“I do love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, but there’s more than one way to get what you want out of life. You can get your kid fix teaching during the day and we get to enjoy the evenings, weekends and vacations together.” He stroked her cheek. “Just think about the trips we can take, the places we can visit and the fun we’ll have together. It’s win–win.”

He was offering her love and commitment—two of the three reasons she’d put herself through months of disastrous dates. But the chunk of her heart that still bled so easily whenever she thought about her inability to have children dripped red again. She couldn’t have kids. Dan didn’t want any. Was he right? Did that render their insurmountable difference moot?

Did Dan have a point? Tutoring Holly had brought her a lot of joy and shown her teaching was something she could do. Was teaching the solution to involving kids in her life? Before she’d learned she was infertile, she hadn’t wanted to pursue single parenthood. Now, there were absolutely no guarantees she’d ever meet a man who’d want to venture into adoption with her. Fostering kids brought its own set of challenges too, and was she really up for that?

Her thoughts strayed to Lucy and Indi—and Leo. “What about my nieces and nephew?”

“What about them?”

“How do you feel about them sleeping over?”

He gave her an indulgent smile. “I don’t hate kids, Al. I’m happy to have them here now and then. I just don’t want them underfoot every weekend.”

He pulled her back into him and the heady feelings of being adored rendered her momentarily boneless. He was very dear to her and they were definitely compatible in bed. He was offering her love and a life filled with travel and the outdoor pursuits they both enjoyed. She wouldn’t be lonely again. He was hers for the taking. All she had to do was say yes.

From the hospital bed in her living room, Jess watched Leo clapping his hands and squealing as Alice pretended to be a bull and chased him into his bedroom. If she squinted, it was easy to pretend it was Libby showering Leo with love. At first, Jess had only done it occasionally, but as her stamina failed her and Alice’s presence in the house became a daily event, Jess spent large chunks of time imagining what she desperately wanted to see.