With his free hand, Aldo cupped her cheek. The touch was so tender, so sweet, that Gloria felt her heart do a belly flop right into her stomach. “Here’s the thing. I don’t want to terrify you, but you’re stronger than you think, Glo. You can handle the truth. I think you might be the girl I’ve been waiting my whole life for. But I want you to see who I see. I want you to remember what it’s like to be you.”

She closed her eyes and leaned into that big, warm palm. “I don’t know if I can,” she confessed.

“I believe in you, Gloria.”

“What if I’m different than you think?” she whispered.

He shifted closer to her. “Then be different. Be you. There’s so much good inside you. No one can take that away from you.”

“I can’t just fall into another relationship, Aldo,” she breathed. “I can’t get carried away and lose myself again.”

“I know. I also know you don’t believe me when I say I know you won’t. But it’s the truth. You’re never going back there, Gloria. You’re stronger than that.”

He believed that. He honestly believed she wouldn’t make another mistake that had already cost her so much of her life. She could see it in his eyes, so earnest. He was so careful with her. But that didn’t mean he would always be. And it didn’t mean that she was as strong as he thought she was.

“One date when I come home,” he pressed. “I couldn’t leave next week without telling you how I feel. Without asking you.”

He was pressuring her. But in a way so different from Glenn.

“What do you want me to do while you’re gone?” she asked.

He shook his head. It was the wrong question. It was the question of someone accustomed to not mattering.

“Do what you want. Whatever you need. Find a job. Go to school. Travel. Date. I’m coming back, and I’m coming back to ask you out. But you need that time to yourself. Take it. Find yourself. Be yourself.”

She nodded. Wondering how he could be so sure, why he wasn’t demanding a promise to him right here and now. Because he was Aldo. He had faith.

“One date?” she repeated.

“It’s all your decision, Gloria. Your choice. I won’t pressure you. I don’t want you like that. I’m not going to step on you making a life for yourself. I want to be a part of what you build. Okay?”

She nodded tentatively. In six months, she would have a first date with Aldo Moretta. She would be different than she was today.

“Okay. And I’ll still water your plants.”

13

“You look great,” Harper said with enthusiasm.