“I guess it does.” With guilt, she remembered her jealousy at the way Vera and Papi had talked about him. “So you’re good at ring toss, are you?”

“In Namibia, I was the best.”

She smiled in memory. “Oh, those sand dunes in Sossusvlei.”

“And that one little tree in front of Big Daddy. Did you climb to the top?”

“Of course, and Papi shot it all. Used his 400 lens. I said he wouldn’t need that long, but he was right.”

Griff was smiling smugly.

“What does that look mean?”

“Your dad said you knew about photography.”

“Dad is Dr. Coop. Miguel is Papi.”

“Right. I’ll get the hang of it.” They were at the ring toss booth. “Pick out what animal you want because I’m going to win it.”

“Yeah, well, you pick out the top three and I will win them all.”

“You’re on!”

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

When Mike saw Kyle Hatten walking toward them, she scowled so hard her eyebrows met in the middle.

Kyle grinned. “This your new boyfriend?”

“I hate you,” Mike said.

He reached out to ruffle her hair as he’d done since she was a kid, but she did a half backbend to avoid his hand. “Ah, come on, Mikey. It was just for fun. So how bad did you beat him?”

Griff was standing beside her. “If you mean the archery, she killed both of us. Did you put the target up?”

Kyle was looking at Griff in a sizing-him-up way. Kyle was taller, more handsome, and went through life with the belief that whoever he met was going to like him and they almost always did. He looked at Mike. “Come on. It was just a prank. Ol’ Hayes was bragging about his ‘artistry with a bow’ and I was shocked that you hadn’t told him that you with an arrow is a lethal weapon. What was I supposed to do?”

Mike was still frowning at him. “Not put in a new gate. Not set up a target. Not put me in a situation like that.”

Kyle grinned more. “You mean when you had to show him up?” He looked at Griff. “Have you learned yet that our Mikey is the most competitive person on the planet? Double-dare her and she’ll do anything.”

“I wasn’t going to shoot but—”

Griff took a step forward. “It was my fault. I forced her into it. And really, she was just protecting Hayes.” He emphasized the name.

“Is that true?” Kyle asked. “I bet the Brookside guy loved being bested by a girl. Did he run away and hide?”

Mike glared at Kyle. “You’re a jerk.” To Griff, she said, “I don’t need you to defend me.” Turning, she walked away from both of them.

When she was gone, Kyle turned to Griff. “I’m Kyle Hatten, Adam and Kelly’s youngest kid. The late-in-life one.”

“And now the groom.”

“That’s me. Who are you?”