LILLIAN’S EXPRESSION was colder than a stone sculpture. Cayden wondered if he needed to say something else because she stood for so long, not moving even the slightest bit.

Just as he was about to dare to open his mouth and ask if she was okay, she blinked. “What?”

“What, what?”

“Cayden,” she said in a loud whisper, inching closer to his face, “How can this not be the best option?”

“I don’t know exactly, Lil,” he said, feeling the heat in his body. “I mean, I just said that you’re amazing for offering to take care of him and see him through until he’s ready and able to go back to his normal routine as he always did. But that’s going to be a long time from now.”

“So?”

“So, I mean, we just got back together. Don’t you think that we need some time to ourselves to figure out, well, us?”

She sighed. “Cayden, it’s not going to be like Andrew will have to be in the same room with us all the time. We’re still going to have time for ourselves.”

“Yeah, but we don’t know for sure. I haven’t even officially moved back yet. My clients still need me to finish up some things. I, well, I have a lot to handle there before I leave permanently.” He felt a grimace scrunch up his face. “So, my visits back home are going to be short until it’s all taken care of, and I’m not sure if I like the idea of having to share you when I’m home.”

“Share me?” Her brows pressed together.

He paused. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Andrew’s not taking me away from you, Cayden. He’s family, and I’m helping him. He would do the same for me.”

“It’s just a hard thought for me. Having him around all the time seems like it would only add something else to your life to worry about. Look at the big picture: you have a successful business, and not only that but you’re a one-woman show. And we’ve just gotten back together, and both of our jobs are expanding in great ways. We might need to travel for work a lot more often.”

Lillian stared at him.

I wish she would say something, he thought. When she doesn’t say anything, it doesn’t help me make any more arguments. He couldn’t think of any other reasons that this wouldn’t work—except one. “I mean, will your cats be able to handle having someone unfamiliar in the house all the time?”

It finally clicked with Lillian where this was going. She crossed her arms and furrowed her brow. “Are you jealous, Cayden?”

What? He took a step back. “What?”

“Are you jealous of Andrew?”

“Hell no, Lil. Why would I be?”

“I don’t know, because you were last time he visited and you two didn’t exactly become best friends at first sight.”

“Maybe that’s because he likes you.”

A weird look came over her face. “No.”

“Well, he stayed over at your house before, right after our argument. Convenient timing. How do you know he doesn’t like you?”

“What reason do you have not to trust me? I’ve literally never given you any reason not to trust me. I’m not like your ex!” Her face grew red from anger. “How many times do I have to tell you? Andrew has always been and will always be my brother. The closest thing to a brother I’ve ever had, at least. That’s it. And that’s even more reason for you to not be jealous.”

“I’m not jealous!”

“Would you be quiet?” she hissed, looking around to make sure no one heard. “This is not a good place to have this conversation right now!”

“Do you want to go outside?”

“Actually, no, because we aren’t getting anywhere with this. What was your point in bringing me out here? What do you really want to say, without bringing up the health of my cats?” Her eyes were blazing.

Cayden stayed quiet.

“Well?” she prodded.

“I don’t want you to take Andrew in.” At these words, Lillian’s mouth tightened into a thin line; he kept going anyway. She asked what I wanted to say, after all. “I can understand helping out while his parents are away, but the whole time? Like I said, that will be months. He got pretty beat up in that wreck. Yes, it could have been a lot worse, but it’ll be four to six months before his femur breaks heal. And that’s assuming all his physical therapy and tests run smoothly.”

Lillian didn’t say anything. Her teeth clamped down on her lower lip and the light reflected off her eyes.

“So, yeah,” he ended, shrugging. “That’s how I feel.”

“You know what, Cayden?” she whispered, but he quickly realized that she wasn’t whispering to stay quiet. Her voice trembled, and he saw the light glinting off her eyes was because they were wet. “I lost Amelia in this same hospital. If I could get into the ICU, I would be able to walk you to the room where she stayed with my eyes closed. I didn’t get a chance to take care of her and make sure she could walk again.”

Cayden’s heart dropped to his heels.

“Amelia would appreciate me taking care of Andrew, since he actually made it out alive.” She set her jaw. “Because she didn’t. She was wheeled out and put six feet under.”

