Chapter 6
“Now I want to try. To build something that’s more than profitable. Something beautiful.” The way he said beautiful while looking at her made Dylan’s breath catch. “What about you? What made you finally say yes to staying?”
Dylan traced the rim of her glass, gathering words like scattered pearls. “I’ve been running since my father died. Not from anything specific, just from the possibility of loss. If you don’t stay, nothing can leave you. If you don’t care, nothing can hurt.”
“Sounds lonely.”
“It was. Is. But standing in your grandfather’s ruins, seeing what your family built over centuries—I realized I’ve been so afraid of endings that I never allowed beginnings.”
“And now?”
“Now I want to try. To see if I can build something that lasts longer than my fear.”
They sat in comfortable silence, the weight of shared truth settling between them like sediment in still water.
Around them, The Lampstand hummed with Tuesday night life—conversations rising and falling like waves, laughter punctuating the air like birdsong, the ordinary magic of people sharing food and time and stories.