Ashley
I paced across my living room, rehearsing words I'd turned over in my mind for days. He would be arriving any minute.
We'd been rebuilding our connection slowly over the past few weeks, careful conversations over coffee, long walks through the park where we once picnicked, text messages that stretched late into the night. Each interaction had been healing, revealing the man I'd fallen in love with before everything fell apart.
My phone chimed with a text: "Downstairs. Should I come up?"
I smiled at his consideration. Even in the small things, Zach was showing me how much he'd changed.
"Yes, please. The door's unlocked," I replied, my heart quickening.
I'd prepared a simple dinner, nothing elaborate, just his favorite pasta dish with the basil from my windowsill garden.
Cand
