Yet a strange possessiveness snuck into my thoughts, stubborn and unwelcome. I couldn’t understand where it came from or why it bothered me so much.
Annoyed with myself, I shook my head and pushed the feeling away.
My fingers instinctively reached for the infinity ring resting against my chest, and I began to twirl it slowly between them.
The ring was a reminder not to get attached. Not to fall in love again, and to keep my focus on my children and my business. Proof that it was safer to be alone.
29
COLE
At the end of April, I stood by the large window of my office, staring out at the city. Sunlight reflected off the buildings across the street, casting long shadows that stretched across the pavement far below. Liam had preserved the office I used to work in, and when I rejoined him to help with the company’s photography projects, it slowly became a place where I met clients for both my photo shoots and the company’s corporate work.
My office phone rang.
I picked it up. “Hello?”
“Cole!” Lucas’s excited voice burst through the receiver.
Just hearing his voice made me smile, as if it flipped a switch somewhere inside my chest. “Hey, buddy,” I said, sitting down.
“My tooth fell out again.”
I laughed, leaning back slightly in my chair as I imagined his proud little grin.
“You know what my brother and I used to do when that happened?”
“What?”
“We would bury the tooth in the backyard under a tree for good luck.”
There was a pause on the other end.
“But then the tooth fairy won’t find it there,” Lucas said softly. “And I won’t get my dollar.”
“Oh, he’ll find it alright,” I said. “And he’ll give you more than a dollar for that tooth.”
“Really?”
“Truly.”
Lucas sounded satisfied with that answer, and after we hung up, I made a mental note to swing by Jiya’s house later that night. The thought came naturally, the same way it always did when Lucas or Emma crossed my mind. Those visits had become part of my life.
I leaned back in my chair, waiting for the new project photos to arrive. While the computer screen refreshed, my thoughts drifted elsewhere entirely.
Stephanie.
The thought of breaking up with her had been sitting heavily in my mind for weeks. Even though she was beautiful, something between us felt hollow. Conversations with her rarely lasted more than a few minutes before they fizzled out. There was no depth, no spark of curiosity, and no shared interests that made me want to keep talking. Even when we sat across from each other at dinner, the silence between us sometimes felt louder than any conversation.
She was the first woman I had dated since my wife passed away.
And she was not what I was looking for in a life partner.
We were simply too different. Our goals, our mindsets, and the things that mattered to us existed in completely separate worlds.
Every time I tried to picture a future with her, the image refused to settle into place. It always felt forced, as if I were trying to fit two pieces of a puzzle together that had never belonged in the same box.
Without meaning to, my mind drifted to Jiya.
