On Thursday evening, the Abbott and Coleman women invaded Tyler’s house so they could keep Megan entertained during Hunter’s bachelor party. In addition to Molly, Hannah and Ella, Megan’s sister Nina, Cameron, Lucy, her sister Emma and niece Simone, and Charley’s aunt Hannah and cousins Isabella and Vanessa Coleman were in attendance.

Not only had Tyler invited the girls over, but he’d cooked for them, too.

“If you don’t marry this guy,” Izzy said as she devoured the pulled pork he’d made, “I call dibs.”

“I’m not marrying him.” No, I’m just having astounding sex with him.

“So he’s fair game, then?” Izzy asked with a challenging look.

“I didn’t say that.”

Izzy pounced on that. “Ah-ha!”

Charley wasn’t prepared to answer questions about her and Tyler, what they meant to each other or what the future held for them. She was taking things a day at a time, and so far that strategy was working for her. It had really worked for her yesterday when they spent the entire afternoon and night in his bed, getting up only to eat before going back for more.

“Her face is all flushed,” Vanessa said. “What do you suppose she’s thinking about?”

“Whose idea was it to invite the Colemans tonight?” Charley asked, making the others laugh.

“For what it’s worth, I think Tyler is incredibly sexy,” Megan offered.

All eyes turned to the bride-to-be.

“Not as sexy as Hunter, of course,” she said, smiling. “Not even close.”

“Ewww,” Charley said. “He’s way sexier than Hunter ever thought of being.”

“No one is sexier than Hunter,” Megan declared, drawing groans from his sisters and cousins.

“Will is way sexier,” Cameron said to more gags from Will’s family members.

“Let’s call it a draw,” Molly said. “This is a family full of good-looking men, particularly their father.”

Charley covered her ears. “Tell me when it’s over,” she said to her sister Hannah.

Hannah patted her good knee. “There’s nothing sexier than the smell of motor oil and sweat on a man after a hard day of work,” Hannah said, fanning her face as the others screamed with laughter.

“I can top that,” Lucy said. “Wood smoke and maple syrup. Yum.”

“Chalk dust,” Nina said with a dramatic shiver that got everyone laughing again. Her husband, Brett, was a teacher at a school in France.

Charley’s aunt Hannah got up and left the room, heading for the kitchen where she began doing the dishes. Charley got up and went after her, moving slowly on a leg that was getting stronger all the time. “You okay, Auntie?”

“Sure, just tending to some of these dishes.”

Charley stood next to her aunt at the sink, drying as she washed.

“Don’t let all the lovebirds push you into something you don’t want,” Hannah said after a long silence. “Marriage isn’t for everyone.”

“I agree. I’m not so sure it’s for me.”

“Nothing wrong with being single. Plenty of women these days are choosing to forgo marriage and families to focus on their careers and their own aspirations. You shouldn’t feel pressured into doing what your sisters and brothers are doing.”

“I don’t.” She didn’t feel pressured, but the more time she spent with Tyler, the more panicky she felt about the deadline she’d put on their relationship. As the end of the year loomed large, she began to wish she hadn’t insisted on a time limit.

“People settle down expecting it to be forever, but sometimes it doesn’t last and you’re left to fend for yourself.”

It was as much as Charley had heard her aunt say about her husband’s betrayal.

“I’m sorry that happened to you, Aunt Hannah. I can’t imagine how difficult it must’ve been for you.”

“No, you can’t, especially because I had no idea he was unhappy.”

“You guys hadn’t been . . . You hadn’t had problems?”

“Not that I knew of. One day everything was fine, the next day he was gone.”

“And he didn’t say why?”

“Nope. What does it matter?” She scrubbed vigorously at one of the few pans Tyler hadn’t already washed before he left. “Gone is gone.” When the pan was clean and rinsed, she handed it to Charley to dry. “It would be so easy to get caught up in all of this,” Hannah said, gesturing to Tyler’s lovely kitchen and the rest of his home. “The point is, don’t feel you have to jump on the bandwagon just because your siblings are doing it.”

“I won’t.”

“You remind me a lot of myself at your age, Charley. I wasn’t in any great rush to settle down and get married, but then I met Mike and let myself get swept away. I don’t do regrets, and I love my children very much. But sometimes I wonder what might’ve been if I’d taken the road less traveled, you know?”

“Yes, I do.”

“What’s going on in here, ladies?” Molly asked when she joined them, carrying two empty bowls that Hannah took from her to wash.

“Just chatting and washing dishes,” Hannah said.

“You should get off your feet, honey,” Molly said to Charley. “I’ll take over in here.”

