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He sat up, which made him look bigger.

"It's not over," he said.

"No," I agreed. "But the calculus changed. They came here to make the cost of staying too high. That calculation just reversed."

Harvey looked between the three of us like he wanted to be convinced but was still checking whether he was being handled.

"Think about the families in Jasper Creek," I said. "The ones who've been waiting two years for housing options that don't involve a forty-minute commute or half their take-home pay. You can keep going with it now."

A long silence.

Harvey picked up a crystal paperweight. "All right." He blew out a breath. "All right. I'm not selling."

Ford nodded. I let the relief settle quietly in my chest.

We didn't stay long after that.

The parking lot was warm for the time of day, like the early-May sun hadn't figured out yet that June and July were supposed to outdo it. The three of us gathered around the hood of my truck.

Renzo looked at me like he was going to enjoy saying entirely too much.

"So. It’s serious." he said.

"We’re not doing this," I said.

"You're already doing this," Renzo said. "You've been doing this since you moved here. I've just been waiting for you to catch up."

"She spent the night at his place. The whole night," Ford said to Renzo, as if I wasn't standing right there. "I drove past on my way to the site last week. Her Jeep was out front.”

Renzo turned back to me. "You're in love with her."

I could have deflected. There was a version of this conversation where I gave him something noncommittal and he let it go, because neither Renzo nor Ford were the type to push past a clear boundary.

I didn't feel like the noncommittal version.

"Yeah," I said.

Ford's mouth curved. Not a smirk, a genuinely warm smile.

Renzo pointed at me. "I knew it before you did."

"You absolutely did not know it before I did."

Both men sighed.

“Are we sure everything is done?” I asked. “With the director handled?”

Renzo nodded. "Millie doesn't go anywhere alone right now. But that’s normal for her anyway."

"Ruby's the same." Ford's jaw tightened slightly. "Told her it was temporary. She called it 'highly inconvenient and slightly romantic,' which means she's annoyed but she's doing it."

"I've made it clear at the daycare. Only me or Carrie Lancaster pick up James. They've got both our photos on file."

Both men nodded. “And Zoe?” Ford asked.

“I asked her to watch her back, and fucking lock her front door.”

“That’ll be a goddamned miracle,” Ford grimaced.