I was seated next to her “boring” twin sister—but her first question silenced the entire table and changed everything I thought I knew.

at him.

“What was the last piece of furniture you made because someone really needed it?”

Silence fell over the table.

Mateo felt as though the question had pulled off his mask. It wasn’t social curiosity. It wasn’t flirting. It was a real question.

“A desk,” he replied after a few seconds. “For a woman whose husband had just died. She needed a place to continue reading …