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Twenty-two months after she’d begun working there, she had bumped into a tall, gorgeous stranger with a beautiful smile and kind eyes. Her life had taken another sharp but glorious turn.

Sean had been funny and charming. On their first date, they’d talked so much, the restaurant manager had had to ask them to leave so he could close. Instead of ending their date then, they had gone to an all-night diner and talked more. She had never met anyone like Sean Donavan. Yes, he was handsome. His thick, dark brown hair, gray-blue eyes, and beautiful smile would make any woman swoon. At six three, with broad shoulders and a taut, muscular build, Sean had made her feel both protected and ultrafeminine in his presence. He was a romance hero come to life. But that wasn’t what made her fall in love with him.

Not since Drew had she met anyone who made her feel seen in the way Sean did. He saw beneath the surface of the slightly geeky, sometimes too serious-minded woman. Only her family and Drew had ever done that. But Sean somehow had immediately delved below the surface and found the real Serena. She had fallen for him during that first date.

Drew would always be in her heart, and she would always love him. But she was convinced that Sean was her soul mate. She truly believed they were meant to be together forever.

Sean had been upfront about his first marriage, too. Because of his wife’s unfaithfulness, it had ended in divorce. And while she knew Teresa had hurt him, she was almost certain that the failed marriage wasn’t the source of Sean’s real pain. She had hoped that someday, he would trust her enough to tell her without her having to ask him point-blank. Still, no matter how close they had gotten, he always held back.

Yes, she was a research expert, could have dug and uncovered everything. That wasn’t the kind of marriage she wanted. Sean needed to trust her enough to share his pain. Digging into his past to uncover the source herself would have felt not only sleazy, but it also would have been a betrayal of their marriage vows.

In their brief marriage, Sean had been an extraordinarily wonderful husband. Loving, kind, supportive, and incredibly attentive. Their life goals had matched up perfectly. If anyone had told her on their wedding day that they would be separated three years later, possibly divorcing, she would have insisted they were talking about someone else.

She and Sean were forever. She still believed that. She loved him with every particle of her being. And despite everything, she knew he loved her, too. Hopefully, today would give her some answers she could work with to persuade him to stay.

His reason for leaving her was suspect at best. Her not telling him that Hawke was alive wasn’t the reason for his behavior. But it had been a catalyst, a trigger of some sort. The event had set off something deep-seated and excruciatingly painful within him. And if they didn’t face it together, their marriage wouldn’t survive. She had to make him see that.

Noting he’d be here in less than ten minutes, Serena hurriedly dressed in the clothes she’d brought from her parents’ house—a simple sleeveless dress in light green with pale pink and white flowers and nude-colored sandals. She hadn’t brought any makeup with her, but her face had a nice glow from the sun. She wasn’t one to wear a lot of makeup anyway.

She nodded her approval as she gave herself a quick once-over in the mirror and turned away. She made her way down to the kitchen and retrieved the lemonade she’d made earlier. Placing the pitcher, two glasses, and a plate of her grandmother’s iced oatmeal cookies on a tray, she headed out to the front porch.

She put the tray on a table and sat in one of the rocking chairs. From here, she could see the turnoff from the main highway and would spot Sean’s car long before he arrived. Just the thought of seeing him again sent tingles up and down her spine. He had always been able to do that to her. Just the thought of him caused a visceral response in her body.

Pulling in a deep breath, she tried to settle back into her chair and relax. Worrying and wondering why he was coming to see her would do no good. She could come up with a thousand scenarios, and each one would break her heart.

Everyone had marital problems from time to time. She had five married brothers, and with the exception of her middle brother, Nolan, they’d all come to her for advice. It only made sense that when two passionate people, perhaps raised differently and with different life experiences, lived together, there would be strife and misunderstandings. But that shouldn’t destroy what they had built. It might be cliché, but she truly believed that love could conquer all…if you gave it a chance.

Question was, would Sean?

She spotted a white SUV turning onto Francine Drive. Serena straightened in her chair. She was nervous. She was apprehensive. But most of all, she was hopeful. Sean loved her—she didn’t doubt that. She needed to break through the wall he had created between them so they could move forward together.

She took a bracing breath and waited. The next few minutes could very well be some of the most painful of her life—or some of her best. It was all up to Sean.

Chapter Four

Sean steered the SUV toward the large gray house where Serena’s grandparents lived. When she had told him to meet her here instead of her parents’ place, he’d been relieved. He loved Mallory and Ed Allen and thought they were the finest people he’d ever known, but explaining to them why he’d broken their daughter’s heart wasn’t something he was ready to face. Acknowledging he was an ass would be easy enough, but giving them a more in-depth explanation was beyond him. Just because he was sure he was doing the right thing didn’t mean they would see it that way.

As he passed some of the houses, he was sure that more than a few of Serena’s relatives were looking out their windows and knew exactly who he was. He’d never known a place like Francine. He remembered when Serena had first told him about the community where she’d grown up, he had assumed it was just a small area with a few sparsely spread out houses where some of her relatives lived. He couldn’t have been more wrong. Francine, Wisconsin, was a thriving, beautiful, self-sustaining community that contained well over two hundred people, along with more pets and animals than could be counted. Everyone was related to one another, either by blood or through marriage. The moment he’d been introduced to them, he’d felt like he had come home. They had welcomed him as if he were one of their own.

He could only imagine what they thought about him now.

Sean pulled into the driveway and spotted Serena on the porch, waiting for him. His heart went into overdrive. It had been months since he’d seen her, and more than anything, he wanted to jump out of the vehicle, run as fast as he could, swoop her up, and carry her away with him. He had never felt more fully alive than when she was in his arms. Serena was everything he’d ever dreamed of having in a life partner. And he had ruined it all.

Grabbing the bulky envelope lying on the seat beside him, he opened the car door and got out, stuffing the papers at the small of his back. He tried to smile as he approached her, but the best he could come up with was a small movement of his mouth. The next few minutes would be some of the hardest of his life.

The closer he got to her, the more his heart hurt. She was wearing a beautiful summer dress that made her look even more like sunshine. Her shoulder-length golden-brown hair was pushed behind her ears, revealing the diamond stud earrings he’d given her on their wedding day. Her soft green eyes were both sad and tender as if she knew exactly why he was here.

“Hello, Sean,” she said quietly.

“Hello, Serena, you look lovely.” He also noted that she had lost weight, and there were shadows under her eyes. He attributed both of these to what he’d put her through.

Smiling her thanks, she nodded to the chair across from her. “Have a seat, and I’ll pour us some lemonade.”

Awkwardness had never been part of their relationship. From the moment they’d met, there had been an easiness between them he’d never felt with another person. He remembered when the restaurant manager asked them to leave on their first date so he could close. They’d gone someplace else after that and had continued talking through the night. Time had slipped away as they’d gotten lost getting to know each other. He’d fallen in love with her that night.

Seating himself, he watched as she poured his drink, thinking how natural she was no matter what she was doing. Her mind was beyond brilliant, but she had a simple, unaffected way about her that put everyone at ease the moment they met her. She could talk coding to one person and turn around and talk about farming to another. And she had no idea how extraordinary she was.

She handed him the glass and pushed the plate of cookies toward him. “You remember my grandmother’s cookies.”