Claire went to the kitchen and, after feeding Charlie, sat at the little table and slid the vase with the roses toward her. A couple of the roses were already dead.

Soon, they would all be dead.

But she would keep them, she decided.

She would keep them because they represented so much planning and thought that Grayson had gone through for her. A rose a day for two weeks giving her a dozen roses.

They represented the love that he had shown for her this summer.

She could only hope and pray that they hadn’t gone from high school sweethearts to a summer romance.

She wiped at the tears at her eyes before they could fall from her lashes and pushed the roses back to the center of the table.

She had to trust that whatever was supposed to happen would. She got up and headed upstairs, Charlie scampering at her heels.

Time only moved forward.

Claire woke at her usual time. She’d left the curtains open in her bedroom so the soft morning sunlight was streaming across her face.

She stretched. Everything was as it should be. Danielle had come home late, but was tucked safely in her bed. Claire knew because she’d waited up. Danielle thought she’d gotten lost in the novel she was reading on her iPad, but in truth as soon as Danielle stuck her head in the door to say goodnight, Claire had been out.

But as her brain came more awake, she knew that everything wasn’t as it should be. Grayson had left last night. And although they had ended their early evening with kisses and promises to stay in touch, it was going to be different. They’d seen each other every single day for the last few weeks. Now they would merely have phone calls and perhaps at most, monthly visits.

Claire couldn’t help comparing this separation with the one twenty years ago. They’d been kids then. She wasn’t even out of high school. They’d had sex their last night together before he shipped out. Sex for the first time.

This time they hadn’t had sex, but they had been attached at the hip.

They’d been more physically intimate last time and more emotionally intimate this time.

Claire climbed out of bed and got into the shower. She did her best thinking in the shower, but not today. Today she was unable to sort through the emotional tangles in her head.

Today was the first day of trying to get her life back to normal.

She’d known going in that Grayson would be leaving. Knowing that had made their time together bittersweet. She wasn’t the teenager anymore. The one who believed that anything was possible.

She knew that them having careers on opposite sides of the country wasn’t going to work out. Relationships couldn’t work that way. Sure, it would be exciting for a little while to visit and see each other. She’d go to Pittsburgh and see some snow.

But if anyone knew how hard it was to stay connected in a long-distance relationship, it was Claire. She’d lived with Noah, her ex-husband, but he’d been away from home more than he’d been there. Even if she’d wanted to have something deeper with him, it would’ve been next to impossible with that physical distance.

Time moves in only direction. Focus on the future.

She got dressed for a meeting with her board of directors. Woke Danielle to say good-bye before she left home. Stopped on her way to work for a latte at Starbuck’s.

Kept her attention on the moment.

Halfway through her meeting, her phone buzzed with a text from Grayson.

I miss you. I hope your meeting is going well.

How much longer would he know her schedule?

It wouldn’t be long. He’d get caught up in his own world. The excitement of his new job.

She shook off the feelings of negativity.

Day by day.

That’s how she’d get through it

It’s how she’d gotten through it last time he’d left and it was how she’d gotten through her marriage with Noah. Then her divorce.

One day at the time.

She picked up Danielle and they went to the York and Orleans for lunch.

“What’s wrong, Mom?” Danielle asked, minutes after they had sat at their table.

“Nothing,” she said.

“It’s okay to miss Grayson,” she said. “I miss him, too.”

Claire forced a smile on her lips. “We’ll see him soon,” she said.

“Of course, we will,” Danielle agreed.

Claire asked Danielle about her upcoming orientation for Fall classes and listening allowed her to sit quietly and focus on her daughter.

That night Danielle spent the night at the university for orientation, so Claire had the house to herself for the first time in a long time.

The timing probably wasn’t the best. It allowed Claire time alone to think. A mixed blessing.

She sat on the sofa with Charlie nestled close to her and looked through the photo album from twenty years ago. She’d been a teenager when she’d put it together, but now the same feelings were back. The same feelings she’d felt the last time Grayson left.

She closed the photo album and opened the photos on her phone. Smiled at the pictures of the two them interspersed with pictures of the three of them. Claire and Grayson. And Danielle.

It was the same. Yet different.

Her phone rang and Grayson’s picture appeared on her screen, jarring her out of her thoughts.

“Hey, where are you?” she asked.

“Albuquerque, New Mexico.”

“Really? Wow. I thought you might want to stop and see the Grand Canyon.”

“No. I couldn’t do that. I’ll wait until I’m with you.”

“Grayson…” she said.

“I miss you.”

She squeezed her eyes closed tightly. “I miss you, too.”

It was the same. Why was it so different?

“Grayson,” she said again.

“What is it Claire?”

“What were we thinking?”

“We were thinking that we have something special and we can make it work.”

Silence.

“Claire?”

“Yes?”

“Have you met someone else already? Is it that Maine D’Court guy? Is he there?”

Claire laughed and felt better than she had felt all day.

