Waving to him, Erin dropped the crutches on the grass and hobbled over to the fire pit, where Slim had made himself right at home. “Fancy meeting you here,” she said.

He got up to give her the chair and took a seat on the cooler, reaching for her injured foot to prop it up next to him. “Heard the festivities didn’t turn out quite as planned tonight. Sorry to miss it. I had a late flight and just got back to the island half an hour ago.”

“And you came right here?”

“Directly.”

“How come?”

“Other than the fact that a very, very cute lighthouse keeper lives here?”

It had been a long time since any man had called her cute. The compliment made Erin’s face heat up, which, thankfully, he couldn’t see. The glow of the fire made them both look hot—particularly him. “Other than that.”

“I figured tonight might be another of those tough nights for you. Thought I’d come by to check on you.”

“That’s exceptionally nice of you.”

“I’m an exceptionally nice guy.”

She laughed at that even as she suspected it was true. “Who doesn’t lack for self-confidence.”

“Only where you’re concerned. Never quite certain where I stand with you.”

“Your approval ratings are higher than ever right now.”

“Yeah?” he asked, his face lighting up with glee.

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t let one victory get you all full of yourself.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” He tossed another log onto the fire and stoked it. “So was it a tough night?”

“It wasn’t too bad, all things considered.” She told him about the prank the girls had perpetrated, and enjoyed his ringing laughter at her description of the guys reacting to having been had. “Jenny is glowing with happiness, and the prank sort of took over the night when the guys crashed looking for strippers. Lots of laughs, good music, good food, good friends. It was fun.”

“I’m glad you had a nice time.”

“I just had a lovely chat with Ned on the way home. He said something that really resonated with me.”

Slim got up from the cooler and opened it to retrieve the marshmallows Erin had in there. He affixed two of them to sticks and handed one to her along with a second marshmallow for later. “He’s the best when you need advice. What’d he say?”

“That it’s okay to be a little melancholy over the wedding, but I shouldn’t let it get out of control. That wouldn’t be good.”

“No, it wouldn’t. You’ve worked long and hard to get to where you are now.”

“And where am I exactly?”