“He does. I talked to him yesterday when you were napping. I just forgot to tell you.”

“You talked to him? What did he say?”

Giving her a smirk, I tell her, “He said he was glad you made the right choice.”

She pokes me in the ribs as she whines, “No he didn’t.”

“I swear, he did,” I laugh and then stand up. “Make your phone calls. I’m gonna go get ready.”

Once I’m out of the shower and dressed, Candace walks into the room and says, “Jase is on his way.”

“Did you get in touch with Kimber?”

Flopping down on the bed, she says, “Yeah. Her parents aren’t home, but she gave me the code to the garage,” in a dull voice.

Walking over to the bed, I look down at her and ask, “What’s wrong?”

“She just doesn’t get it.”

“Get what?”

Candace sits up and tells me, “She said that I was throwing everything away. She was annoyed when I told her I wasn’t gonna move back in with her. It’s just hard because she doesn’t know you. All she saw was how upset I was when we weren’t together. She knows that you kept that secret from me, but she doesn’t know how far I’ve come this year and that it was mostly because of you. She never saw how bad it was, and now all she has is this tainted idea of you.”

“Maybe she just needs time to get to know us together.”

“But I feel like she doesn’t even know me. We used to be close, but so much has happened this year, and she wasn’t around,” she says. “I’m just . . .” She drops her head when she admits, “I’m not the same person. I wish I could be, but I’m just not.”

“That’s not a bad thing like I know you’re thinking it is. The cause of it is the only thing that’s bad. But it’s like I told you before, there isn’t a damn thing about who you are now that you should be ashamed of. You’re perfect to me,” I tell her, and I can see that she still struggles with this concept, but I’ll keep reminding her every day if I have to.

We’re interrupted when the doorbell rings, and Candace jumps off the bed, saying, “Jase is here,” as she flies down the stairs.

When I make it to the top of the stairs, she is already in his arms. I smile at the sight of her as I start making my way down.

“So what the hell happened after I dropped you off?” he asks her as I take the bag out of his hand and set it by the stairs.

“I realized that all my worries about leaving were more about my fears of losing Ryan than they were of moving to New York,” she tells him as she sits on the couch, and I walk over to join her.

“So now what?” he asks as he takes a seat in the chair.

“I’m gonna sign with PNB on Monday.”

“So, no New York?”

“Not right now,” she says. “I feel like I need more time here, where I’m comfortable. I just want to put the past few months behind me and have things settled again.”

“You talk to Kimber?”

“A little bit ago. She didn’t seem happy that I was moving in here,” Candace responds as I slip my arm around her.

“I think she just feels left out of everything. All of us have been through a lot, and she wasn’t around. And let’s face it, she has a skewed perception of Ryan, and she barely even knows Mark. And now Mark and I are about to move in together, and you and Ryan are too. She’s just kinda out of the loop.”

“You’re moving in with Mark?” I ask, having had no clue, and both Candace and Jase give me a look as if I should already know this. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I thought you knew,” Jase says.

“How would I have known if you didn’t tell me?”

“Sorry, I guess with everything going on, I just never brought it up,” he says.

“That’s great, man. I just didn’t know, that’s all.”

Candace gives me a smile and then turns back to Jase and says, “Anyways, I’m just not really sure where we stand.”

“I suggested that maybe we should all get together so Kimber can get to know me. You and Mark should be there too, though,” I tell him.

“That’s probably the best thing to do at this point,” Jase says as he looks to Candace.

“Okay, then. I’ll call her later and see when she’s free.”

Jase leans back in the chair and lets out a long breath, saying, “I’m relieved, girl.”

She lets out a giggle when she asks, “Why?”

“Because I hated the thought of not having you here. I’ve been a mess, and Mark has been stuck dealing with me.”

“Mark isn’t stuck. He loves you.”

“Still. I’m just glad that you’re staying and that you’re happy.”

Candace looks over to me and then back to Jase, saying, “Me too.”

* * *

After picking up her car and getting her luggage at the airport, we stopped by the storage unit Candace had rented to keep all the stuff that she wouldn’t have had room for in her apartment in New York. She doesn’t need much since I have everything she could possibly want already at my place, but we picked up a couple of boxes, and now we are shifting things in my room so that all of her belongings have a place.

