“Get the marinade out,” he called back. “I’ll be there in a second.” He turned back to Maggie, who looked like she’d had the wind knocked out of her. That made two of them. Couldn’t she see what they were building together? “Look, I’ll stay and help you cook dinner tonight because I’m selfish enough that I want to be in that memory of yours. But after dinner, I’m leaving, and I’m not coming back until the party.”

“Why?” She looked shocked.

Good. He didn’t want to be alone in that.

“Why?” he repeated on a humorless laugh. “Because I’ve been building us into something you don’t think we are. A relationship. A partnership. You’ll get the time and space to decide if what you really want is to continue going solo.”

Those molten brown eyes went wide on him. “What if I don’t want to stay?” she asked, her voice trembling just a bit.

“Then I’ll go with you, if you let me. But you need to decide if you’ve got room in your life for me. And, darlin’, I take up a lot of space.”

“You can’t give up everything to follow me. That’s how resentment grows. That’s how you start stalking exes on Instagram and having FOMO meltdowns over farmers market hashtags and engagements.” Her voice was hushed, but the panic rang through clearly.

“You are everything to me, Maggie. Do you hear me? The fact that you think I’d give you up over geography? What do you think we’ve been doing here?”

“Having fun. I told you. I warned you from the start,” she said defensively.

“I know you did. But actions speak louder than words. I’ve got more damn clothes than you do in your closet. You bought my dog a bed for your office.”

“Your roots are here,” she argued. “You can’t just rip them out and go if I want to.”

“They’re planted deep, and that’s why they’ll survive no matter where I am. It’s you, Maggie. I’ve been waiting for you. Make the decision. Don’t just do what you’ve always done and call it a choice.”

43

43

They cooked balsamic chicken with oven-roasted vegetables and ears of bicolor sweet corn loaded with butter and salt to a group-curated playlist that covered everything from Dua Lipa to The Smashing Pumpkins and Earth, Wind & Fire.

The kitchen—her kitchen—was filled with people she loved, but Maggie was having a hard time enjoying it, knowing that she’d hurt one of them so deeply.

They gathered around the dining table to eat off real dishes and catch up on the day as the world outside the window went pink and orange. Afterward, with the dishwasher making its maiden voyage, they gathered on the terrace to enjoy Popsicles and beers.