Will, Jules, Ambrose, and Jake all entered the diner, which was currently operating at standing-room only capacity. If they wanted to eat, they were going to either wait or take matters into their own hands.

“We’re going to have to spread out.”

“We’re related to the owner, we shouldn’t have to resort to devious tactics. Shouldn’t there be a reserved table for family kept open at all times?” Jules asked her cousin.

“Mom asked Dad that very question once.”

“What did he say?” Jake asked.

“He told her to go outside.”

“I’ve never seen outdoor seating here,” Jake frowned.

Will smiled. “She was talking to Rory on the phone at the time.”

“So, you’re saying we need to hover?” Jules sighed.

“It really works better if we spread out,” Will restated. “Wait, there’s Anna at the counter. I’ll get her to join ranks. First one to break a table, yell. Go!”

With hunger as their motivation, each teen peeled off in a different direction, toward tables with lone French fries and never-to-be-eaten pickles left on their plates. Will eased through the crowd until he reached his wife.

“Come here often?” he sidled up beside her.

Anna turned and smiled at Will brightly. “Hey, you. I was just trying to decide what I wanted to eat.”

Will instantly took interest. “Well, you should probably get something really nutritious, right? Unless you’re not feeling well. How are you feeling? Okay?”

Anna looked at him strangely. “I feel okay, I guess. Are you feeling all right?”

He nodded. “I’m good. Great, in fact.”

“Good. I was just deciding between Eggs Benedict or a turkey club. I love the brunch menu.”

“Do you really think those are good choices?”

She frowned. “Why? Is your dad out of something?”

“No, not that I know of. Shouldn’t you have something healthier, like some oatmeal or soup? Soup is healthy.”

She put her hand on his forehead. “Are you sure you’re okay? I hate oatmeal.”

“But it’s so healthy,” he reiterated.

“What’s with the health kick? You didn’t throw out my Corn Pops again, did you?” she narrowed her eyes at him.

“Last time you said you’d sell my kidney on the black market if I did it again.”

“Look, Will, it’s great for you to want to eat super healthy now and then, but you can’t force me to go along with you. It’s torture. I need a little sugar in my life. It’s like your mother and caffeine.”

“You’re not having caffeine, are you?” he looked at her, aghast.

“I was thinking about it. I worked the early shift, and I have a test later.”

“No! Hey, Dad, Dad, can we get a big glass of water over here? No, milk is probably better, right?”

“Sure,” Luke nodded at him and disappeared back into the kitchen. Anna turned and glared at him.

“What is up with you? Milk and soup? I am capable of chewing my food.”

“Here you go,” Luke slid a glass of milk in front of them. “What else can I get you?”

“You know, I think I’ll just have a burger and fries, with a soda,” Anna ordered.

“No, she’ll have the chef salad,” Will corrected.

“I don’t like chef salad,” she stared at him in bewilderment.

“But it’s healthy, right Dad?”

“What is wrong with you two?” Luke demanded.

“Nothing, I just think that it’s important for Anna to eat healthy. I love her and I want what’s best for her,” Will insisted.

Luke looked to Anna. “Burger and fries. To go, please?”

Luke nodded and walked away, leaving Will to sigh. “I guess one burger isn’t going to destroy your immune system. I was thinking of stopping by the store on the way home. Are you low on vitamins?”

“Vitamins?” she blinked.

“You are taking vitamins, aren’t you?”

“The last vitamin I took was shaped like Barney Rubble.”

“I’ll get you some, then.”

“Will, what is your problem? Have you been taking something?”

“No,” he put his arm around her waist. “I just want you to feel good. Is that so wrong?”

“No, Will, it’s sweet. Alarming and off-putting, but sweet.”

“Hey, Will, we got one!”

He half-turned to see Ambrose pushing Kirk out of a seat. “We’ve got a table, are you sure you can’t stay?”

“No, I need to go over some notes before my class. It’s too crazy here. I’ll just see you at home later tonight.”

