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I let out a breath when I found Remy coming up the steps first. Seeing Will’s daughter first was a relief, though the last time I’d seen her we’d both been in slightly compromising positions.

Macy threw her arms around the girl, then said, “I have to show you what Piggy-pop is doing right now,” in a very serious tone. “It’s a little embarrassing.”

Piggy-pop was Macy’s seen-better-days stuffed pig, who Macy frequently put in compromising positions, claiming the toy had done it itself.

“Not again!” Remy exclaimed, palms on her cheeks. Macy dragged her inside, barely giving the teen enough time to kick off her boots and wave at Emma and me. “Hi, Ms. Franco.”

“Michelle, please,” I said. I thought I’d said that last time but maybe I’d been flustered by the whole man in shadows thing—Will, waiting in his car outside to see she got in safe.

The same man who was stepping through my doorway now with two boxes of still-steaming pizza.

My stomach, already wobbly, pulled itself into a knot.

How long had it been since I’d seen him in the flesh? Since that moment in his house, more than a month ago. I’d forgotten how his stubble was flecked with silver. How his crystalline eyes bored into me, making my blood rush at double speed.

This was why I hadn’t asked for him to help sooner. I couldn’t be around him without my body–-my everything—betraying me.

“Michelle,” Will said in greeting. His voice, strangely formal, made something go loose inside me.

“Will.”

This was like that first moment we saw each other again at the park. Like we were strangers but not at all.

Nerves jangled in my stomach. Just get him on his own and ask. How hard can it be?

“Will!” Macy called from down the hall. “Come see Piggy-pop! And no swearing!”

“I better go,” he said.

I’d waited this long. A few more minutes wouldn't hurt. Not unless I lost my nerve.

“I can take those.” I said, reaching for the boxes. Our fingers brushed as he transferred them into my arms, sending something snapping down my arm.

Shit.

“Mom,” Emma said, tugging at my sleeve once Will had gone. “I feel better. Could we watch a movie with Remy while we eat? Just the kids?”

“Emma—" I said, ready to say no. I didn’t want to leave my little girl. Not after tonight. But she wasn’t so little anymore. She’d be nine in a few months. I stroked her hair, so much like mine. “How’s your head?”

“It doesn’t hurt anymore.”

“It’s fine with me,” Remy said from the end of the hall. She’d been leaning against Macy’s doorframe and had popped her head out. “We can let your mom and my dad have some undisturbed alone time, right, Emma?”

Emma scrunched up her nose, not quite getting what Remy meant.

“I don’t—” I began. I did need alone time with Will, just not for whatever reasons she thought I did. “Thank you, Remy. Come and get us if you need anything.”

“We’ll be fine,” Remy said, grinning. She took one of the boxes from me, while Emma grabbed other supplies from the kitchen. Then it was just me, in the dark hallway.

I made my way to the kitchen, my stomach sinking when I saw it. The girls and I hadn’t ventured after calling Will. It still reeked of smoke, and because I’d barely gotten a chance to start cleaning up while we were prepping the food, it looked like an Italian grocery store had exploded in it. Scraps of pepper lay all over the counter and the floor; a charcuterie board’s worth of prosciutto scraps were stuck to the counter, and there was floureverywhere.

I didn’t even have the energy to think about where to begin.

Wine. That would help, in the short term anyway.

I strode to the cupboard I used as a pantry, which was tucked into an alcove across from the kitchen table. The cupboard was narrow, with shelves all the way up. There was a bottle of red I’d stashed in there for emergencies. It wasn’t great wine, but it would do the trick.

Of course, I’d hidden it a little too well. There was no light and I had to get down on my hands and knees to feel around for it amidst the various bottles and boxes on the ground.