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“Well,” Theo responded. He sipped at his lukewarm cider. “How are you doing? I’ve hardly seen you.” Jake had yellow remnants of bruising on his jaw; apparently his ducking still left something to be desired.

“I’ve been busy. And you see me at the shop.” Jake blew out a breath. “I’m fine. Sore, but fine.”

“You’ve been training hard,” Theo observed. “Anyone would be tired.”

“How are …” Jake fixed his gaze over Theo’s shoulder. “How are things with Miss Cruthers?”

Things with Miss Cruthers were complicated and a bit frustrating. “How do you mean?”

“Lou’s mentioned some … I don’t know, pursuits.” His mouth thinned into a straight line. “I won’t blame you for getting over Sarah; I just want to make sure you’re being smart.”

White-hot irritation—the kind only Jake could arouse—flared. “I don’t think I’ll ever be getting over my wife dying,” he said, trying to keep his tone even. “Maggie isn’t replacing her. And what do you mean, being smart?”

“Oh, come on, Ted,” Jake groaned, pushing himself away from the desk and pacing the room. “Don’t act stupid.”

“Don’t be cryptic,” Theo shot back. “I thought you had turned the other cheek or whatever phrasing you like to wave over our heads.”

“I won’t apologize for wanting you to be safe.” Jake raised his chin. “None of us have any interest in seeing you destroyed again. It was bad enough the first time.”

“I’m sorry that watching me grieve my wife was so difficult for you.” Theo’s mouth tasted sour. He didn’t know why he was bothering; Jake’s inconsistent bouts of decency were becoming ever rarer, and this conversation was going nowhere.

“God damnit, Theo, that isn’t what I meant, and you know it. This woman strolls into town with her … whatever they are, and suddenly you’re acting like she hung the moon.”

“I’m permitted to have feelings.”

Jake scoffed. “They’re charlatans, Theo. She wants something from you. Why else would she be panting after you like a dog in heat?”

Theo had never been so close to punching his brother square in the jaw; he longed to give him a matching bruise on the other side of his face. “Don’t fucking talk about her like that. And it hasn’t occurred to you that she actually takes an interest in me? I’m not an ogre, Jake.”

“You’re a single father. That’s a lot to take on, especially for someone with no family of her own. She doesn’t know anything about it. I can’t believe you’re just dismissing the … moral disparity between you two.”

Theo stared at his brother as if he had never seen him before. “Those aren’t your words. Where is this coming from?”

“I’m not trying to upset you.”

“I find that difficult to believe.”

“Theo, I don’t want you to get your heart broken.”

“Jake, I’m in love with her. It’s too late to worry about that.” Theo gestured around the room. “It’s hers to break if she wants. Everything I have is hers, if she wants.”

A theatrical gasp came from behind Theo and he spun around, mildly alarmed. Lou stood in the doorway, both her hands clapped over her mouth, her eyes wide.

“I thought you went to the shop,” he said, limply. Lou shook her head, her hands still on her face.

“I forgot my bag,” she whispered through her fingers. “Theo, are you really in love with Maggie?”

Jake looked at him expectantly, that goddamn eyebrow raised. Lou was practically vibrating.

“Yes,” he said, heat crawling up his neck. “Yes, I am.”

Then Lou did something neither of them had ever seen her do outside of infancy: she burst into tears.

“Louise!” Jake nearly yelled, rushing to her side and wrapping his arms around her. She didn’t respond, burying her face in his chest and heaving more sobs. Theo was at an utter loss, exchanging panicked looks with Jake, who was murmuring soothing nonsense to his sister and rubbing her back.

“I’m … just … happy,” Lou managed, still pressing her face into Jake’s shirt. “After Sarah …” She drew in a shuddering breath. “You just deserve it, Theo. And I like Maggie so much. I really do.”

Theo, stunned into silence, walked up to his siblings and slid his arms around them. Jake made a protesting grumble but allowed it, and Theo kissed the top of Lou’s head. “What a mess we are.”