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But that promise wasn’t hers now. She’d given it up a long time ago.

“Brett, I don’t know what to think when you’re around.”

“I know things weren’t always perfect, but it was pretty close,” Brett said.

Thea took a deep breath. “Right, but I made mistakes.”

“Maybe we could do things better this time. We’re older and wiser and all that jazz. I–”

Thea laid her hand on his. “I know. You’re a great man. I’ve never doubted that, but… what if the past we remember wasn’t real?”

“Oh, it was real. I remember all of it very vividly. I’d have to be dead to forget you.”

Her mouth hung open slightly as she stared at him.

“What?” he asked. “Did I say something wrong?”

“I just can’t believe I’m here and all this is happening. I never thought I’d see you again. I had no idea I was so wrong.” She covered her mouth as her chin shook.

“Why are you upset? Tell me, so I can help.”

“A lot happened back then. It’s just a lot to relive.”

Brett looked around the room until he found a box of tissues and handed it to her. “You okay?”

Thea dabbed at her eyes and wiped her face. She didn’t want to relive her mistakes anymore. “Hadley? Is she your girlfriend?”

Brett made a dramatic show of falling back in his chair. “Heaven help me. If I had a girlfriend, would I have been hanging around you like a lost puppy for two days?”

“Okay. That’s a good point.”

“No, I don’t have a girlfriend, nor have I had anything close to one in the last five years.”

The look he gave her had a fire roaring in her middle. His piercing gaze locked with hers, daring her to look away.

All right. So he didn’t have a girlfriend.

“Hadley is a woman who is strictly a friend. She’s the one who sent the stuff for you.”

“Stuff?”

Brett slapped his palm to his forehead. “I forgot to tell you. She sent a bag of clothes and stuff you might need. I just trusted her to know what to send.” He picked up a duffel bag and brought it over to Thea. “You fell asleep soon after I got back last night, and it slipped my mind this morning.

Thea opened the bag and looked inside. Clothes, a toothbrush, deodorant, shampoo and conditioner, lotion, and the works. “Oh, that’s so sweet. Will you thank her for me?”

“I was hoping you could thank her yourself. I already asked her if she’d be okay living with you. She said yes, and she’s hoping you’ll say yes.”

“You already asked her!” Thea shouted. The deep breath pulled in her chest.

“I was hoping you’d really consider it. I can be close in case you need me. You’d have time to heal. I can keep an eye out for anyone who might try to hurt you again.”

Anyone who might try to hurt her. Who did that include? She didn’t even know the answer.

“Hadley is great. You’d like her.”

She twirled the bed sheets between her fingers. “I’ll think about it. Thanks for putting enough thought into this to put a plan together for me.”

Brett rested his big hand over hers. “Anytime. And I know all of this is a lot for you. So, if I’m…”