As she walked numbly down the hallway toward her apartment with Denny keeping a firm hand on her back, she was surprised to see her sister standing in front of her door, looking at her in concern. “Mark called me,” Ella answered her unspoken question as she got closer.

Crystal winced before focusing on finding her key in her purse. Ella took it from her hand and opened the door. Denny followed them inside and insisted on doing a walk-through of the apartment before coming back to her with a card in his hand. The look of sympathy on his face was almost her undoing. “I don’t need that, Denny. I’ll be fine,” she insisted as he tried to give her his contact information.

He put his hands on her arms, pulling her gently against his chest. “I know you will,” he murmured, “but humor me anyway. One night you might need someone to buy you a beer while you talk about what a dumbass my cousin is.”

Crystal laughed weakly despite herself. “What are you doing right now?”

He chuckled along with her, not appearing in any hurry to leave. When she finally pulled away, she was mortified to realize that she’d been crying hard enough to soak the front of his shirt. “Crap,” she hissed, wiping her cheeks. “Don’t you dare tell him about this,” she threatened. “If he asks, say that I was fine when you left.”

“You got it.” He nodded. “I’ll be the person that you both lie to about how not miserable you are without each other.”

Her sorrow turned to anger as she put her hands on her hips and glared. “This wasn’t what I wanted, Denny. I pretty much begged him not to walk away from me.”

“I know, Crystal,” he agreed solemnly. “It was a rather unexpected time for Mark to be so damn noble. But, in his defense, he’s doing what he feels is best for you. And I’ve been around the DeSantos long enough to know how ugly things can get. For the record, though, I don’t agree with him, and he knows that. He’s been happier since meeting you than I’ve ever seen him, and I think that scares him.”

“Why would he possibly be afraid of me?” Crystal asked in frustration.

Denny looked conflicted for a moment as if afraid of betraying Mark by talking to her. Finally, he shrugged his shoulders and said, “You got past the public Mark to the private one, and he doesn’t let that happen. He has many acquaintances, but no one close. He let you in, though, and discovered how good love could be with someone more than a one-night stand. Then the whole scene happened with his parents this morning, and it hit him hard how it would feel to get even more attached and then lose you. Which he feels like is inevitable due to the fact that they’ll always be crazy and ride his ass at every opportunity.”

“I swear. What is it with you men and this honorable, do-the-right-thing crap?” Ella shouted, shocking them both. “Declan was the same way, and it took me getting hit by a car to bring him to his senses. For God’s sake, if not for being scraped off a bumper, I might still be single!”

“Um—Ells . . . are you okay over there?” Crystal asked tentatively. A glance at Denny showed him opening and closing his mouth as if unsure whether to speak or not.

“Of course,” Ella sniffed. “I’m just tired of the Webber sisters having to deal with this bullshit. I’m telling you, though, if I didn’t like Declan’s guy part so much, I’d go home and cut the sucker off just for putting me through this.”

“Is this some kind of weird flashback?” Denny whispered.

“It may not be safe for you to be here, since you have a penis,” she whispered back. “You’d better leave while you can.”

She saw his hand drop down for a moment and wondered if he’d cupped the family jewels out of fear. “So, I should run along now,” he began as he edged toward the door. “I’m going to leave my card right here, Crystal,” he added as he laid a white rectangle on the coffee table. “Call me if you need anything at all.”

“Thanks, Denny,” Crystal called out as he opened the door to leave.

Looking from Ella to her, he cringed, saying, “Um, good luck with all of this,” before closing the door behind him.

“Damn, I thought I’d have to go after him with a pair of scissors next,” Ella huffed. “Talk about not getting the message.”

Crystal stared at her sister incredulously. “Are you saying that whole thing was an act to get rid of Denny?”

“Well, duh,” Ella snorted. “Although I was serious about men being stupid. Don’t think I haven’t pointed that out to my hubby a few times either. He agrees that he was out of his ever-loving mind back then to consider walking away from me.”

Looking at her normally sweet sister in amazement, Crystal said, “You’re just a little scary sometimes, Ells. And possibly a bit nuts. But I like it, and I sure needed it today.”

Ella closed the distance between them, pulling her into a hug. “I’m so sorry, Crys. If it makes you feel any better, Mark sounded miserable when I talked to him.”

“I’m glad you’re here, but I have no idea why he called you,” Crystal admitted.

Ella kept an arm around her as they walked to the sofa and then collapsed onto it. “He told me briefly that you two had broken up and that he was worried about you. He asked if I could come here and stay with you. So of course, I told Declan to watch Sofia and came right over.” Pushing a piece of hair from Crystal’s face in a motherly gesture, Ella asked, “What happened, Crys?”