Part 3
It wasn’t supposed to turn into anything.
But it did.
Slowly.
Quietly.
Dinner turned into conversations.
Conversations turned into something deeper.
And then there was Lily.
She adored him.
Completely. Instantly.
The first time he came to pick me up, she opened the door and looked him over.
“You clean up nice,” she said.
“Thank you,” he replied with quiet seriousness.
“Are you taking my mom on a real date?”
“Hannah,” I warned.
He didn’t pause. “Yes.”
She nodded once. “Okay. She needs to be home by ten. She gets cranky when she’s tired.”
I wished I could vanish.
He looked amused. “Noted.”
One afternoon, we met in Central Park.
Lily ran straight toward him.
No hesitation.
No doubt.
She took his hand like it had always belonged there.
And he let her.
That was the moment everything shifted.
Not dramatic.
Not loud.
But real.
