Coop shook his head. “Poor gal, she’s been weepy for months now. I need to take her off on a long vacation soon. She needs it.”

“And you don’t?” Clare asked with a wry smile. Those boys had been Coop’s whole world for years.

“You got me,” he said with a sad expression. “I’m sorry about all of this, Clare.”

She knew he meant her divorce and reached a hand out to him. “Thanks.”

Clare’s breath got caught in her throat when Jack walked in with a smile and a handshake for Coop. Once again she wondered how long it would take before her heart stopped fluttering every time she saw him or heard his voice. Months? Years? Forever?

He leaned down to kiss her cheek as they said hello.

After they’d caught up for a few minutes, Coop gestured for them to have a seat at the table in his office. “You’ve discussed the sale provision?”

“Yes,” Jack said.

“Okay with you, Clare?” Coop asked.

“Yes,” she said, anxious to get it done. All of a sudden, the big room felt small and airless.

“All right, then. I need you both to sign here, here, and here.” Coop pointed to the bottom of three pages.

Clare saw Jack hesitate before he signed the first page. A muscle twitched in his cheek, and it saddened her to realize he was emotional about signing away the house he’d built for her. She wanted to reach out to him but curbed the urge.

He scrawled “John J. Harrington” across the bottom of the first page and pushed it over to her.

When they’d signed each page, Coop gathered them up. “You’ll receive the deed in about six weeks, Clare. That’s all there is to it.”

“Thanks, Coop,” Jack said, standing to shake his hand.

“Yes, thank you,” Clare added. “For everything.” He’d handled their divorce with discretion and dispatch.

“No problem,” Coop said as he saw them to the door. “Take care of yourselves.”

Clare walked with Jack to the parking lot. The feelings generated by what they’d just done left Clare feeling bruised. She was the proud owner of a one-of-a-kind million-dollar home, but all she felt was a gnawing, aching emptiness.

“Thank you, Jack,” she said, her voice thick with emotion. “I know that wasn’t easy for you.”

He shrugged. “It’s your house. Always was. It was only in my name so I could surprise you with it.”

When her eyes burned with tears, Clare wanted to swear out loud. Her body had once again betrayed her fierce desire to show him none of what she felt.

He reached for her hand. “There’s something I need to say to you.”

Looking up at him, she was stunned to see his eyes had filled, too. “What?” she asked in a whisper.