Chapter 26
Where there is love there is life.
—Mahatma Ghandi
Emma caught the last hour of Talia’s party and got to catch up with parents who had become close friends since the girls started school.
The kids were out of their minds with excitement and an overabundance of sugar.
She signaled to Simone that it was time to go and waited while she hugged each of her friends, as if she wasn’t going to see them at school in a couple of days.
Simone had fallen into a nice group of kids with parents Emma liked and respected.
They helped each other out and had created a village of sorts that revolved around the kids and their activities.
The thought of leaving that support network made her feel queasy, even if they’d be going somewhere with built-in support.
With Lucy and Cameron nearby, as well as the rest of the Abbotts—and Grayson—they’d never be alone or lonely, but Simone would have to leave friends she’d known, in some cases, since preschool.
Walking home with her daughter, these were the thoughts that spiraled relentlessly through Emma’s mind even as the futility of it all served as a reminder that there was no point even thinking about it. If only there was a way to stop her brain from imagining the possibilities for both of them.
She enjoyed the job she had now, working for husband-and-wife dentists who’d been very good to her over the years, accommodating her whenever Simone was sick or if she needed to leave early for conferences or activities at school.
The people she worked with were more like family than coworkers after eight years, but the job itself wasn’t particularly challenging or interesting.
It hadn’t been in a long time. It was, at the end of the day, just a job.
What Linc had offered interested her for many reasons, not the least of which would be a whole new professional challenge.
That plus more money, better benefits, proximity to Lucy and Colton for most of the year and Cameron all the time, no more Saturdays to frantically cover for Simone while she went to work, a more affordable cost of living and…
Grayson. He’d be there, and they’d be free to continue what they’d started, without the challenge of distance hanging over them.
“What’s wrong, Mom?” Simone asked.
That was when Emma realized she’d sighed rather loudly. “Nothing, baby. Just tired from my first day back to work.”
“Was it busy?”
“Really busy. So you had fun with Grayson?”
“So much fun. He let me shop for a whole hour at American Girl, and then we went to the café. He’s kind of silly, though.”
“Why do you say that?”
“He actually bought a dress that he wants me to hang on to for him until he needs it. Silly, right?”
Sweet, she thought. So very sweet. “He found a way around my orders not to spoil you.”
“What do you mean?”
“The dress is for you, sweetheart, but he knew I wouldn’t be happy if he bought you something else when he’d already gotten you presents from the store in Vermont.”
“Ohhh, wow. I didn’t get that at all. I couldn’t figure out what he’d want with a doll dress.” She laughed. “That’s pretty funny.”
“It’s very nice of him, and you need to say thank you.”
“I did. I thanked him for taking me to the store and to lunch and to Talia’s party and for making me pancakes for breakfast.”
“You guys had a big day.”
“It was fun. It was kind of like…”
Emma looked down at her. “Like what?”
“Having a dad.”
Those three little words were a punch to Emma’s gut. Simone never asked about her father or why other kids had one and she didn’t. Emma suspected her daughter knew that was a sore subject for her.
“He asked me about taking you out for New Year’s Eve, but I told him you’d rather stay home. I hope that’s okay.”
“You know me too well.”
“Pop is coming to get me at five, and we’re going to the movies. I’m going to sleep over at his house so he’s not all alone for midnight.”
“When did this happen?”
“Before.” Simone skipped up the stairs to their building.
She hadn’t a care inside the beautiful bubble in which she lived, and Emma was determined to keep it that way.
By the time Emma caught up to her daughter, she was giving Grayson a full debrief on the party, how much Talia had liked the gift she’d picked out, how hard it had been to play the games at the party with one arm in a sling, her plans with her grandfather for the evening and how she needed to go pack because Pop would be there any minute to get her.
She took off for her room, leaving Emma alone with Grayson.
As she removed her coat and hung it in the closet, he came across the room to greet her.
He wore a faded Red Sox T-shirt with equally faded jeans and bare feet.
She loved that he already looked like he belonged in the place she and Simone called home.
Maybe he did. Maybe he could come here, and they could make it work in New York.
That possibility gave her a glint of hope that was quickly extinguished when she recalled what he’d told her the night they met about wanting to simplify his life.
