“We met because you refused to toast my bread properly.”
“I don’t toast. It destroys the crumb structure.”
“It was seven in the morning. I needed toast.”
“You needed better taste.”
Tessa laughed. This was what she had missed, she realized. Not romance, but this. A circle of people who felt like home. She was used to earning her place. Proving she deserved a seat at the table. No one here had asked her to.
Inside the house, something crashed. Knox’s voice carried through the open windows.
“That wasn’t my fault.”
“You literally dropped it.” Gabriel’s voice was amused.
“The handle was wet.”
“The handle was dry. You were gesticulating.”
“I was making a point.”
“You were destroying Devney’s serving platter.”
Lucy rolled her eyes. “He’s such a disaster.”
“You could go help.”
“I could also not.” She turned to look at Tessa, expression shifting to something more serious. “Can I ask you something?”
“Depends on what.”
“How did you know? With Gabriel. That it was real and not leftover feelings from before.”
Tessa considered the question. “I didn’t, at first. But he kept showing up. Kept proving he meant it.”
“That’s terrifying.”
“It really is.”
“Because of the money? Or because of you two?”
“Both. And fear. A lot of fear.”
“Fear of what?”
Tessa looked out at the water. The ocean stretched to the horizon, blue and endless. The breeze carried salt and the distant cry of seabirds.
“I grew up counting grocery money. Wearing other people’s clothes. Learning not to expect more than what was in front of me.”
Lucy stayed quiet.
“I built my own safety net after that. My own business. My own life. I had no one to answer to, no one who could pull the rug out from under me.”
“And he changed that.”
“Yes.” She drew her knees up, resting her chin on them. “He makes me want more than safe.”
“And now?”
