“You’re afraid to let anyone in,” I said. “You say you were on top of the world but you were alone up there, Nick.”

He put his hands on his hips and stared at me. It felt like yelling at a brick wall, but I did it anyway because I’m thick like that.

“Now you have people in your life who care about you and what terrifies you even more than that is that you care about them, too.”

He shook his head, and I knew it was more him shaking me off than disagreeing. I kept going.

“Yes, you do,” I said. “You think I don’t know that Emily and Elijah and Abigail are better off for having you in their life. You think I don’t understand that the Sunshine House is yours? That it’s your way of trying to save kids from the same childhood trauma you suffered?”

“Why isn’t that enough?” he asked. “Why can’t I just make a difference in my own way, from a distance?”

“Because that’s not how being alive works. You have to stand up for the people you care about,” I said. “And not just as a checkbook. Lexi needs you. She needs her big brother at the most important event in her life. And I need you, too.”

“No, you don’t,” he said. He gestured to his body and said, “What can I possibly do for you, for any of you, Annabelle, if I drop dead tomorrow?”

“You could be with me today,” I countered. Then I decided to go all in. “Listen, I get that you’re scared. We’re all scared. I’m terrified by how much I love you, but I’m standing here, loving you anyway.”

“I never asked you to love me,” he growled. “Three months, that’s all this was supposed to be, and now it can’t even be that. I can’t be the man you want me to be, Annabelle. I just can’t.”

He turned and strode out the open door without looking back. Not once.

Nick

26

“Two more reps,” Jackson said. “And two and one.”

I used the last of my arm strength to set the bar in the holder over my head. Jackson grabbed it, probably to make sure I didn’t drop it on my head. The knot on my forehead had gone down, but he’d been tracking me like a hawk the last few days, probably to make certain I didn’t do any more damage.

He handed me a towel, and I wiped the sweat off my face before taking a long drink of water. I could feel him watching me, but he didn’t say anything. It was annoying.

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing.” He shrugged. “I haven’t seen Annabelle around is all.”

“Are we going to braid each other’s hair and talk about our relationships now?” I asked.