The kitchen still smelled of the seared beef and rosemary, the warmth of it hanging in the air even as the evening pressed against the windows. Elara worked the dish towel over the same glass for the third time, her gaze drifting to the counter where Bryce had left his phone face-up. The screen was dark, but she knew what sat beneath it—the last notification from Holly, still visible in the preview, three words that had changed the temperature of the room.
Bryce stood at the sink with his hands submerged in the dishwater, motionless. The sponge hung forgotten between his fingers, and he stared past the window to where the barn stood against the dusk. He hadn’t moved in a while.
“What did she say?” Elara asked.
Her voice was soft, but not gentle. It carried the weight of a question she’d been holding since the phone had buzzed and Bryce had gone quiet reading it.
He blinked, coming back to himself. Water dripped from his fingers onto the drainboard.
“They want to come.”
“All three?”
“All three.” He turned, drying his hands on his jeans. “Holly talked to Luke and Erin. They want to meet us.”
Elara set the glass down, then picked it up again, found a smudge, and wiped it. The glass was clean. Had been clean for minutes.
“That was fast.”
“She was always quick.”
The words hung between them, and Elara felt the shape of something old in them. She knew Bryce had history with Holly—knew it in the way you know a fact without ever having seen the evidence. The brown leather set in the barn cupboard had been Holly’s first, then Tessa’s, then hers. That was a lineage that meant something.
“How long has it been?” she asked.
“Since we talked properly? Years.” He leaned back against the counter, arms crossed. “We’d catch up every now and then, but not properly.”
“But you called her yesterday.”
“I called her because you asked me to.”
That landed. Elara set the glass down for good and picked up the towel, folding it once, twice, three times, giving her hands something to do.
“And now they’ve all said yes.”
“They’ve said yes to meeting us.” Bryce’s mouth curved, almost a smile. “Holly made that distinction pretty clear.”
“Good.”
The phone buzzed again, face-up on the counter, and they both looked at it like it had spoken.
“She’s still typing,” Bryce said.
“What else did she say?”
He picked up the phone and read the message.
“Luke and Erin want to know what they’re walking into.”
“That seems reasonable.”
“She told them what I told her. That it starts with meeting us. Dinner. Talking.”
“And the barn?”
“She told them why we contacted her.”
Elara stopped folding the towel.
“Everything?”
“No.” He set the phone down. “Enough. She said the details were ours to share.”
Elara nodded.
“That sounds like Holly.”
“Yeah.”
There was something in his voice then, a note of old familiarity that Elara filed away for later. Not jealousy. Just a reminder that he had a history she hadn’t been part of. A version of Bryce that had existed before either of them knew what they would eventually become.
“What do you want to do?” she asked.
Bryce was quiet for a long moment. He looked at the phone, then at her.
“I want to see her,” he said finally. “I want to meet Luke and Erin. See who they are together.”
“And see who Holly is now.”
His eyes met hers.
“Yeah.”
Elara nodded slowly.
“Then we meet them.”
Bryce reached for the phone again, but Elara stopped him.
“Not yet.”
His hand stilled.
“We need to talk about her.”
“Holly.”
“Yes.”
He leaned back against the counter again.
Elara put the towel down.
“Before she comes here, I want to talk about her history with you. About what she means to you. About what either of us might feel when she walks through that door.”
Bryce didn’t answer immediately.
Elara waited.
“I don’t know what I’ll feel,” he said finally. “I haven’t seen her in years. Not properly.”
“But she was part of your life.”
“She was.”
“And important.”
“Yes.”
Elara watched him.
“How important?”
Bryce rubbed the back of his neck.
“We were together. You know that.”
“I know.”
“We cared about each other.”
“That isn’t quite what I asked.”
“No.”
He looked toward the dark window for a moment.
“I think I loved her.”
Elara let the answer sit.
Bryce looked back at her.
“You okay?”
“Yes.”
“You don’t have to say that because it’s the sensible answer.”
“I know.”
She stepped closer.
“I loved Grant.”
Bryce’s mouth shifted.
“That’s different.”
“Careful.”
He almost smiled.
“I mean—”
“I know what you mean.” She put a hand against his chest. “Whatever happened later doesn’t mean I didn’t love him once. I’m not asking you to pretend Holly meant nothing just because you’re married to me now.”
“I wouldn’t.”
“Good.”
His hand covered hers.
“I’m not afraid of her,” Elara said. “I just want to know what we’re walking into.”
“I don’t know yet.”
“That’s alright.”
Bryce studied her face.
“You really aren’t bothered?”
“By you having loved someone before me?”
“By it being Holly.”
Elara thought about it.
“No. But seeing her again might bring things back.”
“It probably will.”
That answer was immediate.
Elara raised an eyebrow.
Bryce shrugged.
“Memories. Familiarity. Whatever’s still there.”
“And if there’s more than that?”
“Then we talk about it.”
Elara’s thumb moved against his shirt.
“Before you do anything stupid.”
“Preferably.”
She laughed softly.
“Good.”
The phone buzzed again.
Bryce looked down at it.
“Holly?”
“Yeah.”
“What now?”
He read for a few seconds.
“She wants to know if we’re free Saturday.”
“This Saturday?”
“Yeah.”
Elara glanced toward the calendar without really needing to.
“We are.”
“She said they can come up for the weekend. Saves them driving all the way back after dinner.”
“A weekend.”
Bryce looked at her.
“We don’t have to say yes.”
Elara picked up the dish towel again, then put it back down.
“I want to meet them.”
“So do I.”
“But I want to meet them before we agree to anything else.”
“Of course.”
“I want to see them together. See how they are with each other.”
Bryce nodded.
“And I want them to see us the same way.”
“They will.”
“No promises about the barn.”
“No.”
“No promises about anything.”
“No.”
Elara looked at the phone.
“Tell her Saturday.”
Bryce unlocked it.
“All three?”
She gave him a look.
“All three.”
He typed.
The reply came before he could put the phone down.
Bryce read it and smiled.
“What?”
“Holly says Luke will bring beer, Erin will bring dessert, and she’ll bring herself.”
Elara laughed.
“That sounds about right.”
Bryce set the phone down.
Saturday.
Elara picked up the glass again, stared at it, then finally put it into the cupboard.
Bryce watched her.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Bullshit.”
He smiled.
Elara folded the towel and set it beside the sink.
“Saturday.”
“Saturday.”
Outside, the last of the light had gone.