“I’m okay, Mom. If I don’t stop sitting around, I’m going to weigh a thousand pounds by the time this knee is healed.”

“You look as fit and trim as you always do,” Molly said.

“Maybe so, but I feel flabby and soft.”

“If that’s flabby,” Hannah said, “sign me up.”

“No kidding,” Molly said. “I want to be flabby like you.”

Charley laughed at their commentary. “You two have eighteen kids between you. I think you’re due a little extra flesh here and there.”

With the dishes done, the three of them returned to the party with fresh drinks to enjoy with the delicious brownies Hannah had baked.

“Are you nervous, Megan?” Lucy asked. Her niece Simone had curled up in Lucy’s lap and was on her way to dozing off.

“Not at all,” Megan said. “I can’t wait.”

“When it’s right, it’s right,” Hannah declared, her hand curving over the rounded hump of her pregnant belly.

“What’s the deal with this Pig’s Belly place you all are taking us tomorrow night?” Ella asked.

“It’s where Hunter and I had our first date,” Megan said, smiling widely. “It’s a special place for us, and we wanted to share it with all of you.”

“I can’t picture my brother Hunter taking you to a place called the Pig’s Belly Tavern for your first date,” Charley said.

“It was wildly romantic,” Megan said, blushing to the roots of her blond hair.

“This I have to see,” Charley said.

Megan grinned at her, the picture of happy satisfaction, and Charley experienced an almost painful yearning to experience that for herself. The tingling sensation in her chest was reminiscent of the feelings she’d had in the hospital when the blood had begun to flow to her frozen feet and hands. Only this time, it felt as if blood were once again flowing to her injured heart.

Hannah dropped Molly at the red barn shortly after ten. Molly leaned over to kiss her daughter’s cheek. “Get some sleep, honey.”

“I’ll try, but the little monster is freaking out in there tonight.” She took hold of her mother’s hand and placed it over her extended belly, where Molly could feel her grandchild doing gymnastics.

“Oh wow,” Molly said. “That’s amazing!”

“All the times you were pregnant, and you still find the wonder. That is amazing.”

“I can’t wait to meet this little person and watch you and Nolan raise him or her.”

“Her,” Hannah said softly, revealing previously undisclosed information.

“Oh! Oh, Hannah! A little girl.” Molly’s eyes filled with tears as she hugged her daughter. “I can’t wait.”

“Neither can I. We weren’t going to find out, but at the last ultrasound we couldn’t resist, and then we said we weren’t going to tell anyone, but you’re not just anyone.”

“I won’t say a word. I promise.”

“You can tell Dad as long as you swear him to secrecy.”

“I’ll make sure no one hears it from us.”

“I’m so happy, Mom. I don’t know what to do with it all. I’m like a hormonal bundle of joy these days.”

“No one deserves that more than you do, Hannah. No one.”

“Do you . . . Do you think Caleb knows?”

“I’m sure he does. He’s watching over you.”

“I think of him every day, no matter what I’m doing.”

“You always will, and that’s okay. It doesn’t take anything away from what you have now with Nolan.”

“Nolan is just . . .” She sighed deeply. “He’s the best, even when he’s furious with me because I’m worried about Fred.”

“Fred has been spotted, so go on home to your handsome husband, sweetheart.”

“I wonder if Nolan is home yet. He said he wasn’t staying up on the mountain because he didn’t want me home alone.”

“I’m sure he’s there waiting for you.” Molly hugged her again and got out of the car, waving as Hannah backed out of the driveway. It was thrilling to see her oldest daughter so happy once again after so many years of grief and despair following the death of her first husband.

Molly went inside where she was greeted by their yellow labs, George and Ringo. She let them out in the yard and went to put a kettle on the stove, hoping a cup of tea would soothe the anger that simmered inside her after what she’d overheard her sister say to Charley.

It had taken tremendous self-control not to get into it right then and there with Hannah, but she’d chosen the high road and kept her mouth shut so as not to ruin the evening for Megan and the others. She banged around the kitchen, taking her frustration out on the cabinets and countertop.

How dare she say such things to Charley, right when Charley was on the verge of possibly taking a real chance with a man for the first time in her life—as far as Molly knew, anyway. Charley had always been private about her romantic life, and though she dated a lot, she hadn’t had a true boyfriend. Until now. Until Tyler came along and inserted himself into Charley’s life, refusing to take no for an answer from her stubborn, willful, wonderful daughter.

“Ugh,” she said out loud as the dogs came bounding into the kitchen ahead of her husband.

“What’s that about?” Linc asked as he put his arms around her from behind to nuzzle her neck. He smelled of wood smoke and beer.

“I’m furious.”

“Uh-oh. What did I do this time?”