“Okay. Then I’ll make dinner, and we can have a quiet evening in.”

She paused and kissed him lightly on the cheek. “Fine. Just no oatmeal, okay?”

He kissed her back and went to join the rest of his party at the table.

XXXX

Gwen took the remote and flipped the station over Jess’ head. She wasn’t so concerned with what she was watching, as much as she wondered when he was going to find a good stopping point.

“Do you mind?” he asked.

She looked down at him. “What?”

“I’m reading to the baby.”

“I realize that.”

“You’re watching Real Housewives of Orange County.”

“So?”

“So, everything I’m doing to increase this child’s cognitive growth is being cancelled out by this crap.”

“I’m sorry—I just don’t like Hemingway. If you’re going to subject me to daily readings, I need a distraction.”

“Watch PBS or something, at least.”

“Jess,” she groaned. “It’s bad enough that I have to lie down for twenty hours a day, but you can’t take all my vices away.”

“That woman is fifty years old and is doing unspeakable things to that chair in a mini-skirt.”

“She’s not fifty. I’m pretty sure.”

“You can not tell me that these twisted trophy wives are more interesting than Hemingway.”

“You must be used to girls not liking Hemingway by now, Jess,” she patted his cheek. “Why don’t we compromise?”

He sighed. “I’m listening.”

“I’ll turn off the television if you promise not to read anymore Hemingway to the baby until after it’s born.”

“What do you want me to read?”

“I don’t know… Dr. Seuss?”

He shot her a look. “Fine. But I draw the line at Dick and Jane.”

She smiled. “Deal. So, did you do this with Ambrose and Jules?”

“I tried with Ambrose.”

“What about Jules?”

“I had to revert to books on tape with headphones at night while Erin slept.”

“Wow. That’s pathetic,” she laughed at him.

“I wouldn’t laugh if I weren’t sure the same thing hadn’t been done to me,” he smirked back.

“If you’re doing it while I’m asleep, then why are you subjecting me to it in the waking hours?”

“Because it’s my life goal to impart good literature on everyone I love,” he kissed her.

“I love you, too,” she leaned her head back. “But I am going to go crazy if I can’t go back to work soon.”

He rubbed her stomach. “I know it’s hard on you, staying in bed. That’s why I thought coming here for a little while would mix things up. At least there’s cable in the bedroom and room service here.”

“Yeah, sitting on the couch and having you bring me food is fun and all, but you never leave a mint on my pillow,” she joked.

“I’m trying.”

“I know. I appreciate it. It’s not forever, right?”

“Right. Pretty soon you’ll have a newborn, and you’ll be wishing for bed rest,” he assured her.

“You know, you could learn to sugarcoat some things, just a little,” she looked at him with a bit of trepidation.

“It’s not really that bad. You get to the point that you’re so sleep deprived, you don’t have any reserves to remember any of it. By the time you do get sleep, you’re just so happy to rest, it doesn’t matter.”

“Oh, God, that sounds horrible,” she cringed.

He shrugged. “Not really. There are good things, too.”

“Like what?” she asked, still in need of specifics.

“Like the way the baby curls its whole hand around one of your fingers. The first time they quiet down as soon as they see you. The first smile.”

Her face softened. “That sounds pretty good.”

“It really isn’t bad.”

“Thanks.”

“It’s what I’m here for,” he said and reached into his bag off the side of the bed. He pulled up a new book. “Okay, so how do you feel about Faulkner?”

XXXX

Rory wrote something down and thanked the person on the other end of the call. She put the phone down and rested her forehead against the legal pad in front of her.

Lorelai looked at her weary daughter. “So, the funeral home set up the in lieu of flowers donation thing, a messenger is going to pick up the clothes from Elizabeth’s maid later this afternoon, and Sookie is currently making enough finger foods to feed Napoleon’s armies.”

“Good,” Rory said without raising her head.

“How are you holding up?”

