“Oh, I don’t know—maybe because you ran in here like your ass was on fire?” She patted Sam’s good shoulder and walked over to Mike. “Everything okay?”

“I just wanted to get out of the sun. I didn’t put sunscreen on this morning.” It was a feeble excuse.

“You poor fragile flower.” She headed toward the kitchen, talking over her shoulder. “There’s plenty of sunscreen in the upstairs medicine cabinet. Help yourself.”

Instead of going upstairs, he sat in the living room with his brother-in-law, who was still pretty woozy from pain meds. Mike wondered if this party was really such a great idea, considering the man of honor was ready to nod off. But Sam brightened when his youngest, Gavin, toddled into the room, Hazel not far behind him.

She looked frazzled, searching the room with her eyes.

“Have you seen Nathan? I swear that kid can run right through walls and disappear on me.” Nathan was the terror of the three kids. The four-year-old had been on the run from the time he was born, always looking to turn things upside down and dance on the wreckage.

Sam rolled his eyes. “Leave Gavin here with Uncle Mike and go find him before he builds a castle in the dining room out of the dining chairs.” He looked at Mike. “He did that last week, then climbed the chairs with the intention of swinging on the chandelier like he’d seen some dude do in a cartoon. I can’t decide if he’s going to be president someday or run a crime syndicate.”

Mike took the two-year-old from Hazel and couldn’t help returning the child’s bright, drooling grin. Gavin was the mellowest of the three. He seemed genuinely happy wherever he was and with whomever happened to be there. Maybe it was because he was born on St. Patrick’s Day.

“Well,” Mike said, “at least you’ve got a lawyer in the family if he decides to go the criminal route, but I think he’s too smart for that. That kid’s brain is always spinning.”

Mike bounced his knee and Gavin giggled. He didn’t know why he’d been so hesitant to have kids with Becca. Why he’d kept her from having the family she’d wanted when she wanted it—never imagining they’d run out of time. Fear had been part of it—doubt about his ability to be a good father.

Now here he was, at forty, falling for a single mom. He made a funny face at Gavin. Becca would have loved the thought of him finally being a father figure to someone. She’d never doubted his ability to love a child. She’d believed in him, even when he couldn’t believe in himself.