“Doesn’t hurt, even if it’s not true.”

“You never heard that love is blind?”

She paused with her cone but she didn’t look at him. “I think it is. Love has sure blinded me.”

They were silent as they finished their ice creams. Then Cait leaned back against the couch. It was time to get serious. “I made a deal with Vera. I have to tell you something that no one else knows, not my father, not any friends. I even managed to keep it from my mother and she was there. If I tell you, Vera swears she’ll tell no one else.”

“I will keep whatever secrets you entrust me with.”

“I know you will. I...” The words wouldn’t come out.

He said nothing, just waited, giving her time to collect herself. “Jared and I...” She halted. She couldn’t say the words.

“Are you trying to tell me that Jared is your cousin?”

She looked at him in shock.

“I found the box in the house. I didn’t mean to snoop but I thought it contained food. When I opened it, I saw the photos. You look like him. And his mother.”

“My grandmother,” she whispered. “A whole different family.”

“So you broke up with Jared because of that.”

She nodded. “But that’s not my problem. I ran off to Florida because I was late. That kind of late. I was pretty sure I was...”

He reached out and took her hand. “Children born out of wedlock aren’t—”

“I can’t have children,” she blurted. “Not ever.”

“Neither can I,” he said softly.

“I’ll never be able to—What did you say?”

“I can tell you about the tests, the tears, all of it, but it comes down to the same thing. I shoot blanks. Probably from a childhood illness, not that it matters why.”

They looked at each other, their minds working on the repercussions of this news. Cait got up and went to her refrigerator. Way in the back behind the yogurt and the mustard was a bottle of champagne. It had been there for two years. She pulled it out.

Coop was behind her. There was a glass cabinet with champagne flutes inside. He took two out and held them while Cait poured.

When they finished the first glass, they began to laugh. After the second one, they made love on the kitchen floor.

Three days later, Vera and Miguel were sitting in the doctor’s office. They were holding hands as Vera was shaking so hard she could hardly sit up.

The doctor opened a folder. “Your tests came back negative. Except for one of them.”

Vera, who had faced warlords without showing any fear, began to cry. It was soft but there were tears.

The doctor was smiling. “I loved your book about Joe Harding. A real masterpiece. The ending of that book stayed with me for days.”