Page 85 of For Fox Sake

Jake released a high-pitched shriek, a sound I never thought possible emerging from him.

Luke jumped out from behind the shell of a building to take aim at Archer. “Ah ha! Revenge time!”

At which point Ari popped up out of a giant tire well and shot Luke in the chest.

Finley clapped. “Nice work!” she shouted and then turned to me. “It’s too bad you won’t be able to stay through next week. We’re getting a group of campers around Ari’s age.”

“She would love that. I wish she had siblings.” I wince. “I mean, not that I’m ready to have more kids or even in a relationship or a position to have any, but I had my sister, you know, and it was a special bond. I just wish Ari had something like that too.”

“I get it. And hey, this might be weird, but feel free to consider us your surrogate siblings.”

Except I do not want to think of Jake like a brother.

Finley continued, “And Ari can think of us as surrogate aunts and uncles. I’m sure one of us will be popping out a kid at some point. So... cousins?”

“Thank you. That’s really nice, truly, you’ve been too kind. Inviting us out here, letting us stay and feeding us and,” I gesture to the paintball course, where Ari is now chasing Oliver with her gun, “all of this.”

She grins. “It is great, isn’t it? Although, that reminds me.” She glances at her watch. “I have to head back to the office. The amount of paperwork I have to complete on a daily basis is a nightmare. Even when we don’t have kids on site, the admin tasks never end. I would much rather spend time here.” She gestures to the rink. “But we’re having some weird issue with our payroll software that I have to figure out by tomorrow to make sure everyone gets paid on time.”

“Do you use XpressPay?”

It’s what I use, a common payroll software. I had an issue the other week that took forever to fix, sitting on hold with the help line just to get the details on how to fix it.

“Yeah, that’s what we use.”

“I know exactly what the problem is. There’s a workaround to get it to submit. You have to adjust the account settings, then log out and log back in. I had to do it last pay period.”

“Can you show me?”

“Absolutely.”

“You are an angel. That will save me so much time. I also have been meaning to return about a million calls from vendors for our wedding. You’ll come, right? It’s in September.”

“Of course.” Er. Maybe. Would it be weird? Where will Jake and I be at that point in our... relationship, if that’s even what this is? What if it’s just a fling, and I come back in the fall and he’s with someone else?

I’m not sure my heart could take it. We haven’t talked about if this thing between us means anything at all.

It feels like everything.

Headlights appear in the distance, growing closer.

I push to a stand and walk to the porch railing as the cart parks in front of the cabin.

Jake jumps out of the cart, jogging up the steps and stopping when we’re at eye level.

“Hi.” I glance down at my feet, a sudden wave of self-consciousness flowing over me.

“Hey.” His hand lifts, threading through my hair and then his mouth brushes mine. “I’m so sorry I took too long. I got held up talking to my sisters.” His eyes search mine, his fingers gently tugging at my hair. “I had to go into Aria’s room for the Velveteen Rabbit and I haven’t been in there since... since.”

I lift my hand to cover his, squeezing his fingers. “Do you want to talk about it?”

His brows dip. “I don’t know. My sisters were there, and we talked and it was good, but a bit overwhelming. I don’t really know what to do with myself. I think I’m a little talked out.”

I get it. I’ve experienced the emotional exhaustion. “Come on.”

Linking our fingers, I draw him inside, through the front door, which he immediately locks behind us, and then through the living room and kitchen into the master bedroom.

The lights are off, the drapes pulled open, bathing the room in moonlight and shadows.

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