Sensing my frustration, Ivy turned to me from the distant picnic table. I shrugged, and she went back to whatever Jenks was saying. The pixy had been questioning Ceri all day, and I couldn’t help but notice that Trent, way on the other side of the table, had been listening with rapt attention. Seeing them there in a noisy bunch trying to pretend everything was normal, I was reminded of my mother’s occasional family reunions. Here I was again, watching from the outskirts. It always seemed to be that way. Maybe they had known I was a bastard child.

I smoothed my brow and straightened when Marshal headed my way with a plate of food. He’d shown up a few hours ago trying to fit in, and doing a damn fine job of it after his initial stammering reaction to finding Trent in my backyard. He had taken over the grilling to stay out of the way yet be in the thick of things. I wasn’t quite sure what to think. I wasn’t going to repeat old patterns and let this slide into something simply because he was nice looking, fun to be with, and somewhat interested. Especially if Jenks was right and he was here with a white-knight complex and thought he could save me.

“Hungry?” he said, smiling as he put the paper plate on the rickety table beside me and sat in the folding chair beside mine.

His almost-there eyebrows pinched, and I forced a smile. “Thanks.” My gut clenched at the smell of the food, but I dutifully pulled the plate onto my lap. It was the first time today we’d been alone. I knew he wanted to talk, and my blood pressure spiked when he took a deep breath. “Don’t start,” I said, and his brows arched in surprise.

“You’re a psychic, too?” he said with a little laugh, and I crunched through a chip. The salt hit my tongue, and my hunger woke up.

“No,” I said, seeing Jenks past him. The pixy was watching us with his hands on his hips. “But I’ve heard this argument before.” I crossed my legs and sighed when Marshal took a breath. Here it comes.

“The ever-after?” he asked. “Isn’t there someone else who can do this? My God, the man has enough money to hire anyone to gather samples for his genetic mapping program.”