You're on," I replied with confidence. This was way too 'off the beaten path' to not have any sort of wildlife.

As I continued to let Sean lead the way, my mind drifted off to the last conversation I had with my mom. I still wasn't sure how I felt about her coming to New York. Especially since it'll be the same time the art show is.

When we get back to the city, I'm planning on calling Michael and talking to him about this. He's spoken to Dr. Sinclair a few times since he's met her. Even though he wasn't related to her, he said that, since she was a part of my life, he wanted to get to know her. I was extremely grateful that me and Michael were able to fix our estranged relationship.

"What's on your mind, beautiful?"

I was so lost in thought, I barely heard Sean's question. "Hm?"

"You have that look on your face when you're thinking of a million things at once."

"I don't have a--"

He arched a brow at me. He really did know me a little too well. I hated to admit it, but he was right.

I let out a long breath as we sidestepped a giant spiderweb. "I'm a littler nervous about my mom coming to New York."

He stopped and frowned at me. "Wait, she's coming here?"

"Yeah, didn't I tell you?" I could have sworn...

"No, you didn't. When did this happen?"

That's when it hit me. "I'm sorry, babe. She called me when I was on my break at work a couple days ago. She told me she wanted to fly out here and visit with me. She wanted to see my dorm and for me to show her around the city. I was going to tell you that day, but that's when I got the letter from the landlord. I guess I forgot."