Gavin has never cooked a day in his life, so when I woke up and smelled toast and bacon and coffee, I knew it was Jessie cooking for us. I grinned at the ceiling like a lunatic. I felt like the luckiest man in the world. I have millions of dollars, offices around the globe, exotic homes, and none of it ever made me feel one tenth the joy of that moment.

I jumped out of bed, threw on clothes and hurried downstairs. When I saw the Duportes pull up I was disappointed, but then I heard Gavin’s voice with Jessie in the kitchen and I knew I could leave them with him and haul Jessie away.

Until we walked in and I saw the kiss.

The world stopped. At first, I didn’t understand. I saw them, their lips touching, but it didn’t make any sense. My mind completely rejected it as a possibility. Then I heard Lacey gasp and my mind jerked, restarted and caught up with reality.

Which was, first, Jessie and Gavin were kissing less than three hours after Jessie and I had made love. Second, Jessie confirmed without a doubt that she and Gavin are soul mates.

“I lost her,” I say out loud.

I look out over downtown. The bed and breakfast is on a hill and has a panoramic view of Main Street, the river, and the forested mountain in the distance. It’s nearly eight in the morning and downtown Romeo is waking up. The lights are on in the dance studio and the Kwans are unlocking the front door of the hardware store. I see the Harts setting up a new chocolate display in their front window, and Mrs. Charles is pushing a cart of books onto the sidewalk. I stare at the books and think of Jessie spread out beneath me, a pile of books surrounding us.

I love you, she’d said. I close my eyes. I love you.

My hands clasp the steering wheel. The endless loop of her kissing Gavin and phoning Erma is interrupted by the memory of her words. I love you.

My mind starts to settle and I unclasp my hands from the steering wheel. I told Jessie it was all a game. My mouth tastes of shame at the memory. When I said it, I felt like I’d boarded a speeding train and I couldn’t stop it or derail it. Everything I’d always feared had happened. I’d given myself to Jessie, wanted her more than anything in the world. When I was young, my father would take people away. This time, when I risked more than I ever have before, fate took Jessie away.