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Gabe moved the breakfast box into one hand and offered the other. “Scott.”

“Gabe.” Scott shook his hand, his attention moving briefly from Gabe to Mara and then to the cabin behind her. There was no hostility in either man. Scott simply looked as though he were trying to take in several pieces of information at once.

When he released Gabe’s hand, Scott looked back at Mara. “I should have called before I came. I know that.”

“Yes, you should have.” She could hear the strain in her own voice and made no attempt to hide it. “I would have liked some warning.”

“I know.” Scott gave a small, rueful nod and looked down for a moment. “I was afraid if I called, you’d tell me not to come.”

Mara let out a slow breath. That was so like Scott. He had always preferred to decide first and ask afterward.

Before she could answer, she became aware of Gabe watching her rather than Scott. The breakfast box was still in his hand, and the sight of it pulled her attention toward him.

“You came back,” she said.

“I said I would,” Gabe said quietly.

The certainty in it hurt.

He held out the box and the thermos. “I brought breakfast. There are cinnamon bears, a couple of savory pastries, some fruit, and coffee.”

Mara took them from him, and their fingers brushed as the weight passed between them. Last night flashed through her mind with embarrassing clarity, followed by the quieter memory of waking alone.

Scott could not know what that touch meant, but Mara did.

“I’ll let you two talk,” Gabe said.

Her head came up immediately. “Gabe.”

He stopped, and for a moment Mara had no idea what she wanted him to do. Stay while she spoke to the man she had shared eight years with? Give her an excuse not to have the conversation at all? Neither was fair.

“I’m heading back into town,” Gabe told her. “You know where I am.”

She nodded and held the breakfast box a little closer. “I’ll call you.”

Gabe held her gaze for another second. His expression remained calm, but she knew him well enough now to recognize that leaving cost him a lot. “Okay.”

He turned and walked back toward his truck. Mara watched until the door closed behind him and the engine started. Gabe lifted one hand before pulling away, and she remained where she was until the truck disappeared beyond the lodge.

Only then did Scott speak. “He seems like a good guy.”

There was no sarcasm in his voice, which made the whole thing harder. Mara looked down at the box in her hands before answering. “He is.”

Scott was quiet. When she finally turned back to him, the expression on his face was painfully familiar. She had seen it after arguments, after bad days at work, after the losses and disappointments they had weathered together.

“I miss you, Mara.”

The words hung between them.

This was not an enemy she needed to defend herself against. This was eight years of her life standing in front of her and asking to be heard.

Mara turned toward the trees beyond the cabins. In the first few days after the breakup, she had wanted Scott to miss her. She had wanted him to sit in the silence she had left behind and understand that losing her meant more than having an empty side of the bed.

Hearing him say it now did not bring the satisfaction she had once imagined.

“How long are you here for?” she asked.

“I don’t know yet.” Scott shifted his weight, his hand still buried in his pocket. “I packed enough for a couple of days. I wasn’t sure whether you’d even talk to me.”