“Hi, Mia.”

  “Hello, Izzy. It’s nice to meet you,” I returned. “You look like you were having fun with your daddy while running around outside in this warmer weather.”

  Izzy started giggling. “Uncle Brock is my uncle, not my dad.”

  I lifted my gaze to Brock’s and felt the flush creep over my skin.

  His lips twitched. “Izzy is my niece, my brother’s daughter.”

  Nodding my understanding, I said, “I can see the resemblance.”

  “Yeah, she’s got the Benson family genes, that’s for sure,” he said. “She’s a super fast runner, too, which is why I was struggling to catch up with her until she stopped at the sight of you.”

  I laughed and returned my attention to Izzy. It was obvious Brock would have had no problem catching his niece if he really wanted to, but I loved that he built her up the way he did. She was standing just a bit taller with a proud look on her face. “Well, I guess what I’m curious about is why would you be trying to get away from your uncle? Were you playing tag?”

  She shook her head. “No. Uncle Brock was going to tickle me until I told him I liked his plan instead of mine.”

  Interested in what she had to say, I crouched down and asked, “What was his plan?”

  Izzy let out an audible and adorably frustrated sigh. “He told me I have to wait until I’m twenty-five before I can have a boyfriend.”

  I pressed my lips together to stifle my laughter and glanced up at Brock. He shot me a look of helplessness. “My five-year-old niece thought I would be overjoyed to hear about her boyfriend.”

  “You have a boyfriend already?” I asked Izzy.

  “His name is Billy, and he goes to school with me, and we color together all the time,” she shared, the exuberance spilling out of her with every word she spoke. “And we sit together during snack time, too.”

  It wasn’t going to be me who broke this little girl’s heart. At the heart of the matter, it was all just innocent. Of course, I thought it was reasonable to advise her on her uncle’s position in a kid-friendly way. “Well, I don’t see anything wrong with having someone you enjoy coloring with. It sounds like a lot of fun. And it’s definitely not enjoyable to eat alone, so I think it’s great you’ve got a nice friend named Billy to do that with. But it might be smart to also listen to what your uncle is saying, too. I’m sure he just wants the very best for you, Izzy, and waiting until you’re older to start going on dates with a boyfriend is a good idea.”

  Izzy took in my words, considered them, and gave me a nod. “Okay. I’ll do that.”

  I smiled at her and stood up.

  “Thanks,” Brock mumbled quietly.

  “What about you?” Izzy asked.

  When I glanced down at her again, I could see her looking at me, so I asked, “What about me?”

  “How old are you?”

  “Izzy, we don’t⁠—”

  I reached out and touched his arm. “It’s okay, Brock. She’s just curious.” I could have sworn I felt his body tense at my touch, but I couldn’t focus on it too much, because I looked back at Izzy and shared, “I’m twenty-nine.”

  Her eyes widened, and she marveled at me in silence for all of a few seconds. Then she said, “You’re way older than me. You’re old enough to have a boyfriend.”

  Quickly, I pulled my hand away from Brock’s arm, sent a fleeting look his way, and confirmed, “I guess I am.”

  “Do you?”

  “Do I what?”

  “Do you have a boyfriend?”

  Izzy’s question was met with a heavy silence. I pressed my lips together again, but this time, it had nothing to do with not wanting to laugh or smile. It was a nervous reaction.

  Following several beats of awkward silence, I said, “I do not.”

  Something changed in the air. I couldn’t explain it, didn’t know what it was, but I knew it was coming from Brock. I didn’t dare look at him and was grateful when Izzy continued to ask questions.

  “But you’re old enough. Did you used to have a boyfriend?”

  Nodding, I answered honestly. “I did.”

  “What happened to him?”

  I exhaled deeply. “Sometimes, it doesn’t work out, and unfortunately, we broke up right before Christmas.”

  “Did you cry? Were you sad?”

  Gosh, was I really having this conversation with a five-year-old?