“Don’t be so dramatic” he interrupted, pulling her against his chest. He didn’t say it to be mean; he meant that Andrew was alive and nowhere close to dying. She pulled away from him at first, but he didn’t let go, and immediately she relented, collapsing against his torso and sobbing. He knew that holding her like this always had a way of calming her down; why, he didn’t quite know. But it had helped every other time, and he desperately hoped it would now.

“You don’t deserve to have so much sadness and guilt inside you, Lil,” he murmured into her hair.

She didn’t respond, trying hard to gain control of her emotions. They stood there outside Andrew’s hospital room for a few minutes. At last, her body began to tremble a little less and her breathing started to grow more even. Finally, she drew away and looked up at him.

He wiped her tears with his sleeve and she held onto his wrist. “They’re my family, Cayden,” she whimpered. “I want you to be part of our family, too.”

He nodded.

“I’m sorry for keeping my feelings inside. I’m sorry—”

“Don’t start this,” he said, wiping another drop off her chin. He felt like such a jerk. Why did he have to let the past try to control his future? He trusted Lily. “You have nothing to apologize for.”

“But—”

“Listen to me,” he said softly. “You have nothing to apologize for. And you have no reason to feel so much guilt over so many things all the time. We’re going to be honest with each other from now on, okay?”

“I don’t like it when you don’t trust me.” She sniffed.

“Well, that’s my fault, isn’t it?” Cayden felt the sickening sensation of his ego being crushed; the words felt like acid in his stomach. “I do trust you, Lil. I promise. And I’m glad you want me to get to know your family instead of trying to keep me away from them.” Under his breath, he added, “My ex always went out of her way to keep me away when her family visited.”

A little smile flashed in her eyes.

“There we go, she’s feeling better now.” He kissed the top of her head, glad he didn’t have to make any more confessions. “Are you hungry?”

“I could use some water, but I’ve got a bottle in there.” She glanced toward Andrew’s room. She grinned. “You’re hungry again, aren’t you?”

“I’ll survive.” He smiled. “When will Andrew’s parents be back?”

“I don’t know. I guess after they eat lunch. They’re probably going to want to stay here all afternoon since Andrew’s awake now.”

“You need to be here, too, to talk to the doctor about getting Andrew back home and scheduling his appointments.”

“Hey, uh...” Suddenly shy, Lillian put her hands in her pockets and looked at her shoes. “I was thinking about something earlier, before we came out here.”

“Okay...?”

“Well, it’s about Andrew and his rehab.”

“All right. What about Andrew and his rehab?”

She looked for the words, and finally shook her head. “Nah, I think I should talk about it later, maybe.”

“Why not now?”

“I don’t think now is a good time.”

“Give me one good reason why now isn’t a good time.”

She frowned. “There’s not, I guess.”

“Okay, so what is it?”

“I was just wondering if, maybe, uh...” She took a breath. “You might not like this idea, but I was thinking that it’s perfect and it would make me happy to see it, but I was thinking that maybe you can help Andrew with his physical therapy.”

Cayden’s heart stopped mid-beat. Are you kidding? his mind yelled. He punched that voice down and tried to think about how much Lillian would appreciate it. She literally just said she wants you to be involved with the family, Cayden, he told himself. You finally managed to get her back after everything that happened. Saying no to this is not starting this second round with a good vibe.

He did his best not to show any expression on his face that would hint about his reluctance. “Well, Lil, you know I would, but physical therapy is nothing like what I do. It’s a whole other ball game, really. I’m a personal trainer. I’ve got a degree in kinesiology and athletic training. Not much focus on physio. I mean, there are some aspects that are the same, but I don’t think—”

“Of course, he would still go to therapy, Cayden. I know you’re not a PT. I was only thinking that you could help him with his exercises that he’s supposed to do at home.”

“Anybody can do those, Lil. He could even do them alone.”

“I know,” she said roughly, getting frustrated. “I was thinking that since you know a lot about muscles and building strength and all, maybe you can help shed some light on the exercises in a way that I couldn’t if I were to help him or if he were to do them alone. But, listen, never mind. I know you’re busy.”

“I will,” he said quickly, seeing her getting caught in the downward spiral again.

She looked up. “You will?”

He nodded.

“Really?”

