I made eye contact with her. “Do I strike you as the kind of man to obliviously impede the flow of traffic? I am a very considerate person,” I said. “I will have you know that I do not monopolize the armrests and I help little old ladies get their bags down from the overhead.”

Her expression was an amused one. “Wow. And I suppose next you’re going to tell me that you wash your dishes before there’s mold on them?” She knocked out my knight.

“Of course I wash them,” I said.

“And when’s the last time you washed your pillowcase?”

“Wait… you have pillowcases??”

“And there it is.”

I was chuckling over the board game and she was smiling. Big time.

“What kind of men are you going out with?” I asked, managing to get one of her pawns. “I take pride in my apartment.”

“I could see that about you.”

“Why? Because you’ve cyberstalked me and you’ve already seen all the pictures of it?” I grinned at her.

She moved her queen. “I didn’t see everything online. There is stuff I don’t know about you.”

“Like?” I moved my queen.

She raised her eyes to me. “Like what happened to your dad.”

I went quiet for a beat.

“A drunk driver hit him on his way to work,” I said.

Her eyes went soft. “I’m sorry…”

I kept my gaze fixed on the game. “I never get used to explaining it—which I have to do every time I start dating somebody new. So it’ll be great once we break this curse,” I said, laughing a little.

“I get that. I don’t really like explaining my mom to people either.”

“Yeah. I understand.”

We studied the board quietly.

“You know what I think about sometimes?” she said, raising her eyes to mine.

“What?”

“You know how when something bad happens to someone you love, and you wish you could take it from them instead?”

“Yeah.”

“What if the universe listened? What if you or your mom or the kids were supposed to die in a car crash and your dad said ‘Take me instead’—and the universe did. And nobody remembers the way it was supposed to be because that’s the deal. You never get to know that he’s a hero. The fates are reversed and the tribute takes the thing he asked for to save someone he loves. If you think of it that way, instead of being sad that he’s gone, be happy that he got what he wanted. And that somebody loved you enough to take your place.”

I nodded slowly. “That is actually oddly comforting.”

Her eyes focused on the board. “I’ve had a lot of bad things happen to me, Justin. I think sometimes the key to happiness is framing those things in a different way.”

“It would mean magic exists,” I said.

“It might. Isn’t that why we’re here?” Her lips quirked up. “Checkmate.” She knocked my piece over.

I stared at my fallen king. “I’m already out?”

She shrugged playfully.

I sat back. “You are really good at chess.”

“Are you surprised?” she asked.

“I’m not actually.”

“One of my foster homes had a chessboard and a broken TV.”

“So I got hustled,” I deadpanned.

“Am I the asshole?” She batted her eyes at me.

“No. It was a privilege to see you work.”

She laughed and I folded the board in half just in time for our food.

After breakfast we went to the falls. An hour later I drove her home. I didn’t want to drop her off. It didn’t feel like we’d gotten enough time, but to be fair the whole day wouldn’t have been enough time.

When we got to the mansion, I walked her to the dock, where Maddy was waiting in the pontoon.

Emma and I stopped on the lawn just short of the beach. “So you work the rest of the week?” I asked.

“Yeah. I work the next four days straight. Orientation tomorrow, then right into it the day after.”

“So I won’t be able to see you at all? Can I have lunch with you maybe?”

“I never know when I’m getting my lunches. But that’s sweet that you want to.” She smiled up at me. “It was a very nice date. Can I make a request for the next one though?”

“Of course.”

“Can I meet your dog?”

I smiled. “Absolutely.”

She reached up and gave me a hug. When she broke away, she paused for a moment like maybe I’d kiss her. I was supposed to kiss her, but it didn’t feel right just yet, especially with Maddy standing there watching. But when Emma’s eyes flickered to my lips for a split second, I started to consider it anyway. Then she glanced over my shoulder and sucked in a breath. I turned to see what she was looking at.

A yacht was pulling up to a slip in the dock, a woman waving from the bow.