“I’m not asking anything of you, Olivia. I just miss you. I didn’t realize how much until I saw you. Guess I’m being vulnerable here, and you know how hard that is for me.”

Conrad was a master of hiding his emotions. Growing up in poverty, hungry for what he didn’t have, different from all the other kids in his neighborhood, Conrad learned how to beguile and maneuver. And cover his feelings with false bravado.

“I know. I just don’t know what you’re asking for, and I’m being vulnerable when I say that I don’t know what I can give you. We had a chance, and that—”

“Was taken from us.” He sounded aggravated. She wasn’t falling into line with what he wanted. Classic Conrad.

“By the person you were in love with, Con. Marley’s death was a bomb, but even if she hadn’t died, we still would have had a huge hurdle to clear. We weren’t going to work even if she hadn’t died. So why resurrect this?”

“Because I need . . .” His words fell away, and a few seconds passed. “You know what? How about I come up to the cabin in a few weeks? I’m dealing with some stuff here and need a change of scenery. I’ll bring an updated script for Chase, and maybe you and I can have some time together . . . to catch up.”

“Catch up?”

“We used to be close, and when I was out on the beach with you, I felt more myself than I had in a long time.” He paused, and she heard the sound of a car door opening and closing. “Besides, you looked beautiful.”

Her heart skipped a beat, and something scary and wonderful bloomed in her stomach. Beautiful. A simple word used for so much. Your baby’s beautiful. That painting is beautiful. You scored tickets for the game? Beautiful.

But she hadn’t ever remembered someone saying she was beautiful. Pretty? Yeah. Attractive? Sure. But beautiful? No one had ever said it about her that she could remember. Not even her own mother. So that word coming from Con’s lips seemed . . . wrong.

A few seconds ticked by because she didn’t know what to say. How to feel. If she could open herself up to the hurt that would surely come. She loved Conrad, and in his own way, he loved her. But the past was a chasm between them, and she could see no way to bridge it. Marley, even dead, would always be between them.

“Livy?”

“Sorry.” She searched her mind for how to respond and settled on what she always said when she wasn’t sure what to say. “Let me check my calendar and get back to you.”

“Okay.”