“I’d hoped that the snow predicted for tonight wouldn’t materialize,” Grayson said.

“It’s so pretty here,” Emma said. “In the city, it’s a mess. But here, there’s something magical about it.”

“It may be magical, but it’s also a menace. If it’s going to come down hard, I don’t think we ought to go too far. How do you feel about pizza?”

“I love pizza.”

“I’d planned to do better than that tonight, but I assume you prefer safety to five-star cuisine.”

“You assume correctly.” Emma looked out the window, bending her head so she could see Butler Mountain in the distance. “Do you think Simone will be okay on the mountain in a snowstorm?”

“She’ll be totally fine. Colton has been living up there for years. Snow is nothing new to him.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

“I bet she’s having a blast.”

“She probably is. She loves it here. Way more than she loves the city.”

“What’s not to love about Butler? We have everything you could ever need, including brick-oven pizza.” Ten minutes after they left Molly and Linc’s, Grayson pulled into the parking lot at Kingdom Pizza and killed the engine. “Wait for me. It’s slippery. I don’t want you to fall.” He got out and went around to open the door and offered a hand to help her out.

“Thank you,” she said with the shy smile that made his heart flutter.

Gorgeous and sweet and so incredibly strong… He’d thought all day about the things she’d told him last night. Her courage humbled him and made him want to be the best thing to ever happen to her and her daughter. But that might be putting the sleigh before the horse on a first date. Dial it down a notch, he told himself as he held the door to the pizza place to let her go in ahead of him.

Much to his dismay, he immediately spotted his cousins Hannah and Will sitting at a table with their spouses, Nolan and Cameron. They waved them over.

“Hey,” Will said. “Want to join us?”

No, he didn’t want to, but he also didn’t want to be rude to his cousins. Grayson glanced at Emma, who shrugged. “Sure,” he said.

“Wait,” Hannah said. “Are you guys on a date?”

“Something like that,” Grayson said, wondering if he’d missed the time-travel train back to high school.

“We take back our offer to sit with us, then,” Hannah said. “Go over there and get your own table. Leave us alone.”

Emma laughed at Hannah’s trademark bossiness.