Page 79 of Fallen Hearts

“You sure about that?”

“I am.”

“Consider it considered,” I said.

“Great.”

So far, so good. Better than good, actually.

“So possibility one, I sell. But if that happens,” I added, already having decided for Friday’s meeting, “you and Esther stay on as a condition of the sale. At least for a period of time that works for all of us.”

Pia’s brows raised. “Quite a turnaround from being fired on the spot.”

“So kind of you to remind me,” I said, lighting the candle on the island. Pia liked candles and always had one burning in her office. Sitting here, finishing our wine after dinner, was nice.

Really nice.

“Alright, so what else. You go back to the city. Heritage Hill, hopefully, remains in the Bennett family. That’s scenario one.”

When she said “remains in the Bennett family,” a twisting in my gut to imagine it otherwise almost made me want to cancel the appointment Friday. How could I ever sell my dad’s inn? Especially now that I had a viable alternative. Pia would be a fantastic innkeeper. Better than me, actually.

Shaking it off, I dove into scenario two. “I stay. We don’t work out.”

“Awk-ward,” she said, laughing. “I’m kidding. Obviously that was the risk we took jumping into this. Whatever this is. We’ll just have to be adults about it. If Hollywood actors can kiss their coworker exes, I’m sure we can manage, right?”

“Kiss their… never mind. That is the big risk here. But I’d like to talk about the ‘whatever this is’ part of your equation.”

“Shoot.”

“I don’t share.”

Clearly, she hadn’t been expecting that. “As in, like a threesome?”

“As in,” I clarified, “at all.”

“I see.”

“Is that a problem?”

She thought about it for a second. “Only inasmuch as ‘sharing’ implies dating other people. And if we’re not dating other people…”

Pia let that one hang out to dry. But I also didn’t want her to get the wrong impression. “I’m not talking about something serious between us. We can keep it casual. I can’t tell what the future will bring. But in the meantime, I’m not the kind of guy to be intimate with more than one woman.”

“So exclusive, but not serious.”

“Exactly.”

“And if you do move?”

“Obviously that changes things. I wouldn’t expect either of us not to date.”

“Do you have any idea how confusing all of this is, Mason?”

“Seems pretty straightforward to me.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

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