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Savannah hadn’t gone into this decision alone. Fallon had been here when she’d made it. She’d had support and hope even when Conrad wasn’t around anymore. And all that was slipping away through her fingers. She didn’t want whatever was between them to end, not before it really got started, but she could understand Fallon’s fear.

But understanding and standing by were two very different things.

“Fallon.” Savannah raised her face to meet Fallon’s gaze. “I understand why you’re afraid, not just of Forrest and the dramatic flair he brings with him wherever he goes, but of me and Brinley and what it means to be in a relationship with a single mother who comes out of a contentious divorce. But I can’t be with someone who’s going to allow fear to run their life and get in the way of making them happy. I thought you were fighting that.”

“I did too.” Fallon dropped Savannah’s hands and stepped back. She shook her head, putting even more space between them. “But I’m not sure if I can.”

“Fallon.”

Shaking her head, Fallon moved swiftly. She snagged her phone first and then her purse.

“Fallon, don’t leave. Not like this.”

“Nothing’s going to be resolved tonight,” Fallon answered, shoving her phone into her purse and then spinning in a circle.

“It can be if you stick around and actually talk this out.” Panic worked its way into Savannah’s throat. “But if you leave, then where does that leave us?”

“Like I said,” Fallon started, her eyes locked on Savannah’s face, “we’re not going to resolve anything tonight.”

“Because you’re leaving. If you’re not willing to even talk this out, then how are we going to figure out anything.” Savannah moved around the coffee table quickly and snagged Fallon’s hand. “Don’t leave.”

“Let me go, Savannah.”

Did she mean physically? Or did she mean emotionally?

Savannah wasn’t ready for the latter. She released Fallon’s hand, her fingers itching to touch again. Touch had always connected them, it always brought them closer together, but now Fallon was pulling away. The one thing that Savannah knew would keep them talking was out of her grasp.

“I’m not ready for this conversation to be over,” Savannah tried again, desperation clinging to her like an old musty jacket that she couldn’t get rid of.

“It needs to be. At least for now.” Fallon’s jaw was clenched so tight that Savannah could see the muscles bulging at the sides. “I need some time.”

“Time for what?”

“To calm down,” Fallon said through gritted teeth.

“So this conversation isn’t over?” Confused, Savannah grasped for straws. She needed something to keep her hope alive.

“It is for tonight.” Fallon grabbed her jacket and threw it over her shoulders, buttoning it before she slid her purse over her arm. “Take care of Brinley.”

“I always do.” Savannah furrowed her brow. That sounded far more like a goodbye than anything had before this. “Let me take care of you.”

“No one takes care of me,” Fallon said quickly.

“Because you won’t let them,” Savannah countered.

“Even so, no one takes care of me.” Fallon nodded firmly and started toward the front door. Her fingers were on the doorknob when Savannah stumbled two steps forward.

“Fallon.”

She stopped, holding her place as she looked over her shoulder and locked her eyes on Savannah’s pained gaze.

“Please don’t let your fear ruin what we have. Please don’t let it come between us.”

“It already has.” Fallon’s lips thinned into a line. “I’m sorry.”

Fallon was out the door and gone before Savannah could form the words on her tongue, the words she absolutely wasn’t ready to say. But they slipped from her lips, making room for the tremendous hurt and frustration that tore through her.

“But I love you.”