She curled her fingers into his. ‘‘A long time ago. It seems like a long time, I used to dream about romance. The way I hoped it would be one day. This is better, Ethan. Real turned out to be better than the dream.’’

‘‘I want you to be happy.’’

‘‘If I was any happier, I’d have to be two people for it all to fit.’’ Her eyes sparkled with the laugh as she leaned toward him. ‘‘And then you’d have to figure out what to do with two of me.’’

‘‘One’s all I need. Do you want to take a walk?’’

Her heart soared. Would it be now? ‘‘Yes. I think a walk would be perfect.’’

The sun was nearly gone as they strolled along the pretty streets, casting shadows lovely and deep. In a sky dazzled by hot color, the moon was starting its rise. It wouldn’t be full, Grace noted, but it didn’t matter. Her heart was.

When he turned her into his arms just at the edge of the splash of light from a streetlamp, she melted into the long, slow kiss.

Different, Ethan thought again as he let himself take the kiss just a shade deeper. She felt softer, warmer, yielding against him, though he could feel faint tremors rippling through her.

‘‘I love you, Grace.’’ He said it to soothe both of them.

Her heart bounded straight into her throat, making her voice shaky. Stars were blinking to life overhead, brilliantly white points of light. ‘‘I love you, Ethan.’’ She closed her eyes, held her breath in anticipation of the words.

‘‘We’d better start back.’’

She blinked her eyes open. ‘‘Oh. Yes.’’ Let out her breath. ‘‘Yes, you’re right.’’

Foolish of her, she decided as they walked back to his truck. A man as careful and thorough as Ethan wouldn’t propose to her on a street corner in Princess Anne. He would wait until they got back, until Julie had gone home and Aubrey had been checked on.

He’d wait until they were alone, private, in familiar surroundings. Of course, that was it. So she beamed a smile at him as he started the engine. ‘‘It was a wonderful dinner, Ethan.’’

THERE WAS MOONLIGHT, just as she’d imagined. It slanted through the window and slipped gently over Aubrey in her crib. Her baby dreamed happy dreams, she thought. And how much happier they would all be in the morning when they’d taken the next step toward becoming a family.

Aubrey already loved him, Grace thought as she stroked her daughter’s hair. Just a short time ago, she had resolved to raise her child alone, to make certain that she was enough. All that was changing now. Ethan would be a father to her daughter, a loving parent who would watch over her.