My mouth fell open as my fork dropped to the plate, making a horrible clanging noise. “He paid for a whole year?”

She nodded. “A whole year. He’s crazy about you, girl, and clearly confident in your relationship—at least for a year.”

“Be right back!” I jumped off the stool and ran to my bedroom, grabbing my phone off the nightstand.

YOU PAID FOR A WHOLE YEAR?!?!?

My foot tapped impatiently for two minutes as I waited for his response. Finally, my phone beeped.

B: YOU TALKED TO YOUR MOM, HUH?

WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME?

B: WHAT? AND MISS THIS MOMENT? ARE YOU KIDDING? SURPRISING YOU IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS IN THE WORLD, KACIE. WELL, THAT AND WATCHING THE LOOK ON YOUR FACE WHEN YOU COME.

My stomach flipped as I read his last text. That man was perfection.

B: YOU STILL THERE?

Oh, shit.

SORRY, I’M HERE. JUST THINKING ABOUT… YOU. EVERYTHING YOU’VE DONE FOR ME, THE SURPRISES, THE GESTURES. I HAVE NO WORDS. HOW CAN I EVER REPAY YOU FOR ALL YOU DO FOR ME?

B: WELL, YOU COULD REPAY ME TONIGHT BY SHOWING ME THAT LOOK I WAS TALKING ABOUT.

UH, ABSO-FREAKING-LUTELY. YOU MIGHT SEE IT MORE THAN ONCE. ;)

B: HOLY SHIT! THE WINKY FACE! I’VE BEEN WORKING FOR THAT ELUSIVE LITTLE BASTARD FOR MONTHS NOW!

What?

WHAT?

B: NEVER MIND, I’LL EXPLAIN LATER. GOTTA TAKE POOR DIESEL OUT. HE’S STANDING AT THE FRONT DOOR WITH HIS LEASH IN HIS MOUTH, GLARING AT ME.

OKAY, LOVE YOU! CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU TONIGHT!

B: LOVE YOU TOO, KACIE.

I went back out to the kitchen with a smile cemented on my face. Mom was bent over, loading the dishwasher as I sat back at the island in a daze, happily eating cold eggs.

“Give me these. At least let me warm them up,” my mom hissed playfully when she stood up. She put them in the microwave and turned back to me, trying not to laugh. “What has happened to my little Kacie? She’s all grown up and madly in love.”

I felt my face flush, but I didn’t care. “I totally am, Mom.”

“I can tell. You’re glowing. Happiness looks good on you.” She walked over and kissed my cheek as she set my plate down in front of me. “I’ve never seen you like this, not even with Zach.”

My stomach rolled as I tried to force the eggs to stay put. His name used to freeze me in my tracks and annoy me, now it terrified me. The first year after he left, I prayed every day that he would realize his mistake and come back for us. The last five years, I’ve prayed every day that he would stay far away, and that the girls would belong to just me forever. The room started to spin as my breathing increased.

“Uh oh, what’s with the face?”

“What?” I tried to sound as normal as possible.

“Don’t ‘what’ me, Kacie Jensen. I know you. You clam up when I mention him, but you don’t look ill.”

My brain started arguing with itself. I didn’t want anyone to know I’d seen him. If I said it out loud, it made it seem more real. I wanted to take that secret, lock it in a box, and bury it in the middle of nowhere. Maybe then it would stay hidden forever and my life would never change. On the other hand, I desperately wanted someone to talk about it with. I hadn’t seen Alexa yet, and I knew she was going to lose her mind and try to kill him. Telling Brody was out of the question right now. Lauren knew I’d seen him, but she lived on the other side of the world for the next year. I couldn’t just grab the phone and call her every time I needed to talk about it.

“Where are the girls?” I craned my neck, looking for them in the family room and down the hallway.

“When you were in your room, they got dressed and went outside to rake leaves with Fred. Spill it.”

“I saw him,” I said in a barely audible voice.

“Him? What him? Zach?” Her eyes opened so wide I thought they might fall out of her head. “When? Where?”

I sighed. “At work. He works there. Well, kind of. He’s an EMT, so I’ve seen him a couple times.”

She didn’t speak. Her mouth hung open, her green eyes still wide as can be, her face completely frozen in shock.

“I saw him my first day. I was in a room waiting for a patient and two EMTs brought her in. He had his back to me—I didn’t recognize him from behind. When he turned around, I almost died.”

“That son of a bitch,” she growled. “Have you talked to him since you saw him? I can’t believe you didn’t tell me about this sooner, by the way.”

“I ignored him the first time I saw him. Actually, I freaked out and hid in the bathroom. Then last week, the day Brody brought the girls to the hospital to have lunch with me, Zach saw them. Us. Sitting together, having lunch.” She sat at the island across from me with her chin resting on her hand, mesmerized by every word I was saying. “Anyway, on my way back to the ER, he grabbed me, pulled me into a janitorial closet, and asked me about them. He wanted to talk to me, even offered to buy me a coffee.”

“Wow,” she said, shaking her head back and forth. “You should’ve taken him up on it.”

“I should have?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

“Yes. You should have ordered the biggest, hottest coffee on the menu then thrown it in his face.”

“Mom.” I let a slight giggle escape as I rolled my eyes. “Fun as that would have been, it’s slightly violent.”

“But fitting.” She curved her lips into an evil smirk. “What does Brody think about it?”

I covered my eyes with my hands, ignoring her question.

“You didn’t tell him yet?”

I just shook my head, still hiding from her.

“Kacie! What are you thinking?” She crossed her arms across her chest.

“I know, I know.” I sighed. “I’m going to tell him. Soon.”

“You better,” she demanded.

“Anyway, I don’t know what to do. I can’t exactly ask for a transfer or it’ll delay my graduation. I just have to do my best to avoid him until I’m done.” I swallowed a huge lump in my throat as tears stung my eyes. “I’m so scared, Mom. I don’t want him back in our lives. Can he take the girls?”

Mom got up and hurried around to my side of the island, pulling me in close. “Honey, he will never, ever take those girls. Do you hear me? He hasn’t been around for five years. No court in their right mind would grant him any sort of custody. The most he could hope for would be minimal visitation, but if I have to sell this damn inn to hire the best lawyer in Minnesota, so be it.”

Court. Custody. Visitation.

Those were things I hadn’t even thought about. The knot in my stomach was so big and heavy, I felt like it might crush me. I thought telling my mom about Zach would make me feel better, but she had brought up things I wasn’t prepared to deal with. The last thing in the world that I wanted right now was a court battle.

My head dropped down to my folded arms on the island and I sobbed.

After another mediocre practice, I was frustrated and stressed and decided I needed to take care of something that had been disrupting my focus.

I showered at the rink and drove straight to Andy’s office. My palms started to sweat as the elevator stopped at the forty-second floor and the doors opened. The Shaw Management sign stared me right in the face. I hadn’t spoken to Andy since he showed up at my condo right after Piper’s accident. Everything between us was fine that day, but it wasn’t like us to go this long without even a harassing text. I also couldn’t remember a time in my whole life when I was nervous to talk to him.