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Dean closed his eyes. He wanted to say she was imagining things, wanted to reassure her that she was wrong, but he couldn’t.

It won’t take long.

It couldn’t take long. If he stayed more than a few minutes, she’d smile at him, reach across the table to touch his hand, and he would lose his nerve. It would be best if he just said the words, wished her well, then got the hell out of Dodge.

Another message appeared.

Pip’s fever broke an hour ago. Belle is here with her because I have to run to the hospital to see a patient this afternoon.

Even now, she was juggling everyone else’s needs before her own.

I have a meeting with the GM soon, but hopefully, it won’t last long. Would you have time for a quick drink later. Pat’s Pub?

Sure. 4 p.m.?

His thumb hesitated over the screen for a full minute before he found the strength to reply.

See you there.

Dean set the phone face down on his desk as if that somehow made this decision final.

Something told him final or not, it was going to take him a long damn time to get over Vivian Kelly.

Chapter Ten

Vivian reached Pat’s Pub ten minutes before the time she and Dean had agreed on, pulling into the parking lot across the street. She had expected the appointment to take longer, but instead, it had wrapped up early, leaving her with nothing to do but think.

Thinking paired better with wine, so she’d decided to head to the pub rather than killing the extra time in her office. She wasn’t sure why she was so nervous about seeing Dean today. Usually, she lived for their dates, anticipating them with excitement.

Today, however, the text hadn’t been flirty, fun, or dirty. Just an invitation to talk and a promise it wouldn’t last long. No smiley face emoji. No teasing remark in response to her “sounds serious” jest. Not even an “everything is okay” tacked onto the end.

Just…talk.

She hated that word because it left far too much room for the imagination.

Then her thoughts circled back to their phone call a couple of nights earlier. She hadn’t planned to tell him why she’d been off or what significance the day held, but she’d done a shitty job masking her sadness.

Twice a year—on Phil’s birthday and the anniversary of his death—the grief found her, even when she swore to herself that she was braced for it. The rest of the year, she was able to hold it together and even smile at memories of him without pain.

But on those days…

On those days, it felt like the air was knocked from her lungs and keeping it together wasn’t an option. Dean had heard the grief in her voice, even as she’d tried, miserably, to hide it. So, she had told him it was Phil’s birthday, admitted she’d taken the day off and gone to visit his grave.

Dean had listened and asked a few gentle questions. He’d even said he wished he could be there for her. Opening up to him had been cathartic in a way, and she hadn’t thought anything was amiss. Until his text today.

Maybe he realized dating a widow was more complicated than he expected. Maybe hearing her cry over another man had changed something for him.

She frowned and shook that thought away. It wasn’t fair for her to think that way.

Dean had never once suggested she should stop loving Phil, never hinted that her marriage was something to forget.

She had moved on. She truly had. So she didn’t see why being with Dean meant she should forget Phil. What she felt for both men could exist together, even if the balance wasn’t always simple.

God. She was inventing problems that probably didn’t even exist. “Borrowing trouble” as her mom used to say.

Vivian crossed the street, smiling as the delicious scent of lamb hit her before she even reached the door. The chalkboard outside declared tonight’s special was shepherd’s pie, and Vivian decided right there and then, she and Pip were having takeout for dinner tonight. The warm casserole was comfort food, and her baby girl needed some TLC after feeling so lousy the past day or two.

The familiar warmth of Pat’s Pub greeted her the moment she stepped inside. The late afternoon crowd was sparse, a few regulars nursing beers while highlights from last night’s hockey game played on the television above the bar.