“It is your business, Frank,” she said softly. “You’ve been such an amazing and supportive friend. I don’t know how I would’ve gotten through the last few months without you and your family. My friends at home are all so heartbroken over Steve, which was hard for me to be around. They’re wonderful. Don’t get me wrong. They all want to help, but they don’t know how. Here, most of you didn’t know him, so while you’re sad for me, it’s not nonstop grief everywhere I go. I’ve needed that.”

“I’m glad we were able to help.”

“And no, I don’t need to work. I received a very generous settlement from my husband when our marriage ended, and I invested it wisely. The office where I work has held my job for me. I suppose I owe them the courtesy of letting them know if I’m not going to be back.”

“You don’t have to decide anything right away.”

“I can’t stay in limbo forever. At work or with you.”

He was surprised by her unusually blunt assessment of their friendship. “Is that where we’ve been? In limbo?”

She graced him with the shy smile that had been bowling him over all summer. “I’m aware of the fact that you would like to be more than friends.” She paused and then blushed. “Unless I’ve read this terribly wrong. In that case, I’m beyond embarrassed.”

Frank reached across the table for her hand. “You haven’t read anything wrong. I’m very interested in you. And in us.”

Eyeing him with equal parts interest and curiosity, she turned her hand up and linked their fingers. “Would you have told me that if I hadn’t brought it up?”

“I was sort of hoping you might come around to being ready for something more in your own time. I didn’t want to rush you. I know how difficult the grief process can be, although I can’t imagine what it would be like to lose my only child. That’s a whole other level of heartbreak.”

“It’s been so incredibly devastating, but I’ve decided I would rather have had the time I had with Steve and lost him too soon than never to have known him or loved him.”

“That’s a very nice way of looking at it. I didn’t know him, and I’ll always be sorry for that, but I bet he’d be damned proud of the way you’ve handled yourself since he died. I know I am. For what it’s worth.”

“It’s worth a lot. Thank you.”

He squeezed her hand and winked at her, hoping to lighten the mood. “So does this mean you want to be my girlfriend?”

“Aren’t I a little old to be considered someone’s girlfriend?”