His use of the word married in relation to them did crazy things to her insides, which were already a jumbled mess of emotion after the night she’d spent with him.

“I’ll pick up you and Simone around nine, okay?”

“Will that give us enough time to make a two o’clock flight in Burlington?”

“More than enough.”

“You don’t have to walk me in,” Emma said after they pulled into the driveway at the barn. “Go get some sleep.”

He raised his hand to her face and leaned across the console to kiss her. “I wish you could’ve stayed all night.”

“Me, too.”

“I’ll see you soon.” He kissed her one more time, lingering, letting her know he didn’t want to let her go.

Emma pulled back, smiled at him and opened the door to an icy blast. She jogged the short distance to the mudroom door and ducked inside, feeling like the naughty teenager she’d once been, sneaking into her parents’ home long after curfew. Thankfully, the dogs were upstairs with Linc and Molly and didn’t hear her come in.

She stepped into the kitchen and came to an abrupt stop at the sight of Max, seated at the kitchen table, giving baby Caden a bottle, a gentle lullaby playing on Max’s cell phone. “Oh, um… Hi, Max.”

“Hey.”

Emma’s face burned with mortification. “I… um…”

“No worries,” he said with a chuckle. “I won’t tell Mom and Dad.”

“This is so embarrassing.”

“I trust you had a nice time with Grayson.”

“Ahhh, yeah.” Could a person actually expire from humiliation? “We had a nice time.”

“He’s a good guy. One of the best guys I know. He was very helpful to me after Caden was born.”

“That’s, um, good to know.”

“Could I ask you something that’s none of my business?”

“Sure,” Emma said, wondering what was on his mind.

“When you first had Simone and knew you’d be raising her on your own, were you scared?”

Emma’s heart went out to him as she took a seat at the table. “Terrified.”

“I don’t know if I can do it.”

“Yes, you can. You absolutely can. You have this amazing family all around you. They’d do anything for you and Caden. You can do this, Max. Will it be easy? No. It’ll be the hardest thing you ever do, but it’ll also be the most rewarding. I didn’t plan to have Simone when I did, but with hindsight, I wouldn’t change a thing. She’s the best thing to ever happen to me, and he will be for you, too. I know it.”

“He is pretty great,” Max said, gazing down at his son sleeping in his arms.