“Yeah, I will. I’ll help him. Who knows, maybe I’ll discover that physical therapy is the most incredible thing ever and it’ll become my new passion.” Trying to play it off as nonchalant, he shrugged again. “I never thought about it, to be honest.”

Lillian threw her arms around him. “Cayden, I thought you would say no. Thank you so, so much.” She planted a big kiss on his mouth, and a nurse quickly passing by smiled to herself at the sight. Red-faced, Lillian hopped away from Cayden.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said. “We’ll both help Andrew, and things will be all right. He’ll get better in no time with the two of us at his side.”

The joy on Lillian’s face made her glow in the white fluorescent lights of the hospital. Together, they went back into Andrew’s room to wait for his parents. Even in the presence of Lillian’s overwhelming happiness, Cayden couldn’t shake the reluctance inside him that scratched at his bones. This whole Andrew situation was the exact opposite of what he had envisioned for his and Lillian’s time together, and now he was basically inviting the guy to interrupt their relationship—again.

It will mean a lot to her, he thought, but it didn’t help him feel better. If you want to keep her, you have got to do this. You’ve got to show her that you’re serious about her, and part of that includes her family.

He sighed, but she didn’t notice. He looked at her face, which looked infinitely less burdened by stress than it had yesterday.

I really hope this will all work out all right.

***

“HEY.”

Everything was dark. Something poked his shoulder. He didn’t move.

“Hey,” the voice said again. Instead of a poke, this time it was a firmer press of what felt like a finger or two. He groaned, still stuck in the blackness.

“Hello?” The voice was louder this time, and it was clearly done with playing nice. A whole hand pushed his arm, forcing him onto his back. “Are you alive?”

He was completely unable to open his eyes, but he was slowly waking up enough to know who the voice belonged to. Right before she started poking him, he had been immersed in a dream about a workout with Katharina that was playing with his perception of reality.

“I’m stuck,” he managed to get out.

“Stuck?”

“Dream,” he grunted.

“Wake up, sexy. Come on. I’m here waiting for you.” She sounded like she was smiling. Cool hands touched his face and combed back the thick strands of hair that had fallen against his forehead.

He felt a kiss on the tip of his nose and felt the blood flow back into his arms. Mostly conscious, he reached up and rubbed his eyes. When he had scraped away the dried sleep that had gathered in the corners, he looked up and saw Lillian’s face hovering above his. That cheeky smile of hers was already teasing him in his first waking moments.

“Hey,” she said again, running her dainty finger along his jaw line.

“Well, hey there.” His voice was as rough as sandpaper compared to her smooth, velvety one. “How do you always look so beautiful when you wake up?”

She giggled; it put a smile on his face to see her so happy. He pulled her close and she wrapped her arm around his torso. “I’ve been awake for a little while, actually.”

“Oh, sorry. You should’ve woken me up.”

“You were too cute to wake up.” She pinched his cheek. “You were hugging my pillow like a kid with his stuffed animal. It was adorable.”

“I’m not adorable.”

“Yes, you are.” Lillian scrunched up her face. “Did you sleep all right?”

Cayden yawned. “I had a really weird dream about Katharina.”

“Oh yeah?” She grew solemn.

“We were working out, but it was in a kids’ playground instead of a gym. And all the equipment kept disappearing then reappearing in a different place. It was so frustrating.”

“But it was probably a good workout, having to chase everything around all the time, right?” Despite her joke, her eyes were still serious.

“I guess.” He grinned. “I had another one, too.”

“What was it about?”

“Come here.” Before she could protest, he drew her against his chest again and held her tight. “It was a really nice one.”

“I like the sound of this,” she purred.

“How do you feel about a fireplace, a cabin, and a snowstorm?”

She nuzzled him. “Doesn’t sound bad at all. Until you realize it also sounds like a horror movie.”

Cayden groaned. “Way to ruin the fantasy! I was literally smelling the wood just now.”

“Whoops.”

“Well, it has definitely inspired me, so I’m going to look into getaways for us sometime in the near future, just so you know.”

“Excellent. I’m down for that. I could probably get some good reading done there, too.”

He ignored her joke and winked. “I’ll read your body while we’re there.”

Lillian squealed, and jumped away from him. “So naughty!”

“I can’t help it. You do that to me.”

