“But I don’t want them getting hurt in this process. They’ve been through enough, Suzy, and I will not give them any false hope.”

He should have put his uncle straight on the phone when he’d first called. But Grady had been too stunned at the revelation and sideswiped by the genuine joy in Burl’s voice to strategize on his feet, especially when he was missing a chunk of the background information.

“Okay,” she said after a beat or two, her voice small. “Of course, you’re right, I’m sorry. Whatever you want. I just wish…”

Grady waited for her to finish her sentence, resentment still ticking in his veins. He shouldn’t care about what she wished, but he did. “What?”

“I don’t know. I like Burl. I guess I don’t want him or your aunt to think I’m some kind of flake who sets up an elaborate scheme with a fake boyfriend to lie to her parents.” She took a step toward him, and this time Grady didn’t try to stop her. “I’m really not this person, Josh. I know you haven’t known me long enough to know it but god…I’m so by the book I don’t even jaywalk, and everybody jaywalks in New York.”

Her voice was thick with regret and, for what it was worth, Grady believed her. Maybe he hadn’t known her long enough, either, but he knew enough to know that while she could be a spitfire, there was nothing of the rebel about her.

But the point was—she was this person now. “It’s not too late to walk this back.”

“Oh, Josh.” She shook her head, her teeth pressing into her bottom lip, looking utterly miserable. “This hole is so deep now, there’s only one way out of it, and that’s through the other side. And I need my parents concentrating on their relationship, not me and my fake one. I don’t want to give them a distraction from getting their shit together or,” she shuddered, “have my mother hounding me to see her therapist.”

Grady, who had seen enough shrinks to last a lifetime, understood that shudder all too well. Understood also, thanks to his military experience, that sometimes pushing forward was the only option no matter how much retreat appealed.

“Well, you do what you gotta do,” he said. The anger dissipated suddenly, leaving him weary. “And I’ll do what I’ve gotta do.”

“I really am sorry,” she said. When he waved away her apology, she added, “I’ll understand if you don’t want to take us out to see the ranch now.”

“No. It’s fine. I said I’d do it, and I have time. I think we’re in for a few days of snow, so it might be now or never.”