I can’t bear these huge separations. They’re not good for the girls. They’re not good for me. They’re not good for any of us.”

“I agree.”

“That’s why I want you to at least consider moving back here. You speak Italian. You know the city. You know fashion. This is the perfect place for you.” He leaned forward on the table. “The girls would be happy. I know it. And so would I.”

Her heart jumped a little at the last part. The girls would be happy, and so would I.

What did he mean by happy? Did he ever wish they’d stayed together, that they’d tried to work things out? She wished she had the courage to ask him, but it was such a personal question, one that didn’t seem appropriate now that he was engaged to another woman.

Yet his words made her wistful, nonetheless. Many times she’d thought life would be simpler if she and Marco had stayed together.

What made relationships work? Why did some people click and others didn’t? What could she have done differently?

A platter of antipasto arrived and the conversation stalled while they ate. But once they finished their pasta and salad, and the waiter had cleared their dishes, Marco returned to the discussion.

“There’s no reason we can’t raise the girls together,” he said, intense, earnest. “We both love them. We both want what is best for them.”

Payton pushed her wineglass across the tablecloth. “It’ll just get the girls’ hopes up,” she said after a long moment, her voice husky. “They’ll think we might get back together.”

“Not if I’m married to Marilena.”

“Children don’t understand things like that. They understand Mommy, Daddy. Family.”

He shifted impatiently. “Then we’ll tell them they have two mommies, just like someday they might have two daddies.”

Payton flinched. She couldn’t imagine ever falling in love with anyone else. Even as impossible as Marco was, she loved him. She’d always loved him, from the very beginning.

“I never even asked,” Marco said. “But is there someone else? Has there been someone else?”

Her throat thickened. “No.”

“Too busy?”

She struggled to smile. “Something like that.”

Marco reached across the table and took her hand. Payton shivered at the unexpected touch. “I don’t know how we happened,” he said quietly. “I don’t understand how we started or how we ended, but I don’t hate you, Payton.