I hold back my smirk. “The getaway was nice.”
“Only nice?” Haven’s grin widens. “That’s disappointing but not unexpected.”
I laugh at the absurdity, but I peek at Durban. He’s shooting Haven a playful glare.
Myles steps forward. “Campbell, this is Tate, Mae’s oldest.”
I shake the older man’s hand. His smile is congenial, and I’m instantly at ease around him.
“She’s the planner for the Baldwin wedding.” Durban’s standing closer than a guy I just work with would normally, but I don’t mind. I like that he can’tseem to help himself. “And our Hawthorne Ranch liaison, who’s also a Hawthorne.”
“We’re hoping she’ll help us brainstorm.” Lane opens the lid of the grill, and the meat inside captivates all the guys.
“Me?” I ask, surprised.
“Not many other event planners in our network,” Haven says. “And Durban says you’re good.” His grin widens.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see a muscle flex in Durban’s jaw, but I don’t look right at him. My blush will rage if I do.
“I’ll introduce you to Mae,” Durban says and steers me away.
When we reach Mae, she asks if she can hug me, and when I say yes, I’m embraced by the startlingly strong woman. She wrangled three young Hennessy brothers in addition to many other kids.
She chats with me for a few minutes about my job, delighted to hear about what I do. Her attention is solely on me, and there’s no sense I’m falling short of whatever she expected. Meeting Stanford’s parents was the opposite of this. Their looks were full of judgment, and anything I said or did only added to it.
I can’t ever meet Durban’s mom or dad, but this introduction feels like more. It’s like he’s showing me off to someone important to him, even though she only filled three months of his life.
She’s not his mom, I’m not his girlfriend, and he hasn’t told me he wants anything different. This is just another dream of mine that is going to go to someone else.
Durban
When I pull into Iverson’s, Campbell’s car is there. I didn’t intend to come at the same time she’s visiting, but I like the happy accident. She didn’t come over last night after the gathering. Another night in “Billings” would make it too hard to explain.
The way she laughed with Mae and joked around with the guys left me wishing I could put a hand on her lower back or hook an arm around her shoulders. Myles and Tate are happily married, and the other two Foster brothers don’t seem to be into Campbell, but I wasn’t feeling territorial. I just wanted to show her off as mine.
I can’t be falling for her this fast. I thought I was into Natalie after a couple of weeks with her too. Then she moved away, and what bloomed from our long-distance relationship was a deep appreciation for her brains and ambition, and a vast overestimation of how important I was to her.
With Campbell, everything is moving at lightning speed, yet I don’t know if I’m the only one in the storm. How do I know when it’s too fast?
I don’t need to. The wedding is Saturday. Stanford and January are supposed to leave Sunday morning, and I can’t have Stanford getting his underwear in a twist, obsessing over his ex, and making his bride run to her parents. When the land is officially signed over to William and Christine, then I can talk to Campbell.
I get out of my pickup.
Iverson meets me outside. “Finally going to meet the big guy?”
“I can give you more time.”
“Nah. Jamison is going stir-crazy. She was going to make rounds if you didn’t get down here soon.” We walk toward the house. “We would’ve been at Foster House yesterday to see everyone, but we both fell asleep when Tavis was napping.”
“Too bad you missed Mae.”
“Nope.” He opens the door for me. “Jamison made sure I called before they all left town, and they stopped by.”
I step in and am enveloped in cool air. It’s warm enough outside to run the AC, but there’s still a tinge of sunshine and huckleberry blossoms. I follow the cloud to the main area.
My gaze goes right to Campbell. She’s standing in the middle of the floor, rocking back and forth with a bundle in her arms. The blanket is blue and light brown, and a tiny mop of dark hair sticks out. She’s smiling at our nephew, then she looks up.
My world stops spinning.
