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“Fuck him. Seriously. Fuck him!”

“Can we start over? Is that even an option? I wish it was!”

I grinned, knowing what I wanted for the first time in ages.

“Babes, we have been besties for so long. Can you fix my life? Can you manage my chaos while my tits are leaking and I’ve not been sleeping? Can you handle baby shit overtaking my house?”

She squeezed my hand back—tight as ever. “If that is what you want, Chloe, I would welcome it.”

Relief washed over me and tears came. I dabbed with my napkin. I may not have had a single thing together, but knowing I had her back was so comforting on its own.

“I can’t give you the carriage house,” I said, “but I can promise you a guest room if your mom’s basement isn’t working and you’re interested in it. I'm still in Florida for a few more weeks if you want to travel with me.”

“Out of this cold-ass place to warm sun? Yes please,” Meg laughed. “But won’t everyone hate me now?”

I shook my head. “I will smooth it over. When I get back from New York, I’ll arrange⁠—”

“Bring me with you,” Meg said. “You don’t even have to pay me⁠—”

“Meg, I will pay you. I cannot have a woman on staff I’m not fucking paying. I know you’re my friend, yes, but you’re coming back on. And this will not be an easy thing.”

“I am ready,” Meg said. “So fucking ready! You’re the boss I don’t deserve. But I have one condition.”

“What?”

“You need to tell the cowboy and your family,” Meg said.

“Fine,” I said. “I can. I will.”

And with that, I committed to the act. Things were about to get very messy.

37. NEEDED

COLE

“And yes, you get your own bathroom,” I sighed, rolling my eyes as I scanned the room with my cell phone, unveiling a view of the guest bathroom in the 2-bed-2-bath I found only ten minutes from Ravenswood.

Piper’s face lit up the screen. It was late in Germany, but she insisted I include her. Her host family watched on over her shoulder, captivated by my American apartment hunt. What sometimes felt like the most depressing experience of my life felt like a new start for Piper. And to her host family, it was sheer entertainment—a real-life House Hunters: International they partook in.

“Does it have a bathtub? I don’t see a bathtub,” Piper sighed.

“Piper, it has a shower. You won’t find a unit with two full bathrooms in this price range.”

“Do you have a bathtub, though?”

“Yes,” I said. “Look, if you want the primary bedroom with the ensuite, I don’t even care. I just need to know if any of this seems doable for you?”

“It is all very new,” Florian, Piper’s house father, said.

“It is,” I said. “It was built three years ago.”

I found things built using a modular process for 4-story buildings was woefully below my definition of quality control, but had asked to see the fire detection and sprinkler system test records before even contemplating moving in. Years of dealing with shady landlords and selling things for them left me running a bit weary.

“And it’s close to the barn?”

“It is. And it has two spaces, so when you finally get your license, you’ll have a place to park the car you can buy working at the barn.”

“Your own car?” Her host sister gasped.