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Seeming to relax, she gave me a short tour, showing me the kitchen, the couch, and the bathroom. Then she took some sheets and a blanket from the end of the hall and told me good night.

From the other side of the house, I heard the sink turn on, the splash of water over porcelain. She was getting ready for bed, and I was here, hearing it all...

The light switch flipped, and then the bathroom door shut. Her footsteps were soft over the creaking wood floors, and then the bedroom door closed.

I spread the sheet out on her couch, slipped out of my boots and jeans so I was in my boxers and a T-shirt, and then lay on her couch. I was tall enough I had to bend my knees to fit. But I could smell her perfume in the sheets, the cushions, and I stared up at the ceiling, feeling more at home than I ever did in my own bed.

14

MAGNOLIA

I wokein the morning to the most delicious smell. And then it hit me. Rhett was in my house. He’d slept here all night. In fact, after I did my skincare routine and went to my room to put on my pajamas, I lay in bed, hearing his soft snores coming from the living room.

I’d tiptoed down the hallway to see him asleep on the couch, lying on his side, one olive-toned hand up on his pillow near his face. He looked younger in his sleep, and for a moment, I could picture what life would have looked like if I’d said yes right away all those years ago.

Figuring out life together.

Laughing over cooking fails.

Raising children and eating dinners with his family on Wednesday nights and seeing my dad be a grandpa on the weekends.

But instead, we were in our early thirties, living separate lives, and wondering if, somehow, we could come back together again.

I got out of bed, my heart feeling heavy as I got dressed for the day in a pair of shorts and a buttery soft T-shirt. I slipped on a pair of Birkenstocks I’d had for years and then walked out to find Rhett in my kitchen, wearing his jeans from the night before with a white T-shirt that hugged his tanned biceps.

His back muscles moved as he bent over the pan sizzling with the food he was cooking.

At the sound of my footsteps, he turn his shoulders and head, sending me a smile that made me weak in the knees. There were those phantom memories again, or rather ghosts of what could have been.

“Good morning,” he said, his voice bright enough to match his smile.

“Morning,” I replied, shuffling into the kitchen. “What are you making?”

He turned just enough so I could see brown balls cooking in oil. “Doughnuts.”

“You can make those at home?” I asked, impressed.

He nodded. “It’s easy. You take some biscuit dough and fry it. I made some glaze too.” He lifted up a bowl and dragged the spoon through the thick white mixture.

“We had ingredients for that in our house?” I asked, going to the coffee pot. He already had some brewed.

As I poured myself a cup, he said, “I made a quick trip to the store. I got you some flowers. They’re on the table.”

I turned, finding a vase of sunflowers already clipped and setting in water. “You remembered these are my favorite,” I breathed, walking my cup to the table and running my fingers over the delicate yellow petals.

“How could I forget?” he asked, already back to cooking.

My heart was swelling in my chest, conflicted but tired of holding back. I sat at the table, taking a sip of my coffee. The sunflowers in front of me brightened the entire house, even my heart.

“I wonder when Cam will be home,” I said absentmindedly.

Rhett brought a plate with little round doughnuts and the container of homemade glaze, setting them beside the flower vase. “Knowing Cooper, it could be a while.”

I reached for a doughnut and dipped it in the glaze. When I popped it in my mouth and chewed, I couldn’t help letting out a contented sigh. “Oh my gosh, these are so good.”

Rhett smiled across the table at me. “As good as a chicken bacon ranch?”

I smirked. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, cowboy.”