Summer giggles, face brightening. “I really loved them all. At one point, I thought they were all the one. I was positive I was making the right decision, you know? They said they loved me too and I believed them. I felt loved. Turns out, I was wrong every time except the last one. When he left me anyway, I was done. No more love. No more marriage. It just wasn’t in the cards for me.”

Joy suddenly has an idea where this speech is heading and she’s not sure she wants to hear it.

Summer continues, “I was looking for a husband. I’m not ashamed to say that. I want to be married. I want to have a family. I want to be a housewife, throw parties, and take care of our kids and teach them, you know, homeschool them. That’s the job I want. I want motherhood to be my actual job. Taking care of my husband, our house, and our family.

“I’m not willing to settle for just anyone anymore, you know? Malcolm knows that about me, and I fit what he’s looking for. But you don’t have to worry.” Summer nods as she speaks. “I know how much he means to you. I’m not trying to steal him away or anything like that. I think our bubbles could be good together. We’re all really compatible.”

And boom goes the drunken dynamite. “Is that why you invited Fox? To test your little compatibility theory.”

“Um. Well.” Summer looks away toward the vineyard. “Malcolm and Fox avoid each other, interacting as little as possible. I thought that maybe if we were staying in the same place, they wouldn’t be able to anymore. But Fox is spending all his time with you and they’re still not talking.”

Wait . . . didn’t Fox say Summer asked him to spend time with Joy?

“I really think they’d be good friends. Just like we could be.”

Joy sighs. Honestly, she still doesn’t know why Malcolm claims to not like Fox. And Fox doesn’t have a problem with Malcolm, per se, just the complicated circumstances, and if Joy told Summer about any of that, she’d have to tell her everything and . . . no.

“I don’t dislike you, Summer. Things are . . . complicated.”

“But they don’t have to be, do they?”

“I had a talk with Malcolm and we . . .” Joy trails off. God, this is so hard. How can she be honest with Summer while still protecting herself and her feelings? “We have—we’ve been friends for a really long time. For a lot of that time, we only had each other. No one understood us the way we did. We had a bubble, like you said, and it just kept getting smaller and smaller and tighter and tighter and now, there really isn’t room for anyone else.