“Please say no,” he said.

“No,” she said, a tear slipping down her cheek. “What about Allen?”

“Who?”

“Allen. The guy who’s coming for a visit.”

She laughed. “I turned down his proposal.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

“Good. We’re good then.”

When they hung up the phone, Claire hugged her cat to her and cried into his fur. “I don’t think I can do it, Charlie,” she said and rubbed the tears from his fur. Once Grayson arrived safely in Pittsburgh, she would tell him. She would tell him she couldn’t do this whole long distance relationship thing.

Grayson got up early the next morning and like every morning, the first thing he did was check his phone. His screen saver was Claire’s picture. He opened up his phone and scrolled to his photos. Holding his finger against his favorite photo to animate it, he watched the two of them smile and kiss on the ferry with the Golden Gate Bridge behind them. He’d never seen her look so beautiful as she did in that wind-swept exhausted moment. Her defenses had been down and the love she felt for him was in her face.

He put his suitcase in his car, and filled up his tank with gas. The further away he got from Los Angeles and Claire, the more anxious he became. He had an odd sensation that the tie that bound them would break if he got too far away. Pennsylvania seemed like such a long way away. Maybe he should have sold his car and flown. If he’d flown, he’d be there by now and he wouldn’t be dealing with the prolonged sensation of getting further and further away from her.

Within the hour, he was struggling to see the road in front of him. The morning sunlight in the desert was blinding. It took all his concentration to keep his car on his side of the highway.

He decided to stop at a waffle house for breakfast to take a break. Perhaps if he took a break, the sun would shift and it would be less hazardous to drive.

As he waited for his eggs and bacon to arrive, he turned off his cell phone and turned it back on. His service had been spotty since he’d hit New Mexico.

He had a phone message from yesterday.

He played the message as his food arrived. Then played it again.

His face broke out into a wide grin.

And the weight of the world fell off his shoulders.

It was already nine o’clock in Pittsburgh. He quickly ate his breakfast, then replayed the message.

He then called the department chair in Pittsburgh who had hired him.

After a few minutes of conversation, he realized that he’d just made someone else’s day.

He needed to make another phone call, but he had to wait two hours. He got back in the car and this time, the sun was at his back. He turned on his music and sang along to a James Taylor song.

That evening, Claire worked late. When she finally got home, she was too exhausted to worry much about dinner. She sent out for Chinese and turned on the TV while she waited. Everything was on autopilot for her next fundraiser. It had been a very productive week. She had nothing pressing to do at the moment.

She needed something to keep herself from thinking. She dragged herself off the couch and began putting clothes in the washer. It was time to do some cleaning.

The Chinese place usually took about an hour because it was a little bit of a drive for the delivery guy. But Claire always gave him a big tip, so he didn’t mind driving out her way.

She hadn’t been watching the clock, but when the doorbell rang, she instinctively knew it was about time for the delivery guy to arrive.

She went to the door and opened it without peeking outside first.

No one was standing there. Pulling the door to behind her to keep Charlie from following, she looked left, then right.

Grayson must have been pacing on her porch. He was walking toward her.

“Now what if I’d been a serial killer,” he said, stopping a few feet in front of her.

“Grayson?” Her mind struggled to link the pieces together.

She hadn’t heard from him all day, but last night he’d been in New Mexico. On his way east. To Pittsburgh.

Now he was standing here on her doorstep.

Perhaps she was imagining things.

While her brain was in lockdown, he took two steps and pulled her into his arms, sweeping her feet off the ground.

He twirled her around, then set her down.

Her blood was flowing again.

“What are you doing here?” she asked. “You’re supposed to be heading the other direction.”

“I love you, Claire.”

Her heart skittered and she smiled. “I love you, too.” She waited a heartbeat. “Is your phone broken?”

He laughed. “Nope. But my heart was breaking.”

“I don’t understand. You came all this way just to tell me that. Are you going to be late?”

“Nope. Not taking the job.”

She stared at him. Her brain trying to make sense of it all. She rubbed her palm against the side of her head. “Wait. You said you had to take this job. You couldn’t let down the university in Pittsburgh.”

“Maybe it was something about driving alone through the desert for hours, but I had an epiphany.”

“What kind of epiphany?” she asked, not bothering to keep the skepticism out of her voice.

“I’m not the only person who needs a job right now. There’s a whole line of people who’d like that job in Pittsburgh.”

“I’m sure. But…”

The Chinese delivery guy drove up to the curb.

“Are you expecting someone?” Grayson asked.

“Yes,” she said, keeping a straight face.

“I see.” He took a step back.

Claire was a little surprised at the pain on his features until she realized he thought the delivery guy was another guy coming over.

“Grayson,” she said.

He shook his head. “It’s okay. I shouldn’t have assumed.”

“Grayson,” she laughed.

“Here’s your delivery, ma’am.”

“Thank you, Robert,” she said, signing the receipt and adding her tip.

