There was an immediate, disarming gravity to him. He wasn’t like the men she’d dated before—men who filled silences with noise and bravado. Steve listened. When she spoke of her mundane job as an accountant, his gaze never wavered, as if her balance sheets were the most fascinating stories he’d ever heard. They talked for hours, a bubble of quiet conversation amidst the cheerful din. He spoke of his love for classic cars and fishing, but when she gently probed about his past family life, a shadow flickered in his eyes, a momentary closing of a door she didn’t yet know existed.