Page 89

"Adam."

"I need you to know something." I kept my voice level. "That word, from you, is the best gift I've received since James was born."

Her breath caught.

"Do not," she said, her voice dropping to something that was almost a growl, "make me emotional when I'm operating a vehicle."

I pressed my lips together.

She pulled up in front of my house and put the Jeep in park. I reached over and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, and when she turned to look at me I kissed her. Soft. Deliberate. The kind of kiss that didn't need to go anywhere to say what it was saying.

When I pulled back, I kept my hand against her jaw.

"I want a date," I said. "The three of us. You, me, and James."

She blinked. "The three of us? Isn’t it too soon?”

"The three of us. And I want you to stay over."

Something moved through her expression. Surprise, then consideration, then something that looked like it might be longing.

"Adam. That's a big step."

"I know it is."

She looked at me for a long moment. The afternoon light was coming through the windshield and catching the brown in her eyes, and she was thinking hard, I could tell, turning it over from every angle.

"I'll think about it," she said.

It was the best possible answer. From Zoe, thinking about it meant she was already halfway there.

I got out of the Jeep. She waited until I was on the porch before she pulled away, and I watched the Jeep until it turned the corner and disappeared.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Millie Drakos's farmhouse was the kind of place that made you slow down before you even got through the gate.

The white picket fence stood taller than you expected, and the orchard beyond it was full of trees covered in blossoms. Mixed with the smell of apple blossoms was lavender from her fields behind the house. This was a magical place.

Angelica had called ahead, which mattered.

"She needs a minute to prepare herself," Angelica explained as she pulled through the gate. "It's not personal, it's just how things work."

"I know," I said. "I've known Millie for years."

"Right, but you haven't been here since she and Renzo got married, and things have changed a lot."

They had. The front porch had new rocking chairs, and there were two ceramic planters on either side of the door that I didn't remember from before. Small things. Evidence of a person making space for another person in their life.

Millie opened the door before we knocked.

She was petite, with those high cheekbones that always made her look like a model when the light was just right, and she was wrapped in a thick cardigan the color of oatmeal. She smiled when she saw Angelica, and the smile widened when she saw me.

"Zoe. I’m glad you decided to come."

"I go where Angelica goes," I said. "It seemed safer."

Millie laughed. It was a real one. That was the thing about Millie. When she laughed, she meant it.