Lucky for me, Mauro is stuck in an interview today about last night’s fire, so I don’t have to worry about him coming to the house. The only reason I know this is because he texted me since I’m still not answering the phone.

He’s upset and doesn’t understand why I’m pushing him away. I’m not sure why he doesn’t see how this will never work out between us. We’re nothing alike and sooner or later he’s going to realize I’m not worthy of him.

Tonight killed me when he showed up at my house smelling of smoke, the soot still lining his jaw and forehead. The urge to wrap my arms around him because he was okay nearly catapulted me off that bed, but what good would that do? Just delay the inevitable.

As I’m walking around the house, writing out a list of everything that needs to be finished before we can put the place on the market, I hear a car pull up outside. I sigh, worried that he got out of the interview early and has decided to plead his case again.

It’s not even just him. Somehow, he’s won Lauren over because she left me a note on my dresser about not wasting true love. Who knew she was such a romantic?

Even Vanessa sat me down earlier today telling me that I had to put the past behind me and live for the present. That I was giving up something special not many people share. Easy for the beauty queen to say.

“Hello?” a feminine voice calls out into the house.

“Yes?” I walk down the stairs, stopping mid-flight when I see Cailin.

The vision of her lips on Mauro’s is still vivid in my mind.

“He’s not here,” I say, walking down the rest of the way, rounding the bottom stairway and heading to the kitchen.

She holds up a thermos and two cups. “I’m here to see you.”

Her blonde hair is pulled back into a high ponytail, no makeup on her face.

“I’m not sure why? I’m out of your way now. He’s all yours.” I cock my hip and stare her down.

“Even if you broke up with him, we both know he’s not mine. He’s still yours.” She sets the thermos on the dining room table that has somehow become a staple of this home.

“Sometimes things just don’t work out. He’ll find someone else. Someone more suitable.”

She places the two cups she brought and fills them up with tea from the thermos. I take a few tentative steps over toward the table.

“I need to apologize, I was an evil witch and I deserve it if you want me to have no contact with Mauro, but don’t take what I did out on him. He didn’t want that kiss. I convinced myself he did, hell that I did, for that matter, but I was just trying to replace what I’d lost.”

She slides the cup my way.

Dropping the pad of paper on the table, I sip the tea, crossing my fingers it’s not poisoned.

“When Hunter died, we weren’t the happiest of couples. We fought a lot. About money and his schedule and the new business venture he was going into with Mauro. We argued about parenting, sleeping times, me not wanting sex enough. In my head, I thought that was just marriage….we had a young child and this is what happens with couples at that stage of life. There were times it felt like we were headed for divorce, but he’d always come home with a bouquet of flowers, telling me how much he loved me. We’d make love and we’d be back in our happy place until the next fight.”

If she only knew what he was doing behind her back.

“After he died, I propped him up on this pedestal as a man who could do no wrong. A man who fought fires and saved lives. A man who gave up his own life helping others.”

A tear slips down her cheek and I can’t help the compassion I feel for her, much as I’d prefer it weren’t there.

“I morphed him into the perfect father, the perfect husband in my head. And I believed it for a minute there because I hated that I ever thought ill of him now that he was gone. But you know what? Everyone has their flaws. Look what I did…treated you terribly. Kissed your boyfriend. Tried to steal him away from you. I know you don’t know me, but that’s not me. I never would have done that six months ago.”

I swallow down the revelation I want to give her about Hunter.

“I don’t know why you and Mauro broke up but if it’s because of the kiss, don’t. He didn’t even reciprocate. He told me you held his heart, Madison. I’m sorry that I was so lonely and wounded that I tried to ruin what you two have.”

The pained look on her face has me telling her that I accept her apology. And I do. She seems sincere and I do feel awful for what she’s going through. But it doesn’t change the fact that at some point Mauro is going to come to his senses.

“You’re the one for him, Madison. Mauro told me that you went to high school together, but he didn’t know you at the time. He was over one evening to fix my garbage disposal and he stayed for a drink after Devin went to bed.”

I really don’t want to hear this.

“He went on and on about you. How he wished he did know you. That it felt like he’d wasted these past ten years because the woman he’s meant to be with, he’d already met years prior.”

She smiles like that should appease me in some way.

It kind of does.

I clear my throat. “Nice of him to say.”

She laughs in an exasperated way that asks ‘how much more convincing do I need to give you?’ “I don’t know who brought Hunter into my life, but he was there for a purpose. He gave me Devin and for that I’m grateful. People come in and out of our lives, some return, some you never see again. I like to think there’s a reason that this is your time with Mauro. Maybe back then it wasn’t the right timing. Do you really want to take the chance that the paths you’re on don’t meet again?”

I sip the tea and allow her words to soak in.

“We don’t know each other well, but I do know Mauro. He and Hunter were close since the academy. I’ve seen women come and go in and out of his life and none of them have had anything like what you two do.” Her hand covers mine and I see she still wears her wedding band. “I promise you, his feelings are genuine and true.”

With a squeeze on my hand, she turns around and leaves as I lower myself to the wood floor wondering what the hell I’m doing. My eyes shift around the room, taking in what we built together. This house was a bid away from being bulldozed and now it’s a bright and happy home, ready for a family to build memories, a life in.

Cailin’s right. Something brought Mauro into my life. We could’ve had that date and then never saw each other again, but he showed up at that auction.

Regret and determination fill me and I stand up, finding my phone and calling his number.

No answer.

I hammer out a text message for him to call me as soon as he’s out of the interview.

Locking all the doors and shutting all the windows, I run out to my car, peeling away from the curb to wait for him outside his apartment.

I have to make this right. I just hope it’s not too late and my issues haven’t scared him away.