“And what you want is me.”

“What I want is to see if we can be something we both know we had the potential to be. What I want is to find out if you will accept that I chose you and let me love you now when I chose wrong ten years ago”

Carson’s head snapped up at the word ‘love,’ his eyes wide with interest. Tina turned slightly away, lowering her voice.

“But if you’re not ready for that, if you can’t trust me enough to try, then I’ll respect that. I won’t push, I won’t show up at your office, I won’t make this harder for you than it already is.”

“And if I am ready? If I do want to try?”

Tina’s heart leaped. “Then we take it slow. We figure it out together. We see if two people can really change enough to make it work.”

There was another long pause. When Bette spoke again, her voice was softer, less guarded.

“Where are you staying?”

“Murray Hill. East 35th Street.”

“That’s not far from my office.”

“I know.”

“Of course you know.” There was something that might have been amusement in Bette’s voice. “You researched this, didn’t you? The neighborhood, the proximity to my work, probably the best coffee shops in the area.”

“Maybe.”

“Jesus, Tina.” But Bette didn’t sound angry anymore. She sounded… something else. Surprised, maybe. Possibly even impressed. “This is really happening. You’re really here.”

“We’re really here.”

“How’s Carson handling it? The move, the new school?”

“He’s incredible. He made a friend on his first day, joined the paleontology club, told his entire class about dinosaur teeth. He’s adapting better than I am.”

“And how are you handling it?”

“I’m terrified,” Tina admitted. “But it’s the good kind of terrified. The kind that means you’re doing something that matters.”

Bette was quiet for a moment. “I need some time to process this.”

“I understand.”

“But Tina? Don’t… don’t disappear while I’m processing. Don’t decide I’m taking too long and give up on me.”

The vulnerability in Bette’s voice caught Tina off guard. “I’m not going anywhere. We’re here, we’re staying, and I’m not giving up on anything.”

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Okay, let’s have coffee. Tomorrow after work? There’s a place called Joe Coffee on East 85th. It’s quiet, we can talk.”

“Yes. Yes, absolutely.”

“6 PM?”

“I’ll be there.”

“And Tina? Bring Carson. I want to see how he’s doing.”

After they hung up, Tina sat staring at her phone, hardly believing the conversation had actually happened. Carson appeared beside her chair, his homework forgotten.

“We’re seeing Bette tomorrow?” he asked, trying to sound casual but unable to hide the hope in his voice.

“We’re seeing Bette tomorrow.”

Carson smiled, a genuine but controlled expression of happiness. “That’s good. I missed her.”

“Carson, baby, I need you to understand something. Bette is… surprised that we’re here. She needs time to figure out how she feels about it. So tomorrow, we’re just having coffee and catching up, okay? We’re not asking her for anything except to spend time with us.”

“I know, Mom. Just coffee.” He paused, then added quietly, “But she said yes.”

“She said yes to coffee.”

Carson nodded thoughtfully. “That’s something, though. Right?”

Tina looked at her eight-year-old son, whose understanding of the situation was more mature than she’d given him credit for.

“Yes, sweetheart. That’s definitely something.”

That night, Tina lay in bed staring at the ceiling, replaying every word of the conversation. Bette had sounded shocked, wary, but not entirely unwelcoming. She’d agreed to coffee. She’d asked about Carson. She’d admitted she needed time to process, which was more honesty than Tina had expected.

Most importantly, she’d asked Tina not to disappear while she figured things out. That had to mean something, didn’t it?

Tomorrow, for the first time in ten years, she and Bette would sit across from each other by choice rather than crisis. Tomorrow, they would start to find out if crossing a continent for love had been the smartest thing Tina had ever done, or the most foolish.

Either way, there was no going back now. They were here, Bette had said yes to coffee, and Carson was convinced everything would work out perfectly.

Maybe eight-year-olds knew something about love that adults forgot.

Maybe sometimes, it really was as simple as being brave enough to try.