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Alex popped his head into the room just then. “I’m going to go into the office for a couple hours. Do you need anything while I’m out?” he asked Kayla.

Kayla shook her head. “Did you know Tyler played the piano?” She almost sounded accusatory.

Alex looked startled and came all the way into the room. “Where’d you hear that?”

“He played for Jen a few nights ago.”

Alex swung toward me. “Tyler played the piano? In front of you?”

I nodded. “What’s the big deal? Why shouldn’t he have played for me?”

Alex looked thoughtfully at me. “I knew he played. He’s really good. But Jen, he hasn’t played the piano for years, not since his mom died.”

“Well, he said he’s just been too busy with medical school and everything that came after that. Maybe he’s just finding the time to play again.”

Alex shook his head. “No. No one—not Brandon, Mia, me—no one has ever talked him into playing. So if he played, he played for you, Jen.”

I sucked in a breath. I didn’t have a response. Despite all that had taken place between us, Tyler still let down his guard with me. Why would he do that for me but not his friends? It must have been an emotional time for him, and I’d taken it for granted. Of course, I had no way of knowing. But that was kind of like Tyler, I was discovering. He did a lot for other people without seeing it as anything special other than he wanted to do it. He didn’t make a big deal out of it. We were all quiet for several seconds, each lost in our thoughts.

Finally, Alex broke the moment. “Okay, then. I’m off. See you later, sweetness.” He bent down and kissed his new wife lingeringly. Then he turned to me. “Look, Jen,” Alex said. “You and Tyler are both adults, and whatever is going on with you is your business.” He looked pointedly at Kayla before returning his serious gaze to me. “Just know that for whatever reason, Tyler decided to open up to you a private piece of him that he’s closed off to everyone for his own personal reasons years ago. Treat it carefully, okay?” He kissed the top of my head and left the room.

“Wow,” Kayla let out a long breath.

“Kayla,” I took a deep breath and fought against the tears that threatened. “I think I really screwed up.”

She didn’t ask for details, just came over to sit beside me and pull my head down on her shoulder. “So what are you going to do about it?”