She’s in the closet, hanging up her clothes, when I hear, “Ryan!”

Rushing in, I see her sitting on the floor, pulling out the canvas from behind the clothes where I had been hiding it.

When she looks up at me, she says, “I thought someone bought this.”

I lean against the doorframe and tell her, “It was me. I bought it.”

As she shakes her head, I say, “Did you really think I would let that hang in anyone’s house but my own?”

“But why is it shoved back here?”

Walking over, I sit down next to her and look at the picture that I haven’t seen in a long time and say, “Because it hurt too much to look at. It only reminded me of everything I lost.” I look at her and slide the picture back against the wall before I kiss her, leaning into her as she lowers herself to the floor.

Grabbing on to my face, she pushes me back slightly when she says, “I can’t believe you bought it.”

I press my lips into hers, dipping my tongue in to caress hers as she fists my hair in her hands. Our lips move slowly together, as she pulls my weight wholly on top of her. She keeps me close, running her hands underneath my shirt and up my back. We move slowly as we lie on the floor of the closet, her clothes strewn everywhere in the midst of combining our belongings. Making this place ours.

We spend the rest of the evening situating her things, but before it gets too late, I tell Candace, “I’m gonna give my mom a call.”

She acknowledges me as she continues to move things around, and I take a seat in the chair by the window while I call.

“Hey, Mom.”

“How are you?”

“Actually, I’m really good,” I tell her, and when I turn, I catch Candace grabbing her pajamas as she mouths to me, ‘I’m gonna take a shower.’

I give her a nod as my mom says, “Well, that’s good to hear.”

“I have some news I think you’ll like,” I goad and she falls into it, saying, “Don’t keep me in the dark. Tell me.”

“Candace is back. She’s moving in with me.”

“What? How did that happen?” she asks in total shock.

“She showed up here yesterday, and we talked everything out.”

“And she’s moving in?”

“She is moved in,” I clarify as I look at all of her things scattered around the room.

“That was quick.”

“It feels like it took forever,” I joke.

“You know what I mean,” she says. “How is she?”

“Good. I think we’re just both so worn out, but I was calling to see what your plans were for the Fourth.”

“No plans really. Why?”

“Candace and I want to come down for a few days. I know she misses you.”

“Of course,” she exclaims. “I miss her too. Is she around for me to talk to?”

“She’s in the shower, but I’ll have her give you a call tomorrow.”

“So . . . how are you feeling about all of this?” she asks in a more serious tone.

“Like this was how it was always supposed to be. Having her here with me. I felt completely lost without her, and now it just feels right again.”

“I’m so happy for you, dear. For both of you.”

When I hear the water shut off, I say, “Thanks, Mom. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

“Love you.”

“You too.”

I walk over and grab her empty luggage off the bed and take it downstairs to store it in the guest bedroom closet before heading back upstairs. Slipping into bed, I don’t have to wait too long before Candace comes out and crawls under the sheets with me.

As she lets out a heavy sigh, she says, “I’m exhausted.”

“It was a long day, huh?”

“Too long,” she says with a breathy laugh.

“So, my mom said we could come out for a visit. She’s anxious to see you. I told her you would call tomorrow.”

“Oh . . . umm . . .”

Seeing the hesitation on her face, I ask, “What?”

She inches down and lays her head on the pillow, and I do the same as we face each other.

Reading her eyes, I ask, “What’s going on?”

“It didn’t feel weird to me until you called her.”

“Is that why you rushed in to take a shower?”

I watch as her eyes drop and I ask, “Tell me what makes this feel weird?”

She moves her eyes up to mine when she says, “Because she knows.”

“Knows what?”

“What you told her about what happened . . . to me.”

Pulling her in close, I tell her, “Please don’t let it make you feel weird. You know a lot of her secrets too, babe.”

“But she doesn’t know that. It’s awkward because I’m aware that she knows this about me.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I hate that people know,” she mumbles as she rests her forehead against my chest while I run my hand down her back.