All of this, if she said it, would sound like she was blaming him, which was only half the truth. They’d sneered at this town when he first moved here. Stuart might have had a change of heart, but he’d never invited her here, and she would never have known how nice it was until she came.

Maddie, however, had seemed to take her justification as an almost personal affront. She still seemed a little upset, still frowning slightly, eyebrows low, their earlier banter apparently forgotten. They pulled into a strip mall with the flower shop, Blooms and Grooms, and Maddie parked the Bronco, turning it off and simply sitting there, hands still on the wheel. The car rattled a little as it settled down, the heat wheezing to a stop several seconds later.

“He was really lonely, you know,” Maddie suddenly said, turning her way. “When I first met him, he didn’t know anyone here. He would come into the studio, work, and leave. I never saw him around town, never knew anything about him. Then we had a little job to work on together—we consulted on a public piece for the city—and I realized what a nice guy he was. I invited him out with me, introduced him around.” She paused, still looking put out. “It was like he didn’t have a friend in the world. In fact, I never even heard your name until last week.”

Anger and sorrow rose in Ryann. “And what do you think happened to me? I was alone too, you know. I missed, no, miss him more than I’ve ever missed anyone in my entire life. We tried, goddamn it. When he first moved here, we tried. Then, all of a sudden, he stopped calling, stopped visiting. We’ve barely spoken in the last year.” Tears rose in her eyes, and she blinked them away. “I lost my best friend, my only family. And yes—I should have come out here. I’ll admit that. But he shouldn’t have cut me out of his life like that, either.”

They were quiet for a while, Maddie apparently giving her a moment to collect herself as she dabbed at her eyes. When Ryann was brave enough to glance over at her, Maddie was staring at her evenly, brows still furrowed. She seemed to be considering what Ryann had said. Finally, her expression cleared, and she gave a weak smile.

“Long distance, huh? What a bitch.”

Ryann couldn’t help but laugh, and Maddie laughed with her, the tension immediately lifting.

Maddie touched her gloved hand. “Look. I’m sorry. I made some assumptions, and I shouldn’t have. It sounds super complicated, and it’s not my place to judge what happened. He probably didn’t bring you up because he missed you. Really. I’m sorry.”

“Thanks. It’s okay. You couldn’t know.”