I sigh. I’m really going to miss this. I’m going to miss the way she smells like spring in the middle of winter. How she feels warm on the coldest of nights. She’s so calm and considered in all the madness of the Colorado Club.

I lift my head. “I thought…”

She tips her head back to look at me. “I know. I just don’t want to tempt fate. You know?”

I wince. No. I don’t know.

“This is so good,” she says.

“Agreed.” So why change it?

“But it can’t go on forever, right?”

I pull in a breath. I wasn’t suggesting forever. But a few more days would have been good. Maybe from where she’s sitting, that would just be delaying the inevitable.

“The guys said to tell you goodbye,” I say.

She grins up at me. “They really love you. I can’t believe they came out here and stayed in RVs.”

They really do love me, and the feeling’s mutual. I’m a lucky guy. I need to focus on all the incredible things in my life, rather than why Rosey doesn’t want a few more days of what we have together.

“So Saturday morning, I’m losing a neighbor,” I say.

“I’m really going to miss this,” she says.

I nod, slowly. So will I. I don’t know if I’ve ever walked away from a relationship and regretted it. I don’t know if I’ve ever thought about an ex once they fit into that box. Maybe because what Rosey and I have doesn’t feel done? I get the feeling Rosey is all I’m going to think of after Saturday.

“Wanna go to Grizzly’s and eat wings?” I ask her.

“No,” she says resolutely. “I want to stay here and drink hot chocolate.” There’s something about the tone in her voice I can’t place. Maybe it’s me, but she seems a little sad. “I’m going to miss our nights drinking hot chocolate on the porch.” Yes, there’s definitely a note of sadness in her voice.

I don’t get it. If she’s going to miss this, why didn’t she volunteer?

We go into her cabin, make me a drink and refresh hers, then go sit on the porch swing.

“I heard from my sister today. She graduated high school nearly a year ago. She’s desperate to go to college.”

“That’s great,” I say.

“Yeah,” she replies, but her yes says more than yes.

“Yeah?” I ask. I want to hear what she’s thinking.

“My mom doesn’t want her to go. She wants her to get a job so she can contribute to family expenses.”