Rory lifted her head and sighed. “I’m fine. It’s sad, losing Tom, but we kind of knew it was coming. He just took a sudden turn for the worse, and then it was over. He wasn’t really conscious for them to have any final goodbyes, but he and Tristan had been doing that a little anyhow, just in case. After everything they’d been through, I don’t think Tristan wanted to leave anything unsaid, you know?”

Lorelai nodded. “How is Elizabeth?”

“She’s a wreck right now. Tristan doesn’t want her to have to do anything for a while. That’s one of the reasons he wanted to move back up north right away.”

Lorelai had to smile. “I know it’s a huge point of contention with you two, but I am so happy you’re going to be nearby again. It’s not Hartford, but it will be nice to be able to stop at Harvey’s on Route 19 again. That man makes the cheesiest chili fries I’ve ever encountered.”

“I still can’t figure out how you found that place,” Rory shook her head.

“I told you, I got lost when I pulled off the highway to get gas. I went left instead of right, and my arteries have never been the same since.”

“Luke got you a GPS after that, didn’t he?”

She smiled. “How do you think I found Harvey’s again?”

“You’re hopeless.”

“So, are you letting Tristan off the hook?”

“Of course. I mean, he didn’t hide a second wife from me. He just didn’t part with our house, where my kids grew up. How can I be mad at that?”

“You were.”

“It was just stress. Maybe a little bit of paranoia.”

“A little?”

“Hey, I have a daughter in college that’s dating, a son who has suddenly become a popular basketball player and is buying condoms, a husband that uprooted us to follow his dream career, and too much time on my hands.”

“And now a dead father-in-law.”

“Yeah. Anyhow, I know things won’t get back to normal right away—Tristan wants us to visit Elizabeth a lot for a while and make sure she’s doing all right, and we’re still not sure what to do about Jake’s school situation, but I did send a query email to my old office, and they said that as soon as I was ready to come back, my old job was mine.”

“Well, you are the best journalist that’s ever worked for them,” Lorelai beamed.

“You might be a little biased.”

She shrugged. “It’s better than being paranoid.”

“Says the woman that was convinced Michel was trying to poison her!”

“He kept trying to make me drink carrot juice. What is carrot juice, anyway? You can’t squeeze a carrot and obtain juice. It’s not like an orange or a coconut.”

Rory frowned. “You don’t squeeze coconuts.”

“You’re missing the point.”

“There’s a point?”

Lorelai smiled. “It’s really nice to have you around.”

Rory smiled back. “Thanks. Do you want to call the minister, or should I?”

“Hand me the phone. It’s been a long time since I’ve gotten to use my biblical humor.”

XXXX

“So, Dad says you got married,” Ambrose said after he bit into a fry.

Will looked around for spying ears. “Will you shut up?”

Ambrose frowned. “What? Didn’t you?”

“It’s not common knowledge yet.”

“Is that why you’re acting so weird?” Jules asked from across the table.

“I’m not acting weird,” Will defended.

Jake snorted. “Yeah, right. You’ve been on edge all day.”

“I have a lot on my mind. I have a lot of grown-up responsibilities now.”

“I don’t plan on getting any of those,” Ambrose said with a level of confidence.

Will rolled his eyes. “So, what, you plan on never going to college or getting a job? Getting married and having kids?”

“You don’t have any kids,” Jules reminded.

“Well, not yet,” Will agreed.

“Not yet?” Jake raised an eyebrow. “Does that mean soon?”

Will frowned. “No. Not soon. I mean, I guess you never really know, but not soon. I didn’t say anything about having kids soon.”

“Is everything okay over here?” Luke asked as he swung past the table, filling up coffee cups. All four of his younger relatives looked up. Reconsidering, he shook his head. “Never mind. I don’t want to know.” With that, he walked away, leaving them free to continue not discussing Will’s specific issues.

“So, being married is stressing you out?” Jake pushed.

Will glared at his nephew. “What did I say about that?”

