“No,” Linc said, “you did more than any sixteen-year-old boy should ever have to do. And your aunt is right. No one I know deserves a happy ending more than you do.”

“You flatter me. Both of you.”

“We speak only the truth,” Molly said. “You want some coffee before you head out?”

“I’ll grab some at Mom’s. I’ve got a surprise to set up for a very sweet little girl who hurt her arm.”

“What’ve you got up your sleeve?” Linc asked.

“You’ll see.” He kissed his aunt and shook his uncle’s hand. “Thanks for always being right there for me. It hasn’t gone unnoticed.”

“We’re always here for you and your siblings,” Linc said. “That’ll never change.”

“Means the world to us,” Grayson said. “I’ll be back in a bit.”

“We’ll be the zombie grandparents asleep on the sofas,” Molly said.

“We’re getting way too old for an all-nighter,” Linc added.

“You guys are just getting started.”

“If you say so,” Molly said, heading for the coffeepot.

Chapter 12

Let us love winter, for it is the spring of genius.

—Pietro Aretino

Grayson stepped out into air so cold, it seared his lungs the way it used to on the long-ago winter mornings of his youth. It got damned cold in Boston, but not as cold as up here. This was a whole other level of cold, and he wondered if the air would be too frigid for what he had in mind.

Since he couldn’t disappoint Simone after promising her a surprise, he got in the car and drove to his mother’s house, where she was at the table with the morning paper and a cup of coffee.

“Look at what the cat dragged in,” she said.

“Morning.” He bent to kiss her cheek. “Did you hear we have a new baby in the family?”

“I did. Molly called me earlier to share the happy news. Where’d you sleep last night?”

“Aunt Molly’s sofa.”

“You’re spending a lot of time over there this week.”

“Yep.”

“What’s going on, Gray?”

“Why’re you asking me that when you already know what’s going on?”

“You’re getting awfully involved with a woman who lives so far from where you do.”

“I don’t actually live here yet.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means,” Grayson said, “that I’m keeping my options open.”

“Since when? You left Boston intending to open a practice here, and now your options are open?”

“That’s what I said.”

“Grayson… How well can you possibly know her after only a couple of days?”

“Better than I’ve ever known any woman.” As he said the words, he realized they were true. He’d shared more with her than he had with anyone he’d ever dated, and knew she’d done the same with him.