The next few weeks went by slowly. October ended briskly, bringing in November with its pre-winter air. The leaves were mostly done changing colors now and the majority of them were littered on the lawns of the houses in Saranac. They crunched under my feet whenever I went for my daily morning run around town before getting breakfast at Danny's Diner.

I was running now, panting and watching my breath come out in little clouds in front of my face. The previous night, I had had a long conversation with Ryan about a case. It had been nothing short of absolutely frustrating. We had argued back and forth for hours until we finally drew up a resolution for a case we were working on. Whenever we had difficult cases like that one, I was never able to sleep the night after. So this morning, it was particularly hard for me to get up to go for my run. But now that I was into it, I had found my stamina and I felt like I could run forever.

But the sharp pain in my side told me I couldn't. So I turned the corner and jogged slowly towards Danny's before slowing down to a walk. I reached my arms up over my head, stretching the cramping in my abdomen. The air outside was cold, as it was still very early in the morning and it was nearly December. Cara Barger, one of the ladies that lived in Grammy's street, waved at me as she walked by with her dog, Lancelot.

"Good morning," Cara said, as I bent down to pet Lancelot, a black labradoodle. He stuck his tongue out, enjoying the feel of my hands scratching under his ears.

"Morning," I replied, still breathing a little roughly from the cold.

"I still don't understand how you young kids can get up so early and run when it's this cold out," she told me. I chuckled and stood up.

"You should try it. It really wakes you up for the rest of the day," I told her.

"Oh, honey. I am much too old for that now," she said, laughing a hearty laugh.

"You aren't a day over 40. I won't hear any of that," I said. She smiled at me and I returned it.

"Hi, Mrs. Barger!" I heard a bubbly voice call out from behind me. I felt my back stiffen. Cara's eyes held pity in them for me.

"Hello, Julie," she said as I heard the footsteps draw nearer. 

"And who's th--" Julie began as she walked up next to me. When she glanced over, she squealed. "Arya! It's you! I haven't seen you in ages it seems!" she exclaimed, her voice much too loud for this hour.

"I've been busy," I said, trying to muster up a smile. I couldn't manage and ended up grimacing instead.

"Are you out for a morning run?" she asked me, cocking her pretty blonde head to the side. I nodded and examined her outfit: grey yoga pants, neon yellow track jacket and matching tennis shoes.

"You too?" I asked.

"Of course! I have to keep in shape for the wedding!" she cried, letting out a girly giggle. Cara winced in annoyance. Lancelot barked, indicating that he wanted to leave. This drew Julie's attention down to the dog. "Oh, hello little puppy!" she cooed, reaching down to pet him. He growled and stepped back from her. She pulled her hand back quickly. "Oh! Not so friendly, I guess!" she said, not seeming faised at all by Lancelot's unusual dislike.

She stood back up straight and grinned at us.

"Mrs. Barger, did you and your husband receive our invitation for the rehearsal dinner? It's at the end of February, a week before the wedding," Julie asked Cara.

"I did receive the invitation. Thank you so much for inviting us!" Cara said.

"Of course we were going to invite you! Dr. Barger is one of Carter's idols!" she exclaimed, laughing shrilly. Cara and I exchanged a look. We both knew that she was over-exaggerating that, just like most things that came out of her mouth.

"Will you be here until then, Arya?" Julie asked.

"It depends on how fast I can convince Grammy to come with me to Manhattan and how quickly I can find a better apartment for her and switch all of her doctors," I said.

"That sounds like a lot. If you're here, you should definitely come! I'll send you an invitation. Grammy is a huge part of Carter's life and I want both of you to be there!" she said.

I wanted badly to decline, but her happiness was too overwhelming. I found myself thanking her and then I decided that I needed to get away from her as quickly as possible. I bid farewell to the two ladies and then I walked the rest of the way to Danny's diner. I pushed open the door to the sound of door chimes, finding Danny scrubbing down the counter, waiting for the early morning rush to begin.

"Hey, there, kiddo," Danny said when he spotted me. His hat was turned backward, his dark blonde hair sticking out in the front.

"Hey, Danny," I said, hopping up onto one of the bar stools.

"How far did you run today?" he asked.

"I got to three miles before I felt like I was going to pass out," I said.

"I keep telling you to let me run with you. I'd be a really great motivator," he said, his honey-brown eyes twinkling.

"Or a really bad one. You ran cross-country in high school. Distance running is your thing. There's no way in hell that I'm going to go running with you," I said.

"I promise I won't make you look bad," he joked.

"Please. You may have speed and stamina on me, but you ain't got nothing on these good looks," I said, snapping my fingers in a zig-zag in front of my face. He laughed, shaking his head.

"That's debatable," he said. I reached over and flipped his hat off his head. "Hey now! Play nice!" he exclaimed, bending down to retrieve it. I rolled my eyes at him. "So you had a really annoyed look on your face when you walked in. What's up?" he asked, pouring me a cup of coffee and handing me a bagel.

