“Uuuummm,” I hear Lilly’s mom clear her throat and I smile, my face still near Lil’s. She grins before going back to flat-footed.

“They do that a lot,” Jax says, and I pull completely away from Lil and meet her mom’s eyes.

“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Donovan.” I lean forward slightly, kissing her cheek and giving her a one-handed hug, trying not to wake Ashlyn. She shakes her head and rolls her eyes.

“Call me Mom. Obviously, you’re not going anywhere.” I chuckle and look at Lilly when I hear her laugh. She shakes her head before looking back at Mom.

“So where’s Dad?” She looks around, and I do as well. I can’t see her dad anywhere.

“Oh, well, he had to help Austin put his boat in the water,” she says, and Lilly’s posture changes slightly. I don’t know why, but it starts to set off alarm bells. I want to ask who Austin is, but a loud buzz fills the room. I look over to the side to see bags being tossed in through a little hole in the wall.

“Our bags,” Lilly says making her way to the conveyor belt.

“Here, baby, take Ashlyn and I’ll get our bags.” I make sure Ashlyn is settled before I go about collecting our bags. Once I’ve gotten them all, we make our way outside to a large SUV and load everything in before getting the kids settled. Ashlyn is still asleep, and Jax’s little head has started to bob to the side.

“How was the flight?” Lilly’s mom asks.

“Good, both the kids were well behaved, so we didn’t really have any problems,” Lil tells her. We talk on the way to her parents’ house, Lil catching her mom up on the kids and telling her about what she hopes will be her new job at the school in town. She still hasn’t told her parents about leaving the other school or what happened. I have tried to tell her that she should, but the damn woman is stubborn and won’t listen. She only told her parents about living with me a few weeks ago. I wasn’t around for that Skype session, but she said it went okay. My guess is they were not happy. But I honestly couldn’t find it in myself to care. I had both my girls and my son under one roof; that’s all that mattered to me. It takes about thirty minutes to get from the airport, which is in the middle of nowhere, to town. Well, if you can call it a town. We drive through it in about one minute. I swear, if I would have blinked, I would have missed the whole thing. There is a bank, a few stores, and about three bars that I can spot. We turn off the main street, heading down to what I can tell is the water; the closer we get, the more boats and men in fishing gear I see.

“I want to stop by the pier and see if your dad wants to go out to dinner, or if he wants to cook at home,” Mom says as we continue our drive, until we reach a dead end. Jax’s head comes up, and when we stop, he looks around before yelling, “Yay, we’re going fishing!”

“No, little dude, we’re going to see Lil’s dad before we go to the house.”

“Oh.” He slumps in his seat and I look to my other side when I feel Ashlyn grab my arm.

“Did you have a good nap, baby?” She nods then looks around, and I can tell exactly when she notices where we are by the smile that lights up her face.

“Memaw,” Ashlyn says quietly, and I can see Lil’s mom smile at her in the rearview mirror before hopping out of the truck and opening the back door on Ashlyn’s side.

“How’s my girl?” she asks Ashlyn, helping her out of her car seat. Once she’s free, she’s picked up and smothered in kisses.

“Stop, Memaw! Stop!” Ashlyn squeals, trying to get free.

“I need my sugar. I haven’t had any in a long time, so I need to make up for lost time,” Lil’s mom says between kisses. Ashlyn finally squirms out of her arms and runs to stand behind Jax. “I guess your big brother is going to protect you,” Mom says, laughing. “What do you say we go find Papa?” she asks, starting to walk towards a large boat with the name Wolf on the side in large black letters. I grab Lilly’s hand, and we follow along behind her. Once we reach the boat that is tied to the dock, she steps onboard then leans over, grabbing Jax first and bringing him over before grabbing Ashlyn and pulling her on. I can see Jax’s face is completely lit up with excitement as he looks around the deck of the boat.

“Papa!” Ashlyn yells. I follow her with my eyes just as Lilly’s dad bends down to pick her up.

“Hey, angel girl,” he says, hugging her and tucking her head into his chest before pulling her face away and looking her over.

“Look! My brother,” Ashlyn says, pointing down at Jax.

“Hey, buddy,” Mr. Donovan says, bending to set Ashlyn down before rubbing the top of Jax’s head.

“Are we gonna go fishin’?” Jax asks, making Lil’s dad laugh.

“Not today. But before you go back home, we will be going out on the boat to fish for halibut.”

“Cool,” Jax breathes, looking around again. Mr. Donovan stands back up, his eyes coming to us before Lilly lets go of my hand and takes off running into her dad’s open arms.

“Hey, Dad,” I can hear her say before she leans away, placing her hand on his cheek.

“How’s my girl?” he asks her, pulling her back in for another hug.

“Really good,” she says, and then looks over her shoulder at me. I step forward as he tucks Lil under his arm and sticks out his hand for me to take.

“Sir,” I say, giving his hand a shake.

“Nice to have you here, son,” he says, and a little bit of the knot that I didn’t even notice before loosens.

“Nice to be here.” I step back and look over Lil’s dad’s shoulder as a giant guy comes out of nowhere. He is tall, way taller than my 6’1. I would guess that he is closer to 6’6; his hair is blond and is overgrown, matching his beard. He is huge; his arms look as big as my thighs. His whole body is large, and I’m taken slightly aback. I start to step towards Lilly, wanting her near me while this guy is around, then I hear him speak and want her near me for a different reason.

“Lilly?” he says, and she turns around. Her face lights up and she runs to the guy, throwing her arms around his neck as his hands slide around her waist, pulling her in for a hug.

