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I knew when Caldwell drew her into family pictures and nobody questioned why she was there.

I knew when she laughed on my porch wearing my sweatshirt, healthier and more confident than the woman who’d stepped out of her dusty, gray car at the reunion months ago.

I was in love with every part of her.

Sloane scraped the bottom of her bowl. “What are you thinking about?”

I had learned she could detect my silences now.

“You,” I said.

Her cheeks turned pink, though she held my gaze more confidently than she once would have.

“Good things?”

“Mostly.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Mostly?”

“You stole my sweatshirt.”

“In my defense, you did leave it unattended.”

I laughed. “In my bedroom. In my closet.”

“I’ve been meaning to tell you that you have poor security.”

I took her empty bowl and set it beside mine.

She moved closer, curling into my side. I wrapped an arm around her, and she rested her head against my shoulder.

18

SLOANE

WE NEED TO TALK. I’M BRINGING RIBS.

Patty called at four thirteen on a Tuesday afternoon. “We need to have a serious talk. I’m bringing ribs,” she said in lieu of a greeting.

“Oh dear,” I said. “Ribs are definitely serious-talk food.”

“They are.”

“Should I be afraid?”

“Yes. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

She ended the call before I could ask whether she was bringing dessert, which confirmed the situation was dire.

I sat at my desk for another minute, frozen to my chair.

The email draft on my screen contained revised logo concepts for a dental practice that wanted to look welcoming without appearing childish, medical without appearing clinical, and expensive without frightening away people who didn’t have insurance.

I had created six options, all of which the client had disliked because none conveyed “legacy.” When I asked what legacy meant in relation to a practice that had opened eight months ago, they sent me a photograph of a tree.

The project had already taken three times longer than estimated, but I couldn’t focus on it now.

Patty didn’t announce talks. She typically arrived unannounced with candy, information, and highly questionable solutions. Her warning me beforehand made my stomach clench.