Aaaand there he was again, her word-stingy warrior.

“You took me by surprise.” She didn’t even need to ask her son what he wanted. He’d loved the deadly ex-merc from the very beginning. “Of course, we’ll move in.”

Tugging her man down, this time, she took her own kiss and took a moment to savor the joy spilling like warm rain from the air and welling up from the ground.

“Because we love you, Hawk. Both of us.”

Chapter Thirty-Three

Good job. You men got the makings of a fine team. ~ First Sergeant Michael “Mako” Tyne

For fuck’s sake. The school’s parking lot was so full, Gabe had to park well down the street. Cars lined the shoulder of the gravel road. Had the entire population of Rescue shown up for this event? “There are a lot more people here than we expected.”

“Poor Chief. You sound so grouchy.” Laughing, Audrey slid out of his Jeep before he could walk around and help her.

He was looking forward to the days when she’d be so big, she’d need an assist. Being a wise man, he kept that thought to himself.

Instead, he took her hand and laced their fingers together. “Actually, I think it’s great the town is so invested in our children.”

As they walked down the side of the road, he smiled down at her. The afternoon sun brought out the golden colors of her hair and lightened her gray eyes to silver. Her blue hoodie displayed the graphic, Come to the nerd side. We have Pi.

His highly-educated, research-loving librarian was fucking adorable. No wonder the town loved her.

They walked through the gate of the newly installed fence onto the school grounds. There were children everywhere and adults carrying food, blankets for picnicking, and drinks. The light breeze carried the scent of charcoal and grilled meat.

Off to one side, the Roadhouse servers were clustered around Bull. Spotting Gabe, his brother broke off and strode over. “The place looks good, doesn’t it?”

“It does.” Sarge’s Investment Group—aka SIG—the corporation they’d set up to manage Mako’s investments and properties, had donated the one-story house and the land it sat on. At the edge of town, the property had plenty of acreage for the school to grow.

Last fall, the news coverage about the school-destroying earthquake and landslide had brought in a flood of money. It’d taken until now to remodel the house into the school administration building and add the four new portable classrooms around it. The construction of the playground and athletic field was nearly finished.

In celebration of the beginning of classes last week, the school was having a Sunday afternoon open house and celebration.

Perfect timing, really. This morning, termination dust had sprinkled the tops of the mountains with white. It was September, and summer was officially over.