Juliet sobbed and plucked out three tissues. “I should have known when he cancelled the hike he said we’d take. Instead we went to dinner at that new winery in River Bend, but I just sensed something was…off. He seemed distracted the whole time, constantly glancing at his phone, jumping when it went off. When he left for the restroom, his phone was still on the table, and I picked it up. He’d been looking at a photo of a brand-new tattoo of his name on a body part that doesn’t ordinarily see the light of day. Oh Tessa, I can’t believe I took him back this last time. And I can’t believe this happened again.”

Again? Tessa bit back saying something that would upset Juliet further. Like the fact that she was going to string Jax up by his balls.

“I’m so stupid,” Juliet said tearfully. “I thought he was going to propose, but he’d planned to break up all along. Over a nice dinner. Who does that?”

Tessa rubbed Juliet’s back, something she’d done often in the past for both her sisters. And she wondered, were there any good men left in the world?

Leo is a good man, a voice inside of her whispered. A really good man. Who cooks. And brings Kleenex at exactly the right time.

She shook that voice out of her head. “Juliet, you always think the best of everyone.” That seemed a lot better than why would you ever take this awful man back in the first place?

“I knew in my heart it was wrong, Tessa, but I did it anyway. I was…hopeful. I needed this to work.”

She could relate. Hadn’t she’d stayed with Sam because he was better than nothing? Because she feared no one would ever come around again?

“You’re worth more than Jax,” Tessa said. “Don’t settle.”

Leo came out of the house with a bowl of steaming pasta and a big glass of ice water. Which gave Tessa a heart pang. Because he hadn’t run for the hills at the sight of a crying woman as Sam had, who made himself scarce nearly every time one of her sisters was in crisis. Leo set the food down on the table. “My mom used to say a good meal cures all heartache.”

Aw geez. The guy not only wasn’t afraid of crying women—he fed them, too.

And he didn’t even evict seniors.

And he’d spent an hour lending his muscle to help his mom clean out that storage room today.

And, and, and.

“Thank you, Leo,” Juliet said, blowing her nose. “Maybe I will. It smells terrific.”

“I’ll be upstairs,” he said, hitching a thumb toward the house. “Call me if you need anything.”