And I just barely curbed my desire to bolt.

He caught sight of us, and a big smile lit his face, widening the silver-and-dark goatee around his lips.

“Granddad!” Tatie called.

He put his arms out before he got to us, so when he made it to us, they were in position for Tatie to fall into them.

And she did.

We were allowed physical contact.

Hugs. Cheek kisses. Handshakes.

At the beginning and end of the visit.

Tatie got her hug and cheek kiss.

Gear got his hug with several stout pounds on the back.

Buck got his hug, no pounding on the back, it was tight, and it lasted longer.

Oh God, yes,

Locke Hardy loved his son.

A lot.

Buck broke from his dad and turned to me.

“Here she is. Clara,” he introduced.

“Honey,” Locke Hardy said softly in his gravelly voice that reminded me of Buck’s.

My eyes instantly started stinging, but gamely, I shoved out my hand.

He was shifting my way, but he stopped when I did that and stared at it.

“She’s nervous, Granddad,” Tatie announced.

“And she’s being a total dork,” Gear added.

Locke looked to his namesake.

“Son,” he said with soft reproach.

“Well, she is,” Gear replied.

“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Hardy,” I declared.

He looked at me with his warm, brown eyes.

“All right, darlin’, I’ll give you that one, but then we’re not doin’ that anymore. Yeah?”

“Sorry?”

He moved right past my hand and hugged me.

Okay.

Yes.

I was totally going to cry.

“Thanks for lookin’ after my granddaughter,” he whispered in my ear.

Oh God!

Totally going to cry!

“And makin’ m’boy happy.”

“My, uh…it’s my pleasure.”

“And I’m Locke, or you can call me Dad. Though you can wait on that ’til we get to know each other better. Your call.”

He wasn’t helping!

“Okay,” I said shakily.

He lifted his head but didn’t take his arms from around me and shared, “You can hug me back. I don’t bite.”

“Oh no!” I cried. “It wasn’t that. I just—”

“Buck talks to his daddy,” he said softly. “I know you don’t got a lot of practice with this, Clara. We’ll get used to it, though.”

I nodded.

Then I slid my arms around him.

He pressed his jaw against the side of my head, gave me a squeeze and let me go.

Buck claimed me, smiling down at me with a smile that shared he thought I was a dork.

We moved to the table, all of us sat, and Tatie started babbling about…well, about everything.

I’d never seen her so animated.

Then again, Locke could not have a lot of interest in half the things she said, but he looked like all of it was pearls of wisdom he could scoop up and be the wisest man in the world.

Gear got his turn.

And finally, Buck shared, mostly news about the brothers, the Club and the business.

Locke did not share.

They didn’t press.

I figured he didn’t have much to say about the life he led, and furthermore, if he told them, they wouldn’t want to know.

So they didn’t ask.

But his eyes did eventually move between Buck and me before he asked, “So, when you two gonna get hitched?”

“Soon’s possible,” Buck said.

At the same time, I said, “After Christmas.”

Buck looked down at me. “After Christmas?”

I looked up at him. “Is that too soon?”

“Did you not hear me say ‘soon’s possible?’” he asked.

“I did. But you haven’t even asked me officially yet. Therefore, ‘soon’s possible’ is indefinite.”

“But you know I’m gonna ask.”

“I do, and Christmas is a good time to ask.”

“Christmas is over a month away.”

Oh my God.

My voice was pitched higher when I queried, “Were you going to ask earlier?”

“Tatie helped me pick out the ring. You want it, I’ll give it to you tonight.”

“Oh my God,” I whispered.

“I think she wants it, Dad,” Gear put in.

“I want a baby sister,” Tatie added.

“No way, a baby brother,” Gear contradicted.

“Okay, no. Dad’s got all his brothers in Aces. We’re outnumbered. We need a girl,” Tatie returned.

“I gotta have a chance to show a baby bro the ropes,” Gear shot back.

“Think we don’t got a problem sharin’ with the kids we got plans to expand the family,” Buck drawled.

“Awesome,” Tatie breathed excitedly.

“Clary, baby bro, get on that,” Gear ordered.

I tore my gaze from Buck’s amused, happy one and looked to his son.

“I can’t pick the gender, Locke,” I replied.

“We’ll do some voodoo or somethin’,” he said, grinning.

“Yes, voodoo to get a baby sister,” Tatie demanded.

“I’m down to attempt voodoo, but I’ll warn you, if it worked, voodoo practices to guarantee the gender of a child would be far more widespread,” I informed them.

“Doesn’t hurt tryin’,” Gear said.

“Just as long as we don’t have kill a chicken or something,” Tatie laid out her boundaries.

“You always have to kill a chicken,” Gear, the new voice of voodoo authority, educated her.

“We won’t be killing any chickens,” Buck laid down the law. “And you’ll get what you get, however it pops out.”

Tatiana looked to me and said, “Pops out. As if. Men,” before she giggled.

I rolled my eyes, shook my head, and smiled at her.

“Son,” Locke called.

We all looked to him.

But I felt what he had to say but did not verbalize as he stared at his boy.

I felt it from the kids.

I felt it from Locke.

Mostly, I felt it in the way Buck was suddenly holding his body very still.

And it felt beautiful.

I suspected they could spend the rest of the visit staring at each other that way.

But we only had two hours.

So I sallied forth.

“What do you want, Locke? A boy or a girl.”

His brown eyes came to me.

And I was again awash.

Joy.

“Whatever grandbaby you give me, girl. Just keep yourself safe and healthy givin’ it to me.”

“That I’ll do,” I promised.

He reached a hand across the table, turning it, palm up.

I took it.

We squeezed.

He let go fast, probably because physical contact wasn’t prohibited entirely during the visit.

But we had to be careful.

And I hurt for all of them because they were a touchy family and I knew they needed it.

I also now hurt for me.

Tatie forged in to cover that loss. “Dad topped up your commissary for you, Granddad. And we brought some things. We left them at reception.”

“You always do, baby, and I always love whatever you bring,” Locke replied.