“Then it’s settled. Please think of our home as your home, Emma. You and Simone and your dad are family to us now that Lucy and Colton are engaged. There’ll never be a time when you won’t be welcome here.”

“That’s so nice of you. Thank you.”

“Linc and I are going to our favorite Italian place in St. Johnsbury tonight if you’d like to come along.”

“Oh, um…” She and Grayson hadn’t spoken about what, if anything, they would tell other people about their plans for the evening. Would he not want her to tell his aunt they were going out? She made a split-second decision. “Thanks for the invite, but I’m going to stick around here tonight and take advantage of my night off.”

“I don’t blame you at all. There’s a huge tub in our room that you’re welcome to if you’d like to take a bath.”

“That sounds great.”

“Go ahead. Indulge. I’m going to sit right here and have a little nap until Linc gets home. Enjoy.”

“You, too.”

“Oh, I will.”

As she went upstairs, Emma decided she wanted to be Molly Abbott when she grew up. What an amazing woman—and mother. Her kids were all great people, even the mischievous identical twins, Lucas and Landon, who’d flirted shamelessly with Emma at Will and Hunter’s weddings until Colton told them to back off or deal with him—and his ax. They were adorable and hilarious, but far too young for her. Their attention, however, had not been unwelcome. It had served as a reminder that despite how she felt sometimes, she was still only twenty-nine, not sixty.

Molly had handled a wedding in her living room five days before Christmas and a mob scene for the holiday with nothing but grace and humor and mad skill that had left Emma dazzled. It was official. Emma had a full-fledged girl crush on the woman, and being invited back for next year was the second-best thing to happen this week.

By the time Grayson drove to his aunt’s house to pick up Emma, he’d already had a full day. His cousin Ella had taken him to see the apartment she’d recently vacated, and he’d immediately snapped it up, along with the bed and sofa she’d given him. She was moving in with her fiancé, Gavin, and didn’t need either item. Grayson was happy to check three things off his to-do list. She’d even suggested turning over her landline number to him. He hadn’t had a landline in Boston in years, but in Butler, Vermont, the place where cell service was nonexistent, it was a necessity.

Even though he’d been busy apartment hunting, shoveling snow and doing odd jobs around his mother’s house, Grayson had kept a close eye on the clock, which seemed to move in reverse today.

Emma.