At home, I crash in bed for another few hours, then shower and steal another item of clothing from Grace’s closet — a gauzy pink sundress this time. Outside, it’s a beautiful day, and inside Mom has been whipping up bruschetta, an antipasto platter, spaghetti Bolognese, and also shrimp in a spicy tomato sauce. She refuses my help in the kitchen, so instead I go out to the grass near the house to spread out a blanket, then set out three place settings. Yes, only three, because, unfortunately, Quinn left me a voicemail saying that he was on his way back to town but he won’t be able to come to lunch. He’s going to tell me the details later.

His deep voice almost hid something dark, but I could tell it was there, and that has me a little on edge, even though I’m telling myself to trust the man. Everything is fine. I’ll see him soon, and he’s even texting me every so often just to see what I’m doing, so that means good things are definitely in store.

Just put some faith in him, Fun Gwen. You’ve got it in you.

I go back inside to help Mom get the food together, and when she offhandedly mentions that she’ll be visiting some high school friends out of town for the next couple of days, I take another look at her. There are no dark circles under her eyes anymore, and she’s smiling as if she’s finally found her love for cooking again. I hug her close, and she hugs me back, and neither of us has to say a word otherwise.

After we take the food to our picnic spot, Grace meets us. My sister laughs and laughs about me nicking yet another dress from her closet, and instead of scolding me about it, she’s far more interested in grilling me about my time with Quinn. Mom even seems to be getting more comfortable with the thought of him, but I cut the conversation short.

“We never get to have girl time because we’re always in the diner,” I say while holding a fizzy Italian soda a la Mom. “Now’s the perfect chance to leave other people out of this and enjoy each other.”

Grace picks an olive off of her bruschetta, pops it into her mouth, and pouts at me. She intends to hear about Quinn sooner or later — no escape from that — but at least Mom gets the hint as she leans back on her hands and lifts her face to the sun. The wind is tousling her bobbed blonde hair, and she looks so much younger, fresher, and livelier.

“I checked in at Milton’s last night to see how it’s going,” she says.

“Mom,” I say. “No shoptalk during girl time, either, please.”

“Even if I’m girlishly telling you that I’m more excited about the diner than ever? Quinn had some excellent ideas.”

Grace gloats at me. “See. We always come back to Quinn. Deal with it, Gwen.”

I know when I’m beat. “Then how about we compromise. I’ll tell you about some more of his ideas for the diner, and then we’ll drop it for the day.”

“Private is as private does,” Grace says, but she’s got that investigative shine in her eyes. She’ll break me down soon enough, and I think I’ll even be happy about having a guy to talk about with her. Me, the not-fun twin.

Anyway, I tell them about Quinn’s ideas, and they love everything, especially since Grace and Mom have always been on my case about changing the menu. And when I mention serving wine from Climax Vineyards and closing down on Mondays, Grace raises her hands to the heavens.

“Thank you, Lord, for finding a way to get the message to my stubborn sister!”

Mom sits up and takes another slice of bruschetta. “Wow, Gracie. Pastor Tarley would love to hear that kind of fervor in his pews come Sunday.”

Grace ignores my Mom. “I’ve been brewing up some ideas, too. Why don’t we talk to some of the folks at the Chamber of Commerce or even the Full Circle Technologies guys? Maybe they can give us some business advice about how to avoid working night and day just to get by.”

“Gracie,” I say, “I’m beginning to suspect that you’ve been having more ideas than sex lately.”

Mom hides her face as Grace fires back.

“Gwenie, maybe we’ve done a twin switch and you’re the one using your hoo-haw more than your brains.”

We both crack up as Mom shakes her head. Then while the two of them start to pile their plates with food, I look up Zach Hamilton’s number. Not long afterward, I’ve set up a meeting with him and Barry Aaronson for after hours at the Full Circle campus. That means I’ll have to put off seeing Quinn, and as much as I don’t want to do that, I text him. He answers quickly.

No worries. I’m in the thick of work, and I’m dog tired. No sleep last night. Miss you.

He misses me. I never thought any guy would be capable of that, and his confession has me dying to see him that much more. But he’s done so much for us that he deserves at least a little rest.

After I let him know that I miss him, too, I try not to dwell on it for the rest of the day as Grace and Mom and I enjoy our picnic, clean up together, then watch Mom’s favorite movie on DVD — Dirty Dancing.

When I finally arrive at the FCT campus that evening, I’m flying high on hope and adrenaline. Zach and his partner Barry Aaronson, plus their employees, are in the process of relocating from their temporary offices on Main Street, so the guys wanted to meet here. Construction is still going on for the annex buildings that will house things like dorms, experimental restaurants, and sports facilities, but the walking paths are blooming with flowers, and the elms and willow trees are spring-green around the old grain brick warehouse that’ll serve as headquarters for the tech company.

