Mikey pointed up at Madison. “This is my little sister, Madison Elizabeth Hale. She’s four, but she’ll be five next week. I’m going to be in first grade with Dylan, and Madison will be a kindergartener when school starts.” We heard the front door open. Mikey turned around and pointed. “That’s my dad. His name is Trevor Joseph Hale, but I call him Dad, and Dylan calls him Uncle Trev. Our dads used to be partners before Uncle Will died. I miss him a lot, but I’m glad Dylan has another dad. You seem nice, but if you weren’t, Aunt Lily would kick your butt, so I’m not going to worry about it.” Mikey smiled up at Luke, then looked at me. “Aunt Lily, can I play with that Xbox that’s hooked up in the living room? Mine is in a box on the truck.” Gosh, this kid. Precocious, to say the least.

“Go for it,” I told him and watched him run off into the house.

Trevor smiled at me as he strode down the front walkway. Trevor, so handsome and tall, sweet and a great dad. I guessed this was the reason why he had been incommunicado lately. He was too busy packing and moving to answer my texts.

“Hey, Trev. What is going on?”

He opened his mouth to answer, but my dad beat him to it as he popped out of the garage.

“Trev is the new detective on the force. Isn’t that great? We needed another good man on board. He’ll partner up with Cade eventually. And he’s going to stay here until his house sells and he gets into another one in town.” He turned to Trevor. “There’s room in the garage now, son. Let’s unload your stuff.”

Trevor laughed. “Well, that’s the story. I didn’t intend to keep it from you. Everything just fell into place quickly. One minute, I’m on the phone with your dad, and the next day, I’m in a truck driving down. It’s good.” He smiled softly. “We’ll be closer to my family, and Dylan and Mikey can be closer too.” He stroked Madison’s cheek. “And this one was really missing you.” She looked at me with her huge blue eyes, then I cuddled her closer as she tucked her head into my neck.

“I missed you too, honey,” I whispered in her ear.

Trevor stuck his hand out to Luke. “I’m Trevor. You have got to be Luke. It’s nice to meet you,” he said.

“You too, man.” They shook hands. This day had been a roller coaster, and it seemed we still weren’t ready to get off.

Cade came out the front door with a huge smile. “We’re all in luck. Mom heard you’re here, Trev. She and Gram are cooking right now. Dinner tonight, all of us, at the house.”