Tom felt his pulse soften, warm. “You respect her. Fully. Publicly. Privately.”
Richard’s gaze sharpened. “Or you walk?”
“Or I walk,” Tom agreed.
Another silence. Then—unexpectedly—Richard nodded. Slow. Stiff. But genuine.
“Very well,” he said. “We can… move forward on those terms.”
Tom felt something inside him settle—like a foundation finally poured where there had only been sand before.
“Good,” Tom said.
He turned back to his desk, the snow globe glimmering by his hand, Lauren’s photo surrounded by his misshapen roses. He let the sight steady him, the same wayshesteadied him.
He wasn’t the man she needed yet. But he was becoming him. Piece by piece.
Choice by choice.
When he knocked,Jake opened the door with a half-eaten cookie in hand.
“Hey! You exist,” Jake said around a mouthful.
Tom managed a weak smile.
Mia poked her head out from the kitchen. “Tom! Perfect timing.” She thrust a mixing bowl into Jake’s arms. “Babe, stir this.”
Jake saluted with exaggerated dignity.
Tom stepped inside, shrugging out of the cold. Their house wrapped around him—clean lines, deep blues, open-plan. There was nothing wrong with it, it just wasn’t Lauren’s aesthetic.
Tom sank onto the couch.
He missedhishouse. He missed Lauren’s furnishing. Her choices.
Mia came over, drying her hands on a towel. The heart-shaped locket she wore swung gently with her movement.
The sight of it pressed hard against Tom’s chest.
“You look tired,” Mia said gently.
“Long day,” he said quietly. “Long week. Long year.”
“Mm.” Mia’s eyes were kind. “And it’s only February.” She thumbed the locket absently. “Your brother is already teasing me with his Valentine’s Day plans.”
Jake smiled. “Massive plans.”
“Romantic plans?” Mia asked.
“Stupid romantic,” he agreed, grinning.
Tom blinked. “What kind of plans?”
Jake tossed the spoon into the bowl and leaned against the counter. “I’m still trying to figure it out. Mia deserves something sonnet-level romantic.”
“I don’t want a sonnet,” Mia said.
“You say that,” Jake told her, “and then you write me those notes…”
