“Oh,” my mom said and glanced at my dad as she took a half gallon of vanilla ice cream from the freezer. “Not recently. It’s been a couple of years.”

“Close to four years. Happened before we got the SUV. There were some high winds that took an old tree down and nailed both the shop and the carport. We’ll get ’em rebuilt soon.”

“What a relief it missed your house,” Holden said, but I barely heard him, because my mind was spinning.

Four years ago? And they never said a word?

“Why didn’t you guys tell me?” I asked.

“You have plenty on your plate, sweetie. This is our issue to resolve,” my dad said simply. “I can do all the repair work myself.”

I knew he was waiting till he had the money to pay for materials. He was always waiting till he had the money to pay for whatever was broken, and yet he never complained. This was how my parents existed. It never failed to hurt my heart that everything was such a financial struggle for them.

That right there… that was why I was married to my career. That was why I thrived on making money.

“You know I can help you with the materials,” I said.

“I appreciate that, Chloe, but we’ve got this. You save your money for you.”

I bit my tongue before insisting I had enough for myself and their repairs both. I’d revisit the argument later, when Holden wasn’t here.

As if signaling to me to change the subject, Holden put his hand loosely over mine on the table and said to me, “Should we talk about what we came to talk about?”

I nodded as my mom set a plate of pie and ice cream in front of each of us. “What’s going on, Chloe?” As she sat down on my other side, she glanced at our hands and gasped, and I realized she’d spotted the ring. Her eyes darted up to mine, then Holden’s, then back to mine with a hopeful light in them.

“What’s going on?” my dad asked, clearly not seeing what my mom did as he waited by the drip coffeepot.

“Holden and I are getting married,” I said in a rush, my heart thundering for too many reasons to count.

My mom gasped again and her hands flew to cover her mouth, just like when she’d answered the door. “Oh! Chloe!”

My dad stood against the counter, his spine slightly hunched from the backbreaking work he’d done all his life, the expression on his face one of puzzling something out. “What did I miss? I didn’t know you two were dating.”

My mom’s head whipped back to us, as if she had the same question.

“It happened fast,” Holden said. “Well, fast if you don’t count almost thirty years of getting to know each other.”