“You fell in love with me.”

“Yes, I did.” He released her hand so he could put his arm around her. “Best mistake I ever made.”

“This is where I fell in love with you. Right here on the floor of this bathroom, when I was so sick with Holden.”

“That’ll be a story to tell the grandkids someday.”

“I’ll tell them their grandpa was the nicest man I’d ever met. That when I was pregnant with another man’s child, he took care of me like I was the most precious thing in his world and he barely knew me.”

Moved by her, as he was so often, he slid his lips over the fine silk of her hair. “He knew you. He knew you from that first day standing in the rain outside this place.”

“I’ll tell them how he held my hair back when I was sick, bathed my face with cool cloths afterward and how he brushed my teeth for me when I was too weak to do it myself. We’ll talk about how he waited so long for me to be free to love him the way I wanted to, and in all that time, he was nothing but patient and kind to me, the best friend I’d ever had long before there was anything else between us. And I’ll end my story by telling them that the greatest thrill of my life was the first time he told me he loved me.”

Owen could barely breathe, let alone speak as he stroked her arm. He cleared his throat. “Will you tell them how he knocked you up with twins and made you even sicker than you were with Holden?”

Her gentle laugh was a balm on his wounded soul. “I’ll find some better words to use for that part of the story.”

“Is it over for now?”

“Might be.”

Owen got up and held out a hand to help her up. He kept his hands on her hips while she brushed her teeth and then scooped her up the way he had from the beginning and carried her back to bed, tucking her in under the covers before going around to his side. Lying on his side, facing her, he noticed how pale she was with deep, dark circles under her eyes that were new since the last time he looked closely.

He wanted to ask her once again to stay home, but by now he knew the argument was pointless, and he ran the risk of making her think he didn’t want her around, which couldn’t be further from the truth.

“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong.”

“I could tell with one look at you when you came into the bathroom that something happened. I wish you’d tell me so I don’t have to wonder.”

“I had a dream. No biggie.”

“What was it about?”