“I don’t understand why you guys haven’t told everyone. It’s not like it’s a huge surprise or anything. Everyone’s been hoping it would happen since forever,” Jules said matter-of-factly.

“Yes, but all those people also wanted to throw us a huge party to celebrate.”

“You think they won’t anyhow? Granted, after you keep it from them all this time, they might spend a little less on your gift, but,” Ambrose shrugged.

“Look, I’ve been asked to baby-sit you three, not be subjected to crossfire about my personal life. So, let’s get down to business. Any of you need any advice or situations you don’t want to bring to the parents?”

Ambrose gave a chortle. “Please. Like we’re going to take life advice from you right now.”

“Why not? You guys have always come to me about stuff.”

“No offense, man, but we’re old enough to deal with our own problems. And you seem kind of messed up right now,” Jake informed his uncle.

“I’m not messed up!” Will pounded his fists on the table just as Luke had been approaching. Luke took a sudden turn for the door, just as Lia Melville opened it and came in. Luke froze like a deer in headlights, spun on his heel, and went back into the kitchen. Lia opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but no words came out. She instead walked over to the table filled with her contemporaries.

“Hey, guys. What’s with Luke?”

“He doesn’t want to know what’s going on,” Jules filled her in.

“What’s going on?” Lia asked.

“You don’t know?” Ambrose asked, shooting a look at Will, who then sliced his finger across his throat.

Lia looked at Will. “What happened?”

Will ran his hand through his hair. “Oh, geez. Anna is going to kill me.”

“Is she okay?”

“She’s fine. Forget Ambrose. He’s just upset about the fact that I’m going to have to kill him later.”

Lia sat down as Jules slid over and offered her half her seat. “Well, can you at least tell me why she’s not answering her phone?”

“Well, she was at work, now she’s at home studying. I think she’s really tired. She has a test later today. What’s up?”

She just shook her head. “Nothing. I just can’t get a hold of anyone. Davey was babbling about Chinese food and hung up on me before I could get a word in edgewise, Billy is off with his girlfriend, and Mom was yelling over speaker phone about bacon-wrapped asparagus tips.”

“Asparagus tips?” Jake asked.

“She’s doing finger food for the wake,” she met his eyes and gave him a sad smile. “How are you doing?”

Jake shrugged. “I’m okay. Dad’s flipping out. Mom and Grandma are making all the arrangements. Ella insists on bringing her new boyfriend, which does provide a nice level of distraction, especially for Dad. It’s just weird. Mom and Dad are insisting on moving back to New York right away, but they won’t discuss my school situation.”

“You’re not coming back to school in New York?” Jules frowned.

Jake shrugged. “I’m still enrolled in Raleigh.”

“Man, I was hoping you were coming back, especially with Ambrose leaving for early admission!”

Jake shook his head. “Sorry.”

Ambrose patted his sister’s back. “Don’t worry, he’s coming back.”

Jake protested. “It’s open for discussion. Nothing has been decided.”

“It’s open for discussion until your mom finds out you only want to stay so you can have sex with the cheerleader.”

Jules hit Jake in the arm. “You pig!”

“Hey, I haven’t done anything yet.”

“I feel like I should say something about you all being too young to be having sex,” Will said, not to any specific teen.

“Too late,” Ambrose assured him.

“Gah!” Will cringed.

“I’ve never had sex,” Jules piped up.

“Me either,” Lia joined in.

“I guess we all know I’ve never had sex,” Jake sulked.

“Okay, enough sex talk, whether you’re getting any or not. We’re definitely crossing into the too much information area here,” Will shuddered. “I get why I got stuck with the lot of you today.”

“And on that note, can you please just ask Anna to call me when she gets a chance?” Lia stood up and looked at Will.

He nodded. “Yeah, yeah, sure,” he shooed her off.

Lia left the table and headed over to the counter. “Hey, Luke, can I get a coffee to go?”

