Page 55 of Seven Summer Weekends

She stared at him for a minute longer before offering, “I’ll make you a deal. You can wait here to see if she calls me or comes back for her phone if you help me clean this place out for the white elephant sale next week.”

He agreed. And though she knew it might seem weird to some, hanging with her best friend’s cheater of a husband, Addison knew it was what was best for Kizzy. And that was all Addison cared about right now. Addison was determined to get to the bottom of what was going on with this guy in order to give her friend the proper advice. She needed to explain to him that Kizzy deserved big love—heart-stopping, earthquaking, unwavering big love. Kezia Weinstein was too extraordinary for anything less. And she knew that if Rome were being honest with himself, he wouldn’t want anything less for her.

But first—she would use the extra set of hands.

Apparently hard, mindless labor was just what the doctor ordered, because Rome was all in.

If this had been a few weeks earlier, Addison would have thrown it all in the giveaway pile, but now it felt like her Marie Kondo sensibilities were being choked by sentimentality. She hadbegun to love the aunt she had barely known by living in her home, on her island, among her things, and from meeting the people she loved. As if reading her mind, Rome said, “You can get a fortune for this place, Addison, it’s like you won the lottery.”

The conflict raged in her brain. She did a few deep cleansing breaths and evicted it. Progress.

“Let’s start with the attic. Wanna go up?”

She said it real casual, as if fear were not a factor. In truth, she hadn’t been able to bring herself to open the door since she arrived. She feared bats way more than dogs.

“Sure,” he said.

“OK, let’s get the ladder.”

Addison held it while Rome climbed up. Even from below, she was scared of what may jump up out at them. He put his hand on the lever and let go of it like it was on fire.

“What’s wrong?” she panicked.

He looked down at her from the top of the ladder and admitted, “I’m scared.”

Addison laughed. “Just come down.”

They decluttered the kitchen, with its multiple waffle makers, juice presses, strange-looking items that Rome guessed were potato scrubbers, and air popcorn makers.

“She was like the Noah of kitchen utensils. There are two of everything!” he joked.

She didn’t want to laugh at anything Rome said, but a chuckle escaped her lips and reminded her of what was good about him.

“Can we talk, Rome?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “Why do you want to stay married to Kizzy?”

“What kind of question is that?”

“It’s a good question.”

He didn’t answer until they moved on to the storage closet in the studio.

“You know, I barely remember not being with Kizzy.”

“Yeah, that’s not a reason.”

“Well, I love her. I love her very much.”

“Yet not enough to resist breaking her heart, again, right?”

“Didn’t you love that broken-engagement guy when you broke his heart?”

“Betraying someone you still love and ending a relationship because you’ve fallen out of love are two very different things.” When she saidfalling out of love, she felt like a liar. She wasn’t about to admit to Rome that she may have never been in love before. She had barely even admitted it to herself.

“Mine was the right thing to do,” she added, for Rome’s benefit.

She paused to let it set in. She knew in his heart he would want to do right by Kizzy. He held up a broken clock.

“Keep or toss?” he asked.

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