Grinning, I left him in peace, and headed inside to find Magan.

She met me in the kitchen, and said, “I got that job.”

My brows furrowed. “Which one? You applied for two, didn’t you?”

“Oh, yeah…I got the one at the dress shop. I start in a few days and have to take my birth certificate in for them so I thought I’d make a copy in case they want one.”

I smiled at her excitement. “They shouldn’t need a copy of that, but I’m so proud of you for being organised.”

She stilled and gave me a strange smile. Almost a sad smile. “Thank you, Sophia,” she murmured, and I had no idea what she was thanking me for. On top of that, I hated the sadness in her voice.

“What for, honey?” I asked as I reached for her hand, needing to hold her.

“For loving me like you do. I’ve gone my whole life pretty much without a mother figure, well, at least, one who cared for me like a mother. You might be my sister, but in a lot of ways, I kinda think of you like my mother.”

The heartbreak our mother had caused both of us was still fresh, and we were still coming to terms with it in our own ways. It meant the world to me to hear these words from her. I put my arms around her and hugged her. We held onto each other for a long time, and when we finally let each other go, she said, “I love you.”

“I love you, too, honey.”

She moved to the table and stashed her documents in her bag before turning back to me, and said, “We have to cook cake. Josie will be here soon.”

My heart felt like it could explode from happiness.

My new family.

* * *

“Oh, my dear girl, you did the right thing getting rid of him,” Josie said to Magan later that afternoon when we were discussing the fact Magan had ditched her boyfriend.

Magan nodded. “I know.”

“I know it’s a cliché, but there really are plenty of other fish in the sea. Sometimes you just need to fish for longer or you need to change your fishing locations.” She eyed Griff, and added, “Or you need to let someone else do the fishing for you.”

I laughed while he shook his head and muttered something under his breath.

Holding up the plate with scones on it, I asked, “Josie, would you like another scone?”

Her face lit up and she nodded with a smile. “Your scones are the bomb, Sophia. I would love another one, thank you.”

Magan burst out laughing and slapped her hand over her mouth. “Did you just say her scones are the bomb, Josie?”

“Yes, because they are,” Josie said, looking confused.

“Oh, my God, I’ve never heard anyone over the age of, like, thirty say that word,” Magan said, clearly finding this funny.

“Josie’s been spending too much time with Sophia,” Griff threw in, and although he said it like he rued the day, I knew he loved how close we were becoming.

Josie raised her brows. “Magan, you don’t reach an age in life where you stop living and stop learning new things. I might be old to you, but in my mind, I’m still somewhere between thirty and forty.”

Griff suddenly stood and headed inside without a word. When Josie and Magan gave me a querying look, I shrugged and said, “I don’t know where he’s going.”

Josie ate her scone while Magan and I finished off our cake, and then she said, “I’m going to go home before it gets dark. Thank you for a wonderful afternoon, Sophia.”

We all stood, but before we could go inside, Griff came back out, holding something in his hand. As he got closer, I could see it was something small wrapped in Christmas paper.

Josie eyed it and her face lit up with a smile, but she didn’t say anything.

He moved to where she stood, and pulled a necklace from the wrapping. Looking at her, he said, “I found this the other day…had forgotten you’d given me a Christmas present until then.”

Josie nodded, and I realised this was a significant moment for them because the mood had turned serious. “It was your mother’s, and her mother’s before that, Michael.”

“I remember her wearing it.”

Josie reached out, and placed her hand over his, squeezing it gently. “She wanted you to have that. Her first-born son was always to have that necklace to give to the woman he loved.”

Griff nodded. “She told me that,” he said gruffly.

Josie’s eyes were full of so much love for her nephew. “I am glad you found it,” she said as she moved towards me. Putting her arms around me, she whispered, “Thank you, beautiful girl. I’m going to die a happy woman one day.”

I wasn’t sure what she meant, but I smiled and hugged her back. “Thank you for coming. We’ll do this again soon.”

As Josie said her goodbyes to Magan, she also said, “Help an old lady home, will you, dear girl?”

Magan hooked her arm through Josie’s and said, “Sure.”

I watched them go until Griff’s arms came around my waist, and he spun me to face him. I sucked in a breath at what I found there. He stared at me with an intense gaze that shot straight to my core. His lips landed on mine and he kissed me, and it had to be said, that kiss was one of the most intense, passionate kisses I’d ever experienced. It was as if he put all the want and need he had for me into that one kiss. When he ended it, he said, “I love you, Sophia.”

He was full of surprises today. First the moving in, now this declaration.