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Sienna’s medical journals on the coffee table.

In the corner of the living room, a small beadwork piece her grandmother made sits in the place it always has.

“I’ll be there in a minute,” I hear Sienna call out from inside the house.

“I have a present for you,” I whisper to Cam.

“You do?” His eyes go wide.

I hand him the gift bag I brought from Wildflower Canyon, and he dismantles it all with the enthusiasm only a child can have. He beams when he sees the boots and the badge.

Sienna comes out then, and her hands go to her waist. “You can’t always bring him something, Taya. You’ll spoil him.”

I help put the badge on Cam and tap it proudly. While he struggles to put on his boots, I give Sienna a warm hug.

I look around the house. “Where’s Daniel?”

“He went to see his father. But he’ll be home soon to take Cam off my hands so you and I”—she tilts her head toward the kitchen—“can open a bottle of wine and catch up.”

As if on cue, Daniel comes through the door, and Cam rushes to show him his new badge and boots with the urgency of someone who has been waiting approximately two minutes too long to share this information with one of his favorite human beings.

“Look what Auntie Taya got me.” He preens, flaunting his boots and badge.

“Sheriff Cam.” Daniel crouches down and examines the badge with the serious attention of a man who teaches history and understands the weight of ceremony. “This is a big responsibility.”

Cam nods solemnly. “I know.”

“And those boots are spiffy.”

Cam wrinkles his nose. “They pinch.”

“Which means they are authentic.” Daniel looks up at me over his son’s head. “Thank you for arming him.”

“He was always going to find a way,” I joke. “At least now it’s official.”

Daniel straightens and gives me an easy hug. He has been Sienna’s person long enough to become mine by extension. “Good to see you, Taya.”

“You, too.” I mean it. There is something about Daniel Runningwater that makes every room he’s in quieter in the best possible way. He’s calming, just like his wife, and I’m grateful to have them in my life.

Sienna gives Cam a kiss and then her husband. “Now shoo.”

Daniel smirks. “I expect the usual payment when I return.”

“Ugh,” I whine as expected. “Please, can we do S-E-X talk when my tender ears are not around?”

Daniel chuckles. “Come on, Sheriff, time for us to go see Grandpa so your mother and Taya can indulge in some debauchery.”

“What is deba…cherry?” Cam asks.

“It’s what we will be doing with the pumpkin ice cream that your grandma made,” we hear Daniel tell his son as he leads him away into the house to get him ready to go to see his favorite people—his grandparents.

Cam is lucky to have both sets of grandparents close by who spoil him rotten just as much as I do.

I go into the kitchen, where Sienna is opening a bottle of Tempranillo. “Have you eaten?”

I shake my head.

“I made bison stew. It’ll go well with the wine.”