Family.
The word landed somewhere soft. I thought about what it had meant to me growing up. Mom passed out on the couch. Todd’s fists. The weight of Mia on my hip when she was small, both of us waiting for someone to come home who never did.
Family had been a burden. A responsibility. Something I fought for because I had to, not because it brought me joy.
But this. Cal flipping burgers while arguing with Owen about football. Mia showing Kowalski and Reyes how to feed Honey without getting their fingers nipped. Liam catching my eye across the yard like I was the only person he wanted to see.
This was something else entirely.
“Thank you.”
The words felt unfamiliar in my mouth. I hesitated, then tried again, quieter.
“For being here. For… this.”
I gestured vaguely toward the yard—the noise, the people, the easy way no one seemed to be leaving.
She smiled and bumped her shoulder against mine.
“Where else would I be?”
Later, I went to grab another beer and heard Owen’s voice around the corner of the barn.
“So when’s the real wedding?”
I froze. Pressed myself against the wall. Knew I shouldn’t eavesdrop. Did it anyway.
Liam’s response was too quiet to catch. Just a low murmur, maybe a laugh, something that made Owen snort and say, “Yeah, okay, keep your secrets.”
But my heart was stuttering anyway.
Real wedding.
Like this one hadn’t counted. Like there was supposed to be another one, a better one, one that meant something beyond legal convenience.
Did Liam want that? Did I?
The question sat heavy in my chest for the rest of the afternoon.
That night, after everyone had gone, we sat on the porch in comfortable silence.
The stars were out, thick and bright, the way they only got this far from town. I could hear the horses shifting in the barn,an owl somewhere in the distance, the creak of the porch swing as we rocked slowly back and forth.
I stared out at the stars for a long moment.
“What do you want… from this?”
Liam turned to look at me. “Right now? Another beer, maybe. Possibly a sandwich.”
“I mean for the future. After the hearing. After…” I trailed off, not sure how to finish.
He was quiet for a moment. The swing creaked. The owl called again.
“I want to keep this place running,” he said finally. “Build it into something my grandmother would be proud of. Maybe expand the rescue program, take in more horses like Honey.”
“And?”
“And I want you here.”
