“He graduated from law school, and last I heard he’s a partner in a firm in Philadelphia. He married one of our law school classmates, and they have a bunch of kids. Four at last count.”

“So you keep in touch?”

“I get Christmas cards with pictures of his beautiful family.”

“That must be hard to see.”

“It’s not, really. When I look at him and his family, I don’t feel anything other than happy for him that things worked out.”

“That’s awfully generous of you.”

She shrugged off the praise. “I don’t care about him. Not anymore. I stopped caring about him the day my brother died. It was like every emotion inside me died with him, and it took years—literally years—to feel anything other than numb. What guy wants to be around that?”

“If he truly loved you, he would’ve stuck it out.”

“I think he truly loved me, but I don’t blame him for leaving. I never have. It was almost a relief when he finally pulled the plug. There was one less thing that needed my attention when my grief required all my energy. I had nothing left to give him or anyone else. It was all I could do to be somewhat available to my parents.” She looked directly at him. “I’m not numb anymore. Not like I was. But I still don’t know if I have what it takes to do something like this, because I haven’t tried again since then.”

He brought her hand to his lips, and the caress of his skin against hers set off a reaction she felt everywhere.

“I’m not looking to pressure you, Erin. And I can’t possibly understand or even fathom what you’ve been through losing your only sibling—your twin, no less—in such a horrible way. But when I look at you, I don’t see grief or loss. I see resilience and fortitude and a stunningly beautiful woman who deserves to be happy after all she’s been through. I don’t know if I’m the guy to make you happy, but you make me want to try—and that’s a big deal for me, too, in case you were wondering.”

Erin smiled at his adorably vulnerable expression. “So what you’re saying is you want to try to make a go of this?”

“I think I do, but only if it’s what you want, too.”

“And what would ‘making a go of it’ entail? We’re not exactly babes in the woods here. We’ve got established lives that don’t intersect for a big part of the year.”