Chapter Thirty-Six
ROWAN
The two weeks that passed before Christmas were some of the best weeks of my life. When things finally fell into place for Mae and me, I was flooded with joy. Facing what I had to fight against—to let her handle things the way she needed to—was intensely uncomfortable for me. Yet it opened up a doorway in our intimacy, taking it to a deeper level. As painful as it was to absorb what happened, we were able to build on the foundation of our friendship.
Willow Brook around Christmas was beautiful. Snow glittered under the sun on the mountaintops, and the evergreen trees were dusted with white. The landscape was all winter wonderland.
The very weekend after we made up, I even managed to finish getting that hideous shag carpet out of Mae's house. Life was feeling ju
