“I thought I’d blown it with Izzy. None of us is perfect, Jack. I don’t expect that. I don’t want it. I know how hard it is to be open and honest with someone. It’s scary. I’m not used to talking about my feelings. I used to think it was because I just didn’t know how to do it, but I think it’s because I was afraid of sharing anything truly personal. It was a way of shielding myself from rejection. The more someone knows about you, the more they can hurt you. We’re both learning. Maybe we can do it together. We just need to keep talking. Keep sharing. We can handle anything life throws at us if we do it together.”

“I feel guilty that you are constantly having to handle my family issues. You don’t have to be part of this. You can still decide to walk away.”

His words made her realize that he had his insecurities, too. Everyone did, didn’t they? And how could Becca’s rejection not have left a scar?

She turned to him and she took his face in her hands, felt the roughness of his jaw under her palms and saw the concern in his eyes. “You have no idea how much I want to be part of exactly this. A family, with all its complexities and ups and downs. I don’t want to walk away. I will never walk away.” She said it firmly, so there could be no mistake, but the fact that he’d been protecting her, thinking of her, warmed her in a way she’d never been warmed before. “You were really protecting me?”

“Yes. And I might have been protecting myself a little, too. I was worried that if you realized just how full-on and emotionally exhausting family life is, you might change your mind about me. I don’t want that to happen. I love you too much.”

“And I love you.” The words felt strange. Unfamiliar. She hadn’t said them to anyone in so long. Not since she’d stood in the drafty kitchen in her aunt’s apartment and tried to form a relationship.

We don’t have to love each other, we just have to learn to live together.

Flora had wanted so much more, and now she had more.

She was about to say the words again but he grabbed her and kissed her until her head spun and she couldn’t remember her own name let alone anything else.

Finally, reluctantly, he lifted his head. “You have no idea how long I’ve waited to hear you say that. You love me?”

“Yes. And it feels amazing.”

A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “You love me, even though I come with responsibilities.”

“If you’re talking about Izzy and Molly, I love them, too.”