She bites her bottom lip. I want to bite that lip myself, but biting leads to sucking, and sucking leads to roaming hands, and . . . Well, we’re expected to be out here for the next couple of hours, so I’m trying to pace myself. “I suppose. If I have to.”

I lead her down to the beach.

Shay loops her hands behind my neck, and I settle mine at her hips as we slowly sway to the music.

I scan the family surrounding us and shake my head. “Carter was right.”

She cocks her head. “About what?”

“I told him he shouldn’t propose today. That it’s a little . . . I don’t know, faux pas to propose at someone else’s wedding.”

“I don’t think Teagan cared when he did it. She just wants to marry him.”

“Oh, I think she cared.” I pull her closer and rub a hand up and down her back. “I think she likes celebrating with your family. He proposed here because she’s part of this now. Officially.”

She smiles. “She’s stuck with us.”

“Lucky girl,” I whisper.

“You’ve been stuck with us since you were a kid,” she says. “Don’t deny it.”

“I wouldn’t dare. I consider myself lucky too, but I wasn’t as lucky then as I am now.”

“For a guy who says he’s not good with words, you are such a charmer.” She closes her eyes and rests her head on my chest.

Warmth floods through me. That sense of rightness clicks into place. Everything is working out. Scarlett even found a place in Chicago yesterday. She said it’s a better fit for her than Jackson Harbor and that she didn’t want to get in the way of my fresh start with Shay.

“Can I dance?”

Shay and I still our feet at Abi’s request. With a small smile, Shay steps back and nods at me, getting out of the way so I can dance with my daughter. I grab her hand before she can get far.

“How about we all three dance together?”

Abi grins. “Okay!”

We all hold hands and sway to the music. And I don’t think I’ve ever been happier.

Easton

Twenty-nine weeks later

“Easton! Oh my God, Easton! Get in here!”

There’s a special speed I can run through my house. I call it the I-think-my-girlfriend’s-in-labor speed. That’s the speed I use as I fly down the hall and into the den. I grab the doorframe as I turn the corner and narrowly miss falling on my ass on the hardwood floor. I’m still bruised on my right side from when I thought she was in labor last weekend.