Her cheeks grew rosy. “You know, we keep going down to breakfast every day half an hour before it’s over. We always miss the good stuff.”

“Hey, they have hot pancakes and bacon. That’s all I need in life. Aside from—” he stopped, and jokingly covered his mouth. “I was about to say something naughty.”

“You can show me later.” She blew him a kiss and stripped out of her pajamas, changing into a long- sleeved T-shirt and jeans. “Do these make my butt look okay?” she asked, turning to look at herself in the full- length mirror.

Cayden whistled. “That whole outfit makes everything about you look phenomenal.”

She scoffed. “It’s literally just a shirt and jeans, Cayden.”

“I’m a simple man, as I’ve said before.”

Lillian rolled her eyes, but he could see the pleasure on her face. “I’m hungry. Come on. Andrew is being discharged right after lunch, so we need to get back there to prepare.”

“Prepare? Does he have a lot of luggage?”

“My guess is getting him into the car with crutches and a leg that doesn’t bend is going to be no easy task. We’ll try scooting him in one way and have to make some adjustments.”

Cayden thought for a second. “I don’t think so.”

Lillian gave him a questioning look.

“Fitting him in there will be pretty easy. It may involve a foot between the two front seats, but I don’t think it will be so difficult.”

“You do realize how tall he is, don’t you?” she asked.

“Of course. But—” He smirked and lowered his voice, “you know I’m an expert at fitting long things into small spaces.”

Lillian let out a giddy shriek and ran into the bathroom, covering her face. Between the gaps in her fingers he caught a glimpse of the flaming red embarrassment coloring her cheeks, and he grinned. Her reactions got him every time; she was so funny when she didn’t know what to do with herself.

They managed to settle down and get the last scraps of food before heading off to the hospital. Cayden chowed down on his pancakes and bacon and fruit, silently mourning that today was the last day of his beloved continental breakfast. Lillian calmly sipped her coffee and ate a bagel, every so often sharing how grateful she was that she hadn’t had a big flare-up since arriving in Rodney. Making a joke about how their conversations were sometimes as boring as a couple who had been together for fifty years, they checked out of the hotel and loaded up in the car.

Lillian stayed in the car with Cayden while he found a parking space this time. Enjoying what he assumed would be the last little chunk of time together without anyone else being there, he held her hand as they strolled across the parking lot. When they arrived in Andrew’s room they were both shocked to see him in sweatpants and a sweatshirt, looking as ready to go as he could with some fading yellow bruises splattered across his arms and the side of his face.

“Are we ready now?” Lillian asked excitedly, letting go of Cayden’s hand and giving Andrew a hug.

He nodded, opening his mouth to reply.

Frances interrupted. “The doc said he could go early if he wants to.”

“Have you already had the final checks?” Lillian asked Andrew.

“Yeah, they said I’m free to go. They keep saying I’m a strong, resilient guy.” With a stereotypical superhero grin, he puffed his chest out a little. “It’s not getting to my head, I swear.”

Lillian groaned jokingly. “Geez, Andrew, the dryness of your humor turns me into a prune sometimes.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Well, you all are going to have a miserable time together, I imagine.” Frances winked at her husband. “Let me take a photo.”

“Cayden,” Lillian called, beckoning him over. “Come over here.”

“Nah, just let it be you two.”

“No way. Come here.”

“Come on, buddy,” Andrew called, sounding like he was talking to a baby.

Fine, he thought, and joined the other two on the bed. Putting his arm around Lillian, he smiled for the photo. Frances was obviously aiming the camera much too high, and looking just above the top edge of her glasses was not seeming to help her eyesight.

This is a special day, he thought, and stood up. “Hey, you two,” he said to Andrew’s parents, “go get in the photo. I’ll take it.”

“Are you sure?” Frances asked, obviously thrilled, and didn’t wait for an answer. She grabbed her husband’s wrist and pulled him into the photo. It took a minute for Cayden to instruct them where to move so the photo would come out better than a simple hospital snapshot; he could see that Andrew’s parents were impressed with his photo skills. I guess being around Katharina has taught me a few things, after all. He smiled to himself as he counted down from three, taking a couple of photos.

“Hey, Lillian,” Andrew said, looking at her with a sudden beaming grin on his face, “remember how you and Amelia and I used to do that stupid pose?”

