“Who knows how long that’ll take? It could be a year or more before they get the renovations done, permits filed and the many other details seen to. Something like that doesn’t happen overnight. I can’t sit around and wait for something that may or may not happen. I don’t have that luxury.”

“Hope…”

“This isn’t what I want to do, Paul, but it’s what I have to do. I just can’t—”

He kissed her, and she forgot everything she’d been about to say, as well as the many reasons this was a bad idea. She could only remember the exquisite pleasure she’d found in his arms. Hungry for more of it, she returned his kiss with an ardor that equaled his.

“Please don’t take this away from me, Hope,” he whispered many passionate minutes later. “I need you.”

“I need you, too, but I can’t do this. I just can’t.”

He once again dropped his head to her shoulder.

She rested her hand on his neck, wishing with every beat of her heart that things could be different for them. But their reality was that once his mother was moved from their home, Hope’s job on Gansett Island would be done. Paul’s life and his business were on the island. So there was no point to continuing a romantic entanglement that would lead straight to heartache when it ended.

“I’m so sorry,” she said as tears slid down her cheeks. “You have no idea how sorry I am.”

“I think I have a pretty good idea.”

“It’s not what I want. If things were different…”

“I know.” He kissed her so softly, so tenderly that she wanted to whimper from the bolt of desire that zinged through her body and settled into a sharp throb between her legs. Drawing back from her, he looked at her for a long moment before he turned and went out the door.

The glass of wine he hadn’t gotten to enjoy stood beside hers on the counter as a metaphor for the many things they’d never get to enjoy together. Leaving the glasses on the counter, she shut off the lights and went to bed alone. She’d done the right thing sending him away. But knowing that didn’t lessen the ache of loss that had her crying herself to sleep for the first time in a long time.

Over the next few days, Paul forced himself through the motions. He got up, went to work, helped take care of his mother, attended an emergency town council meeting that turned out to be about nothing, made himself eat and sleep. He finalized the plans for Alex’s bachelor party, took Ethan with him to help harvest the pumpkins and worked with Jenny on the plan for closing the retail store for the month of November before reopening to sell Christmas trees in December.