Luke looked up, as if surprised someone was asking him for food or drink. “Oh, you want some coffee?”

She narrowed her eyes. “Are you okay?”

He cleared his throat. “Yeah, yes. Yes, I am fine. Are you okay?”

She paused. “Did Aunt Lorelai talk to you?”

He looked in the air, as if the words he wanted to speak were dangling mid-air. “She often talks to me, I don’t catch all of it. Don’t tell her that, or she’ll probably just increase the volume of babbling,” he shifted uncomfortably.

“Ooooo-Kay,” she drawled. “So, coffee?”

“Coffee. To go. Right.”

He quickly filled her a cup and handed it over. “On the house. Have a nice, um, a good day.”

“Right. You too,” she shook her head as she left the diner, wondering how she suddenly felt like the normal one in the bunch.

XXXX

Anna opened up the front door to see her older brother. “What do you want?”

“Is that any way to greet your brother?”

“Fine. Hello dear brother. What do you want?”

“Can I come in?”

“I’m studying.”

“So?”

“So, I’m busy. And I repeat for what I hope will be the last time, what do you want?”

“Geez, moody much?” he pushed his way past her and perched himself on the couch.

“Do come in,” she shut the door and turned to face him.

“I just thought it’d been too long since you and I had a nice chat.”

She sat in the chair, with her notes already spread around her. “I’d say never constitutes as a long time. But is now really the best time to start?”

“Anna, I’m hurt. I don’t think of you as just a sister.”

“Davey, what does that even mean?”

“It means I also think of you as a friend. We grew up together.”

“We are brother and sister,” she pointed out.

“I know, but you married my best friend. That has to count for something.”

“Oh God. You told someone, didn’t you?”

“No! I can keep secrets. You can trust me. You can tell me. Anything,” he probed.

She sighed with relief. “Good. You scared me.”

“I mean it, anything you ever want to tell me, to confide in me, I want you to feel free to do so.”

She smiled tightly. “Great. I appreciate that.”

He leaned forward. “So. Is there anything you want to tell me now?”

She leaned back and looked at him meaningfully. “Actually, there is.”

His face lit up. “Okay. Okay, I’m ready. Tell me.”

She reached out and put her hand on his knee. “I have a lot of studying to do and if I fail it because of you, I will hurt you. Please get out.”

His face fell. “Anna, that’s not what I meant.”

“Well, it’s all I have to say. Bye, now!”

He stood up. “Fine. I’ll remember this,” he pointed at her.

“Dave, if you need to play, go find Will. He’s not busy today. I’m begging you. I have two hours, and I have to cram all this crap into my head in that precious little time.”

Davey leaned down and hugged her tightly and then left without another word.

“And apparently all the boys have gone crazy today,” she shook her head and picked up her notes.

XXXX

Ella excused herself to the bathroom, raced down her grandmother’s hall, and pulled out her phone the moment she locked the door.

“Please be by your phone,” she uttered aloud as her fingers flew over the keys.

Almost instantly, she got a reply from her roommate.

He what?!?

Ella retyped the exact same text.

Jasper agreed to come to my gma’s annual fundraiser for the kids’ hospital, next summer!

She waited a moment and got a ping noise back.

Some1 is sure of himself.

Ella nodded and typed again.

I like him, but what do I do?

Yet another ping came back quickly. Tell him you luv him, lol.

Ella frowned and texted back. Not funny. At all.

Another ping. Just ignore. It’s probably just politeness.

Ella considered this and texted back her thanks. She gave herself a cursory look in the mirror and headed back out into the living room. She walked over to Jasper, who was refilling his soda at the bar. “Hey,” she smiled hesitantly and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. She glanced over to see her mother and father engrossed in speaking to Jake. Her grandmother was still at the front door, trying to instruct delivery men.

He smiled back. “How are you doing?”

She slid under his arm. “I’m okay. It was really sweet of you to come with me. Mom offered to pick me up a billion times.”

