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Tracy leaned her head out the window. “Would you like us to head on over to the reception and you can meet us there?”

Leah’s gaze moved to Shaun. He looked as though he had more to say. She looked back at Tracy and Paul. “Thanks. I’ll see you soon.”

“We’ll save a seat...or two.” And then they drove away.

The silence dragged on. Someone needed to speak, so she said, “Are we alone now? Or do you have more people stashed in the garage?”

He let out a warm laugh that broke the ice. “No one else is in the garage.”

“It’s not the best place to hang out. It’s not even heated.”

He let out another chuckle. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Speaking of which, why don’t we go inside?”

He shook his head. “Not yet.”

She sent him a puzzled look. “But aren’t you here for Mochi?”

“I am.” He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “But I’m also here for another reason.”

“You are?” She willed him to say that he was there for her.

He nodded. “I’m so sorry about what happened with Mandi. I never imagined she would follow me here. And you were right. She had the tracking turned on my phone.”

Leah felt sorry for him. She couldn’t imagine having an ex that stalked her. Just the thought sent a shiver down her spine.

“And I’m sorry,” he said, “for not telling you about her before then. It’s just that she’s not easy to talk about. For the most part, I try to pretend I never met her. But sometimes she makes that impossible. She’ll show up at my work or my house. I never know when to expect her.”

“I can’t imagine living like that.”

“Trust me. It hasn’t been easy. And then there were the times I tried dating, and she’d run into us. Of course, she’d introduce herself as my wife. I tried to explain to my date, but as you can imagine it was too late by then. The date was over.”

“I’m sorry you have to deal with her. I can’t imagine how difficult that must be.”

He rubbed his neck. “I put up with a lot from her, but I’m over it. I told her that. I hope she believes me this time.”

“And I wanted to apologize for throwing you out,” she said. “I let things that had happened to me in the past cloud my judgement. I shouldn’t have done that. It wasn’t fair to you.”

His gaze searched hers. “Does that mean you aren’t mad at me any longer?”

“No.” Worried that wasn’t the correct answer, she rushed on to say, “I mean yes.” She sighed. “What I’m trying to say is that I’m no longer mad at you.”

He smiled. “I’m glad you cleared that up.”

“You should have asked a yes or no question.”

His smile filled her with warmth that started in her chest and ended up in her smiling back at him. He was so handsome when he smiled at her. She tried to capture this moment—the happiness on his face—in her mind. She wanted to remember it after he was gone.

She was grateful they were having this moment because she really regretted the way they had left things. Now they could end things on a good note.

“Do you want to go inside?” She rubbed her hands together. “It’s a lot warmer in there.” And the wind was really cold. It felt as though it had dropped below freezing.

“Why don’t we go in the garage?”

She sent him a puzzled look. “Why would we go in there? There’s no heat.”

“Just go with it.” He moved toward the door to the garage. With his hand on the handle, he turned back to her. “Are you coming?”