It’s still strange. Still new. Like I’m waiting for someone to tell me I’m not allowed to have it. But no one’s taking it.
I lean against the doorway and watch them for a second longer than I probably should. Kayley catches me staring and smirks.
“What?” she asks.
I shrug. “Just making sure you’re real.”
“Unfortunately for you,” she says, voice sweet but smug, “I’m very real. And I’m about to make you do dishes.”
Aidan squeals like he approves of this plan.
I push off the doorway and walk in, crouching to scoop him up. He immediately grabs my beard with both fists like it’s a rope and yanks. “Buddy,” I grunt, trying not to laugh. “That’s attached.”
Kayley laughs, reaching to pry his fingers loose. “He thinks you’re his personal jungle gym.”
“He’s not wrong,” I say, and kiss his cheek anyway.
Aidan smells like baby lotion and syrup because Kayley has officially made “Saturday pancake mornings” a thing at Haven 7, and the men act like they’re annoyed by it while still showing up suspiciously on time.
Life’s different now.
Not easier.
Different.
Because even when the cabin is warm and the baby is laughing and Kayley is smiling at me like I’m her whole world, there’s still a file open in my head.
Mark Renshaw.
Missing.
On the run.
And it eats at me.
We’ve had the FBI field office combing through leads. We’ve had Silas pulling favors and digging in places that don’t show up on paper. We’ve had Wyatt tracing money trails until his eyes go bloodshot. We’ve run plate scans, searched properties, flagged bank movements, hit old contacts.
Nothing.
Renshaw vanished like smoke.
That’s not an accident.
That’s someone with help.
Kayley notices the shift in me before I even speak. She always does now. “You’re doing the thing,” she says softly.
I glance at her. “What thing?”
“The brooding.” She gestures toward my face. “You get that look like you’re about to go fight a bear with your bare hands.”
I snort. “I don’t brood.”
She gives me the look. The one that says I’m cute but wrong. “Gavin. You werebuiltfor brooding.”
Aidan smacks my chest with his moose, like he’s agreeing.
I kiss the top of Kayley’s head. “I’m fine.”
