I hear what Erin is saying, but I can’t make my mind process the words. “You’re breaking up with me?”

This is completely out of the blue. I thought everything was going great between us. I thought that Erin was starting to fall for me as hard as I’ve already fallen for her.

She nods, the gesture driving a knife through my heart. “I have to.”

She has to?  Just half an hour ago, she was holding my hands and giving me all sorts of signals that if she hadn’t fallen in love with me, then she was right on the edge. And now she has to dump me. What the hell could possibly have happened in the little time she was away from me?

I jump on the most obvious answer. “Tracy doesn’t like me.”

Despite her miserable expression, Erin laughs. “Tracy is ready to give you superhero status. Not only have the two of us been together longer than I’ve ever seen another man, but you made my sex life perfect. She adores you.”

So, Tracy hasn’t spent the last half hour bad mouthing me. There aren’t any ex-girlfriends for her to run into. I haven’t noticed anyone here that should have anything negative to say to me.

“Erin, I need to know what the hell brought this on.”

Erin wipes at her eyes. “I just want to make a clean break. Can’t we just say that we had a good time and go our separate ways?”

She wants to make a clean break of things? We live in the same building, which I own! No matter how we handle this, we’re going to run into one another. That’ll be easier if I knew why she suddenly decided to dump me.

“No,” I say firmly.  I don’t know if I’ll be able to convince her to come back to me, but I’ll be damned if I don’t at least know why I’m getting dumped. “I want to know what happened. Why you suddenly want to call things off. I thought you and I were a good thing.”

Erin sniffs and lifts her head. The tears shining in her eyes almost weaken my resolve to make her confess all. Almost.

“So did I, then I spoke to Donna.”

“Donna! This is because of something Donna said?” I’m starting to feel like I’ve somehow ended up in the middle of the Twilight Zone. Donna has always loved me. I would have bet every dollar I have that she’d support my and Erin’s relationship, not rip it apart.

“She told me about Maddie.” Erin’s voice is so soft, I can barely hear her words.

A small lightbulb goes off in my head and I slide off the rail and walk across the gazebo and kneel beside her. “This is about Maddie?”

Erin nods. She can’t stop the tears, which stream freely down her cheek and soak her collar. “I know that this isn’t your fault, but every time you or anyone else mentions Maddie, they always comment on how wonderful she was. It’s gotten to the point where I’ve started thinking of her as Saint Maddie.” Erin shudders. “And I’m sorry, Garret, I really am, but if you and I stay together much longer, I’m going to fall in love with you, but I can’t live under Maddie’s shadow. It’s better, for both of us I think, if we end things here and now.”

I pull Erin close. She resists for a second before melting into my body. I reach up and stroke her hair, soothing her at best I can.

“Oh, honey.” I kiss the top of her head. “I can’t even imagine getting involved with someone who lost a spouse. I know it’s tough, but I can promise you, not once have I looked at you and thought you were Maddie.”

Erin sniffs. “Really?” My shoulder muffles her voice.

“Really,” I assure her. “And Maddie was pretty wonderful, but trust me, she wasn’t a saint. She had plenty of faults.  I loved her with all my heart, and will always love her, but the great thing about love is that it expands, there’s always more to give. I can … I do, love you.”

Erin jerks out of my arms. Her eyes are huge as she stares at me. “You do?”

“Yes.” I stroke her cheek. “Don’t worry, you don’t have to say it back to me. I just wanted you to know that.” Sensing that she’s wavering in her original decision, I decide to push just a little bit harder. “I promise, that if you stay with me, I’ll do everything I can to make sure that you feel like your own person, and if for some reason you start to feel overwhelmed, just let me know and I’ll try to make things right.” I slide a finger under her chin, tipping it up so we can lock eyes. “So, what do you say?”

Erin flashes me a watery smile. “I guess I can try it your way, see how things work out.”

“Outstanding!” The weight of the world melts off my shoulders. I stand up and tug Erin to her feet before wrapping my arms around her and kissing her for all I’m worth.

“How ‘bout we blow this place?” I say when we break for air. “And take this back to my bedroom?”

“I’d say that sounds like a great idea. I just have to let Tracy know that I’m taking off.”

I follow Erin back into the crowd, but decide to hang by the front door, rather than fighting through the amassed horde. Luckily I’m tall enough that I can look over most of the people and watch her progress.

It doesn’t take her long to find Tracy. The two have an animated conversation, hug, and then Erin spins and hurries back to me.

She grabs my hand. “I’m all set. Let’s go.”

Just as we turn toward the door, it swings open and two uniformed police officers step through. One looks at me, glances at something in his hand, and elbows his partner. They both make their way toward me.

“Garret Holden?” The first one asks.

“Yeah.”

“You’re under arrest.”