He shook his head. “I’m happy to be here for you. In my family, this is what you do. You show up, you bring food. By the way, my mother will probably be sending something for the funeral. Probably massive amounts of sweets.”

Ella smiled. “That’s nice of her.”

“She can’t wait to meet you.”

Ella paled. “Oh. Um, didn’t I actually already meet her? When everyone came to campus and we had that unfortunately horrific and uncomfortable weekend together, remember?”

He rubbed her back. “Yes, but we’ve moved past that, and my mother wasn’t meeting my girlfriend then. She was meeting the girl that I had until recently been snogging.”

She glared at him. “Thank you, for that.”

“Seriously, my mom isn’t that scary. Well, okay, she’s plenty scary, but she’ll love you.”

“How comforting.”

“Els, come on. Take it from the guy that has suddenly flung himself into the full brunt of family time with his brand-new girlfriend. To be honest with you, I was a little freaked out. And your dad doesn’t like to make it any easier. But, it’s not so bad.”

She looked up at him. “Really?”

“Yeah. I mean, I really like you. And if you really like someone, then it’s worth all the other stuff.”

She blinked. “I’ll be right back.”

Ella rushed back to the bathroom, phone in hand.

XXXX

Will stirred the dinner he’d prepared on the stove as he heard Anna open and close the front door. He put down the spoon and rushed into the front room to take her book bag.

“Here, let me take that.”

She smiled and kissed him. “Thanks. Something smells amazing.”

“Stir fry.”

“Sounds delicious.”

“And healthy,” he added.

She shook her head and laughed at him. “Whatever you say, honey.”

“How was your test?”

She groaned. “It kicked my butt. But I kicked back a little. Hopefully I did better than just barely passing.”

“I’m sure you did great.”

“And that is why I keep you around,” she started to reach for plates and he moved to stand in her way.

“What are you doing?” he demanded.

“Setting the table, why?”

“Just sit down. Relax. I’ll do all of this.”

She frowned. “But you cooked, so I just thought,” she began.

He shook his head. “You worked and had a test. I hung out with my cousins and Dave. You deserve to relax.”

She acquiesced. “Okay. Thanks, Will.”

He nodded and grabbed plates. “Good. Sit down. Put your feet up. Do you want something to drink? Water, perhaps?”

“Sure,” she said slowly. “So, you saw Dave today?”

“I did.”

“Was he weird with you, too?”

Will froze. “You saw Dave today?”

Anna leaned back and closed her eyes, happy to sit and do nothing for once that day. “Yeah, he came over here while I was trying to study.”

Will popped into the front room. “What did he say?”

She shrugged. “He was rambling about how we were friends and he could keep a secret. He nearly gave me a panic attack, that he’d let out our secret.”

Will gulped. “Our secret?”

Anna opened her eyes and stared at him. “That we’re married,” she said slowly. “Did you forget?”

He let out a breath. “No. I remembered. Sorry. So, that’s all?”

“He kept pestering me to tell him a secret, like I had a stockpile of them to hand out. I finally threatened bodily harm if he didn’t leave and let me study.”

“Weird,” Will cleared his throat. “Do you?”

Anna frowned. “Do I what?”

“Have any secrets? I mean, other than our being married.”

Anna sat up and folded her hands in her lap. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, we are married. And married people shouldn’t have secrets, right?”

She looked down. “Right. You’re right.”

He moved to sit on the floor in front of her. “You have a secret?”

“I do. And I shouldn’t have kept it from you for so long,” she fluttered her eyelashes and finally looked down at him.

Will took in a deep breath and prepared himself. He’d been thinking all day as to what his reaction should be, but until she actually said the words, he wasn’t sure what he might say or do. “It’s okay. Whatever it is, you can tell me. I love you.”

She bit her lip. “I don’t know quite how to say this.”

He grabbed her hand and waited.

“Will, I,” she hesitated. “I really don’t want to hang out with our families this weekend.”

