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"Well, his semester abroad ended, and he went back to Paris I was devastated, of course," she adds, "We shared lots of teary long-distance calls, and then he invited ape "You didn’t go"

"Oh, I did" Mos on a ticket Your grandfather swore he’d disownJean-Claude at the airport in Paris, it felt like thein the world"

"I can’t believe this," I breathe, the salad long-since forgotten "What happened next? Why didn’t you stay?"

"Oh, it was a disaster," Mom says cheerfully "We were craht Jean-Claude ended up cheating on irls I’d only been there three weeks when I walked in on hi out with the woht booked back hoely disappointed "You should never have gone after hiht to Paris was one of the best things I ever did" Moone, I would have spent the rest of ht have been This hen I met your father in that lecture the next semester, I knew Jean-Claude was in the past And I knew exactly what I needed in a real relationship"

"Someone solid and dependable," I reply "Not a reckless bad boy"

"Soirl in the world," Mom corrects , but ould never let me down Your father may not have been as wild as Jean-Claude, but he still--because I kneould always catch ," she adds "But if you can find a ic"

A sob suddenly wells inin Dex’s arms, I’ve never felt safer Totally secure Completely loved

"Oh sweetie" My mom comes and puts her arms around me, and I realize my answer must be written all over my face

"It’s fine," I lie "It wasn’t meant to be"

She tuts at , I’ life" She pulls back, stroking ain "I want you to have a full life, sweetheart, and so a risk with your heart Otherwise you ht wake up and find you’ve let love pass you by, and there’s no greater regret than that"

I shiver, reht I arrived at the beach house That he’d rather regret the things he’d done than the things he didn’t do

I’ve been playing it safethe rules, careful and quiet Evenall ht never love o out and barehurt

Dex de from me: body and soul He didn’t settle for casual, he wanted h to ask me for it

But I was too scared to say yes Too timid to take his hand andI’ve ever known