“Pop is coming to get me at five, and we’re going to the movies. I’m going to sleep over at his house so he’s not all alone for midnight.”

“When did this happen?”

“Before.” Simone skipped up the stairs to their building. She hadn’t a care inside the beautiful bubble in which she lived, and Emma was determined to keep it that way. By the time Emma caught up to her daughter, she was giving Grayson a full debrief on the party, how much Talia had liked the gift she’d picked out, how hard it had been to play the games at the party with one arm in a sling, her plans with her grandfather for the evening and how she needed to go pack because Pop would be there any minute to get her.

She took off for her room, leaving Emma alone with Grayson.

As she removed her coat and hung it in the closet, he came across the room to greet her. He wore a faded Red Sox T-shirt with equally faded jeans and bare feet. She loved that he already looked like he belonged in the place she and Simone called home. Maybe he did. Maybe he could come here, and they could make it work in New York.

That possibility gave her a glint of hope that was quickly extinguished when she recalled what he’d told her the night they met about wanting to simplify his life. He’d left one city to move home to Butler. The last thing he probably wanted at this point in his life or career was to start all over again in another city.

“Welcome home, dear,” he said, kissing her. “Did you have a nice day?”

“I had a hectic day. How about you?”

“I had a rather delightful day with your daughter, who showed me the ropes at American Girl. Not for the faint of heart, that place. Did you know we could have her birthday party there? I picked up a flyer. How fun would that be? She’d love it.”

“Yes, she would. What’s this I hear about you buying a dress that you want her to hang on to until you need it?” She raised a brow in the universal “mom” look.

“Um, well, you see…”

Emma laughed. “You have no defense, Counselor, so don’t even try it.”

“She couldn’t go there and not get a little something for herself. It wouldn’t have been right.”

“Yes, she could, and yes, it would.”

“Do I have to return my dress, Mom?” he asked with a teasing grin.

Biting back a smile at his adorable contrition, she said, “Not this time, but don’t let it happen again.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Thank you so much for running her around today.”

“Trust me when I tell you it was entirely my pleasure. She’s… Well, I don’t have to tell you how fantastic she is.”