“Not you. Hannah.”

“Our Hannah?” he said, astounded.

“No, my Hannah. I heard her talking to Charley tonight, spewing her bitter shit about men to my daughter when she’s on the verge of finally taking a chance on a man, or so it seems. I wanted to drag Hannah out of there by her hair and punch her lights out.”

Linc rocked with silent laughter.

“Stop! It’s not funny. I’m so pissed.”

“You know how I love it when you get feisty over something.”

“This is way more than feisty. This is flat-out furious. I’m stunned that she would have the nerve to say such things to Charley. I’ve watched Charley with Tyler. This is different. She feels something for him, even if she doesn’t want to admit it. And now Hannah has filled her head with doubts.”

Linc turned her around to face him. “Tomorrow you’ll talk to Charley and you’ll tell her she shouldn’t listen to Hannah on this subject. She’s still bitter about what Mike did all these years later, and with good reason. You’ll tell our lovely daughter that the only one she needs to listen to is herself and her own heart. You’ll take care of it.”

“Yes, I will.” Molly released a deep breath, trying to calm herself.

“You feel better?”

“I’ll only feel better after I talk to Charley.”

“You should call her tonight then. Right now.”

“You really think I should?”

“From what I’ve observed, this relationship with Tyler is tenuous at best. It might be better not to let her sleep on a pile of bitterness tonight.”

“You’re right. You’re absolutely right.” Molly kissed his cheek, stepped out of his embrace and went to the phone, finding Tyler’s business card and key on the desk where she’d put them after he gave them to her. She dialed the number, hoping Charley was still up.

“Hi there,” Charley said. “Did you forget something?”

Relieved by the sound of her daughter’s voice, Molly said, “I forgot something really important.”

“What’s that?”

“I heard what your aunt said to you in the kitchen, and I’m so furious about it your father told me I needed to call you tonight before you could sleep on the pile of shit she fed you.”

“Mom!”

“What?”

“You don’t swear.”

“I’m spitting mad right now, Charlotte, and I want you to hear me when I say you should not listen to a word she says about men or relationships or marriage or commitment or fidelity or loyalty. She has very good reasons for feeling the way she does, but it’s wrong of her to inflict that crap on you. Especially not right now.”

“Why not now?” Charley asked softly.

“Because! I can see how torn you are about what’s happening with Tyler, and you don’t need a woman whose husband left her alone to finish raising eight children to tell you all the ways that men suck when you have clearly found a good one in Tyler. He’s no Mike Coleman, and I say that without a hint of reservation.” Pausing to breathe, Molly said in a calmer tone, “I don’t presume to know what’s happening between the two of you, but don’t you dare make decisions about him based on what your aunt said to you tonight. That would be the biggest mistake you could make.”

“I already came to that conclusion on my own. I was so shocked to hear her talk about Uncle Mike in the first place that I just sort of nodded in all the right places at what she said. But I know she’s not the best person to take advice from in this situation.”

“Good,” Molly said, filled with relief. “I’m so glad to hear you say that.”

“She loves me, and she doesn’t want me or any of us to get hurt. I get that.”

“She does love you, and her heart is in the right place, but the only heart you need to follow is your own.” Molly glanced at Linc, who was leaning against the counter, arms crossed over his broad chest as he listened to her side of the conversation. “If you’re looking for an example of a relationship that works, look at your father and me. Not at her and Mike.”

“We all look to you two as an example of what works, Mom. You’ve set the bar very high.”

“Don’t worry about our bar. Set your own bar. And though it’s absolutely none of my business, I want to say how much I like Tyler and the way he takes care of you. Not to mention, his pulled pork is to die for.”

Charley laughed. “Yes, it is. Thanks for calling, Mom.”

“Thanks for listening. I was about to explode after I heard what she said to you.”

“No need for exploding. It’s all good. Love you.”

“Love you, too, sweetheart. Sleep tight.”

“You, too.”

Molly put down the phone and turned to her husband, who watched her with a smile on his handsome face. He pushed himself off the counter and crossed the room to her, eating her up with his eyes. She loved when he looked at her like that, as if she were all he needed in the world.

“What?”

“You. I love the way you still mother our kids.”

“They still need mothering.”

“They still need you. And so do I.”

Molly put her arms around him and rested her head on his chest.

“I liked what you said about looking to us as an example of what works.”

She held him a little tighter, as grateful today as she’d been nearly forty years ago when he chose her over an Oxford scholarship. “What works better than we do?”

“Not one goddamned thing that I can think of.”

“I didn’t ask how Hunter’s party was.”

“Lots of fun, but I was glad to leave the young fools to their cold-weather camping. Those days are over for me.”

