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Greece.
    I mentioned that I’d always wanted to go on a Holy Land tour. He quickly remarked, “Consider it booked.”
    Our relationship lasted a little over a year. Twice a month he came into town, we’d dine, walk the bay on warm evenings, sit before a fireplace in the lobby of the Harbour Inn where he always stayed when the weather turned cold. He’d often surprise me with jewelry—bracelets, necklaces, brooches—and body lotions, one of my indulgences.
    Then, one Thursday when Garrett was expected into town, he didn’t show. By Friday morning, my mood had reached near-panic. I called Lisa, who reported she’d not heard anything from him either. We both agreed the whole situation was puzzling.
    And frightening.
    I had called Garrett’s cell phone several times by then; it went to voice mail each time without so much as a ring. Later that afternoon, Lisa called with an idea.
    â€œHe puts his stays on his business credit card. I looked it up, and he works for the Cumberland Office Supply Company.”
    â€œCumberland?” He’d always told me he worked for Portland Paper & Office Supply. “I thought he lived in Portland,” I said, not wishing to reveal the rest.
    â€œWell, maybe there’s an office in Portland.” She paused. “Besides, they’re not so far apart that he couldn’t live in Portland and work in Cumberland.”
    â€œSo, what do you think I should do?”
    â€œCall the office. See if something came up. Maybe he’s even in his office. How many times has he left out of SeasidePointe early to make it back to the office before closing so he could file reports?”
    â€œThat’s true.” I chewed my lower lip. “Lisa, do you really think I should? I don’t want him to think—”
    â€œAfter a year, Anise? Seriously? I’d think you have every right. But . . . if you’d like, I can make the call. After all, he missed his reservation without cancellation. I can say I’m concerned, and that will make perfect sense.”
    It was a good plan and I told her so.
    For the next half hour, I stayed busy in the back of the shop while Mom went over a few details up front. I forced myself not to imagine the worst. Like, he was in the hospital, deathly ill from food poisoning he’d gotten at some diner somewhere. Or, he’d been in a car accident. And he was in a coma, unable to tell anyone to call me.
    Or worse, he’d decided we were not right for each other but didn’t have whatever it took to come tell me . . . or even to call . . .
    Over the quiet music of the radio humming through the shop, I heard Mom say, “What’s Lisa doing here?”
    My stomach dropped along with the cluster of baby’s breath I held in my hand. Something was wrong. As though walking through seaweed, I made it to the front, watched the front door open, heard the chime of the bell. Lisa appeared with a halo of light behind her. She wore dark sunglasses, pulled them from her face, and said only one word. My name.
    I fainted, sure by her expression that Garrett had been in a car accident . . . indeed, that he was dead.

5
    â€œAnd was he?” Ross now asked from beside me in the gazebo, where I’d told him one of my darkest secrets.
    â€œNo,” I said. “He wasn’t. When Lisa and Mom revived me and I’d sipped on some hot lemon water, Lisa told me the truth. She’d called Garrett’s office and relayed exactly what she’d said she would. They told her there had been an unexpected death . . . in his wife’s family.”
    â€œHis wife’s?”
    I looked at Ross, managed to bring my eyes to his. “I had no idea. None. There was no bachelor apartment. No life without a dog or a yard or even a goldfish.”
    â€œWhat was there?” Ross’s hand tightened on mine as his other arm wrapped around my lower