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Madeline shrugged out of her coat and draped it across a chair, then stepped out of her boots “What did Cameron say about Raven?”

“That she’s a healthy eight-year-old lab She’s a little underweight He would guess she hasn’t been eatingpushed froet plenty of exercise That’s the best way to keep her healthy”

As he spoke, he bent down and petted the dog Raven’s tail thumped on her bed

“Then you have a plan,” Madeline said, thinking the ether

“I do Want to help me decorate the tree?”

“You know it”

They discussed the color scheht and there were enough shiny, glittery decorations for three trees They quickly settled on traditional red, green and gold decorations She unpacked the boxes and he placed the ornaments on the tree

About a half hour into their endeavors, she went into the kitchen to put a casserole into the oven, then changed into jeans and a sweatshirt that she’d brought with her Jonny pulled chaerator and, despite his injury, popped the cork

“To celebrate lass

She knew exactly what he meant—that he’d adopted Raven But for a second, she allowed herself to think he meant more That he meant them

She didn’t know exactly when he’d transitioned fro for She’d started seeing hi part—that had been coradually

She liked how much he loved his sister and how easily he fit into the town She enjoyed hanging out with his to say to each other They shared si with him wasnice

“I went back to the Day of Giving,” he said when they’d each taken a sip “There are a lot of charities in the area”

“Some come in froet plenty of tourists this ti to attract attention Did you find any that were interesting?”

He nodded “I’ here, I should get involved”

“You could bring a lot of attention to any one of them”

He leaned against the counter “Not ht” One corner of his ood”