“I’m glad you think so,” Emma said, truly touched by his kindness to her child. “I hear we have plans for tonight.”

“You heard correctly.” He wrapped his arms around her and held her close to him, speaking close to her ear. “I was told by a reliable source that Emma doesn’t like the city when it’s chaotic, and a night at home would be far preferable to going out.”

Emma shivered from the desire that came from being close to him and breathing in his distinctive scent. “You have good sources.”

When Simone came out of her room, banging and crashing as she dragged her suitcase behind her, Grayson released Emma and took a step back. She appreciated that he didn’t overdo the public displays of affection when Simone was around.

“Did you remember your toothbrush?” Emma asked.

“Nope.” She dropped the suitcase in the hallway with a thud and ran for the bathroom.

“Use it before you pack it,” Emma called after her.

“How much stuff does she need for one night?” Grayson asked, eyeing the stuffed suitcase.

“About a third of what she packed. Lucy says Simone is prepared to be a bag lady as an adult. She loves to pack bags. When we clean her room, it’s all about the unpacking.”

“That’s cute. She’s always ready to go.”

His words had more significance than he realized in light of today’s events.

“What?” he asked.

“Nothing.” She shook it off to focus on her daughter and then her dad when he arrived to pick her up, stopping short at the sight of Grayson standing in Emma’s living room. In the span of a second, Emma witnessed a blatant flash of despair that he quickly tried to mask.

“Nice to see you here, Grayson,” Ray said, shaking his hand.

“Nice to be here.”

“Are you guys going out?”

“I hear that Emma prefers to stay in on New Year’s Eve,” Gray said.

“That she does. She’s a homebody, my Emma.”

There was no mistaking the hidden message in Ray’s gruffly spoken words.

“Are you ready, pumpkin?” he said to Simone.

“Ready.”

“Kiss your mom.”

Simone hugged and kissed Emma.

“Happy New Year, baby,” Emma said, holding her squiggling body for a second longer than Simone preferred these days.

“I’m gonna be ten this year! That’s double digits!”

“I’m so not ready to have a ten-year-old,” Emma said. She could tell that Simone took Grayson by surprise when she hugged him, too. In typical Simone style, she did it so quickly that he barely had time to react before it was over and she was reaching for the handle of her overstuffed suitcase. She handed Ashley to Ray, who took the doll from her like the professional grandfather he was.

Emma went up on tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “Thanks for having her, Dad.”

“Happy to have her anytime. You know that.”