He’d left one city to move home to Butler.
The last thing he probably wanted at this point in his life or career was to start all over again in another city.
“Welcome home, dear,” he said, kissing her. “Did you have a nice day?”
“I had a hectic day. How about you?”
“I had a rather delightful day with your daughter, who showed me the ropes at American Girl. Not for the faint of heart, that place. Did you know we could have her birthday party there? I picked up a flyer. How fun would that be? She’d love it.”
“Yes, she would. What’s this I hear about you buying a dress that you want her to hang on to until you need it?” She raised a brow in the universal “mom” look.
“Um, well, you see…”
Emma laughed. “You have no defense, Counselor, so don’t even try it.”
“She couldn’t go there and not get a little something for herself. It wouldn’t have been right.”
“Yes, she could, and yes, it would.”
“Do I have to return my dress, Mom?” he asked with a teasing grin.
Biting back a smile at his adorable contrition, she said, “Not this time, but don’t let it happen again.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Thank you so much for running her around today.”
“Trust me when I tell you it was entirely my pleasure. She’s… Well, I don’t have to tell you how fantastic she is.”
“I’m glad you think so,” Emma said, truly touched by his kindness to her child. “I hear we have plans for tonight.”
“You heard correctly.” He wrapped his arms around her and held her close to him, speaking close to her ear. “I was told by a reliable source that Emma doesn’t like the city when it’s chaotic, and a night at home would be far preferable to going out.”
Emma shivered from the desire that came from being close to him and breathing in his distinctive scent. “You have good sources.”
When Simone came out of her room, banging and crashing as she dragged her suitcase behind her, Grayson released Emma and took a step back. She appreciated that he didn’t overdo the public displays of affection when Simone was around.
“Did you remember your toothbrush?” Emma asked.
“Nope.” She dropped the suitcase in the hallway with a thud and ran for the bathroom.
“Use it before you pack it,” Emma called after her.
“How much stuff does she need for one night?” Grayson asked, eyeing the stuffed suitcase.
“About a third of what she packed. Lucy says Simone is prepared to be a bag lady as an adult. She loves to pack bags. When we clean her room, it’s all about the unpacking.”
“That’s cute. She’s always ready to go.”
His words had more significance than he realized in light of today’s events.
“What?” he asked.
“Nothing.” She shook it off to focus on her daughter and then her dad when he arrived to pick her up, stopping short at the sight of Grayson standing in Emma’s living room. In the span of a second, Emma witnessed a blatant flash of despair that he quickly tried to mask.
“Nice to see you here, Grayson,” Ray said, shaking his hand.
“Nice to be here.”
“Are you guys going out?”
“I hear that Emma prefers to stay in on New Year’s Eve,” Gray said.
“That she does. She’s a homebody, my Emma.”
There was no mistaking the hidden message in Ray’s gruffly spoken words.
“Are you ready, pumpkin?” he said to Simone.
“Ready.”
“Kiss your mom.”
Simone hugged and kissed Emma.
“Happy New Year, baby,” Emma said, holding her squiggling body for a second longer than Simone preferred these days.
“I’m gonna be ten this year! That’s double digits!”
“I’m so not ready to have a ten-year-old,” Emma said.
She could tell that Simone took Grayson by surprise when she hugged him, too.
In typical Simone style, she did it so quickly that he barely had time to react before it was over and she was reaching for the handle of her overstuffed suitcase.
She handed Ashley to Ray, who took the doll from her like the professional grandfather he was.
Emma went up on tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “Thanks for having her, Dad.”
“Happy to have her anytime. You know that.”
She saw them off, standing in the hallway as they went down the stairs before returning to the apartment and closing the door, leaning back against it for a moment. “I still feel weird, like something is missing, every time she leaves me, even when it’s with someone who loves her as much as I do.”
“She’s your soul mate,” Grayson said as he joined her at the door.
“She really is.” She studied his handsome face. “Does that bother you? That I already have a soul mate?”
He shook his head. “The way I see it, someone with a heart and soul as big as yours probably has room for more than one.”
She reached for him, and he drew her into a kiss that made her thankful for more than twelve hours to spend alone with him. “This is all very devious, the way you conspired with my daughter to have me all to yourself.”