Lillian’s eyes lit up. “Oh, my gosh. I totally forgot about that. Cayden, take another one!”

“What pose?” Frances asked.

“Just some stupid thing we used to do,” Andrew answered.

“Can we stay in the photo?”

“Yeah, you and Dad stay in! Just do something dumb.”

Cayden counted down, and at the last second Andrew and Lillian burst into ridiculous faces that were so contorted they barely looked like themselves. The photo made them look even worse, and even though Cayden didn’t understand it he knew it meant a lot to Lillian. She and Andrew were bringing up inside jokes to each other, and his parents clearly didn’t understand any of it. Tanner shrugged at Cayden, who handed the phone back to Frances.

“I’m guessing you’re the adult in some situations,” she joked, and scrolled through the photos he had taken. “Oh, they look so terrible in these!”

“They’re having fun, Frances,” droned Tanner.

“The good ones are here.” Cayden pressed a thumbnail on her camera roll, which was full of accidental pocket photos.

“These are much better. I think I’ll get this one developed.”

“Get them both developed,” Tanner said. “Make sure everyone looks good and not just you.”

Frances stuck her tongue out at her husband and turned to Cayden. “Thank you. It’s the first family shot we’ve had in...” She paused to think, but the pain on her mind was apparent. “Well, it’s been a long time.”

“No problem. I’m glad I was able to be here with all of you.”

“We’ll see you when we come back from Europe, right?”

He nodded. “Of course.”

Tanner took a step forward and shook Cayden’s hand. “Thank you for helping take care of our boy.”

“I’m glad to be able to help.” He flashed his best smile and didn’t think about Andrew staying with Lillian for such a long time.

A couple of nurses walked in with a wheelchair. As they started to brief Lillian on some appointments they had made, Cayden went out to the car and pulled it to the front of the hospital. As it turned out, Cayden had been correct in his strategy of getting Andrew situated in the car with no problem; once he was in, Cayden looked at Lillian, whose face held a tint of red. He winked, and Lillian had to turn away to hide her blush.

They all said their last goodbyes. Andrew’s parents stood on the curb and waved as Cayden drove away. Lillian immediately began going through Andrew’s list of appointments and materials the doctor had given her. For the next half hour Cayden zoned out, focusing on the road. There was a little period of silence until Lillian turned the radio, elated to find an ‘80s rock station.

He glanced in the rearview mirror and saw Andrew slumped against the side of the car, a pleased smile on his tired face as he watched Lillian put on a show to the music. Cayden had seen her happy before, but never like this. The stressed-out Lil he was all too familiar with seemed to be completely missing, replaced by this happy-go-lucky, youthful spirit.

You made the right decision, he told himself, cranking up the volume, and knew he meant it as much about being with Lillian as he did about accepting her request to help with Andrew’s recovery.

Cayden pulled the car into Lillian’s driveway and helped Andrew get out. Using his crutches took a bit of practice, but he made his way into the house smoothly. As soon as the door opened Lillian’s cats swarmed them, and she had to pick them up to get them away from Andrew’s crutches.

“I guess they missed you,” Andrew noted as he focused his eyes on the floor, making sure each step was solid.

“It appears so,” she replied, rubbing her face against the attention-starved cats. “You were taken good care of by your cat babysitter, weren’t you? Weren’t you?”

Cayden stepped around Lillian to get to Andrew. “We’ll let her have her moment with her babies,” he said. “Let’s get you settled in the other room.”

“Well,” Andrew said as they walked slowly down the hallway, “normally when I visit a place, I’m pretty confident that I won’t be high maintenance. This is going to take some getting used to.”

For both of us, Cayden thought. “Don’t worry about it. Between Lil and me, you’ll be up and running in no time. No pun intended.”

Andrew fist-bumped Cayden and gently set himself on the bed. “As long as there are no tripping hazards, I think everything will be okay. And the shower is a walk-in, so that’s good.”

“What do you have to do with your crutches when you shower?”

“I forgot what the official instructions are, but my plan was to tape a trash bag over them if they aren’t waterproof already.”

Cayden grunted. “I don’t know. I’ve never been on crutches.”

“Hey, guys,” Lillian yelled from across the house. “I’m going to clean up in here. The cats spilled their food everywhere.” Her voice faded as she walked into the kitchen where she kept the cats’ food bowls.

