Winnie sighed. “I know. And yeah, I told her everything. Well, except the Rowan being the daddy part. I mean, why drag a dead guy into it, right?”

“Why wouldn’t you tell her?” he asked, boggled by the mysterious workings of the female mind.

Winnie tipped her head back and stared up at the ceiling. “You knew your brother. He was . . . awesome, but he marched to his own beat, you know? He wasn’t exactly the most responsible guy around. I know this because I’m not either. And Piper knew it too. But what she doesn’t know is that I’m changing, for the Bean.” She cupped her belly. “But I have to show her, Cam. Show, not tell. I’m going to prove myself to her, for me and Rowan. I just need time to do it.”

Cam opened his mouth, but telling her she was making a stupid choice was what he’d have done to Rowan. And look where that’d gotten them. So he bit his tongue. Hard. Because Piper wasn’t wrong about Rowan. The kid had been slow to grow up, really slow. And living here on the lake with his dad, who wasn’t exactly Mr. Responsible himself, hadn’t helped. But in the end, Rowan had at least been trying. Hell, Cam had the proof of that sitting in his pocket.

Winnie was growing up too, getting a crash course in adulting while she was at it. By all counts, she was doing her best. It’d be of no use to tell her how stupid it was not to tell Piper, that it’d only blow up on her in the end. Chances were that she already knew. Or, more likely, she just didn’t care, because in Winnie’s world, it was still all about Winnie.

That would change too, soon enough, but she’d have to figure that out on her own. He was here for her, no matter what. He’d made a promise, and he took those incredibly seriously. But first and foremost, his responsibility was to the baby she was carrying. “Rowan had definitely started to grow up,” he said. “For you both.”

Winnie gave him a look that held a mix of doubt and hope. “Really?”

“He was in it with you, Winnie. All the way in.”

“What do you mean?” She straightened up and leaned toward him now. “How do you know?”

“Because I found this.” He pulled the little black box from his pocket, the one he’d found shortly before Piper had come to him on the dock last night.

Winnie took the box and stared at it for a long moment. When she finally opened it and found a very modest but pretty diamond ring, she covered her mouth with shaking fingers. “He wanted to marry me?”

“Yes.”