She held her phone to her chest, affronted. “Not all of it.” She tipped up her chin. “But we can make a good start.”

Declan beamed at her. “A good start sounds perfect.”

“He doesn’t want to admit it, but he’s also made a list, so you’ll have to do some negotiating.” I hugged the twins, kissing them both on the cheek before handing over their bags. “Think of it as good training for when you visit us in Seattle.”

“Good to meet you in real life,” Tamsin said, slipping an arm through mine. “Email, while a great invention, leaves much to be desired.” We walked through the front door, quickly losing the twins to their curiosity of the brewery itself. Wulver Craft had a tasting room and a restaurant, but to get to either, you walked past photos of the brewery’s founding.

Long windows also let you look in on the giant metal tanks where the beer was made. Rory and Tamsin were trying to see everything at once.

Declan grabbed my hand, pulling me back. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“If I hadn’t gone to Seattle, met you, none of this would have happened.”

I shook my head. “You fought to get here, Declan. This is all on you.”

“No,” he said. “Without you, I wouldn’t have been able to fight. Eva would have captured me that first night. You gave me the space to do what needed to be done.”

“We make a pretty good team, then,” I said.

We reached the double doors that led to a private dining room. Declan and I held back—giving the twins time to greet Zoey and Sid without us.

I used the time to take a better look at the photos. There were so many—from opening day to behind the scene shots of the brewing process. In a few of them, Declan had his arm around Sid.

“Does it bother you?” he murmured. “I know how possessive you are.”

I elbowed him, almost dismissing the question as a joke until I realized there was a small part of him really asking, a thread of tension I’d missed.

“Of course not. It’s not like I expected you to come fresh out of the box.” I tapped one of the photos. “This is your history. Seeing this helps me know you. You’re not going back to her, or vice versa, I know that.” I examined the next photo, all three of them together, goofy party hats above their equally goofy faces as they celebrated the first anniversary of the brewery. “Really, I’m just kind of grateful. Proud that now I’m part of the story.”

That little thread of tension in him dissolved. Declan reached out, rubbing his fingers along the crepe paper framing Zoey and Sid’s wedding announcement. “I know we’re in no rush, but when the time comes, is this the kind of thing you want? Big wedding, all the bells and whistles?”

“Fuck no,” I said, making him laugh at how quickly I’d answered. “Let’s elope. I’ll take the ring, and definitely the honeymoon. The rest can go hang.”