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You know how she worries about you down there in that big city all alone.”
    “Alone?” Amused, she held out the phone so the sounds of the party downstairs would travel through the receiver to Hyannis Port. “It doesn’t feel as if I’m ever alone.”
    “You’ve got the place full of people again?”
    “So it seems. How are you? How is everyone? Tell me everything.”
    She settled back, happy to chat with him about family, her aunts and uncles, her cousins, the babies.
    She listened and laughed, added her own comments, and was pleased when he told her there was a family gathering in the works for the summer.
    “Wonderful. I can’t wait to see everyone again. It’s been too long since Ian and Naomi’s wedding last fall. I miss you.”
    “Well then, why do you have to wait until summer? We’re right here, after all.”
    “Maybe I’ll surprise you.”
    “I called with one for you. I’ll wager you haven’t heard as yet that little Naomi’s expecting. We’ll have another bairn under the Christmas tree this year.”
    “Oh, Grandpa, that’s wonderful. I’ll call them tonight. And with Darcy and Mac ready to have theirs any day, we’ll have lots of babies to cuddle this Christmas.”
    “For a young woman so fond of babes, you ought to be busy making your own.”
    It was an old theme and made her grin. “But my cousins are doing such a fine job of it.”
    “Hah! That they are, but that doesn’t mean you can shirk your duty, little girl. You may be a Campbell by birth, but you’ve got some MacGregor in your heart.”
    “Well, I could always give in and marry Frank.”
    “The one with the fish mouth?”
    “No, he just kisses like a fish. Then again … yeah, the one with the fish mouth. We could make you some guppies.”
    “Bah. You need a man, not a trout in an Italian suit. A man with more on his mind than dollars and cents, with an understanding of art, with enough of a serious nature to keep you out of trouble.”
    “I keep myself out of trouble,” she reminded him, but decided it was best not to mention the mugging incident. “Besides, Grandma won’t let me have you, so I’ll just have to pine away here in the big, bad city”
    He let out a bark of a laugh. “All the men in that city, you ought to be able to find one to suit you. You get out and about, don’t you? You’re not sitting there all day writing your funny papers.”
    “Just lately, but I hit a hot streak here and needed to run with it. There’s this new guy across the hall. Kind of surly and standoffish. No, actually, let’s just say it straight. He’s rude and abrupt. I think he’s out of work, except he plays the sax sometimes in this little club a few blocks from here. He’s just the perfect new neighbor for Emily.”
    “Is that so?”
    “He stays inside his apartment all day, doesn’t talk to anyone. His name’s McQuinn.”
    “If he doesn’t talk to anyone, how do you know his name?”
    “Grandpa.” She allowed herself a smug smile. “Have you ever known me to fail getting anyone to talk to me if I put my mind to it? Not that he’s the chatty sort even when you prime his pump with cookies, but I wheedled his name out of him.”
    “And how does he look to you, little girl?”
    “He looks good, very, very good. He’s going to drive Emily crazy.”
    “Is he, now?” Daniel said, and laughed with delight.
    When he’d gotten all that he needed to know out of his honorary granddaughter, Daniel made his next call. He hummed to himself, examined his nails, buffed them on his shirt, then grinned fiercely when Preston answered the phone with an impatient, “Yeah, what?”
    “Ah, you’ve such a sweet nature to you, McQuinn. It warms my heart.”
    “Mr. MacGregor.” There was no mistaking that booming Scottish burr. In an abrupt shift of mood, Preston smiled warmly and pushed away from his computer.
    “Right you are. And how are you settling in to the apartment there?”
    “Well enough. I have to thank you