Flora sighed. “If only my baby could do half of that.”
“Bring her back for a refresher course. No charge.” Noah gazed around the room. “In fact, we should plan a reunion around their first birthday. Take them through their paces.”
Glynnis laughed. “Yes, that’s a great idea. I need to be going as well.”
“Do any of you want to take food to go? We’ve got lots. And containers you can bring back. Or keep…”
No one took me up on the offer. Instead, everyone rose, sorted leashes and dogs, and headed out.
I caught up with Soren. “I was planning to take Miss Esmeralda home.”
“She’s on the way for me.”
I arched an eyebrow. “You live in the middle of nowhere.”
“Right. So, either everything’s on the way or nothing’s on the way. I was thinking about dropping into Blue Star quickly.”
“Take some food with you. We have so much. Oh, bye.” I waved to Mickie—who had a tight grip on Frankie.
“Nah. I’m thinking meatloaf—not baby carrots with dip. I’ll call ahead since I’ll have Tibby with me.”
“We’re leaving now?” Miss Esmeralda leaned on her cane.
“Let me bring my SUV up to the house.”
“Very well.” After Soren and Tibby left, she pivoted to me. “Best thing I ever did was rent my house to you.” She’d eventually given it to us.
“Noah’s made such a go of the business. We couldn’t have done that anywhere else.”
She patted my cheek. “I’m certain you could have. But you didn’t have to, and that’s all that matters.”
Malcolm appeared in his winter coat. “Thanks for inviting me.” He extended an arm to Miss Esmeralda. “I believe Soren will be here momentarily. Why don’t we meet him?”
“Yes, that will do.” She turned her cheek to me.
I kissed it. And blinked several times. She was the parental figure I might’ve always wished for. My parents weren’t bad people. But, as expected, when I admitted I was gay, things had gone off the rails. Not badly per se…but enough they didn’t come to my wedding or to visit. And I’d yet to make the cross-country trek. Nope. Noah and I had truly started over.
Miss Esmeralda and Malcolm left.
Duncan and Haggis were the last of the stragglers. He gave me an unexpected hug. “Thanks for this. Got us out of the house.”
My curiosity was piqued—but I wasn’t going to pry. “You’re welcome anytime. Sable and River adore Haggis. Stormy still likes to put her in her place, though.”
Duncan chuckled. “Sometime she needs to be reminded of the pecking order. Speaking of…”
“Our three are tucked away in the cat room. None would make a run for it. Well, we’d hope. Better safe than sorry. I’ll run them out after everyone’s gone.”
“Thanks, Christian. You’re a good man.” With that, Duncan left.
Noah came in from outside, dusting snow off his sweatshirt.
“What were you doing?”
He shut the door. “Ensuring Flora got safely to her minivan. Saying goodnight to Esmeralda. Nice of Malcolm to drive her home. Oh, did you see Sam leave? Was he uncomfortable with so many people? I figured with him working retail that the group here wouldn’t send him running for the hills.”
I cleared my throat. “No clue. He was talking to Soren in the front hall and then…just gone. Never even saidgoodbye.”
“Okay.” He headed toward the living room. “Not as chaotic as I thought.”
