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The doorbell rings when I’m in my bathroom finishing up before I head over to the house to meet Heath. Both Jenna and Trevor are staying over at a friend’s house, so that leaves me to answer the door.

“I’m coming!” I call as I rush down the hall, making it to the front door and swinging it open. “Hey,” I say with a smile when I see Liam standing there. Stepping back, I usher him in before closing the door.

“Wow,” he says as he takes a few steps into the condo. “You look great.”

I look down at my dress and smooth out the front of my skirt. “Thanks.” I glance at the clock. It’s six, and I told Heath I’d be there by seven. That’s plenty of time to offer Liam a glass of wine. “Do you want a drink?” I ask as I pass him and head into the kitchen.

“Yeah, sure.” He pulls a stool out from the bar and takes a seat. “I wanted to ask you about New York. I didn’t want to bombard you when you got back yesterday.”

I pull out the chilled bottle of white from the fridge before grabbing a couple of glasses from the rack. “Yeah, sorry I didn’t call you back.” Uncorking the bottle, I fill each glass halfway, handing one to Liam and taking the second for myself. “Between you and the texts from Heath and then the actual meeting, I was all discombobulated.”

He raised his brow. “Heath texted you?”

“Yeah.” I take a sip. “He wished me good luck. I’m actually headed over there in a bit. He wanted to ask me about my trip and stuff.”

“And stuff?”

“I don’t know what else.” I shrug. “He asked me over so he could cook me dinner and talk about New York.” He has no reaction to my news. “What?”

“Nothing, Whitney.” He shakes his head. “That’s great that he’s taking an interest in your trip. Isn’t this what you wanted?”

“It is.”

“Just don’t get ahead of yourself.”

“I’m not. I’m not going into this with any expectations. But this is no different from us going to coffee or out to lunch.”

“It is because it’s the first time you’ve spent any real time alone together since the split–”

“That’s not true. We’ve spent plenty of time together.”

“Yes, but like you just said, in public. This is entirely different. You’ll be at the house. A home you’ve built together for years.” He raises his hands. “I’m only trying to give you the guy’s perspective. Let me end this by saying that the last thing that would be on my mind is delightful conversation.”

Damn him.

“We’re not there yet, Liam.”

He drops his hands and gives me a dead stare. “Please Whitney, you’ve been there since you were seventeen years old. You have three kids with him. Sex is always on the table.”

“I don’t want to discuss this with you,” I mumble into the rim of my glass.

“All I’m saying is that you may be thinking with your heart through dinner, but I’m one hundred percent sure he’ll be thinking with his dick most of the night.”

“That was reallygreat.”

I put my napkin on the table and lean back in my seat. Harper, who has been at my feet the entire time, whimpers at my movements. Heath made fajitas, one of my favorite dishes. He also blended fresh strawberry daiquiris, another favorite of mine.

“I appreciate all the effort you’ve put into this evening. It means a lot.”

He regards me for a moment before speaking. “I’ve been going to therapy,” he confesses, and I’m a bit shocked.

“Really?”

“Yeah, really.”

He stands and walks towards the slider that leads out to the backyard. Once he shoves the door open, he reaches his hand around and flips the switch that ignites the gas fire pit that’s located on the back deck. He closes the sliding door and heads back to the kitchen. Through the glass of the sliding door, I see the flames dance, illuminating the immediate patio area.

This is what I wanted when we landscaped the backyard five years ago. It was the first project we did once I received my first large royalty check. Heath had always wanted a built-in barbecue area, and I wanted a place where I could relax outside. He spent so many years building the inside for us that I wanted to do something for him on the outside. He fought me tooth and nail when I paid for the entirety of the project, but it was something that I needed to do for him.