Over the next three days, they slid into a routine that began with Mac taking Thomas on a morning walk for coffee and breakfast. After Maddie nursed the baby, Mac delivered him to Tiffany’s, rushed through Maddie’s shifts at the hotel and spent as much time as he could at the marina measuring and outlining the needed repairs. He planned to start on the roof of the main building and had a four-man crew lined up to help him beginning the following Monday. By three o’clock each day, he was back at Maddie’s to help out at Tiffany’s daycare.

He spent the nights on Maddie’s floor, wishing they could somehow get back to where they’d been before he made the mistake of subjecting her to his mother. Wednesday evening, after they finished up at the daycare, Mac suggested they walk over to Mario’s for pizza. Since Maddie was finally getting around much better, she agreed.

By now, people in town had grown accustomed to seeing them together, and while they still attracted some stares, Mac had learned to ignore the unwanted attention. He wasn’t sure Maddie was able to ignore it, but she hadn’t mentioned it to him. In fact, she hadn’t said much of anything at all to him in three days. She seemed to be biding her time until she could be rid of him, and with every passing day, Mac’s desperation grew more intense.

He’d tried to give her some space to get used to him and the idea that he was interested in her. But like the disastrous dinner at his parents’ house, that, too, had backfired on him. The more space he gave her, the more remote she became, until he was certain he would explode if something didn’t change—soon.

“Tomorrow’s your day off at the hotel, right?” he asked.

“Yes, and the daycare. Tiffany doesn’t teach dance on Thursdays. That’s when I usually clean your mother’s house.”

“I have to go to the mainland for some building supplies. I thought maybe you and Thomas would like to come. We could go anywhere you want to while we’re over there.”

He watched the debate play out on her face—wistfulness, yearning, nervousness and finally, resignation.

“Thanks, but I think I’ll just stay here with Thomas. I’m feeling much better. There’s really no need for you to take care of us anymore.”

Mac had never experienced such pain. Reaching for her good hand, he linked his fingers with hers and watched her take a nervous look around the crowded restaurant. “Come with me. It’ll be fun. We can buy Thomas some new big boy clothes and a bike. And a football. He needs a football. I noticed he doesn’t have one.”

That drew a tentative smile. “He can’t even walk yet.”

“It won’t be long now.”