“You turned out great, but that doesn’t excuse her monstrous behavior towards her children. I feel like the one thing we all have in common is that none of us gets through life unscathed. No matter what circumstance we’re born into, life throws stuff at us, and it puts kinks in our souls.” She smoothed her hand on his forearm. “Your mother put a kink in your ability to trust people. I think she made it hard for you to put your whole heart into anything ever again, because it hurt too much to be let down.”

“Yeah, my mom’s a piece of work.” He wanted to deny it, wanted to punch the words right out of his brain, but Rosie was right. His mom might not have “crushed his spirit,” but she had shut down a whole side of him. “We were better off without her. We had my dad, my uncle, and Marcella—she runs the house and was, basically, our stand-in mom.”

“I’m glad you had her.”

“You done eating?”

“Oh, of course.” She got up and started gathering the take-away containers.

“Not rushing you. I want to take you somewhere.”

“Right now?”

“Yep.” Timing’s perfect. “By the time we reach the cliff, it’ll be dark, and you can see the valley all lit up.”

“I’d like that.”

Her phone rang, and he saw the name Marcel. “You gotta take that?”

“No.” She silenced it. “I’m on vacation from reality.”

Her words punched him in the gut.

For a moment there, he’d been lulled into that weird space with her, where he felt like…like they belonged together. Whatever that means. But she didn’t live here. Would never live here. In a few weeks, she’d go back to her country and resume her life as a princess.

Which was just the reminder he needed to focus on his own work.

It was past time to be the man who follows through.

“I think this is my favorite smell in the world.” She scanned the forest. “Pine and dusty earth, sage, and a hint of sweetness from the flowers.”

Brodie watched her profile, as she tipped her head back and closed her eyes. “What’s it like for you, as a perfumer? You must notice every smell out there.”

“I do. In perfume school, we had to memorize five hundred scents. Three hundred and fifty are synthetic, and the other hundred and fifty are natural. So, yes, I am trained to pick up everything.”

“And what do you smell right now?”