Will sighs and points at the Williams’ house. It’s a stately, white-columned, colonial revival mansion from the 1920s. Three stories, eight bedrooms, four bathrooms, a grand staircase, a formal dining room, a conservatory, and a landscaped backyard that once hosted some of the most beautiful summer parties for the New York City elite.

“See that house?” he asks.

I nod. Of course I see it. That house featured a starring role in many of my childhood dreams.

Then Will turns and points in the opposite direction back toward the house where I grew up. It’s an old single-wide trailer from the 1970s. Faded blue and rust-stained white siding, cement blocks for stairs, dingy princess sheets for curtains.

“See that house?” he asks.

I don’t need to turn to know what it looks like.

“Yes.”

A thick lump lodges in my throat. I see where he’s going with this. Will has never sugarcoated his opinions.

“You and my brother are as different as those two houses. Even if he weren’t getting married, which he is, the two of you would never work. No matter how much you wish you were, you will never be the type of woman Gavin wants. I guarantee it.” He says this with so much certainty that I remember why I dislike him. Why I’ve always disliked him. He may be a financial genius, and he may have single-handedly saved his family’s business from bankruptcy at age 14, and he may have the business world at his feet, but…he has no heart, no capability to love.

His closed off expression, his awful words, and the news that Gavin is marrying hit me again and I blink back tears. I look at his pressed suit and his cold face and I do what my mom always warned me against. I speak before thinking.

“I feel sorry for you.”

“Really?” he drawls.

“Really. You don’t know anything about love. About what someone will do or give. I think when you and your brother were born, he got a heart and you got a calculator. Maybe you can’t see anybody loving me because you just see me as a poor investment, but not everybody sees people as numbers. So yeah, I feel sorry for you. Because with a calculator for a heart and a ledger for a soul you’re never going to find love. Never.”

I stop, and as soon as I do, remorse floods me. Will blinks and a small line forms between his brows.

He nods and swallows. “Right. Glad we set things straight. Stay clear of Gavin. He doesn’t need your crush as a distraction.”

I shake my head then grab the branch and drop down to the next lowest limb.

“Bye, Will.”