For now, for this one magical night, she would pretend she wasn’t afraid to love, really love, a man who wore a badge.

Had Eli told his sister about the hours he and Brynne had spent together, zooming over drifts on his snowmobile, talking quietly at his kitchen table?

Probably not. It probably wasn’t a big deal to him—just time he’d spent with a friend.

Brynne wanted to be more than a friend to Eli—much more—and that terrified her. The last time she’d loved a man, she’d gotten her heart broken, and the recovery—not over even now, she suspected—had been long and difficult.

She was too old-fashioned, that was her main problem. She was sexually attracted to Eli, no doubt about it, but she wasn’t the type to surrender her body and withhold her heart.

Or was she?

She’d given Clay everything, fallen for him heart and soul.

No, she definitely couldn’t risk loving again. Not now. But if she saw Eli again, spent time alone with him, and he decided to seduce her—well, she might not be able to resist him.

Was that so terrible? She wasn’t a nun, after all.

She was older now, she reminded herself silently, and hopefully a little wiser.

Anyway, Eli hadn’t called, stopped by or even texted, so maybe she’d misread the signals. Maybe he’d decided they were better off as friends.

If so, he was probably right.

Brynne resigned herself to her life as it was—blessed, but lonely.

By 2:45 that afternoon, the setup was finished, though the cooks were still busy in the kitchen, with Sara helping, preparing the food that would fill the buffet tables when the restaurant, closed for the day, would reopen.

Brynne excused herself and went upstairs to the privacy of her apartment. She had a video call scheduled for three o’clock straight-up.

Davey and Maddie Nicholls would be calling.

After giving her cat some treats, primarily to keep him quiet, Brynne brewed a cup of tea, set it on her kitchen table, beside her laptop, and began to pace, stopping every few moments to consult her watch.

Finally, she plunked down in her chair and booted up her computer.

The screensaver was a dramatic panorama of the Boston skyline at night, very similar to the view from her old apartment, the one she’d shared with Clay.

She considered changing it—there were millions of images to choose from, of course—but then the call came through.

Davey’s youthful, handsome face appeared on-screen, grinning broadly. Maddie, a little younger, and bearing a close resemblance to her mother, leaned in beside him, beaming into the camera.

“You’re early!” Brynne said, delighted.

Davey looked briefly uncertain. “Is that okay? Were you busy?”

“I’m never too busy to talk to you two,” Brynne replied sincerely.

Both kids looked pleased and more than a little relieved.