“Have a great evening,” Robert said, heading back toward his car.

Grayson just watched her.

“Come inside,” she said.

“I’m a little tired,” he said.

“It’s okay. Come in. Eat some Chinese food with me. And tell me how you ended up back here.”

He smiled. “I hit the wrong button on my GPS.”

“Ha.” They settled into the living room and opened the boxes of food. “What happened with the teaching job? Did they cancel or something?”

“No. I canceled on them.”

“But you said.”

“I know. I had a sense of obligation, but after I called the department chair, she assured me that they had a list of people waiting. They had given me preference because I’m a veteran.”

“Out of a list of equally qualified people.”

“Exactly.”

“You turned down the job?”

He nodded.

“Help me understand.”

“First I need to ask you something.”

“Okay.”

“Do you think I could borrow your guest room for awhile?”

“Of course. While you look for another job?”

“I already have another job.”

“Oh.” Her heart sank. He wasn’t going to Pennsylvania, but he would be going somewhere else instead. She set down her fork with a sudden loss of appetite. She’d been so happy to see him, she hadn’t realized that he must going to take the full-time position in Texas. What was it about Texas and her men anyway? Noah had been from Texas. He was living in Alabama now, but he still had a business based out of Fort Worth. Now Grayson was going to be living in Texas. Where was it? San Antonio? It didn’t matter. It was Texas and not here.

“Claire,” he said. “I’m staying here.”

She shook her head. Grayson wasn’t inclined to be unemployed while he looked for a job. She couldn’t allow him to do that. Even if it meant he had to move to Texas.

“I can’t let you be unemployed,” she said it out loud. “Even if it means moving to Texas.”

“They already filled the position in Texas.”

“You can’t not work,” she said.

“Claire,” he said again. “Look at me.”

She looked up. Met his gaze. Took a deep breath.

“I’m going to work for the VA.”

The VA. He’d said that was a possibility for the future. That it was really hard to get a job there. “But…”

“I know. I said they wouldn’t hire me because they rarely have openings. But they did.”

“They hired you?”

He nodded.

“Here? In L.A.?”

“Yep.”

“For good. Permanently?”

“Yes,” he said. “I got really, really lucky.”

“This is like… a miracle.”

“Fate is keeping us together this time.”

“Wow,” she said. Then she threw her arms around him. He pulled her into his lap and held her tightly to him.

“There’s nothing keeping us apart anymore,” he said. “Except maybe the Chinese delivery guy.”

Claire started laughing. Then she couldn’t stop. “I can’t believe you thought I’d have a guy over already,” she said through giggles.

“I don’t ever have to worry about that again.” He waited a beat. “Right?”

“You don’t have to.”

“Claire,” he nudged her back to look into her eyes. “I know how much you love this house.”

She nodded. She didn’t want to leave here.

“That means you’ll have to invite me to stay here with you.”

“I’ll think about it,” she said.

His expression sobered. “It’ll be awkward if you don’t want your husband to live here with you.”

“I don’t have a husb…” She stopped talking and stared into his eyes. “Anymore…”

“Do you think you could tolerate another one?”

“I’ll think about it,” she said, swallowing the lump in her throat. She was overcome with emotion. Emotion that threatened to spill over and consume her.

“One who’s around all the time, especially in the evenings and weekends.”

“I don’t know,” she said, biting her lip to keep her face from splitting into a ridiculous grin.

“Think hard,” he said. “Because you’re about to have to make that decision.”

“What do you mean?”

“I like you, so I’ll warn you. You’re about to be proposed to.” He dumped her off his lap onto the sofa and before she knew what he was doing, he was kneeling on the floor. “Claire Beauchamp…” he said. “Worthington….” He started over. “Claire… Will you marry me?”

She couldn’t hold it any longer. Her face split into that ridiculous grin. “Yes!” She slid onto the floor with him.

He pulled her against him and they ended up lying side by side on the floor, arms wrapped around each other.

He swept the hair from her face and lifted her hand. Kissed her knuckles. “Tomorrow,” he murmured. “Tomorrow we’ll go shopping and get something to put on this finger.” He kissed her ring finger and she thought her heart might burst with happiness.

Then he was kissing her. Suddenly he stopped and looked into her eyes.

“Will Danielle be back tomorrow?” he asked.

“Yeah. Why?”

“I was thinking we could find a Justice of the Peace tomorrow.”

Her eyes widened. “Tomorrow?”

“I don’t want you to have a chance to get away this time. Besides, I don’t have anywhere to live, so I need to lock this thing down.”

“You’re such a romantic,” she said.

He grinned. “Let me show you just how romantic.”

Then his lips were on hers again.

Claire’s befuddled mind worked to make sense of all that was happening. Grayson was back. For good. And tomorrow she would be his wife. Then her emotions trumped her thoughts.

And she was lost in his kiss.

No matter how they got here.

Life moved in only one direction. Forward.