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Chloe’s face softens. “Blaire, you’re sitting across from their father.”

“I know,” I reply.

“And you’re trying to keep that part of your life completely separate from him,” she says.

“They’ve been separate for years.”

“Until now,” Chloe says.

I turn away from the window because I don’t want to answer that.

After a moment, Chloe asks, “What else happened?”

I hesitate. “Ross asked me to go to the Cotswolds with him this weekend.”

Her eyebrows lift.

“You loved the Cotswolds,” Chloe says.

“I haven’t been back in years.”

“Are you going?” she asks.

I glance at the unanswered message still sitting on my phone.

“He’s probably going to keep asking,” I say.

“That isn’t what I asked,” Chloe replies.

“Do you want to go?”

I look back at her.

She waits.

I exhale. “Yes. I do.”

There’s no teasing in Chloe’s expression now.

“Then go,” she says.

I frown slightly. “That’s your advice?”

“My advice is to stop pretending you don’t want something just because wanting it makes your life more complicated,” Chloe says. “Go if you want to go. Spend the weekend with him. See who he is now.”

“And then what?” I ask.

“That depends on what you decide,” she replies.

I shake my head. “There’s nothing after this. That’s the part I’m trying to keep clear.”

Chloe looks at me for a long moment before speaking.

“Is that because you truly don’t want anything after this,” she asks, “or because you’re afraid of what comes with it?”

I don’t answer immediately.

“I’m not doing this as revenge,” I say.