“It’s so ridiculous,” Greta said. “I feel like I’m just now learning how fucked up my approach to my whole damn life has been, and now I’m, like, a little bit high on the potential for freedom and self-determination, so forgive me if I sound like a total joke.” She turned to Truman. “But I can’t help but feel like you and I are on these parallel journeys, where we have inverse issues. I’ve spent all this time trying to live up to other people’s expectations and resenting them because I wanted to do my own thing. And you seem like you’ve spent your time being perfectly happy living by other people’s desires because you feel like you can’t ever have what you want.”

Truman cringed at the accuracy of the description.

“Too harsh?” she said.

“Nah. Just true,” Truman said.

He refused to look at Ash even though he was desperate to see his face.

“And, Ash, we’ve known each other basically forever, so I feel at least partly justified in saying that your thing is that you think no one will ever want to share a life with you because you think your life sucks. But it seems like maybe Truman doesn’t think your life sucks. Soooo… Discuss?”

“I don’t think your life sucks! I love it here. It’s so peaceful and genuine, and I love Thorn and—and—” Truman broke off before he blurted out And I love you! because, ya know, mortification.

When Truman managed to get up the courage to look at Ash, he was shaking his head.

“You don’t get it,” Ash said, voice thick. “My mom. It’s like, every night, I’m there to make dinner, eat with her, get her settled, and by the time I get home, after that and working at the shop all day, I’m exhausted. And that’s just how it is for…forever. I don’t know. And I knew that when I came back here.”

He sounded utterly resigned, the same way he had all those times they’d talked about the way the shop wasn’t profitable. But Truman was a problem solver by trade and by inclination, and he refused to believe that Ash was consigned to things the way they were forever if he didn’t want to be. Certainly there were problems that had no good solutions, but Truman didn’t think this was one of them.

He didn’t think it was really the time. After all, they were discussing why Ash didn’t think he should move here. But also…if that was Ash’s only reason, surely it was relevant? And what was the worst that could happen? Ash would want him to move here even less?