Gretchen was too afraid to believe it. “She was worried for Caleb.”

Amanda shook her head firmly. “It wasn’t just that, and you need to trust me. There’s the fear of your child losing his other mother, and then there’s the fear of losing the love of your life. My heart broke for her every single time I looked at her.”

Gretchen needed to know one last thing before she’d let herself consider the possibility of a second chance. “Is it fair for me to want this?”

“If I didn’t believe Jax wants the same thing, I wouldn’t let you get hurt. But I think she’s trying to put a Band-Aid on a bullet wound. You are the only way she’ll ever heal because you need each other.”

“I wish I had your positivity.”

“If I can get there, so can you.” Amanda stood and popped some popcorn. “Tell me, what are you going to do?”

“I have to know if she wants the same thing, which means I’ll talk to her and listen. Like you said.”

“I’m so smart.”

“Don’t break your arm patting yourself on the back.”

“Har-har.” Amanda poured the popcorn into a bowl and delivered it to Caleb, who squealed in delight. When she came back into the kitchen, she slid Gretchen’s phone closer. “Tell Jax you want to talk. Tomorrow night. Order a nice dinner, something you both love, and open some wine. Make sure she’s relaxed. Don’t just bombard her like you tend to do.”

Gretchen opened her messages and felt her palms start to sweat. She shouldn’t be this nervous about asking the woman she had been with for over fifteen years to talk. They’d eaten a million meals together and talked about everything under the sun, but Gretchen was more nervous for this than anything else she could remember. She took a deep breath and started typing.

I know you’re out, and I’m sorry to interrupt you, but I think we should talk. Please have dinner with me at the house tomorrow night. I’ll have everything ready for when you get out of work.

The send button was the most daunting thing on earth. Gretchen held her thumb over it, hovering and trembling, and hesitated to touch it. She stared, unblinking, then finally hit Send. Her stomach flipped.

“Oh God, I feel sick.”

Amanda rubbed her back. “It’ll be okay. Even if it doesn’t go your way, at least you’ll have closure.”

Gretchen read and reread her message. She placed her hand over her face and groaned. “I apologized for interrupting. They’re probably having S-E-X right now.”

“Caleb can’t hear you, and you don’t know that.”

Gretchen raised her eyebrows as high as they could go. “It’s Valentine’s Day. If I were with Jax, I’d be having sex with her.”