What is the reason she said we need to make the default assumption that nothing will work between us?

Am I being pushy by wanting to talk it out more?

Do I even want to talk? Or do I want to kiss away her doubts until she agrees to stay here forever?

And if she did stay, would she end up being resentful of me?

I shake my head sharply as I slip from the back room. No point in interrogating myself like this.

I nearly knock into Lynn.

“Oh, there you are,” she huffs. “You weren’t trying to escape without talking to me, were you?”

She narrows her eyes and puts on her most fierce expression.

I laugh but shake my head. “I wouldn’t think of it.”

“Ahh, I see.” She puts her hands on her hips. “That means you were just trying to avoid Catherine.”

“Lynn—”

“No, no. Don’t you start saying I don’t know what I’m talking about.” She wags a threatening finger at me. “I know what’s going on. You want to kiss her in the rain and make love in the ocean.”

My eyes bug out of my head. “Lynn!”

She gives me a sly wink. “Hey, I know these sorts of things. Don’t deny it. You want a honeymoon on the beach.”

“I don’t know about that. And stop talking about it, Catherine and Katherina will hear you,” I hiss.

“No, they won’t.”

“Yes, they will.”

Lynn rolls her eyes at me. “I sent them into town for pizza and ice cream. So say thank you that I managed to get this time for us to talk alone.”

I sigh. “Lynn—”

“George.”

She looks so stern I can’t help but chuckle. “Okay. Thank you, Lynn, for making time for us to speak alone.”

Lynn nods once in satisfaction. “Right. Now come help me get the turkey out of the freezer. I’m going to thaw it out for tomorrow’s supper. While we’re doing that, you can tell me what’s going on with you and Catherine. She’s not wearing her ring.”

I wince. It’s in my toolbox. “We had a… well, a discussion.”

“About?” Lynn prompts.

“How she doesn’t want to stay in Sandburrow. And how my feelings are too real for us to play the charade any longer,” I mumble.

Lynn opens up the deep freezer. “I see.”

I have to rifle around through the massive amounts of food to find the turkey she wants. Once I pull it out, she frowns at me.

“Where do you want it?”

“In the fridge in a roaster.” Lynn shakes her head as she guides me back to the kitchen. “I was afraid that something like this would happen.”

I wince. “We’re handling it like adults. You won’t have any reason to have to pick sides.”