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Ainsley smiled. “This is why Aunt Claire is my favorite.”

“Hey!” Noah exclaimed.

“Dang, Noah. You were replaced.” Emily laughed.

He pretended to be heartbroken.

A knock sounded on the door. “Hey, guys,” Noah said, “our dinner is here. Gotta go.”

“What happened to the spaghetti?” Emily narrowed her eyes. Maggie looked concerned. Will smirked.

“Oh yeah, why did the smoke alarm go off?” Ainsley chimed in innocently. She obviously didn’t know what her mom and grandparents were implying.

“Um. . . don’t want to talk about it. Bye!”

“That’s my boy.” Will grinned.

“Shut up,” Maggie and Emily told him in unison.

“Bye! Love you guys!” Claire said quickly. Everyone called their “goodbyes” and “love yous,” and Noah ended the call.

They burst into laughter as he went to retrieve their food.

“That was embarrassing.” Claire’s cheeks still felt warm.

Noah laughed. “It’s fine.”

Claire sighed. “I need to call my parents.”

Noah had never even met her parents. They had spoken on the phone a handful of times. That was it.

But her parents didn’t make an effort. They didn’t call. Didn’t visit. Didn’t ask her to visit.

Noah’s family had made room for her almost immediately. Her own family had never seemed especially curious about the life she was building.

“Let’s eat first,” he suggested.

Claire nodded. She was more than happy to delay that phone call.

They sat down at the table and opened up their food. Claire kept looking at her ring between bites.

Noah caught her twice. “Still engaged,” he assured her.

“Just checking.”

Too quickly, the containers were nearly empty.

“I should call now,” Claire said.

Noah set down his fork. “Do you want me to stay?”

She looked at him. “Yes.”

He did not say anything else. He simply moved his chair closer.

Claire took a deep breath, pulled out her phone, and called her mom. She couldn’t bring herself to FaceTime her mother, but she could make the call.

She didn’t even expect her parents to ask to see the ring. If they did, she would send a picture.