It’s a fantasy I never allowed myself to have. But like everything with Jasper, he’s allowed me to envision a life I never thought was a possibility before.

And now it’s all I want.

—

I forgot that when Elsie meets new people, she turns into a master interrogator.

It’s a habit I’ve tried to break her of since the day we met. She’s somehow convinced herself that her method of rapid-firing questions at people makes them feel comfortable and not like they’re under investigation.

“And where are you from?” She takes another sip of the wine she switched to after the initial cocktail she ordered.

“Originally I’m from Maine, but we moved to California when I was in middle school for my dad’s job.” Jasper answers this question like he’s answered all the others, fast and with a smile on his face. “But I haven’t lived there in a while. To be honest, I haven’t really had a home base since I got my first publishing deal. I bounce around from place to place, enjoying the scenery before finding someplace new.”

The happy buzz I was feeling courtesy of four courses of delicious food and three martinis that had more gin in them than anything else fizzles away hearing Jasper talk about leaving.

“Really?” Elsie rests her elbow on the table and leans her head into her fist. “Where were you before you came to Denver?”

“Seattle.” He moves his hand from my leg beneath the table and drapes it across my shoulders. “I liked it, but it was too gray for me. I decided to leave it and try out the sunny state of Colorado instead.”

“I went to Seattle once. I loved it there, but it was definitely a huge difference coming from Denver. I did love being right on the water though.” She turns her attention to Brandon, who, like me, has been a quiet observer since we finished dessert about twenty minutes ago. “Didn’t you like it there? Maybe we should go back one day, take the kids for a family vacation.”

“If that’s what you want to do, that’s what we’ll do.” Brandon’s soft smile as he watches his wife is everything, but it grows when he turns to Jasper. “I’m just glad she doesn’t want to do Disney yet. I’m not sure I’m ready to dad that hard.”

Jasper and I laugh as Brandon pretends to flinch when Elsie shoves his shoulder.

“Oh, stop it,” she says. “You know you already picked what matching T-shirts you’re ordering us and where you’re making reservations for the entire trip.”

Brandon lifts his glass of water to his lips but does not deny that she’s absolutely right.

“Anyways”—she turns her line of questioning back to Jasper—“where are you planning on going after Denver?”