“All this time I assumed he was married—because of the kid. At the gala, I found out he’s been divorced for a couple of years.”

“And this makes a difference because …?” Tess’s eyebrow went up again.

“Because there was a vibe,” Natalie admitted.

“And of course you had been ignoring it because you thought he was married.”

Natalie nodded. “It’s different now, but … I don’t know, Tess. We had a moment at the Heritage Society gala. I guess it was a moment.” Actually, it had felt much bigger than a moment—more like an earthquake. “I have no idea what he’s thinking.” She was pretty sure he hadn’t tossed and turned half the night and awakened with his heart racing.

“Ask him,” Tess suggested. “Ask him what he’s thinking.”

“That would be weird.” Now that his marital status was clear to her, she had a million questions for him, things that would not have been appropriate to ask a married man.

She glanced at the computer screen. “It’s been taking all my willpower to keep myself from stalking him online. It seems sketchy to pry into his life by looking him up on social media or googling the name of his band or his ex or any other little detail he might have dropped.”

“Probably a good policy,” Tess agreed. “When a person wants you to know things about him, he’ll tell you.”

“Exactly.” Natalie realized Peach had told her only a little about himself. Lack of interest? Ambivalence about his family? Or did he consider her just a client? He had a policy.

“Or you could ask,” Tess repeated.

“Stop it. We’re not a match, anyway. He’s divorced with a kid, and he was really honest with me about how hard that makes things for him.”

“Dominic was divorced with two kids when I met him,” Tess pointed out. “And hell yes, it was hard. Still is. His older kids’ mom isn’t the easiest person to get along with—and I’m being generous here.”

“You’re proving my point. Why would I get into a relationship that’s probably going to fail?” She shuddered, shying away from a feeling of terrible vulnerability. Was that what had kept her mother alone all her life? Fear? Doubt? Lack of trust that hurt was not just around the corner?

She now understood Blythe’s devotion to the store. Unlike men, books were easy. They filled you with all the emotions in the world—joy, dread, fear, hurt, gratification—and then they came to an end. People were different. Unpredictable. Impossible to manage.

“Because it might not fail,” Tess pointed out. “And trust me, the right relationship makes everything better.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Tess studied the poster announcing the Trevor Dashwood event. “Maybe keep him in mind, too.”