  Crouching down once again, I said, “I did cry. And I was sad for a while, because breakups are sad. But I’m happier now. In fact, I was really happy when I saw you running around with your uncle. I’m very happy to have met you today. And I’m really happy for the sunshine and warm weather that’s been here the last few days. So, there’s always going to be sad things that happen, but there’re always happy things, too.”

  “I’m happy when I get to spend time with Uncle Brock.”

  Relief swept through me. Maybe I’d be able to make it out of this unscathed. I reached out and gave Izzy’s tiny hand a gentle squeeze and said, “I think you’re a very lucky girl to get to spend some time with your uncle. He seems like a lot of fun.”

  “He’s the most fun,” she announced proudly.

  I couldn’t help but laugh at the enthusiasm and playful spirit Izzy had. If I’d been feeling any lingering sadness over my current situation, she certainly would have turned things around for me. “I’m glad to hear that.”

  When I stood up once again, my eyes met Brock’s. He was staring at me with such concern in his expression. And there was something else there, too. Questions, maybe?

  Whatever they were, he didn’t ask them, and I didn’t offer any encouragement for him to do so.

  “Well, I should let the two of you get back to your day,” I said softly. “I’ve got to get inside and make lunch.”

  “You should have lunch with us,” Izzy declared.

  “Oh, sweetheart, that’s very kind of you, but I’m not going to intrude on your time together,” I explained.

  For the first time since I’d touched his arm and cut him off earlier, Brock spoke. “We’d love to have you join us. Izzy and I make excellent peanut butter sandwiches, and you’d be missing out if you didn’t experience one.”

  My nose stung as my eyes filled with unshed tears. I didn’t have the slightest clue why I was getting emotional. It had to be the hormones.

  Whether it was the fact I was hungry or hormonal at what I did next, I didn’t know. But I surprised myself when I blinked back the tears and said, “Peanut butter sandwiches sound fantastic.”

  The next thing I knew, I was walking beside Brock while he held Izzy’s hand and led all of us into his house for lunch.

  NINE

  Brock

  “What shape do you want, Mia?”

  The corners of my mouth tipped up as I worked in the kitchen, listening to what was happening just a few feet away from me.

  I never thought I’d see the day when my niece would be in my house talking to my neighbor. And yet, here I was.

  And there she was.

  Sitting at the table in the dining area just off the kitchen, waiting to have lunch with Izzy and me, was Mia.

  She was doing all of that while she was single.

  I still hadn’t quite wrapped my head around that news. Mia had gotten rid of the boyfriend.

  Of course, I thought it was great. That guy didn’t deserve her. But I could understand that it must have been difficult for her. In fact, I hated to hear her admit that she’d been sad and had cried.

  If I had known, I would have done something sooner.

  Granted, I felt an attraction to her, but I wouldn’t have gone in trying to make a move on her. The last thing I’d want is to be a rebound for her. If there was a chance for a real relationship at some point, I wouldn’t be interested in rushing her.

  But she’d mentioned they broke up before Christmas. To know she’d been single for months, that she’d spent the holidays alone and upset, was unsettling. She was that close; I could have been there to help her, to offer some comfort. I could have invited her over for dinner on occasion.

  While I couldn’t go back and change anything, at least I could do something about it now.

  Today, that meant having her over to join Izzy and me for lunch. And my niece didn’t hesitate to make Mia feel welcome.

  “I’m not sure I understand, Izzy. What kind of shape do I want for what?” Mia questioned her.

  “Your sandwich. Uncle Brock has cookie cutters, so we can have fun shapes when we eat our peanut butter sandwiches,” Izzy explained.

  “Oh, well, what are my choices?” Mia asked.

  Izzy hopped down from her chair, which she’d made sure was right beside Mia’s, and moved away from the table and toward the kitchen. “I’ll get them, so you can pick the one you like the best.”

  As soon as Izzy made it to the kitchen and pulled open the drawer where the cookie cutters were stored, I looked up to see Mia with her eyes on me and a smile on her face. Since my niece was preoccupied with what she was doing, I took the opportunity to speak to Mia.

  “Are you okay with just peanut butter on your sandwich?” I asked. “Izzy and I aren’t fans of jelly.”

