Paul felt like he’d been gut-punched yet again. She’d never get married again? Like ever? And Jenny didn’t know what Hope meant. She thought Hope was talking about the logistics of planning a wedding when Paul knew that Hope’s real opposition was to marriage itself. Great…

Just when he was beginning to feel optimistic that they were on the brink of starting something that could go the distance, she pulled the rug out from under him. He wanted to be married someday. He wanted a family and a white picket fence and a minivan and all the trappings. But apparently the woman he wanted didn’t share those dreams.

Before he could begin to process the fact that they had very different ideas about what the future might entail, Jenny’s phone rang, and she took a call from her friend Erin.

“Wait,” Jenny said, “what happened?” Pausing to listen, she said, “Oh my God! I’ll be right over to take you to the clinic. No, I’ll get someone to cover. Of course I’ll take you. I’ll be right there.”

“What happened?” Alex asked when she ended the call.

“Erin sprained her ankle last night, or at least she thinks it’s a sprain. She needs to get it looked at, so I’m going to take her to the clinic. I’ll figure out coverage at the store.”

“I hope she’s okay,” Alex said.

“Me, too.”

With a knock on the front door, Daisy arrived to stay with Marion while Hope went to the funeral.

As usual, Paul’s mother was thrilled to see her friend Daisy, whom she unfailingly called by name even as she confused her own sons. When Hope had fully briefed Daisy on everything she needed to know to care for Marion for a few hours, Paul followed her out of the house. He held the passenger-side door for her and waited for her to get settled before he closed the door and went around to the driver’s side.

He wanted to ask her if she’d meant what she’d said to Jenny, but what right did he have to dig into such issues when everything between them was so new? What had probably been a throwaway comment to her had rocked him profoundly. If she honestly felt that way, he’d be a fool to go all-in with her and Ethan, and he hated that they would have to have that conversation before things went any further.

“Everything okay?” she asked when they were on their way.

“Yeah, sure,” he said, deciding on the spot that today wasn’t the day for that conversation. Tomorrow would be soon enough, but today… Today he would keep his distance a little until he knew for sure that he wasn’t risking too much by allowing his feelings for her to flourish.

“I really appreciate you coming with me to this.”