Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 33290 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 166(@200wpm)___ 133(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33290 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 166(@200wpm)___ 133(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
“Depends. Do you love them?”
The simple question hit me like a physical blow. “What?”
“Do you love them? Because if you do, really love them, then the risk might be worth it. But if you’re just trying to help, or if you think you can change them . . .” She shrugged. “That never ends well.”
I stared at her, this twenty-year-old who somehow had more clarity about love than I did at thirty-four. “What if they don’t love you back the same way?”
“What if they do, and you’re just too scared to find out?”
After Miranda took over the front of the shop, I escaped to my office and tried to lose myself in paperwork. Orders to process, invoices to pay, schedules to arrange. The mundane details of running a small business that usually grounded me but today felt like meaningless distractions.
My phone buzzed with a text from my mother:
Haven’t heard from you in weeks. Everything alright?
I stared at the message for a long time before typing back:
Everything’s fine. Just busy with the shop.
It was a lie, of course. Nothing was fine. My carefully constructed life was teetering on the edge of a precipice, and I was about to either leap to safety or fall into something that would change me forever.
Another text came through, this one from Summer:
Thinking about you. Call me if you need to talk.
I thought about Luca, probably sitting in his first-grade classroom right now, blissfully unaware that his world might be about to change forever. He’d be working on math problems or listening to a story, secure in the knowledge that his dad would pick him up after school and that Miss G would probably be there for dinner, just like always.
What if Lyla won? What if she took him away from Millbrook, from his friends, from the only stable home he’d ever known? What if he ended up in some sterile apartment in Boston or New York, shuttled between his mother’s social obligations and a string of nannies? How would this be any better for Luca than his current situation?
It wouldn’t, but Lyla had money, and lots of it.
The thought made my chest tight with anger and protectiveness. Luca deserved better than that. He deserved a mother who showed up, a home where he felt safe, adults who put his needs first.
That’s exactly what Colby provided for Luca.
Maybe that’s what this really came down to. Not my feelings for Colby, not my dreams of having a family, but my love for a six-year-old boy who called me when he was scared and saved his best hugs for me.
I picked up my phone and dialed Colby’s number before I could change my mind.
“Hey,” he answered on the second ring, his voice cautious.
“I’ve been thinking about what you said last night.”
“And?”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, feeling like I was standing at the edge of a cliff. “And I think we should talk. Not about the practical stuff but about what this really means. For all of us.”
“Okay.” Relief flooded his voice. “When?”
“Tonight. After Luca goes to bed. We need to be completely honest with each other about what we’re getting into.”
“Gianna—”
“This isn’t a yes, Colby. But it’s not a no either. It’s a conversation we should have had three years ago.”
After I hung up, I sat in my office chair feeling like I’d just lit a fuse on something explosive. Tonight, I would finally tell my best friend that I’d been in love with him since the night he’d cried in my arms.
Tonight, I would find out if this crazy plan was about love or just about legal strategy.
Tonight, everything would change.
The question was whether I was brave enough to handle whatever came next.
CHAPTER 3
Colby
Ispent the day at the Hendersons’ job site, installing custom kitchen cabinets and trying not to check my phone every five minutes. The oak panels required precise measurements and careful handling, but my mind kept drifting to Gianna’s face when she’d said she needed time to think. The hope that had flickered there, quickly smothered by caution.
By six o’clock, I’d finished the installation and cleaned up the workspace twice. My crew had already headed home, but I stayed behind, adjusting hinges that didn’t need adjusting and polishing hardware that already gleamed. Anything to avoid going home and waiting for an answer that might change everything.
My phone buzzed with a text from Kay Redman:
Luca’s helping with dinner. Pick him up whenever you’re ready.
I typed back my thanks and packed up my tools. The October air carried the scent of woodsmoke and dying leaves as I loaded my truck. Millbrook looked postcard perfect in the golden hour light, all painted Victorian houses and maple trees blazing orange and red. This was the life I wanted for my son. Small-town safety, neighbors who looked out for each other, a place where everyone knew his name.