  Mia’s soft laughter filled the air, the sound of it forcing something to squeeze at the center of my chest. I’d heard her laugh before now, but this time felt different. “I often have just peanut butter sandwiches myself, so that sounds wonderful to me.”

  I offered an approving nod, my gaze lingering on her pretty face for a few extra beats, before I returned my attention to the food.

  “Here are the shapes,” Izzy declared as she made her way back to the table.

  “Oh, wow. There’re a lot of them. Do you have a favorite?” Mia asked her.

  I’d been trying to keep my attention focused on preparing the sandwiches along with the rest of our lunch, but I couldn’t seem to help myself. There was something I liked a lot about having Mia here with us, and I kept stealing glances at her. She seemed to be so at ease with Izzy, which I would have normally attributed to working with kids for her job every day, but I’d learned the first day I met her that Mia was a happy-go-lucky, friendly, and talkative woman. She’d been very outgoing from the start, so what I was witnessing now didn’t exactly come as a surprise.

  “I like this one the best.”

  As I moved toward the refrigerator to pull out a couple of apples, I smiled. I didn’t have to see which cookie cutter Izzy was showing off to know which one she’d chosen. Any time her dad brought her here without packing her lunch for her ahead of time, she always picked the same shape—a butterfly. Unless it was a special occasion, like Christmas or Valentine’s Day, when she’d choose a tree or a heart, Izzy always chose the butterfly.

  “That’s the perfect shape for spring, Izzy,” Mia told her.

  “Yeah. Uncle Brock tells me I’m so busy and beautiful like a butterfly, so that’s why I pick it all the time.”

  “Oh, I was going to stick with the spring theme and pick one of these flowers. But maybe I could find one that describes me better. What do you think?”

  Izzy was quiet for a moment, contemplating her response. My niece was a thoughtful little girl, so I was curious to see what she’d choose to describe Mia.

  “Well, you could still pick the flower, because flowers are pretty. And you’re so pretty.”

  My eyes met Mia’s, and the corners of my mouth tipped up with a smile. “Izzy’s not wrong.”

  A flush crept over her skin, and she quickly tore her attention away from me. “Okay, kiddo. Which should I choose then, the daisy or the tulip?”

  Mia was holding each of the flowers up in front of Izzy. My niece pointed to the daisy. “I like this one more.”

  Mia beamed at Izzy, the smile transforming her. God, she was pretty. Far prettier than any flower I’d ever seen.

  “I think that’s an excellent choice. What about Uncle Brock? Does he have a favorite, or is there one that reminds you of him? Or does he keep his sandwich boring?”

  I began cutting up the apples into slices, and my lips twitched, wondering how Mia would react when she learned the answer to her question.

  “Uncle Brock is always the dinosaur.”

  “Really?”

  “Yep.”

  “But dinosaurs are so big, old, and scary. That doesn’t seem like your uncle, does it?”

  “Well, Uncle Brock isn’t very scary, but he is big and kind of old,” Izzy revealed.

  Unable to help myself, I looked over and saw Mia’s brows shoot up. “He is? He doesn’t look very old to me.”

  Izzy grabbed ahold of the three cookie cutters we needed for today’s lunch, so she could bring them to me. But before she walked away from Mia, she looked her square in the eyes and deadpanned, “He’s older than my dad. And Daddy’s really old, too.”

  Mia glanced over at me again, and it was immediately clear she was trying her best not to burst into a fit of laughter. She was struggling so hard; she couldn’t even respond to Izzy.

  So, once my darling niece made it over to me with the cookie cutters, I took them from her and said, “I’m not that old, buttercup. Thirty-three is still very young.”

  “It feels like it’s the same as being one hundred.”

  Despite our best efforts, neither Mia nor I could hold back the laughter any longer. It spilled out of us, easing any of the tension that had been lingering there for me. I hoped it did the same for Mia. She certainly appeared to be happier than she had been outside when Izzy had questioned her about having a boyfriend.

