“Big love?” her grandmother said with a frown drawing her wrinkled brow together. “What kind of nonsense is that?”

“The big, grand love. The kind of romance that you and Grandpa have. The kind that moves mountains and lifts spirits and makes you certain that you can weather anything with that person at your side. The love that makes you happy to wake up to that person every day. I should’ve known I couldn’t achieve that in thirty days. I mean...how long did you and Grandpa date before you got married?”

Elizabeth considered the question for longer than Amelia expected her to. Her lips twisted together in thought before she finally planted her palms on the counter. “A week.”

Amelia sat bolt upright in her chair. “What?”

“Now, don’t you go running around telling people that. No one knows. Your granddaddy and I met when I was working at the university bookstore. He was there studying to be a lawyer. I thought he was so handsome, but I was too shy to speak to him. One day, he asked if I would join him for the football game on Saturday. We went for ice cream. We went out for breakfast,” she said with a naughty smile, “and the following Friday, we ditched classes to elope at the courthouse.”

This was not the story Amelia had been told all her life. “What about the big church wedding? I’ve seen the pictures!”

“That happened a year later. We kept our marriage a secret and told our families and friends we were dating. Months down the road, we announced that he had proposed, and we set the wedding day for our first anniversary. No one but your grandpa and I ever knew the truth until now.”

Amelia didn’t even know what to say. How was it even possible? “But you and Grandpa have the perfect love! The great romance I’ve always strived for. How could you have possibly known he was the right man for you, your soul mate, in just a week?”

Elizabeth sighed and made her way around the counter to sit at a bar stool beside her. “There is no such thing as a perfect love, Amelia, just like there is no such thing as a perfect person. Your grandpa and I had to work very hard on our relationship. Maybe even harder than other people, because we wed so quickly. There were times I wanted to hit him with a frying pan because he kept leaving his slippers where I could trip over them. There were times I’m certain your grandpa wished he’d taken me on a couple more dates before he proposed. But we made our decisions and we made the best of it.”

The cornflake cookies felt like lead in her stomach. It was as if she’d just been told the truth about the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny and Santa all over again.

“In the end, yes, marrying your grandfather was one of the best decisions I ever made. I acted on instinct, on passion, and I was right. If I had overthought it, we probably never would’ve married. We had ups and downs like any couple, but I don’t regret a minute of the time we’ve spent together.”

Tyler’s words popped into her mind. We might end up being totally incompatible, and if we are, we end it and you can go back to your quest for the White Buffalo. The White Buffalo. Magical. Rare. A fantasy. She’d spent the past ten years of her life chasing a myth and she was the last to realize it.

“I think part of this is my fault,” Elizabeth admitted. “When you were little, I filled your head with romantic stories, treating our marriage like one of your fairy-tale books. When you were older, I never thought to go back and tell you differently. I guess I imagined you’d grow up and shelve those fantasies with Cinderella and her glass slipper.”

“No,” Amelia spoke at last. “No, it isn’t your fault. You were right, you were telling a little girl stories. When I grew up, I should’ve realized that there’s no such thing as perfection. When I think about all the men I’ve driven out of my life because they weren’t just so... I feel awful.”

“Honey, it’s possible that none of those men would’ve been right for you anyway. But I wonder about this last one. It sounds to me as if he loves you very much.”

Amelia perked up in her seat. “What makes you say that?”

“The way you described him. The way he did so much for you, even when you didn’t want him to. I know that sort of thing can make a girl like you crazy, but you have to understand why he does it. Moving here on a dime, getting this house, doing everything in his power to make you happy, comfortable and safe... Those aren’t the actions of a man who feels obligated because of the child. Those are the actions of a man so desperately in love with a woman that he will do anything and everything to see her smile.”

Amelia shook her head. She wished her grandmother was right, but it just couldn’t be true. “He’s not in love with me, Grandma. He left. He wouldn’t have walked out if he’d loved me.”

“I thought you loved all the fairy tales with the big romantic gestures? The Little Mermaid, The Gift of the Magi, Beauty and the Beast... In each of those stories, the character sacrifices the most valued thing in their life for the one they love. If you think Tyler left because he didn’t care, you’re a fool. He left, and gave you up, because he thought that was what you wanted.”

Amelia felt the dull ache of regret start to pool in her stomach. Was it possible she had driven away the man who loved her, the man she loved, because she was too blind to see the truth?

And more important...would he ever forgive her?

Twelve

Tyler hesitated only a moment before turning the knob and opening the front door of the home he used to share with Amelia. He could see the lights on in the kitchen, but the rest of the house was dark and empty. “Amelia?” he called, hoping not to startle her. “Hello?”

No one answered, so he traveled down the corridor to the kitchen. Amelia was standing at the counter, her wary eyes watching him as he came in. Apparently she’d heard him but hadn’t had anything to say. Or didn’t know what to say. Either way, she wasn’t about to leap into his arms and kiss him. That was disappointing. At the same time, she hadn’t immediately thrown him out either, so he’d count his blessings.

“Hi,” he said.

“Hi.”

She looked better than she had at the hospital. Her color was vastly improved and she didn’t look nearly as tired. Her hair was pulled up into a ponytail, a casual look that went well with her little T-shirt and jeans. The rest of her was anything but casual. Her whole body was stiff. She had a bottle of wine clutched with white-knuckled intensity in one hand, the opener in the other.

“Would you like some wine?” she offered. “I was just about to open it.”

“Sure, thanks. Let me—” he started, and then stopped. His instinct was to offer to open it, but that was the wrong tactic with Amelia. She hadn’t wanted to be helped with everything when she was pregnant; she certainly wouldn’t want to be coddled when she wasn’t. “I’ll get some glasses,” he said instead.

He went to the cabinet and fetched two glasses. By the time he returned, Amelia had the bottle open. He held them by the stems as she poured them each a healthy serving.

“Would you like to go sit outside?” she asked. “It’s been a pretty warm day. It would be a shame to move out of here without at least taking advantage of the backyard once.”

“Okay.” Tyler followed her through the door to the backyard he hadn’t set foot in since he toured the home with the real estate agent. There was a kidney-shaped pool and hot tub with a waterfall to one side. A fire pit was surrounded by stone benches just off the patio. To the right was a large stretch of lawn that would’ve been perfect for a swing set someday.

The thought brought a painful pang to the back of his mind. Since he’d left the hospital, he’d done the same thing Amelia accused him of doing after his breakup with Christine—he’d thrown himself into his work so he didn’t have to think about everything he’d lost. He’d grabbed his computer and a suitcase full of clothes and toiletries and hopped the first plane back to New York. He’d bypassed his empty apartment and gone straight to the offices, where he’d worked until he was blurry eyed and hallucinating at his computer screen. The next morning, he got up and did it again.