“I’d love to. I’ll definitely take you up on that.”

David, Daisy and Jared stayed for another half hour, drinking the beers Alex had provided, before Marion began to visibly tire.

Daisy kissed the older woman’s cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Marion.”

“I’ll look forward to it.”

“I can’t thank you enough for coming by every evening,” Alex said quietly to Daisy. “I’m sure you have other things you need to be doing.”

“I’m very happy to give her an hour of my day.” Daisy patted Alex’s arm. “I’ve begun to look forward to seeing her, too.”

“Thank you again,” Alex said gruffly.

“It’s my pleasure.” Daisy looked at Jenny. “Will I see you guys at Blaine and Tiffany’s shower?”

“I haven’t told Alex about it yet, but I’ll be there.”

“Not sure I want to hear about this,” Alex said, making the others laugh.

“Looking forward to it.” Daisy leaned in to hug Jenny, whispering, “Good going, girlfriend. He’s adorable.”

Jenny smiled at Daisy. “I agree.”

“It was good to see you again, Jenny,” Jared said. “I’ll be by to check out your lighthouse.”

“Any time.”

They waved to their friends as they drove off, and then Alex turned to his mother, his face set in a grim expression Jenny hadn’t seen before. “Come on, Mom. Let’s get ready for bed.”

“Could I help?” Jenny asked.

“No, thanks.”

“Why not?” Marion asked. “I like her. She’s a nice girl. She can help me get ready for bed.”

“You really don’t have to,” Alex said, looking less strained than he had a few minutes earlier but no less concerned about what she was offering to do.

Jenny placed two fingers on his lips to quiet him and because she felt the need to touch him. “I know I don’t. If I didn’t want to, I wouldn’t have offered.”

“Thank you,” he said in the same gruff tone he’d used to thank Daisy.

“How about it, Marion?” Jenny held out a hand to her. “Shall we get you ready for bed?”

Marion reached up to take Jenny’s hand. “Tell me your name again.”

“It’s Jenny.”

“You’re very pretty.”

“Thank you. So are you.”

“My George thinks I’m pretty.”

“Tell me about him. What’s he like?”

“Oh, he’s so handsome. You know how handsome Alex and Paul are?”

Jenny gave Alex a saucy smile over her shoulder as he held the door for her and his mother. “I sure do.”

Alex pinched her rear playfully.

“Well, they get that from my George. He has dark hair like they have and eyes so brown they remind me of dark chocolate.”

“You know, it’s funny, I’ve thought of Alex’s eyes as dark chocolate.”