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“Where did you put her?” Alex asks.

“In her crib,” Vin answers as if it should be obvious.

“Her crib at my house or…”

“Here. Obviously. What kind of uncle do you think I would be if I didn’t have a crib for her here?” Vin shakes his head, his brows furrowed. “She can just stay here tonight.”

“Don’t tell me you have a nursery upstairs?” Madeleine asks, rolling in her bottom lip.

“Of course, I do.” He drops into his seat and takes a bite of his tiramisu. “She needs her own room when she has sleepovers here.”

Alex rubs a hand over his jaw, trying desperately to hide a grin. “Alright. I take it back. You’ve earned the spot as her favorite uncle.”

Vin fist-pumps the air, making everyone laugh.

My knee bounces anxiously, my heart thundering in my ear. No Clara tonight means no snuggles before bed.

And today of all days, I really needed one.

Disappointment rings through me.

Alex rests his hand on my knee, and I immediately still. His touch is always comforting. Grounding. But right now all I want to do is scream into a void while I let my tears have their way with me. Consume me until I drown in them.

“Well.” Alex’s voice interrupts my thoughts. “It’s getting late, and since Clara’s sleeping over, Charlotte and I should get going.” He stands, and I follow suit, smoothing a hand down my dress while donning a faux smile, hoping no one can see the turmoil in my eyes. Least of all Alex.

We say our goodbyes and then walk to the car in silence. There’s a chill in the evening air, but my skin feels engulfed in flames as if I need to jump into the lake to breathe. Alex holds my door open, his eyes on me as I get inside.

The instant the door shuts behind me, restless energy surges through me. I feel trapped inside my own body, with no way out, which makes no sense to me because I haven’t felt this way since I first arrived here.

He sits behind the driver’s seat, pausing for a moment, his eyes staring straight ahead and his finger tapping on the steering wheel as if he wants to say something, but then he shakes his head and starts the car, heading in the direction of home.

The seconds tick by excruciatingly slowly.

Every minute tortures me until I finally see the edge of Alex’s house.

The moment the car rolls to a stop, I don’t wait.

I jump out and run.

My heart beats frantically with each step I take.

Sweat glistens down my back.

I don’t stop until I’m standing inside the greenhouse, my chest heaving with each shallow breath I take.

Closing my eyes, I inhale, waiting for the floral notes to soothe my broken soul, the pieces of me that will never be whole, but it doesn’t work.

Why won’t it work?

I inhale harder and harder.

But nothing can mend the rip in my heart.

Tears run down my cheeks, a sob clawing its way out of my throat, demanding to be heard by the whole world for everything I can never have.

I hear his footsteps from the entrance, the soft crunch over the gravel sections.

I feel his presence behind me.