“So, you’re gonna be my new personal trainer, huh?” Andrew flexed his bicep. “I hear you charge a pretty penny. I should be honored Lil talked you into it.” He cleared his throat. “Thanks, by the way.”

“That’s the plan.” Cayden moved an extension cord out of the way, trying to figure a way out of the awkward moment. “Anything in particular you want to work on?”

“I haven’t given it much thought, really. I’ve never been a gym type of guy. I always got up for a run in the morning.”

“Even recently?”

Andrew grimaced. “Not so much in the past few months. I’ve been moved around at work and have worked more late nights in the last six months than I have my entire career. I was about to get switched to a different, higher-up position where my hours would be better—then this happened.”

Cayden nodded. “Have you worked out or exercised at all in six months?”

“A little. Not much. Mostly just some light stuff at home. I have a pull-up bar and some dumbbells. That’s it.”

“That’s all right. At least you’ve had some activity. Your body is able to heal better if you’re in shape. That might account for why you’re doing as well as you are now.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, man.” He leaned against the doorframe. “It definitely has a lot to do with healing.”

“That’s great to hear. No wonder people love to work with you.”

“What do you mean?” Cayden wondered what Andrew knew about his work.

“Lillian says that you’re exploding in Los Angeles. Everyone wants a piece of you in their gyms.” He chuckled. “Sorry, that came out wrong, but you know what I mean.”

“She talked about my work in Los Angeles?”

“Yeah. It wasn’t a lot, I think you were out getting coffee or something. And she told me about you working with a lady there, one who’s your client. Seems to me Lily had a blast over there.”

“Yeah, I think she did. Katharina really loved her. I mean, who doesn’t love her, but Katharina really took a liking to her. Even called a friend up one day who didn’t want Lil to fly back home. Wanted her to go fix their house up immediately.”

“Dang.” Andrew thought for a minute. “She’s something else. Do you think she’ll go back to work with other people?”

“I hope so. At least sometimes. Even in just a few days, word spread fast. Katharina is high-end and has a lot of friends already dying to meet Lil.”

“That would be awesome. I wonder if she’ll end up expanding her business one day.”

Cayden shrugged. “Who knows? I don’t think she’s thought about it yet. At least, she hasn’t mentioned anything to me about it.”

They stood in silence for a few moments. Both staring at anything but each other.

“Well,” Cayden said, straightening, and popped his knuckles, “do you need anything?”

“I think I’m going to get some shut-eye for a little while.” He sighed, propping his crutches against the wall. “That sounds so lame.”

“Hey, healing happens during sleep, too. Don’t push yourself too hard.”

Andrew smiled. “Thanks, man. I’ll see you two later.”

Cayden shut the door, and walked to the kitchen in search of Lillian. He found her standing at the counter, trying to read something on her phone but being harassed by Gray Cat.

“Hey,” he said in a deep, smooth voice, startling her.

“Well, hey.” She scanned his body. “Andrew okay? I heard you two talking and decided not to bother you.”

He walked close to her and put his hands on her hips. “We were talking about you, actually.”

“Me?”

Her smile was infectious and spread to his own lips. “Yeah, about how successful you are.”

“Stop it!”

“He’s taking a nap now. I figure we should let him rest and wake him up later for dinner.”

“Sounds good.” She stood on her tiptoes to kiss him. “What should we do until then?”

Cayden looked around. “It feels like forever since we’ve been here. I wonder if we should christen it—again.”

Lillian licked her lips. “That’s the best idea I’ve heard all day.”

***

THE NEXT AFTERNOON was the type of quiet that only the fall can bring. The cats were sleeping, per usual, but this time Cayden had joined in. Lillian had been getting work done on her computer, and when she took a break she went looking for Cayden and found him asleep on the couch, feet propped up on the ottoman and phone in one limp hand. One of the cats was curled on top of his stomach and the other against his legs. He, of course, had no idea that she stood there, smiling at the sight, glad that Andrew was resting and recovering in the next room, before she quietly went outside for some much-missed quality time with her book.

He slowly woke up after about half an hour, surprised to see that the phone had not fallen out of his hand. He unlocked it and saw the email he had been in the middle of writing to a client back in Los Angeles. Giving himself a minute to fully wake up, he typed the rest of it. Neither of the cats showed any sign of waking up. Black Cat was drooling a little.

