“It means we’re all family,” Gram said with a solemn nod.

“No more feud!” Gia announced.

Amid a lot of hugging and kissing, everyone cheered. “They all seem relieved that the feud is over for good,” Tessa said to Leo. “This is a new beginning.”

“For everyone,” he said. “But especially us.”

As Leo kissed her again, Marco turned to Joanna. “By the way, Joanna,” he said, “there’s a Michelin three-star restaurant in Indy. I’d like to invite you to check it out with me. As a research trip, of course. We could leave early on a Saturday and visit a museum or two, have dinner, and then drive back. Just to show we’re friendly with each other.”

“Well, we’re going to share a grandchild,” Tessa’s mother said. “And we do business together. We can keep things friendly and businesslike, right, Marco?”

“I’ve heard that one before,” Tessa whispered to Leo.

“Hey, lovebirds,” Gia said. “I hate to say goodbye, but I have to go.”

“Don’t tell me you’re going to study now,” Leo said.

“Actually,” she said with a smile, “I have a date.”

“Oh no you don’t,” Marco said.

Joanna came up beside them and gently touched his arm. “We French have a saying. Peigner la girafe. ‘Don’t clip the little bird’s wings.’”

“Mom,” Juliet said in a warning voice.

Tessa’s grandmother chuckled.

“What did you really just say?” Marco asked, glancing at everyone’s smiles. “Somehow I get the feeling that that had nothing to do with a bird’s wings.”

Joanna’s mouth turned up. “It means to comb the giraffe.” In response to his puzzled look, she explained, “Think about it, Marco. Why on earth would anyone do that? It’s useless.”

Marco turned to his daughter. “Be home by ten.”

“Eleven,” she said, kissing her father quickly on the cheek. She hugged Tessa. “I’m going to be such a great aunt.”

“Yes, you are,” Tessa said.

As Gia hugged Leo, she said, “I gotta go. After my date, I’ve got some studying to do. Because Aaron’s actually competing for the candle factory scholarship, too, and I want to win.”

Oh no. “Scholarship or no, you’re smart enough to make anything you want work,” he said. “I love you, Gigi.”

“Love you, too.”

“Merry Christmas, everybody,” someone said.

“Happy new year,” Juliet said.

“Look at that full moon!” her grandmother said, glancing out the big window. “The moon brings miracles.”

“I thought you said the moon brings a man,” Juliet said, frowning.

“Does she say that every month?” Leo asked Tessa.

“This month it’s in the House of Castorini,” Lilac said with a chuckle. “That’s a very good sign.”

“Sometimes the moon brings a man; sometimes it brings a woman; sometimes it brings a whole new life,” Gram said. “If you embrace the challenge.”