Ivy perked up. “Pwinsess?”
Emma chuckled. “Exactly, sweetheart. You’re going to be the princess at that wedding. I’ll make sure of it.”
Before I could blink, Ivy scrambled off Matty’s lap and went straight for Emma.
“Ivy.” I half rose, heart in my throat. She had already clambered onto Emma’s knees, tucking herself into the woman’s lap the way she did to Matty. My stomach knotted tight when her small hand shot out to play with Emma’s pearl necklace, twisting it between her tiny fingers. “Bug, come back here?—”
Emma’s hand came up, calm and certain, resting lightly on Ivy’s back. “It’s all right, Hudson. She’s comfortable.” Her tone was soft but carried a kind of authority that settled the air.
I don’t care how much Matty says she weighs. She’s scary as hell.
“Now tell me, how are the wedding plans coming along?” Emma asked, jolting me out of my thoughts.
Matty leaned back, casual. “On track, mostly. Rowan’s driving us up the wall half the time with all his ideas.”
“Do you want me to recommend someone else? I know a fabulous planner in Aspen.”
Matty’s lips twitched. “No, Mom. Half joking. Rowan’s great. He gets us. We’ll keep him.”
She studied him for a moment, then nodded. “As long as you’re happy. That’s what matters.”
Wow. She actually sounded as if she meant it.
For a beat, the room went quiet, the tick of a clock somewhere filling the space. Then Matty asked softly, “Have you…spoken to Carter recently?”
Emma’s expression faltered, though her posture remained perfect. “He calls me every day, but he won’t come home. Won’t attend the wedding. It’s too difficult for him. I probably shouldn’t be there either after everything, but I need to see my Matty on his big day.”
The air tightened around us. Matty’s jaw flexed, and I reached a hand out to grab his and squeeze. “He should come,” I said quickly. “The ceremony itself is a small family affair, and you will always be a part of our family. You’re Matty’s mother, and he wants you there. And Carter… well, maybe showing up would be a step in the right direction for everyone.”
Emma’s gaze shifted to me, sharp for half a second, then softened with a smile. “Thank you for that, Hudson. It means a lot.”
I cleared my throat. “Just saying what’s true.”
Matty rose to his feet, surprising me when he picked Ivy up from off his mother’s lap. “Mom, got anymore of those cookies you had here last time?”
“Yes, hon. They’re on the counter in the crystal jar.”
“Come on, Bug. Let’s eat all Nana’s cookies and wash them down with some chocolate milk.”
I shot him a look that screamed “don’t leave me alone with her,” but he only grinned, traitor that he was, and disappeared with Ivy toward the kitchen.
Emma and I sat in the wide, quiet room, the city spread out behind her like a painting. She folded her hands in herlap again, her voice softer this time. “I’m not so scary, am I?”
I swallowed, forcing a crooked smile. “Not as scary as four years ago.”
Her lips curved in a smile, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I should apologize for that. For the part I played in shoving you away from Matty. At the time, I thought I was protecting him. You’ll understand one day, Hudson. You have a daughter now. In time, you’ll see we sometimes interfere more than we should—for their own good.”
I nodded politely, though doubt curled in my gut. I’d seen what real fatherhood looked like. Gray Magnuson never smothered his sons. He gave them room to grow, room to fall, room to figure out who they were, with the promise that he’d be there when they stumbled. That was the kind of father I wanted to be for Ivy.
“It’s all water under the bridge now. Matty and I found our way back to each other, and life’s never been better.”
“You impressed me a lot when Matty showed me you never spent the money.”
I lowered my head. “It was the one thing I could do at the time to prove how I really felt about him after everything that happened.”
“Daddy! Daddy! We got you a cookie!” Matty returned with Ivy, a cookie wrapped in a paper towel, which she clutched precariously in her good hand. “It’s for you, Daddy.”
A side of the cookie had teeth marks. I grinned and took it from her. “Thank you, Ivy, but did you have to take a bite out of it?”
