“It goes back to that thing I said about men and women speaking different languages,” Hallie explained. “You have to figure out what you’re willing to put up with and what’s a deal breaker. My dad isn’t a talker. In the almost thirty years my parents have been married, he’s told her he loves her a handful of times, and only when he was prompted to. But he wakes up every morning and fixes a big pot of coffee despite the fact that he doesn’t drink coffee. He forgets her birthday if no one reminds him, but he goes to every doctor’s appointment with her since she had a heart attack because he wants to know how to take care of her. Sometimes men don’t say how they feel. They show you. How does Rene make you feel?”

Like she couldn’t breathe if his hands weren’t on her. Like if they held hands, the world would be a better place. Or if they held on to each other, they could get through any storm. Wasn’t that more important than words? “He treats me like I’m special, but how can I be sure he’s doing that because he cares about me and not because he wants me to stay married to him?”

“Ask him,” Sera encouraged. “Talk to him about something other than work. Romance the man and see how he responds. Also, sometimes when a man isn’t good at saying how he feels, he’s real good at showing it physically.”

“Or he could simply want sex,” Sylvie countered. But she wanted to explore the physical side of their relationship, too. No one had ever made her feel the way Rene did. No man had caused her heart to race and her whole soul to go soft at the thought of being in his arms.

No man could crush her the way he could.

“Isn’t that the risk we all take?” Sera mused as she settled back again.

“Pretty much.” Hallie lay back, too, all three of them looking up at the perfect sky. “We all have to decide if we’re worth the risk. I think Sylvie is.”

“Shouldn’t that be the other way around?” In her head she had to figure out if Rene was worth the risk.

“Nah, you can’t control what the guy does. It’s your heart on the line. Is your heart worth the risk? If you don’t ever take a risk, you can’t get the reward,” Hallie mused.

“I think you’re worth it, too.” Sera’s hand came out and took her own.

Hallie took Sylvie’s other hand. “Though I still think there’s merit to the idea of getting rid of his whole family.”

She couldn’t do that, but maybe she could try harder. She’d used her job as a wedge between them, only spending time with Rene at night.