“I always aim to excel.”
“I know.”
The room stills around us, but there’s this sweet heaviness lingering—Munich, Zach, our shared memories, this unbelievable reunion. All of it.
“So, what about you?” he asks.
He’s placing veggies on an indoor grill and the bread with cheese, open faced and then the other slices of bread. I watch as he sets it all there, as meticulously as he does everything.
“Me?” I ask.
“Yeah. Tell me about how you went from surgeon to single mom, firefighting baddie.”
“Baddie,” I laugh again.
“What do you call it?”
“Most days, hanging on by a shoestring.”
“Mmmm.” His hum is low and thoughtful, his gaze fixed and intense. “You make it look effortless.”
My breath literally hitches. Of all the things he could have chosen to compliment.
“Well, basically, the short story is Mia happened. I was on the med school track. I got pregnant. Danny got weird. I felt unstable, so I stepped back.”
“You could have still been a surgeon. Surgeons do have children.”
“They do. I couldn’t. I needed Danny to be all in. When he wasn’t, I don’t know. Something shifted. I felt unmoored.”
“I hope I never meet him.”
“What are you going to do? Go all special ops on him?”
“Probably not.”
“Probably? That’s reassuring.”
I’m acting offended, but honestly, the idea of Greyson going all caveman over Danny’s lack of a backbone is beyond attractive. A quiet thrill runs through me. Not because I need rescuing—but because Greyson is ready to stand between me and anything unsettling.
“Danny’s harmless,” I assure Greyson.
“So you say. I don’t see anything harmless in a man abandoning his wife and child. You’ve done amazing. That doesn’t mean he’s off the hook.”
Plain and simple, he’s right.
He grabs some tongs and flips the veggies. Then he closes the lid to the grill.
“What I mean is, he’s flaky, but he’s not malicious,” I clarify.
Greyson pauses in his food preparation. “His harm is not intentional. It’s a byproduct of his irresponsible way of living. Selfish, but not mean.”
“Yes. Exactly.”
“Like I said, I hope I never meet him.” He smiles over at me.
I smile back. And then I ask, “Are you planning on being around long enough that a crossing of paths could happen?”
I don’t know why I ask. I can’t afford to think outside these four days while Mia’s away. What am I saying, really? Am I asking Greyson for more? I don’t think I have more to offer him.
