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"We can move We’ll help pack" Abby threw both her ar on "Thank you so much, Liz I love you"

"I love you, too"

Abby rose and spun in a circle, her bright red hair flying around her face "I’!"

Liz reached for her cell phone and handed it to the girl "Why don’t you text your sister and tell her?"

"Can I? Thanks I will This is the best"

Liz wondered how long it would take Abby to wind down enough to sleep Staying in Fool’s Gold Who would have thought? When Ethan returned Tyler, she would tell thehtless, practical proposal The toas sh that she and Ethan could co-parent their son He could spend equal tie

It was, she told herself, the right thing to do

ETHAN STOOD IN TYLER’S ROOM at his house and watched his son sleep After a et peanut butter cookies to bake right and an evening of watching the first two Harry Potter movies back to back, Tyler had fallen asleep on the sofa

Now, as he stared at his son, he felt a warmth in his chest Love was there Real love, born of ti a coht Tyler was everything he’d wanted his son to be--and he wasn’t easy He got the latter from his mother

Ethan stepped out of the roo rooure out what he was going to do next

He otten used to having her in his life until she was gone Heher smile at him He missed her in his bed, but that was the least of it While he would want her until the day he died, the ache inside hi a conversation, hearing her laugh, watching her with Tyler and Melissa and Abby

He wanted her in his life He wanted her to be his faabout her all the tiularly counted down the nuain Both of them had learned a lesson in the past few days Which was probably the point

Tyler had learned to show his mother a littleto him His eyes sank closed as he realized he loved her

What should have been a stellar h the wall He loved Liz He loved her And instead ofto love and adore her forever, he’d offered e as a practical solution

"Oh, crap"

He rolled onto his side, his face in the cushion Talk about stupid

He lay there, htened Fine He’d screwed up He would fix it There had to be a way Liz was a great woht How to be the ain Everything wasn’t lost

He understood what she didn’t like about Fool’s Gold While he didn’t like the idea of leaving everything behind, it didn’t have to be like that He could run his business from San Francisco Make a few trips in a week Maybe they could have a second house here and spend suood co toas she illing to give him another chance

She had to, he told himself He would convince her Soether

The decision made, he rose and started for the front door Halfway across the porch, he stopped Showing up at her house in theTyler home alone So Ethan would wait He could coht

LIZ WATCHED THE CLOCK anxiously Ethan was supposed to bring Tyler home on Sunday It was only a little after eleven At this rate, she would give herself a heart attack in the next hour She needed to keep busy

Both Melissa and Abby had run off to spend theher decision to keep the their joy confirht decision Tyler would appreciate it, too The chance to be with his dad more, and with his family

She’d wanted to call Denise but had decided that Ethan and Tyler should hear it first So she’d spent a restless night and a badwould be iht of cleaning arden tools from the back porch then went outside to see what she could do to spruce up the garden She’d barely begun weeding when she heard so for her

"Mohtened Her heartbeat thundered in her chest as her son burst through the back door and raced toward her

"Moed her so hard, she couldn’t breathe She held on to hi the familiar feel of his body ease her fears that she’d lost him forever

"Hey, you," she whispered, when he’d released her and stepped back She pulled off her gardening gloves and shoved theed her again "I really lanced back at his father and then at her "Maybe I could still live here, you know More of the tied Your dad and I ork things out"

"Yeah?" His dark eyes--Ethan’s eyes--lit up

She stood and ruffled his hair "It’ll be a grown-up thing Melissa and Abby will be back soon and we’re going to the pool Want to get changed and go with us?"

"Sure"

He dashed toward the house, then paused and looked at his dad He ran back, hugged Ethan, then took off again

Liz stared after hiht itself Denise had called it exactly as everything had played out At least froo?"

He shoved his hands into his pockets "Daht about their last conversation How he’d hurt her with his thoughtless words It wasn’t his fault, she told herself Why would he offer more? She’d never bothered to tell him how she felt and now she never would Not when she was staying in town

"Did you two get along okay?" she asked

He shrugged "Great He’s a good kid But there’s a whole lot more work involved than I realized A few hours here and there is easier than taking care of him full-ti as he thought I’d be Regular life taught us both so"