“She keeps stealing my food, Law! Even with the bell on, she manages it. I don’t know how she learned to move so stealthily.”
Lawson snorts. “She’s a sweetheart. Admit you love that cow.”
“I’ll do no such thing,” I reply hotly. “A cowboy. With a goddamn house cow. It’s ridiculous.”
Lawson hooks a hand around the back of my neck, tugging me close and planting a kiss on my lips. “Admit it.”
“What is this? Some sort of new tactic—”
He kisses me again, longer this time. I’m fairly certain I hear a halfhearted complaint from Remi, but everything is so very far away. Everything except for Lawson.
He leans back an inch at most to stare me down. “Admit you love her.”
I clear my throat. “I love you.”
“And the cow.”
“I’d like to eat the cow.”
He barks a laugh. “You could never. You’re the softest soul I know, Oakley Beaumont. Think about those big black eyes of hers and tell me again you could eat her.”
He’s got me in a corner, and he knows it.
“She’s all right,” I allow. “But she gets in the house—”
“Because you installed a cow door.”
“—and leaves dirt all over the floor—”
“Which is why you bought a robot vacuum.”
“—and honestly, it’s just the principle of the matter, all right? I mean—”
My words come to a halt when Lawson tugs me in again. He offers me the taste of whiskey on his lips, and I can do nothing but indulge in it for long minutes. When there’s a whistle from Ash, Lawson pulls back.
“Needa use the bathroom,” he tells me, standing and heading toward the house.
I clear my throat, feeling stares on my person from around the fire.
Remi is the first to speak. “It’s good to see him happy again. Smiling.”
“And laughing,” Colton adds. “I can’t remember the last time I heard him laugh like that.”
Remi hums his agreement, and my heart squeezes tight. There’s lingering guilt for having been absent the past few years, unaware of exactly how badly Lawson was hurting. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have stayed away. But mostly, it’s relief I feel, knowing how much happier Lawson is now. And so much love for the man it physically hurts.
Colton sets his hat on the ground, his eyes meeting mine. “You know I was just playing earlier, right?”
“I do,” I tell him.
“It’s just… Law has always felt the need to look after all the rest of us. Maybe because he’s the oldest, or maybe it’s just who he is. But I want him to know we have his back, too. That we’ll always look out for him. The same goes for you, Oak.”
I nod, a lump in my throat. As I collect my words, Jackson returns to Ash’s side, the fire between us sending occasional fits of golden sparks up into the night. “Y’all are the closest thing I’ve ever had to brothers. I’ve never doubted you’d be there for me if I needed it. Lawson knows that, too. But you have to admit… You’re all stubborn in your own ways.”
Ash huffs a laugh at that, smacking Jackson’s chest. Not a single Darling refutes it.
“He knows you love him,” I go on. “And he knows you’d move the world for him. But that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t still choose to go the long way around just to spare anyone else the strain. Being selfish isn’t easy for him.”
Remi opens his mouth, but I go on quickly.
