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made me hurt for my sister, who was so sweet and always thought the best of everyone she came into contact with, whether they deserved her sweetness or not.
    People apologized when I confronted them about it. They were always quick to make excuses. They just didn’t realize they were making assumptions about her, whether they recognized it or not. They assumed Linnea was less than they were. They assumed she wouldn’t fit in or couldn’t do what they were going to do. They made plenty of assumptions.
    Because of that, the only thing I would ever assume about Sophie was that she would most likely surprise me at every turn.
    “I suppose that’s not exactly true, is it?” I said, once again letting a slight grin creep to my lips. I couldn’t seem to help that when it came to Sophie, the same as when I was with Linnea. The surprising thing was that Paige was starting to have a similar effect on me.
    “No.” The look in Paige’s eyes was one I couldn’t quite place. Curiosity, maybe? “No, it’s not the case. Far from it. So thank you. It means more to me than you could ever know.”
    “I think I do know,” I said. “If someone had done something like this for my sister, I would have done anything I could to be sure they understood what it meant to me. But regardless of what anyone else would do, I felt it was only right.”
    She didn’t say anything, picking up a small dessert plate and putting a few grapes and bits of pineapple on it. My eye once again fell to her hand. Still no wedding ring, not that I’d expected one to appear out of thin air.
    “So if there’s anything else I can do for Sophie, anything you and your husband can think of…” I intentionally left the suggestion hanging in the air, waiting to see if she’d answer the question that was eating me alive.
    “My ex-husband, you mean.” Not only did she answer me but her eyes fluttered up to meet mine. She was flirting with me as much as I was flirting with her.
    I had to hold myself back from doing a victory dance. That wouldn’t be appreciated right now. “Your ex,” I repeated after her. “Just let me know.”
    “Why are you doing this?” Paige asked, popping a grape in her mouth. “Are you really just a good guy, and this is exactly what you say—that you were drawn to Sophie because she reminds you of your sister, and that’s it? Nothing more?”
    “There might be something more.” Fuck, it had been a long time since I’d tried to banter with a woman I was interested in. I was seriously out of practice. With everything else I did in life, I had all the confidence in the world. I knew what I was doing every step of the way before beginning step one, and I never stumbled or fumbled my way through it. But with this? I felt like a gangly fourteen-year-old boy again, with feet that had grown faster than the rest of me that had me tripping over them with every step I took. “There is something more,” I corrected myself.
    “Which is?” She picked up a napkin and folded it, slipping it beneath her plate.
    “The truth is, I’m drawn to you every bit as much as I’m drawn to your daughter,” I forced out. “I want to get to know you, Paige.”
    A smile crept to her lips despite her obvious effort to keep it at bay. “I’m not sure how I feel about that.”
    And that was as good as a punch in the gut—further proof that she already had her hands full without adding a man like me to it. I had no business chasing after this single mother, and I knew it, but damn if I didn’t want to convince her it was a good idea.
    Then, picking up a glass of water, she turned to go back to her seat.
    I put a hand on her shoulder, stopping her, before I could think through what I was doing. In fact, I didn’t want to think it through. I’d acted without planning every tiny detail when I’d invited her and her daughters to join us for the day, and so far it had turned out better than I could have imagined even if I was faltering at every