“You’re afraid it’ll hurt the children.”
“Exactly.”
She sets her mug down. “Rory.”
“Yeah?”
“All relationships are a risk.”
“I know.”
“But the important thing,” she says gently, “is that you do it properly.”
I frown slightly.
“What does that mean?”
“It means you protect the children, but you also nurture the relationship.”
“How?”
She gestures vaguely. “Time together. Talking. Not letting everything revolve around school runs and packed lunches.”
“That sounds difficult.”
“It is.”
She smiles. “But that’s how you keep the spark alive.”
I laugh quietly. “Spark definitely isn’t the problem.”
“Oh I’m sure it isn’t.”
I rub my face. “I just… really want this to work.”
“Then make it work.”
Simple as that. I nod slowly. “I’m not letting fear mess this up.”
“Good.”
She reaches over and squeezes my arm. “Because that girl deserves someone who’s all in.”
“I am.”
“I know.”
Tuesday morning I wake up in a stupidly good mood. Which Isla immediately notices.
“You’re smiling like a silly sausage again,” she says suspiciously across the breakfast table.
“I smile all the time.”
“No you don’t.”
I shrug. “Maybe I’m just happy.”
She narrows her eyes like a tiny detective. “Why?”
