The McLachlan studio glows in the soft afternoon light—floor-to-ceiling windows spilling sunshine across a baby grand, instruments lining the walls like sacred artifacts. Laurelyn sits at the piano, her fingers dancing through something delicate and slow. She looks up at the sound of the door and smiles. “Hey you. I’m glad to see you crawled out of your hermit hole.”

I lift a hand in a half-hearted wave. “Only because I need a favor. You’re going to laugh at me about this, both of you, probably Jack more than you.”

Her brow quirks, amused but curious. “Color me intrigued.”

Jack goes to the fridge of the kitchenette and grabs two beers. He cracks one open and holds out the second.

“Thanks.”

He nods and drops onto the leather sectional, one arm slung over the back, taking a big chug of beer.

I cross the room and hand Laurelyn my phone. “I’m pretty sure this qualifies me as a lovesick teenage girl.”

Laurelyn studies my phone. “What am I looking at?”

“Magnolia’s music collection. I’m still logged into her account.”

Her eyes skim the lists. “Missing Big Guy?”

“She created it a week ago. Two weeks after the breakup text.”

“I assume you’re big guy?”

“Yeah, that’s what she always called me.”

A pair of creases forms between Laurelyn’s eyes. “This isn’t the playlist of a woman who’s moved on.”

My stomach knots. “You’re sure?”

She glances up at me like I’ve asked if the sky was blue. “This is heartbreak in the form of music. She’s grieving and missing someone she didn’t want to lose.”

Jack shifts forward on the sectional, setting his beer on the coffee table with a quiet thunk. “But you said she blocked you, right?”

“Yeah. She sent me a message saying she’d met someone new, and we were done. Didn’t want commitment. Told me not to contact her again.”

Jack whistles low. “That’s a hell of a shift—from what you had to what she texted.”

“None of it makes sense.”

Laurelyn shakes her head as she continues looking at my phone. “I’m not sure what happened. All I know is that Magnolia is in love with you. I’m certain. I saw it, and so did Jack Henry. You can’t fake that kind of emotion or the look on her face when she was with you.”

“She must’ve changed her mind. It happens.”

“Not when it’s real,” Laurelyn says.

“If we’d known this was going to end with so much pain, Laurelyn and I wouldn’t have encouraged you. We hoped that you’d find love the way we did.”

“You had no way of knowing that our relationship would go sideways.” And even if I had known, I still would’ve chosen to spend those three months with her.