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Some of the tension leaves her shoulders when she sees it, and I'm grateful for that. The conversation I'm about to start is difficult enough without her assuming somebody's been injured.

The road stretches ahead of us. My carefully prepared speech evaporates. Every version I'd rehearsed sounds ridiculous now. The logical solution would be to regroup and try again later. Unfortunately, I'm tired of carrying this around.

So I say the truth before I can talk myself out of it. "I'm falling in love with you."

Laurel goes completely still.

The SUV somehow keeps rolling down the road while my heart attempts to relocate itself somewhere outside my body.

Beside me, Laurel blinks. "Wow."

I let out a breath. "That wasn't how I planned to say it."

The corner of her mouth twitches. "No?"

"No. The original presentation was significantly more organized."

"Presentation?"

"There were notes."

Her eyes widen. "Ashby."

"There may have been an outline."

"Oh my goodness."

"I wanted to be thorough."

The words come easier now than they ever have. Carrying them around has taken far more effort than saying them.

"I know Briggs does too. And Torin. We’re all falling for you. Crazy as it sounds…”

She turns toward the window for moment. Then she says, "When I came here, I was supposed to stay a few weeks."

The knot in my stomach tightens a little. "That sounds like the beginning of a disaster report."

Her laugh escapes before she can stop it. "I had a plan."

"That part I believe without question."

"Maggie's here," she says at last. "She needs family around her while she figures out what comes next."

"She does."

"Lucy needs stability."

I nod, waiting.

"But neither of those things actually help to solve my problem."

I flick my eyes toward her.

"Maggie has people now. Lucy does too," she continues, looking across at me. "People leave home all the time and still love their families right?”

Leave?

Fuck.