I stick out my tongue. “And you’re the guy who built a billion-dollar business before he turned thirty. Surely you can stop her from getting a monopoly across an entire side.”

He looks unmoved. And contemplative. “My brother and me, we were always competitive. Really competitive. That Monopoly board Paige loves? That was ours from years ago. Half the games ended in physical violence.”

“I feel like that’s normal for Monopoly. It’s not a nice game.”

“It wasn’t only that. If we raced, we would trip each other. If we were jumping off cliffs, we’d break an arm just to beat the other person. Everything was a competition.”

“But you still loved each other.”

“Did we?” He seems surprised by the idea. “We weren’t a particularly loving family. Dad would shout at us. Mom would yell at us. Rhys and I would get into a fistfight before dinner. The irony is that he was better than me. Objectively. At everything. He was older, taller, stronger, smarter.”

“I don’t know. You’re pretty smart.”

He gives a huff of laughter. “I’m something. I don’t know when to quit. That’s what I bring to the table. And with Rhys. Even though he was bigger and stronger than me, if I just kept fighting, if I never quit, then sometimes I’d win.”

“It probably helped you build that shipping business.”

“Yeah. Probably.”

“I’m also leaving her paint set by the door. Her brushes are clean.”

“What would we do without you?” he asks, his tone serious.

A bright smile is my only defense. “I’m sure you’d get along fine.”

I head downstairs to hide the ache in my chest. The truth is they would get along fine. Eventually. Not right away, but eventually they would stop arguing over Pop-Tarts and jackets.

They are family. I’m the hired help.

I can’t get these things confused, even if my heart wants something else. That would be what Mateo warned me about. Beau Rochester would not set out to hurt me, but he could shatter me into pieces so easily. If I let myself get my hopes up, if I read more into his desire than is really there, I would fall for him. Eventually, I would fall apart.

When the Uber pulls up, I wave to Paige.

Mr. Rochester is a shadow behind her in the window. It’s the same Toyota Prius as before. The same driver. I wonder if he’s the only one willing to drive up this crazy mountain.

“Do you come this way often?” I ask, mostly to see if he’ll remember me.

“Nope.”