Another problem she hadn’t mentioned. Kate wouldn’t give up the car and she wouldn’t waste time getting a new auto start. They weren’t critical to living in the north, but the other option was sitting in a frozen soda can when it was twenty below zero out, waiting for the heater to actually put out warm air.

I lifted my winter coat from where she’d set it with hers next to the desk and put it on. “I’ll be right back.”

I took the side exit to avoid the cleanup crew. As soon as I lost the protection of the building, the cold hit me and the fabric of my jacket crinkled like paper each time I moved. At Kate’s car, I tested the distance. The damn thing didn’t work even when I was twenty feet away. I got closer and tried. When it finally started, I peered in to make sure the locks hadn’t disengaged while I messed with the remote.

I rarely drove Kate’s car. She probably thought the inside of her vehicle would piss me off. Her passenger seat was littered with receipts. Some forms in the back stood out among the spare gloves and hats and an old pair of athletic shoes in case she went for a walk during her lunch hour. It was her car, but something prompted me to unlock the door and pick up the official-looking documents. I’d never been a nosy fucker in my life, but when it came to papers and Kate, I’d become quite sensitive. Besides, what if they were something important she’d forgotten?

I ignored the way the wind flayed the skin off my face as I read what was on the papers. An application for an apartment unit?

How old was this?

Sometime in the last four months. I let it fall back on the seat and shut the door. Locked the car.

She’d gone apartment hunting.

My wife had served me divorce papers, but after months of talking and growing closer, my mind had chosen to consider those documents as more of a warning. But an application for an apartment? With a year-long lease?

Damn.

Cold snaked through my jacket, its frigid fingers wrapping around my chest. I’d almost lost her. I could still lose her. The balance I’d worked so hard for was a mirage. She was sacrificing to stay with me.

I rushed inside. She wasn’t in the office, but I found her at the front door, waving to Matt and Violet as they left.

“I’ll walk you out.”

“Sure.” She went to the side door I’d used before.

I snagged her hand. We were alone on this side of the building, though Randall would come around soon to lock up. But I couldn’t wait to speak to her. “Do you want kids, Kate?”