“I’m glad you came home. How’d you get here?”

“Tyler brought me, Hunter, Nolan and Will.”

“I guess you’re not the only one who’s put those days behind him.”

“My boys are smart men. Why would they want to sleep in the cold when they’ve got a warm woman at home in their bed?”

“Good for them. It’s nice to see them domesticated.”

“They’re thoroughly domesticated. All Hunter could talk about tonight was how Saturday can’t get here soon enough for him. He can’t wait to marry Megan.”

“I’m so happy for him. For all of them.”

“Me, too.”

“You and my dad do good work,” she said of Linc and Elmer’s matchmaking efforts.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Sure you don’t. I have news . . .”

“Are you going to tell me?”

“Only if you swear on a stack of Bibles not to tell another living soul or to let on to anyone that you have a scoop of any kind.”

Groaning, he said, “That’s a very tall order.”

“I know it’ll be hard for you, but you have to sit on this one.”

Linc took a deep breath and expelled it. “Okay, I promise. Lay it on me.”

“Swear to God, hope to die, stick a needle in your eye?”

“Yes!” He laughed. “Yes, to all of it, except for the needle in my eye.”

“You’ll have my fist in your chops if I hear you telling anyone. You’re a terrible gossip.”

“I’ve been well and duly warned. Now spill it.”

“Hannah’s having a girl.”

“Oh,” he said on another long exhale. “Oh wow. That’s . . . A girl. Well, that’s big news indeed, and I promise I won’t tell anyone.”

She reached up to kiss him. “Thank you. I’m so excited about all these babies.”

“All? There’re two that I know of.”

“Cameron and Will, too.”

“Really?”

“I’m not one hundred percent sure, but my radar is picking up some signals.”

“I’d trust those signals with my life. If anyone knows pregnant, my love, it’s you.”

“And whose fault is that?”

Laughing, he flipped off the lights in the kitchen and directed her to the stairs with his hands on her hips. George and Ringo followed behind.

After the last of their kids left home, they’d taken down a couple of walls and made a huge master suite for themselves, complete with a fireplace, sitting area and adjoining bathroom that had a bathtub big enough for two. They referred to the room as their reward for surviving the teenage years ten times. The dogs crashed in their beds by the window where they could keep a watchful eye on their best friend Lincoln.

Molly went into the bathroom to get ready for bed, and when she came out, she saw that Linc had lit the fireplace and turned down the bed. She loved that fireplace and the cozy glow it cast over the room. Snuggling up to her husband, she knew a moment of pure gratitude for the life she’d had with him, especially when she thought of what her sister’s husband had done.

She and Linc had had their ups and downs, their struggles, their sorrows, especially after losing their beloved son-in-law in Iraq. But through it all, they’d remained steadfast in their commitment to each other, their marriage and their big family.

There was nowhere else Molly would rather be at the end of a long day than wrapped up in his arms.

“Big weekend coming up around here,” Linc said.

“Wait till you see the rehearsal dinner spot they chose.” Molly had gone with Hunter and Megan to make the arrangements and had thrilled in their excitement. “It’s unique. Not what you’d expect for him at all.”

“I’m sure it’ll all be great. He’s smiled more in the last few months than he has in his whole life. She’s perfect for him.”

“And vice versa. I had my doubts where she was concerned, but she’s overcome them all.”

“Your dad is crazy about her.”

“Apparently, the feeling is mutual. Did you hear she asked him to give her away in addition to presiding over the ceremony?”

“No! Oh wow. He must be delighted.”

“He is. She’s a special girl.”

“Indeed she is.”

“Hunter is getting married,” Molly said with a sigh. “Our little boy is all grown up.”

Linc chuckled. “So I’ve heard.”

“They’re dropping like flies all of a sudden.”

“It happens.”

“Especially with you and Dad running interference.” She ran her hand over his chest and the belly that was still flat when other men his age had gone soft. Not her man. “We should have another one.”

He stopped breathing.

Molly laughed at his reaction. “Just kidding.”

“Jesus, woman! Don’t scare me like that. Whenever you said those words to me in the past, I was holding a new baby a few months later.”

Molly couldn’t stop laughing.

He turned over so he was on top of her, pinning her down with the weight of his body and his playful scowl. “Only grandbabies for you, Mrs. Abbott.”

“Awww, you’re no fun at all. Remember all the hard work that went into making babies?”

“I remember.”

“Nothing says we can’t still do the work . . .”

“I do love the way you think, Molly Stillman Abbott.”

Smiling up at him, she wrapped her arms around his neck and brought him down to her, wanting him as much today as she had the sweltering hot summer day she met him. And she was still hot for him all these years later.