Page 106 of Loco

She smirked, nudging her shoulder into mine. “You know, we do still havemyplace. And if we’re keeping score, this is technically our second house disaster. Kind of feels like déjà vu, hey?”

I turned to her and wrapped her in my arms, tugging her close until her face pressed into my chest. Her laugh vibrated against me.

“You really want to go back to your place?” I asked.

She tilted her head up, eyes full of mischief and something deeper. “With you and the kids? Yeah, I wantushome.”

“Then let’s do this.”

The screen door creaked at that moment, and Kairo came bounding out. Kaida was hot on his heels, her blanket trailing behind her like a cape. They ran straight to us, Kaida clinging to Sayla’s leg while Kairo leaned against my side like he’d never stopped.

I dropped a kiss to the top of Sayla’s head, arms around all of them now. It felt like everything that mattered was right here.

Then, the sound of tires crunching over gravel pulled our attention to the driveway. A familiar black pickup rolled to a stop just past the porch steps, and Mark Montgomery climbed out, his baseball cap pulled low, and his expression relaxed but still sharp.

“Damn,” he drawled, eyeing us with a slow grin. “Good to see all of you in one piece.”

“Good tobein one piece,” I replied, shaking his hand.

Mark pulled me in for a rough, one-armed hug, then turned to Sayla and gave her a nod full of quiet respect. “You good?”

She nodded. “We’re good, getting there.”

“Awesome, because I’ve got your zoo.”

Sayla blinked. “Wait, what?”

Mark grinned. “Your pets. Lynyrd, Skynyrd, and—” he paused, giving me a look “—thatcat. They’re at mine and Layla’s. The kids love 'em.”

Kairo cheered. “Yes, I want Dog!”

Mark turned to me, completely deadpan. “But what thefuckis up with your weird-ass cat, man?”

Sayla burst out laughing, nearly doubling over. Even Kaida started giggling, though she probably didn’t know what was funny. I tried not to grin and failed.

Mark shook his head, shuddering. “It stared at me all night from thetopof the fridge. He didn’t even blink while he was doing it, like he was judging me.”

“Hedoesjudge people,” Sayla added helpfully, wiping a tear from her eye.

“Yeah, well, I’ll drop him off last. I can appreciate weirdness of that level more than most, considering I married a Townsend.”

We all laughed again, and for the first time in too damn long, it didn’t feel forced. It didn’t feel like we were laughing to keep from breaking. It just felt like we were okay.

Epilogue 1

Roque

Two Months Later

The late afternoon sun streamed through the kitchen window of Sayla’s house, catching dust motes in golden light and casting long, warm shadows across the hardwood floors. Outside, the kids’ laughter drifted in through the open back door—Kairo and Kaida racing each other through the garden, their feet pounding over grass, their voices full of joy as Lynyrd and Skynyrd chased them.

Sayla leaned against the counter, sipping from her mug. I could feel her eyes on me before I looked up from the blueprint spread across the table.

“You’re staring,” I pointed out without looking up.

“You’re brooding,” she replied, smirking as she crossed the room and leaned in to peer over my shoulder. “That’s your ‘I have ten things to do, and I’m pretending to only think about one’ face.”

I chuckled, pulling her close with one arm. “You’re not wrong.”

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