Annika nodded.

Her dad smiled. “Never. First, she gave me you.” He rubbed her back, and Annika smiled, too. “Second, how do you regret the single most beautiful thing that ever happened to you? Do I wish she hadn’t got cancer, so she could still be here with us? With every single breath I take. But regretting falling in love with her would be like regretting witnessing a meteor shower because it didn’t last forever. You don’t, though, do you? You just enjoy it while it’s happening. You’re mesmerized and enthralled and completely happy for as long as you get to witness it. And then you always look back fondly on the time you got to see it.”

“That’s a really inspiring way to look at it.” She laid her head on his arm. “Do you ever get lonely?”

Her dad patted her head. “With you coming to visit me every week? Not a chance.”

But just underneath the surface, she could hear the emptiness.

They ate not too long after that. Even as someone who was vegetarian with the exception of when she was at her dad’s (he worried enough about her protein intake as it was), Annika had to admit the pork was every bit as delicious as she’d expected. “Mmmm.” She closed her eyes and savored her last mouthful. They were sitting at the table out in the backyard, the landscape lit with glowing string lights and lanterns. In the distance, a rock waterfall gushed down a gentle slope. “Seriously, Dad, you could quit your job and go on a cooking show and become a famous chef somewhere.”

He chuckled and dabbed at his mouth with a napkin. “Oh, cooking’s just a hobby. But I’m glad you enjoy it. Your mother always thought I was a tad too adventurous.”

It’s like she’s still here, Annika thought. She’s in nearly every conversation we have, and she’s been dead almost twenty-five years. “Well, I love it. Is there more I can take with me?”

Her dad grinned, genuinely pleased. “Of course.”

“Awesome.” Annika sat back, her belly pleasantly full and her body warm from the glass of red wine she’d had.

“How’s June?” June was one of her dad’s favorites. The only thing he enjoyed more than feeding Annika was feeding June, on the rare occasion she made the trek out here, too.

“Great. She’s got her eye on someone new.”

“Oh, really? That hedge fund man she was excited about?”

Annika screwed up her face. “No, not him. That didn’t work out; he turned out to be something of a jerk. But the guy she’s into now seems nice. He works just down the hall. He’s a partial owner of this business, Break Up.”

“Oh, yes. Next to the man you told me about. What’s his name again?”