"I ran into Julie on the way here," I said.

"That's never a good thing," he teased.

"She invited me and Grammy to the rehearsal dinner," I said, continuing. He raised his eyebrows at me, telling me to keep going. "There's no way in hell we're going. Why the hell would I want to go to the dinner? I have no reason to be there," I said, venting my frustrations to Danny. I cut the bagel he had given me in half, spreading the cream cheese on it.

"You could go to show your support to Carter," he said.

"What support?" I asked, taking a bite of my bagel.

"To show him that you don't care about him in that way any more," he told me, leaning forward on his elbows.

"We haven't talked or seen each other for a month now, which is amazing considering how small this town is. We're better off having no contact at all," I said.

"You don't think it's a good idea to make reconciliations?" he asked. I shook my head. "Stubborn as always," he sighed, drumming his hands on the table.

"Even if I go, I'll need a date," I said.

"What about that Ryan guy Mrs. Knolls was talking about?" he asked. I snorted.

"You don't honestly believe that I have a boyfriend, do you?" I asked him, raising an eyebrow.

"I find it a little hard to believe that you've stayed single for this long," he said.

"If you really mean that, Danny, then you don't know me at all," I replied. He pursed his lips, understanding that I was talking about my feelings for Carter.

"Okay, but that's my point! If you go, then you'll be showing him that you're over him," he said.

"Which I'm not," I said.

"You're the one that keeps saying you want him to be happy. Either man up and tell him how you really feel or take the wrong way out and just stand by," he said.

"Neither of those options are appealing. But one is much easier. As a future lawyer, I like taking the easy way out," I said.

"I don't even know why I bother giving you advice," Danny said, shaking his head at me. I frowned and then sighed.

"Grammy keeps saying that she wants to meet Lily," I said. Danny gave me a sympathetic look.

"She's just being like that because she's getting old and just had surgery," he told me. I sighed and nodded.

"I know, but every time she asks, I get that nagging feeling that I should just take her to meet her," I said, propping my elbow up onto the counter and placing my chin in my hand.

"What's stopping you?" he asked.

"The fear of having my two lives collide," I replied.

"Arya," he said.

"It's why I stayed away for so long," I said softly, dropping my hand and chipping at the nail polish on my nails.

"And now you're back. It's a chance for you to fix things," he said.

"Maybe they're better off being left broken," I said.

"Nothing's better off broken," Danny said, taking my now empty plate and cup from me. "It's too many pieces to keep track of."

I pondered Danny's words for the rest of that day and the days following. It wasn't until the day before Thanksgiving that I decided, finally, to talk to my grandmother about Lily.

"Grammy, can I talk to you?" I asked her. She was in the kitchen, pouring over her recipe book in preparation for the Thanksgiving Potluck dinner that the entire town put together every year.

"I'm listening," she said, turning the page. I sat down at the kitchen island, pushing aside some papers.

"I was thinking about going to the city tomorrow," I said. She looked up at me sharply.

"You're not staying for the dinner?" she asked.

"Don't worry; I'll be back in time for the potluck," I said. "I was just wondering if you wanted to come with me," I said.

"Arya Elizabeth, I have told you multiple times now that I will not move with you to the city. I was born in this town and I damn well will die in it!" she exclaimed. I sighed, running a hand over my face. Ever since the surgery, Grammy had gotten a lot more irritable and emotional. I knew it was because of all of the medications that doctors were telling her to take, but sometimes, taking care of her felt extremely burdensome.

"That's not why I was asking," I said flatly.

"Then why?" she asked.

"I was going to bring Lily some cookies and spend the day with her. It's tradition," I replied.

"And you want me to come with you?" she asked.

"Well, you have been saying that you wanted to meet her. So now's your chance," I said. She eyed me curiously.

"What's the catch?" she asked, "You aren't going to try and get me to move into your apartment while we're there, are you?" I rolled my eyes at her.

"There is no catch, Grammy. I'm asking you to come purely to meet Lily," I said. She scrutinized me to see if I was lying. When she realized that my words were genuine, she smiled.

"Of course I'd like to go! Let me get my purse!" she exclaimed. I chuckled.

"Grammy, we're going tomorrow. Not today," I said.

"That's not why I want my purse. I'm not going to meet my great granddaughter without presents! We're going shopping!" she exclaimed, hobbling out of the room to get her purse. I laughed and shook my head to myself, grabbing my keys.

This was going to be interesting.

__________________________________________________________________

A/N: Short and uneventful, I know. I promise the next part will be more exciting. We'll get to see Grammy meeting Lily and the Thanksgiving Potluck, which will be interesting.

I might get in another update this week. I'm on break for a week, but I've been studying and working. So we'll see. If you guys are nice, I'll update. =)

Vote and leave me a comment about what you think will happen in the next chapter!

XOXO