“I’ll tell you what… If I could have even one more day with my Sarah… Hell, I’d be thrilled with one more hour… Nothing would stop me from doing whatever it took to have that. Not one damned thing.”

“It’s too soon. She’ll think I’ve lost my mind.”

“No, son, she’ll be quite certain you’ve lost your heart. If she’s as excited to have found you as you are to have found her, trust me, she won’t be anything other than thrilled if you tell her you want to go back to New York with her and Simone.”

“Is it too much too soon for Simone?”

“She’s not your average nine-year-old, is she?”

“No, she’s so far above average, she’s right off the charts.”

“If you show her and her mother nothing but love and respect, you won’t have any problem whatsoever with Simone.”

“I… I think… I have to go. I have to… I…”

Once again, Elmer laughed as he reached for the check Butch had left on the table. Elmer insisted on paying to eat at Megan’s even though he owned the place. “I got this. You go get your girls.”

Grayson stood and did something he hadn’t done in years. He kissed his grandfather’s lined cheek. “I love you. I love you so damned much.”

Elmer’s eyes filled. “Back atcha, boy,” he said gruffly. “Right back atcha.”

Fortified by the conversation with his grandfather, Grayson left the diner and jogged to his SUV, which he’d parked behind the family’s store across the street. He had a plan to make and not a lot of time to do it.

His first stop was his mother’s house, where he took a few minutes to shovel drifted snow off the back stairs before sprinkling salt on the icy patches and scraping the ice off the windows of her car. Then he went into the mudroom, kicked off his boots and stepped into the kitchen, where she was having coffee with the morning paper. “Morning.”

“Morning.” Her disapproval of his night out came through in the way she said that single word and made him feel like a teenager again. “Heard you shoveling out there. Thank you.”

“No problem.” Though he’d already consumed his daily dose of caffeine, he poured a cup of coffee and topped off hers. “I wanted to let you know I’m going to New York for a few days.”

“With her?”

He didn’t like that she referred to Emma as “her,” but he chose not to say so. “Yes, with Emma.”

“This is kind of sudden.”

“Certainly is,” he said with a chuckle.

“I’m surprised you would go chasing after a woman you just met. That’s not like you.”

“I know, but I’m still going.”

“What about the new business you’re starting here?”