Diane's POV
As we ate, I found myself watching my mother—the graceful way she held her fork, how she dabbed her lips with her napkin after each bite, habits I'd unconsciously adopted as my own. There was so much of her in me, despite the years of distance between us.
"I have an appointment with Dr. Chen tomorrow morning," I said, twirling the pasta around my fork. "Just a routine checkup to make sure everything's okay after the accident."
My mother's fork paused midway to her mouth. "What time?"
"Nine," I replied. "Joan has a court appearance, so I was planning to take a cab."
My mother shook her head firmly. "Absolutely not. I'm coming with you, we can use my car."
"Mom, it's just a checkup—"
"There's no way I'm letting you go alone," she said, her tone brooking no argument. "Not after everything that's happened."
I glanced at Joan, who merely raised an eyebrow as if to say, "You're not winning this one."
