Eddie shot me a sly grin while lighting his cigarette. “Hell, it was a decade ago. And you’ve been holding out on me. Didn’t know you had a stash of Annie’s romance novels.”

“Yeah,” Rowan said, voice muffled. “And they’re apparently hidden behind a secret bookcase because I’ve never found ’em and I was a teenage boy living in that house. I know how to hide shit.”

“Yes, video games apparently,” she replied.

Rowan cracked a sheepish smile before pulling out two white boxes. “Are you gonna be mad, or are you gonna eat the cannoli I brought you?”

I followed Tabitha as Alice and Eddie cheered and grumbled, respectively. She bit the tip of her thumb and grinned when she saw me.

“You know, before I met you in school, I had no idea you were such a little hellion,” she said. “Freeze tag. Sprinklers. Illicit video games.”

“I hide my inner bad boy pretty well,” I said.

“I don’t think it’s that hidden.” She pressed up onto her tiptoes and kissed me. “All the footage I’ve taken about this street and its history represents the best of what I love about living here. Of what I miss. And…” She paused, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “I know how easy it is to focus on the worst that was said about you, after you retired. I do the same thing. But I only see pride and respect. This block loves you.” She held up her camera. “That’s what I see. Whether you take that job in Vegas and move or decide to stay here, that’s a constant that won’t change.”

I lifted her chin with one finger and kissed her. There was nothing I could say. Thank you didn’t feel like enough. Please don’t go to Texas felt like too much.

“What are you doing tonight?” I asked.

“I’ll probably take a look at what I filmed and then shower off all this gardening. Get some real work done. And I have to start packing.”

I shoved my hands into my pockets. Loosened my jaw. “Do you want company?”

“Desperately.”

I bent down and kissed her temple. “I’ll come see you.”

I stood on the sidewalk until the door shut behind her. When I finally turned around, Rowan was there.

“Not eavesdropping, I promise,” he said. “Eddie asked me to get more napkins.”

“You’re all good,” I said, slapping a hand on his back. “I’ll come with you.”

Rowan peeked over his shoulder. “Okay, I’m really happy we didn’t accidentally spill how many girls I made out with on Eddie’s stoop. Or that he made it way too easy to find his beer.”

“The video game thing was a smart distraction.”

“Is everything okay with you and Tabitha?”