Maybe I can. Maybe I’m allowed to.
Inside, I text Henry that I made it home safe, and then I do something I haven’t done in two years— I call my best friend from med school, Sophie.
“Willa? Oh my God, it’s been forever! Are you okay?”
“I kissed someone,” I blurt out.
Silence. Then… “Youwhat? Details. Now.”
I tell her everything— about Henry, about Ben, about the bakery and the lava cakes and the kiss that made me feel alive again.
“Willa,” Sophie says softly when I’m done. “You sound so happy.”
“I am. But I’m also terrified.” I blow out a long breath.
“That’s normal. After what Wally did?—”
“Henry’s not Wally.”
“I know. But your brain doesn’t know that yet. It’s going to take time to believe it.” She pauses. “Willa, you deserve this. You deserve someone who makes you feel safe and seen. Don’t run from it.”
We talk for another hour, and when I hang up, I feel lighter. Like maybe I’m not as broken as I thought.
I fall asleep thinking about tomorrow’s dinner, about getting to know Henry and Ben better, about the possibility that this could actually work.
And when I dream, it’s only of a future where I’m brave enough to be happy.
Chapter 14
Henry
Dinner with Willafeels like the most important meal I’ve ever cooked. I’ve made spaghetti and meatballs —Ben’s favorite— and I’ve cleaned the house twice. My hands are actually shaking as I set the table.
“Daddy, you’re being weird,” Ben announces from the couch where he’s building a Lego dinosaur. “It’s just Dr. Willa. She’s nice.”
“I know she’s nice. I just want everything to be perfect.”
“Why?”
Because I’m falling in love with her.
Because I want her to see that we could be a family.
Because I’m terrified she’ll realize she deserves better than a baker with a seven-year-old and an upside-down mortgage.
“Because she’s important,” I say simply.
Ben grins. “I knew it. You looooove her.”
The doorbell rings before I can respond, and my heart kicks into overdrive. I open the door, and Willa stands there with a bottle of wine and a nervous smile.
“Hi. I wasn’t sure what to bring, so I brought wine, but then I remembered Ben’s here so that might be weird, and?—”
I kiss her. Right there in the doorway, cutting off her anxious rambling with my lips on hers. She melts into me, her free hand fisting in my shirt.
“Hi,” I murmur against her mouth. “You’re perfect. Come in.”
“Dr. Willa!” Ben barrels into her legs, hugging her waist. “I made you a dinosaur! Wanna see?”
