Page 85 of The Boyfriend Hypothesis
Sunday was Mother’s Day, and Caleb had gone back to his house to work out while Penny was at the nursing home. The administrators had planned a party for the residents, and Penny brought cupcakes decorated with pink buttercream roses. Despite the attempt at cheer, it was a melancholy occasion for the mothers whose children hadn’t visited, and others who were remembering mothers who had long since passed.
As soon as it was over, Penny FaceTimed her mother from the parking lot of the nursing home.
“Happy Mother’s Day!” she said when her mother’s face appeared on the screen. Margaret Popplestone was round and soft with short brown hair mostly gone to gray and Penny’s hazel eyes. Her hair was done and she was wearing makeup, but she’d already changed out of her church clothes and into an old T-shirt—one Penny got her five years ago that said I’m silently correcting your grammar. “How was brunch?”
Penny’s siblings had taken Margaret out to a Mother’s Day brunch buffet after church, like they always did. This was the second year in a row Penny had missed it.
Her mother’s face moved out of frame for a moment as she pulled her legs up under her on the couch. “Dana’s baby is teething and Cassie’s oldest dropped her father’s iPhone into the fountain at the restaurant.” The smile that lit her face was absolutely sincere. “It was lovely.”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there,” Penny said.
“Your presence was missed, as always. Have I mentioned lately how proud I am of you for sticking it out in Los Angeles on your own?”
“Not in the last seven days, no.” Penny lowered the phone to rest it on the steering wheel. The angle was dreadful—she probably had four chins from this perspective—but it was too uncomfortable to hold it higher for any length of time.
“Well, I am.” Margaret leaned out of frame again and reappeared with a bundle of knitting. “You took a bad situation and you made lemonade out of it.”
Penny made a wry face. “That’s me. Out here on the West Coast, swimming in sour water.”
Her mother glanced up from the knitting she was arranging over her lap. It looked like it might be a sweater, or possibly a blanket. “Oh, dear. Someone’s got a case of the mopes. What brought this on?”
“Nothing.”
“Don’t lie to your mother.” She directed her patented disapproving teacher look at the camera. “Especially on Mother’s Day. You earn triple demerits for that.”
Penny shook her head. “I didn’t call you to complain about my life. Tell me what’s going on with you.”
“You already know what’s going on with me. It’s the same things that are always going on. Now tell me what’s got my baby down in the dumps.”
“A boy,” Penny admitted with a sigh.
Margaret nodded as she arranged the stitches on her needles. “Are you still upset about Kenneth?”
“No, definitely not. I’m way over him. This is someone new.”
“Oh!” Her mother’s eyes lifted in excitement. “A new boy! Do tell.”
“Technically, I’ve known him for a while. I just got to know him recently.”
“Who is he? What’s his name?”
“Caleb. He’s a barista at that coffee shop by my house.”
“Interesting,” her mother said, looking back down at her knitting.
“He’s not just a barista,” Penny said in response to her unspoken critique.
“I wasn’t judging.” She was a little, but Penny let it go.
“He’s about to start medical school. You’d like him, actually.”
Margaret had never liked a single one of Penny’s boyfriends—which, in fairness, had turned out to be justified in every case. She’d never come right out and said so, of course, but Penny could always tell. When her mother disliked someone, she became even more polite than usual. Thank goodness she’d never had a chance to meet Kenneth, or she might have smothered him to death with good manners.
Margaret lifted an eyebrow. “A younger man, eh?”
“He took a gap year, but yeah. A little younger.”
“So what’s the problem with this young doctor-in-the-making? Why does he have you feeling sad?”