As I park my truck, I have a momentary twinge of guilt: Zach has been trying to coordinate with me about integrating Milton’s further into the mixed reality apps that FCT is ready to release, but I’ve never had much time to devote to that. This means Milton’s is really far behind the other Cherry Valley businesses in selling our products via the apps and giving virtual tours of the diner. Maybe I can put my head together with the guys about that tonight, too.

Zach meets me in the modern yet warm lobby with its huge stained glass cherry-trimmed windows, bubble chairs that hang from the ceiling beams, and polished wood floors.

“Gwen. Good to see you.” Zach stands to his full height from where he was leaning on the reception counter checking his phone. He’s a very cute nerd, with his gelled sandy-colored hair and piercing blue eyes behind wire-rimmed glasses. He’s wearing jeans, fancy sneakers, and one of those graphic t-shirts that the nerds have become notorious for around here — this one features the word LOSER with the S crossed out and replaced with a V. That makes him a LOVER, and I’m sure his fiancée would agree. Mandy might’ve even bought him that shirt.

He strides over to meet me with his hand outstretched, and when we shake, he’s watching me as if he notices a difference. Am I smiling more? Am I … glowing? I feel like it inside, even though I’m not with Quinn right now.

Zach leads the way up the circular wood stairs that take us to the open second floor, and I thank him for meeting with me. Then I add, “I’m looking forward to the wedding. Are you a nervous groom?”

“Me? Hell, no. I can barely wait the three weeks to marry Mandy.”

Aw. “It sounds like half the town is going to be at Climax for the reception.”

We reach the second floor, and Zach leads me down the hall. “Mandy’s the one who’s on pins and needles. She keeps worrying that the winery won’t be finished by the time we get hitched, but I tell her not to think about it.”

“Oh, it’ll be ready.”

Zach looks at me strangely, like how the hell would I know?

Clearly he has heard no rumors about my direct line to Quinn, and what a hell of a connection it is. “I know because the same contractor and some of his crew are working on Milton’s, too.”

“That’s right. How’re the repairs coming?”

“Great.” And I mean the repairs Quinn is doing on the diner and on me.

“We’re going to miss Irina and Seamus around here when it comes time for them to go back to you. They’re hard workers.”

“Has Seamus showed you any of his comic book art?”

“No, but now that you’ve told me, I’ll make a point of it. We’ll be looking for talented artists in the future.”

Go, Seamus!

Zach guides me to his office, which you can look right into because of the huge windows. It’s all brick and geometric steel shapes with colorful, oversized plush sofas. He spreads out an arm to invite me inside. “Truthfully, even if Seamus had shown any of his work to me, I wouldn’t have noticed. My head’s been so deep in FCT business and wedding preparations that I’m behind on current events.”

A low voice comes from down the hall. “The only current event Zach’s deep into right now is Mandy. And by ‘current event,’ I actually mean he’s deep into her you-know-wh—”

“Behave,” Zach says, laughing.

And there he is, walking toward us with a smug grin — Barry Aaronson, Penny Burnett’s boyfriend. He’s tall with black hair that’s not as styled or as short as it was back when he made his grand entrance into Cherry Valley months ago with Zach. He veers between maybe being handsome and maybe not — for me, it depends on the day, but Grace thinks he’s always hot. One thing I know for sure is that he used to be a major ass, but then Penny worked her flirty magic on him, and here he is extending his hand for a friendly shake.

Warily, I look at his smarty-pants t-shirt, which says *sigh*, then accept his hand. Then I remember all the good, sweet things Penny has been saying about him, as well as how he’s shown that he really loves her right back. So, as he offers me a seat on a couch, I gratefully take that, too. Even Zach looks satisfied about never having to put the leash back on his business partner again.

I tell them the situation with Milton’s, and Barry goes on to crush my preconceived notions about him forever. I knew he was smart, but the advice he and Zach give me surpasses expectations. Even so, I realize that their thoughts are similar to Quinn’s, although Barry offers to set up a meeting with Linus Inouye so I can see how he so efficiently runs all his restaurants, including Hana Sushi.

After we also talk about those apps and how the new, improved Milton’s can better integrate with them, I thank the guys and leave. There’s a lightness to my step. The only way things could be any better is if Quinn were around to share this with me.

Then my steps slow because … wow. I can’t think of anything without including him in it, can I? All I want to do is see him again, and not only because of what he does to my body. I want a kind of closeness I’ve never had, and maybe I’m going too fast, but I can’t lie to myself.

Closeness means that I need to tell Quinn some things about me that I’ve been keeping back. Closeness means that he should know about my dad and why I am like I am.

So there it is, Gwen, I think. When Quinn and I finally talk again, I’m going to open up all the way, even if I’m scared to death to do it.