He made a noncommittal noise. “That’s just because she knows you’re my only weakness. She’s plotting ways to exploit it.”
“You say that, but—”
He cut me off by nipping my ear. “I mean it.”
The porch swing creaked. I let my hand drift down to the curve of his forearm, tracing the veins that ran up to his wrist. The silver band on my ring finger glinted, a harsh stripe against all that sunburnt skin. I turned it, slow, working up to a joke that fizzled on my tongue.
Floyd noticed. He always did. “You regret it?” He nodded at the ring.
I barked out a laugh, loud enough to set the crows in the orchard squabbling. “Hell no. If anything, I regret waiting so damn long. I could’ve been using the phrase ‘my fiancé the sheriff’ for months.”
He snorted. “And I could’ve been writing you tickets for ‘public indecency: excessive displays of affection.’ Wasted opportunity.”
I twisted in his arms, planting both palms against the rough stubble of his cheeks. “You know, you’re not bad-looking, for a cop.”
His pupils blew wide, and I felt his pulse thrum under my fingers. “Careful,” he warned. “You’ll give people ideas.”
“That’s the plan.” I kissed him, hard enough to leave us both a little dizzy, then pulled back to smirk. “Besides, you think I’d let this family say no to you? They’d have to answer to me.”
His expression went soft, then dark, like he was thinking about the porch swing but in a way that had nothing to do with sitting. “Maybe I like the idea of you fighting for me.”
“Oh, I’ll fight for you. I’ll fight you, too, if you ever put pineapple on pizza again.”
He grinned. “Deal.”
The moment stretched, comfortable as a broken-in boot. We stayed like that, just breathing each other’s air and watching the sky go purple around the edges.
A sudden crash of footsteps rattled up the porch, breaking the spell. Levi skidded to a stop, dirt smudged from chin to knees, a ripped-out chunk of denim trailing from his right pant leg.
He didn’t look like a sullen teenager anymore. He looked like a kid who’d spent the afternoon building forts, falling out of trees, and laughing until his stomach hurt.
“Pa says dinner’s almost ready,” he announced, eyes on Floyd, like he still couldn’t believe the guy was sticking around.
I ruffled his hair, grinning at the indignation on his face. “You planning to eat your own weight, or just give the horses leftovers?”
“Both,” Levi said, not missing a beat. Then, to Floyd: “You sitting by us tonight, or are you doing old-people table?”
Floyd’s lips twitched. “Depends where you’re sitting, Levi.”
Levi beamed, a flash of kid under all the attitude. “By the pie.”
“Good call.” Floyd ruffled his head, too, and for a second it was impossible to tell who was more surprised—Levi, or the man himself.
“Go wash up, street rat,” I said. “You got half the garden on your face.”
Levi took the banter in stride. “So do you,” he shot back, and then vanished inside, slamming the screen door with enough force to shake the house.
I watched him go. Six months ago, he’d barely call my dad anything but “sir.” Now “Pa” rolled off his tongue like it’d alwaysbelonged to him. Maybe that’s what a real family does—tolerates the rough edges until they’re worn down to fit.
Floyd sidled up next to me, lacing his fingers with mine. We stood together in the last of the light, the quiet settling around us like a benediction.
“You ready?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I said, and for the first time in a long while, I meant it.
Inside, the kitchen was an explosion of noise and color. Every McKenzie family dinner started with the illusion of order—Ma had a spreadsheet for seating assignments and a color-coded chart for the passing of side dishes—but it always devolved into a full-contact sport within three minutes of the first plate landing.
Knox and Harlow manned the carving station, which looked less like a culinary endeavor and more like a medieval siege. Knox had brought out his military-issue field knife for the roast, and Harlow was muscling the bird with bare hands, arguing about the best way to dismember poultry. Neither seemed remotely aware that they were spraying drippings across every available surface.
