That was why, out of everything that had transpired, knowing he’d let me go hurt the worst.

Because my Roman? My Roman would have fought.

As the sun set on another day, I knew I wouldn’t make it out of that dark apartment. It was still too soon. But I couldn’t help but want to be close to him.

Grabbing a glass of wine, I sat myself down on the floor in front of the small coffee table still leftover from my days with Tyler. It had been one of my flea-market finds during the first few weeks I’d arrived. Tyler had been bored out of his mind, wandering from seller to seller, bargaining over what he considered junk. To me, it was history, part of someone’s life.

And, now, it was a part of mine.

I lovingly fanned my hand out over the worn wood, admiring each ding and scratch, knowing there was a story or two behind each one. It was the perfect place to discover the stories of the Cavenaugh family.

Ever since the boxes had arrived, I’d set up camp right here on this small table. Not having the space for a proper dining room table, this was the largest work area I had—besides the floor or the kitchen, and I would not allow dirt or food anywhere near these precious documents and photos.

Keeping my wine a good distance away, I took up where I’d left off—somewhere around the turn of the century.

But, for some reason, it didn’t interest me the way it had.

It wasn’t him, and tonight, I really needed Roman.

Going against my highly organized brain, I set the box aside and started searching.

Searching for Roman.

It didn’t take long. Mrs. Cavenaugh had sent everything. Every photo, diploma, and document she had all the way back to Patrick Kavanaugh—the first ancestor from Ireland. I loved that it was spelled differently—the researcher in me wanted to know why.

I spent hours going through Roman’s baby albums and high school yearbooks and reading every mention of him his mother had clipped from the papers. It was completely unorganized, like she’d said, with a mixture of Roman and Jude in several boxes, but I enjoyed it all.

Jude was exactly as Roman had described, studious and determined, while Roman had managed to excel in sports and various other activities.

I spent an entire hour sifting through newspaper clippings, sorting the boys.