Sunny hummed against Grant’s lips, rubbing their noses together and smiling, his eyes closed softly.
Grant opened his mouth to tell Sunny how much he liked this, how glad he was that it wasn’t a one-time deal like he’d been afraid it might be, how happy he was right now. Just as he took a breath to say all that, though, Julia rounded the corner, catching him with his nose still touching Sunny’s.
If she hadn’t been sure before, she would be now.
Sunny backed away, apparently realizing Grant had paused. His eyes widened as Grant nodded in Julia’s direction, the pink blush on his cheeks from the cold draining away.
He spun around, staring at her for a few long heartbeats.
“I’m so sorry,” he said.
Before Grant could stop him, he broke into a run, slipping past Julia and disappearing around the corner.
Julia dropped the snowball in her hand, brushing her gloves together to get the excess snow off.
Grant pressed himself against the shed behind him, half hoping to sink into the woodwork. It would have been a lot easier than explaining himself.
To his surprise, Julia smiled. “That was cuter than I imagined,” she said. “You looked happy.”
Grant blushed, his cheeks burning in the cold air.
“I was happy. Am happy,” Grant said. “Sunny makes me happy.”
He felt like he was five years old again as he tried to explain himself to Julia, who’d been his best friend almost as long as Sunny had beenalive.
Sunny did make him happy. He hoped that would be enough for her to accept him.
Julia smiled at him, one of the warmest, most genuine smiles Grant had ever been on the receiving end of. It made him blush harder, but it also released the last of the tension in his gut.
He’d been worried about how Julia would react. Whether she’d be happy for him or not. Whether she’d judge him for the age gap between him and Sunny.
“He seems sweet,” she said, repeating herself from earlier. “And you deserve to be happy.”
“He’s…” Grant wet his lips. “I’ve got sixteen years on him.”
Julia shrugged. “And I’ve got seven on Joon. He’s not even close to being underage. He clearly has a good head on his shoulders if he’s patient enough for you. You don’t need to feel guilty about that. Besides, men never grow up.”
Grant laughed at that. She was probably right.
Even though Grant felt old, he was still never entirely sure that he had adulthood figured out. He’d come to the conclusion that everyone else was faking, too, and if he just pretended he had everything more or less under control, no one would know the difference.
He’d have to explain that to Hope one day, when she was older.
Grant swallowed. Hope.
“What about… what about Hope?” he asked, suddenly unsure again. “Is she gonna…”
“Be okay with this?” Julia finished for him.
Grant nodded. He wouldn’t have hurt her for the world.
“You’re the best father I’ve ever met,” Julia said. “I know you don’t feel that way after you missed Thanksgiving, but trust me, you’re doing better than most men even bother to try. But I need to let you in on a secret that I was hoping moving away would help you figure out for yourself.”
Grant raised an eyebrow. What secret?
“You don’t die when you have kids,” Julia said. “Your life isn’t over. I know peopleactlike it is, but that’s not how it’s meant to be. Hope would prefer to see you happy than have you all to herself. Even if she sulks a little in the beginning. That’s what kids do. Forhersake, she needs to understand that her dad is a human being.”
“She likes Sunny,” Grant said, remembering watching the two of them earlier. He wasn’t sure if Sunny had any experience with kids her age, but he seemed to have gotten the hang of it pretty quickly. “I just don’t know if she’ll want to share.”
