“What about the girls?” Axel asked.

“That’s the real problem,” she said. “They mean so much to me. I don’t want to do anything that might screw them up. But when I saw their worried faces tonight, I realized that I have to be on solid emotional ground to provide a firm foundation for them. That doesn’t have to interfere with or damage your relationship with them, though. I’ll always support you in being close to them, will let you talk to them or take them anytime it’s feasible for you. I know you’re a good father.”

“Are you kidding me?” he cried. “I came all the way from Europe for this? To hear that you’ll let me take my own kids whenever I want?”

“I’m sorry if you were expecting more,” she said.

“It was a surprise! Are you saying I shouldn’t have gone to the trouble?”

He obviously couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “I’m saying it’s over between us,” she said.

Her words were met with stunned silence. He’d never dreamed she’d say something like that—take such a strong stand and mean it. She’d never dreamed she would, either, not really. But she felt so much better, as though a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She wasn’t going back to Axel, wasn’t going to get embroiled in all the painful things they’d had to wade through before, especially toward the end. She was going to start fresh.

And maybe her new life would include Tobias. She didn’t know whether it would—whether she’d be willing to leave Colorado to move here, or he’d be willing to leave Silver Springs to move there. They didn’t yet know each other well enough to make such a big decision. But either way, she was letting go of Axel completely and moving forward without him.

“You must be out of your mind,” Axel said and hung up.

Harper was convinced, just by how quickly the pressure on her heart had eased, that she was doing the right thing.

But she supposed he needed time to get used to the idea.

She set her phone aside so she could go to bed. But then she picked it up again. She hadn’t heard from Tobias, had no idea what he thought about what had happened at the restaurant. And she wanted to let him know that, at least for her, nothing had changed.

I’m sorry about tonight, she wrote.

His answer came almost immediately: Are you getting back with him?

Instead of feeling miserable, like she’d been feeling a few minutes ago, she experienced a little flutter of excitement. No.

Does he know that?

She imagined Tobias’s voice, as if they were talking, and felt even better. He does now.

How’d he take the news?

He’s not happy.

Where is he?