“Shouldn’t she know by now that she wants to be with me?”

“And by ‘by now,’ you mean shouldn’t she realize that she wants to enter into a long-term relationship with the man she met three months ago?” Blaire asked. There was no judgment in her tone, but the question itself felt like it was loaded with it.

“What are you saying? That all mutual decisions should be made her way? That doesn’t seem fair.” He reached for the bottle and poured himself another. Then he topped off his mom’s glass.

“Relationships are like anything else that’s worthwhile. They’re damn hard work,” Blaire explained.

“Hard work?” Silas frowned. “You make it sound like I’ve never done a day’s hard work in my life.”

Mama B leaned forward and, with love in her eyes, said, “Honey, you’ve had a lot of things come real easily to you. Just because you work hard and play hard doesn’t mean you’ve had to try hard to get what you wanted. Until now.”

“I’m not sure how insulted I should feel.”

“Do you remember when you tried out for the soccer team in high school?” his mom asked.

“Vaguely,” he said.

“You’d never played the game. But your friends were on the team,” she continued. “You were a starter by the end of your first season.”

“A natural talent,” Mama B added.

“There’s nothing wrong with being a natural,” he complained, feeling defensive.

“Of course not, honey,” Mama B said. “The only time it’s a problem is when everything comes natural. The first time you brush up against something that doesn’t come easily makes it feel like you should just walk away, give it up.”

“What did it take to get Michelle to say yes to your first date?” Blaire asked.

“Michelle? I don’t know. I guess I asked her out. Or no. Wait. She asked me out.” It was a little cloudy.

“And every time you two broke up, what did it take to get back together?”

Silas shrugged. “I guess one of us would text. Ask if the other wanted to hang out or meet for drinks.”

“And you didn’t live happily ever after with Michelle,” Blaire noted. “You spent five years give or take in a comfortable limbo.”

“Easy. Simple. Uncomplicated,” Mama B observed.

“None of those words apply to Maggie Nichols,” he complained.

“Maybe that’s one of the things you like about her. She challenges you, and I think you challenge her, too,” his mom suggested.

“Maybe.” He was still feeling a little too raw to agree.

“And maybe while Maggie has to decide whether or not to take a leap of faith to choose you, you have to be willing to try to keep her,” Mama B said.