  I used the cookie cutters, finished the preparation of our lunches by adding the sliced apples to the plates as well as graham crackers, and carried the plates over to the table. As I set the plates down in front of the girls, I asked, “What can I get you to drink, Mia?”

  She bit her lip, forcing my eyes to drop to them, as her body tensed, and her shoulders drifted up toward her ears. She appeared to be nervous to respond to my question.

  Returning my attention to her eyes, I asked, “Is everything okay?”

  “I don’t want you to think I’m weird.”

  My brows drew together. “For what you want to drink? Why would I think you’re weird?”

  “Well, it’s just that I love eating peanut butter sandwiches with milk,” she revealed.

  “Me too!” Izzy squealed.

  I laughed again, feeling something warm come over me as my gaze shifted between Izzy and Mia. Why did this feel so good?

  “I’ve got plenty of milk,” I announced before turning around and making my way back to the refrigerator.

  Maybe it was silly, but I liked knowing this tiny detail about Mia. It made me eager to know even more about her. And if what I’d believed was the case with her, it was likely I wouldn’t have a difficult time making that happen.

  Mia was outgoing, and now that she was single, I’d be far more willing to engage in conversations that went beyond the typical things we discussed whenever we stopped at our mailboxes for a quick chat at the end of every workday. Given her personality, I believed she’d be receptive to those conversations.

  And although I couldn’t be entirely sure about where she stood emotionally now that she was post breakup, Mia had shared with Izzy that even though she’d been sad previously, she was finding things to be happy about now.

  Maybe spending time with me could be something she found happiness in.

  I made it back to the table with three cups of milk, and after I grabbed my own lunch off the kitchen counter, I finally joined the girls and grabbed a seat.

  “This looks wonderful, Brock,” Mia declared.

  I glanced down at the plates, felt a wave of disbelief move through me, returned my attention to Mia, and laughed. “While I’m not what I’d consider a professional chef, I can promise you that my cooking skills go beyond peanut butter sandwiches.”

  Mia smiled at me, lifted her sandwich in her hand, and said, “I don’t doubt your ability with other foods. I mean, this is the fanciest peanut butter sandwich I’ve ever had.” She took a bite, and I couldn’t bring myself to look away from her. Fortunately, she didn’t catch me staring at her mouth, because she turned her focus to Izzy and said, “Your uncle was right. You two make some excellent sandwiches.”

  “They’re my favorite,” Izzy revealed. “And I think they taste better when they are cut into shapes.”

  “I agree with you. This is the best I’ve ever tasted, and you’re so lucky to have an uncle who makes it fun for you.”

  Izzy was five. I didn’t see how it could be any other way than fun.

  The three of us had about a minute or so of silence as we ate some of our food, but I eventually broke that silence and asked Mia, “So, where were you coming from today when we saw you outside?”

  Mia grabbed her glass of milk and took a sip before she answered, “With the weather getting nicer, I thought I’d take advantage and go out for a walk. Not only did I get some exercise while the sun was shining on my face, but I also got to explore a bit more of the neighborhood, since I moved in when it was so much colder outside.”

  “Did you have plans for today? We’re not keeping you from anything, are we?” I pressed.

  She shook her head. “No. Not at all. Or, well, you’re not keeping me from anything fun or important. I do have to get some grocery shopping and laundry done today, but that can all wait until later.”

  I gave her a nod of understanding, but before I could respond, Izzy asked, “Do you have a dog, Mia?”

  A bright smile formed on her face at the sound of my niece’s voice. “No, I don’t. Do you?”

  Izzy shook her head. “Daddy said that’ll be too much work right now, but maybe when I’m older. Do you have any animals?”

  “I wish I could say that I do, but I don’t.”

  I decided to jump in and explained, “Izzy is an animal lover. She always asks her dad for a dog, but I think she’d be happy with any animal.”

  “I want chickens, too.”

  Confusion washed over Mia’s expression. “Chickens? That’s unusual, don’t you think?”

  Izzy was clutching the last bite of her sandwich tightly between her fingers and returned, “The babies are so fluffy and soft. They’re so cute.”