He stared at her blankly for a second, then cocked his head. “What?”

She laughed. “Oh, man, if you could see your face! Did you really think I had some deep, dark secret I’d been hiding from you for years?” she continued to laugh and leaned forward to kiss his forehead before standing up and walking into the kitchen. “Oh, man, I needed that laugh. Okay, let’s eat!”

XXXX

Pax dropped his bag at the foot of Rosa’s bed and stretched out next to her. She closed the book she’d been reading and gave him a quick kiss.

“You’re late.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, but you’re going to love the reason why.”

Rosa propped herself up on her elbow. “Do tell.”

“I was consoling one Jasper Wellington.”

Rosa’s mouth dropped open. “Consoling?”

“Apparently things didn’t go so well today with Ella’s family.”

She shook her head. “Ella texted me and told me that he was coming on a little strong, but after two or three text sessions, she seemed calmer.”

Pax looked at his girlfriend. “Wait, what did you tell her?”

“Well, she was freaking out that he was agreeing to plans way far in the future and the fact that Aunt Katherine wanted to meet her. I finally had to explain to her that I’d talked him into sucking it up and doing whatever he thought was best to be supportive of her right now.”

He covered his face with his palm. “You didn’t!”

“What? In times of stress, you’re supposed to suck it up and support your significant other.”

“Yeah, well, that was incredibly bad advice. And you accuse us guys of stepping in it.”

Rosa balked. “Excuse me? You can’t be serious!”

“Rose, they just started dating. And you of all people should know that Jasper takes things over the top, which isn’t a good combination with Ella, who is freakishly skittish when it comes to commitment.”

She sniffed at the air a bit. “Okay, so it’s not the best combination, but he came to me and begged me to help him. What could he have possibly done?”

Pax cringed. “He told her that he loved her.”

“No!” Rosa buried her face in her pillow. She peeked out to see Pax’s I-told-you-so face looked back at her. “Is he a complete idiot?”

“He said he was just trying to make her feel better, because she got all teary when the family was sitting around, telling stories about her grandfather, and she excused herself out onto the patio. He got a look from her dad, but he followed her anyway to make sure she was okay. He said he was holding her and trying to soothe her, but she just kept crying, and it just popped out.”

“Does he really love her?”

“Does it matter? She completely freaked out on him!”

“Well, of course it matters!”

“How could he even know if he loves her? They’ve been dating for a second.”

She smiled at Pax. “You told me on our first date.”

He stroked her cheek. “That’s different. We’ve known each other forever. We weren’t exactly starting out at square one. Plus, I’ve always loved you. It wasn’t a surprise. And if you’d freaked out, I could have just spun it as a platonic, I’ve-known-you-forever kind of love thing.”

“Good to know you had a back-up plan.”

“Always thinking,” he tapped his forehead.

“So, what exactly did Ella do?”

“Well, she froze, then she ran.”

“She ran?”

“She flew back into the house, mumbled something about not wanting to go back to school, and that it was best if Jasper went ahead back to campus, then disappeared upstairs.”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah, it gets better. Her dad walked him out to his car.”

“Oh sweet Jesus,” she cringed. “Was there bodily damage?”

“It sounds like he ended up taking pity on Jasper. He said something about her taking after her mother and said it was nice knowing him, but if he was smart, he could still fix this.”

“And he gave no ideas how to go about doing that?”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“So, it’s up to us?”

“No, no, no, Lucy. We’ve meddled enough, don’t you think?”

Rosa protested. “But she’s my best friend. And he’s yours. They’re crazy about each other. We have to do something.”

“Why can’t we just let them work it out on their own?”

“Because they’re morons when it comes to love.”

“And we’ve got it all figured out?” he raised an eyebrow.

“Well, we are in love,” she smiled coyly.

He leaned in and kissed her. “That we are. Fine. But we can’t really do anything until tomorrow, right?”

She smiled back and pulled him closer. “And that’s why I love you.”