He sent the email and opened his texts. There was only one unread one, much to his delight. It was from Katharina.

Hi, handsome. How are you?

Everything is fine, he typed back. Lil’s friend is okay. He’s here at her house now. She’s taking care of him until he recovers.

Katharina typed back in an instant. Her friend? I thought it was her brother?

Cayden wondered how to explain it simply. He’s not a blood relative. They’ve known each other since they were kids. He’s like her brother.

He could see on the message that Katharina started to type, then stopped, then started and stopped again. A voice recording came through. “This is easier,” she said. “I was wondering when you are coming back. My gym misses you, and so do my friends. Please tell me it will be soon.”

I just sent an email to a client about coming back, he responded by text. He didn’t like talking into the text app. Looks like I’ll be coming back to the city for a few weeks. Home on the weekends, I guess.

You have a lot of clients here. Do they all want you to find replacements?

Most of them, he replied. It shouldn’t take long, but we’ll see how it goes. It’ll be good to come back. I don’t want to commit to the gym here until everything is taken care of over there.

Tell me as soon as you are back. I miss you.

Cayden winced. He knew Katharina talked like that to everyone, but it still made him cringe. Will let you know. See ya, he typed back, not sure what else to say.

In the other room, he heard one of Andrew’s crutches fall onto the floor. Gently pushing the cats aside, he walked down the hall to see if Andrew needed help. He was sitting up in bed, taking a long swig of water.

“Lil and her water,” Cayden laughed.

Andrew nodded and swallowed. “I’m not complaining. Is she around?”

“I don’t know. I’ll go find her.”

“It’s okay. She’ll show up sometime.”

“Nah, I need to find her anyway. I’ll send her in here.” He walked away, listening for any noises in the kitchen or her work area. Everything was silent.

She must be outside, he thought, and opened the back door. Sure enough, there she was on the porch, sitting with her book.

She looked up. “Hey, sleepyhead.”

He closed the door behind him. “Tell that to the cats. They’re half-dead in there.”

“Shocker!”

Cayden propped himself on the railing. “I fell asleep sending some emails. Katharina texted, too.”

“Your Los Angeles people missing you?”

“Something like that.” He looked at the ground. “There are some things I need to take care of back there. I’m thinking it’ll take a few weeks to get everything done.”

Lillian’s face fell. “You’re going to be gone for that long?”

“No, I don’t think so. Probably just a few days at a time. It depends on what I’m handling on which week, but I won’t be gone for most of the time. Not like last time.” He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “Just think of it like a few small business trips until I’m home full time.”

“That sounds better.” She bit her lip. “I hate this distance thing.”

“I agree.”

“When are you heading back?”

“They want me day after tomorrow. It’s short notice, but when they’re offering to pay for the flight my schedule is completely open.” He winked. “This one won’t be a long trip, I think. I’ll definitely be back by the weekend.”

“Okay. Are you taking a lot back there?”

“Just a couple of changes of clothes. I’ll start bringing stuff back.”

“Staying in your little place by Janine’s?”

“Of course.” He chuckled. “Janine is still in denial that I’m leaving.”

“Even though she’s working with the new trainer?”

Cayden smiled. “Yeah. Can’t help but leave such a big impression on some people.”

“Your ego is showing.”

“I’m fully aware of that,” Cayden replied lightly. He straightened and looked over at his house. “I need to go straighten up my place and find a bigger bag to take back.”

“I have some bags.”

“It’s okay. I’ve got one in there somewhere. It might be in the attic. I might need to hire you to help me organize my storage.”

“I’ll help you for free under one condition.”

Cayden raised his eyebrow at her, and her mischievous expression got his blood pumping. “Stop tempting me,” he said, standing up. “We can discuss this later.”

“Preferably non-verbally,” she purred. “Walk away now, I want to look at your butt.”

“You’re insatiable!” he called, heading over to his place. “By the way, Andrew wants to see you.” He put his hands on his hips and shook his derrière exaggeratedly from side to side as he walked.

Lillian laughed. “I want to see that again later. Might try to record it, too.

“Good luck,” he called as he disappeared between the hedges.