“You slept with her, didn’t you?” he asked, sounding delighted.
 
 “Just the one time,” I said. “I made it clear to her that I wanted to take things slow.”
 
 “And how’s that been working for you?” he asked with amusement.
 
 “Pretty well, so far,” I said, without enthusiasm.
 
 “You’re hard up, aren’t you?” he laughed.
 
 I frowned at him. “It’s fucking uncomfortable, dude. It’s like she’s awakened all these…different feelings. Now I think about sex a few times each day.”
 
 “Wow, looks like you’re finally starting to move on.”
 
 I nodded. “Yup, it only took three fucking years,” I said. “To be honest, I’m not quite there yet. But I’m definitely ready to attempt to move on.”
 
 “Good for you, man,” Luis nodded approvingly. “Do you have a clearer picture of her?”
 
 I scrolled through my photo library and found a picture of Kristen playing blocks with Noah on the floor. I saw Luis’ eyes grow wide.
 
 “What?” I asked, glancing down at the picture myself.
 
 Luis looked up at me slowly. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but…she looks a lot like—”
 
 “Daphne,” I finished for him. “Yeah, I know.”
 
 “Oh good, I wasn’t sure if you were aware of that.”
 
 “Honestly, I wasn’t at first. I mean there was something about her that bugged me a little, but I could never quite put my finger on it. Then it hit me the first day that she babysat Noah. She was lying next to this picture of Daphne, and when I saw their faces side by side, it hit me.”
 
 “And how did you take it?”
 
 “Not well,” I said. “Not well at all.”
 
 “Is this just a fling?” Luis wanted to know. “Or are you serious about this girl?”
 
 “At the moment, I’m just taking things slow and seeing where it goes,” I said. “But things are a little complicated because of Noah.”
 
 “I was going to say,” he nodded. “The kid looks like he’s in love himself.”
 
 “That’s pretty accurate,” I admitted. “He loves Kristen.”
 
 “Then you need to be careful,” Luis said immediately. “If he starts thinking of her as his mother—”
 
 “I know,” I sighed. “I’ve been worrying about that lately.”
 
 “What about you?”
 
 “What about me?”
 
 “Are you interested in Kristen for Kristen?” Luis asked. “Or do you see her as a replacement for Daphne?”
 
 The question had me shaking in my shoes for a moment. What was the honest answer? I had no idea, which was exactly why I wanted to take things slow with Kristen. I needed to figure out how I felt about her, once I’d removed her from my mixed feelings about my dead wife.
 
 “I need time to figure that one out,” I said honestly. “This is all unchartered territory for me.”
 
 Luis nodded, but he looked concerned suddenly.
 
 “What is it?” I asked.