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“He wanted to thank me for ‘saving’ you today,” I said. “And he’d like to talk to you in private.”

Her eyes widened.

“Did he say why he wanted to talk?” She licked her lips nervously.

I shook my head, and she bit her lip in worry.

“Go, Baby. He’s on the side of the house. And don’t be too hard on him, okay?” I murmured, pulling her into the shelter of my arms.

She looked up at me, the brightness of her eyes revealing her vulnerability.

“I love you, you know that, right?” She whispered.

I leaned down, pressing my lips against hers.

“And I love you right back. You know that, right?” I teased.

She smiled, the vulnerability in her eyes vanishing.

“Be back in a few.”

“I’ll heat you up a marshmallow,” I promised.

She grinned and disentangled herself from my arms.

“Make it two.”

I followed her out, but moved towards the fire where my daughter was roasting her own marshmallow, Mace right beside her.

“You doing okay?” I asked her.

She turned a smile up at me.

“I’m better than okay,” she promised. “And I’m happy.”

Mace grinned, and I realized that I liked the kid—even if it took him a long time to pull his head out of his ass.

I looked over to the men that surrounded me. My brothers. My daughter. Then over to where Downy was pulling Aspen into his arms, and I couldn’t help but agree.

“No, things don’t get much better than this, do they?” I asked her.

“Hey!” PD barked. “You gonna hog all those marshmallows all day long or you gonna share?”

I tossed him the bag and he caught it, pulling out his own marshmallow before picking up one of the sticks from the ground where Attie must’ve left them.

“You’re gonna share, right?” Naomi, Aspen’s best friend, asked cheekily.

PD looked at her, then back to his marshmallow.

“Nope, sorry. This marshmallow is all for me.”

Then he ate it, all to Naomi’s surprise.

And I wondered if she knew what she was getting into with him.

PD’s heart had belonged to someone else for quite a long time, and she would likely always own it.

I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her as she looked at PD with those big puppy dog eyes.