“Austin,” she says low, but I still catch it and it sounds intimate, or maybe it’s my own personal jealousy taking over. “How have you been?” she asks stepping back, but his hands are still on her h*ps and it’s taking everything in me not to walk over to him, rip his hands off her, and toss his ass overboard.

“Good, better now I have seen your face,” he says, and his eyes are soft while looking at her. My jaw clenches. Lilly steps back out of his touch, then turns to look at me.

“Cash, this is Austin. Austin, this is Cash.” I take a few steps in their direction, putting my hand out to meet his.

“Nice to meet you,” I say, but it sounds more like a growl. My hand slides around the back of Lilly’s waist, pulling her tight against me. Jax comes up, grabbing Lilly’s hand, and I wonder if my son senses the same threat I do.

“Cash. Cash?” Austin repeats, his eyes get big before narrowing. “You’re Cash, as in Ashlyn’s father, Cash?” he asks, his eyes going to Lil before coming back to me.

“It’s a long story, Austin,” Lilly says quickly, then pulls his attention back to her. “Maybe while were here, we can meet up for lunch and I can tell you everything.”

“Or not,” I say low enough for only Lilly to hear.

“Cash,” she replies, her head swinging my way and her eyes narrowing.

“All right, well, we just wanted to stop by and see if you wanted to have dinner at home, or if you wanted to go out to dinner tonight,” Lilly’s mom says loudly, taking the attention away from what’s going on.

“I think we should eat at home. I can grill up some of those elk steaks that I’ve got in the freezer,” Lil’s dad says, then looking at Austin, “You wanna come to dinner?”

“No, not tonight. I have to finish getting the boat ready to head out tomorrow.” He looks around the boat. “Maybe when I get back we can set something up?” He looks at Lilly, who nods. We all turn around and head off the boat, the kids jumping onto the dock, followed by Lil’s parents, then me. I put my arm around her shoulders, and lean my head to the side so I can speak to her without anyone hearing.

“Austin?” I ask, and her steps falter slightly.

“He’s a friend.”

“What kind of friend?”

“A good friend,” she says, and I know I shouldn’t, but I see red.

“A good friend,” I repeat.

“Yess,” she hisses, “he was a good friend. He was there for me when I needed him.”

“How was he there?” I ask, wanting to take the words back as soon as I say them.

“You know, I can’t believe you’re going to act like a jealous ass when you were flipping married,” she growls, and her elbow connects with my ribs, then she slides out from under my arm, walking up to where the kids are. I want to kick my own ass. I cannot believe I just did that. I look over my shoulder when I get the feeling someone is watching me. Austin is standing on the deck of his boat, his arms crossed and his legs spread apart. Fucking great. I shake my head. Lilly’s dad looks back at me and I shrug, picking up my pace. By the time I get to the SUV, Lilly has both kids inside and is buckled in herself. She doesn’t look at me when I pass by her to get into the back, and she doesn’t say a word while we drive to her parents’ house. But she doesn’t have to say anything. I can feel the anger coming off her in waves. We drive for about twenty minutes and end up in front of a large, two-story log house with a large wraparound front porch. The kids both unbuckle themselves, and Lilly hops out before helping each of them down. I get out on the other side of the SUV and make my way around the back to get our bags. I watch as Lilly makes her way inside with Jax, Ashlyn, and her mom.

“You know, I wasn’t happy about you two being back together.” I turn my head to look at Lilly’s dad when he speaks. I’m really not in the mood for any bullshit, but out of respect for Lil, I will let her dad say his piece. “But I trust my daughter, and I know she has always made smart decisions. Plus, your little speech about not caring what I thought about you marrying her may have earned you a few points in my book. It’s hard not to respect a man who knows what he wants.” He pats my back then squeezes down on my shoulder. “But you need to remember, son, she wasn’t always yours. She had a life, just like you did, and the quicker you can learn to accept that, the better off you will both be.”

“You’re right.” I take a breath. “I just never thought I would be seeing her life without me up close and personal.”

“Not everything is what it seems.” He smiles. “It’s like that joke. A hound dog lays in the yard, and an old man in overalls sits on the porch. ‘Excuse me, sir, but does your dog bite?’ a jogger asks. The old man looks over his newspaper and replies, ‘Nope.’ As soon as the jogger enters the yard, the dog begins snarling and growling, and then attacks the jogger's legs. As the jogger flails around in the yard, he yells, ‘I thought you said your dog doesn't bite!’ The old man mutters, ‘Ain't my dog.’”

“What the hell does that even mean?” I question, wondering if Lil’s dad has fallen off the deep end.

“Sometimes, we see what we want to see, and not what’s really going on,” he says low, his eyes going to the house. “It’s not my place to talk about Austin’s past, but him and Lilly were both dealing with the loss of people they cared about at the same time and were able to understand what the other was going though. Now trust me when I tell you that if I were to get Austin for a son-in-law, I would be a happy man. But I don’t think that would have ever happened. I just think they each needed a friend during a difficult time, and that’s all it ever was, a friendship. As for you, I knew when my daughter came home from Alabama with my granddaughter that she would never be the same. Not only because she was a single mom, but because she felt like part of her soul had been ripped away from her.

“I know I f**ked up.” I shake my head. “I thought I was doing the right thing at the time. I mean, no, I didn’t know about Lil being pregnant, but I thought I was protecting her at the time. I didn’t want her to have to deal with what I was going through.”

“I get that. But now think of it this way: Lilly says you have a big family, right?”

“I do.”

“She has me and her mom.” My gut tightens. I still hate myself for what I had unknowingly put her through. Okay, so I don’t want to kill Austin anymore, but that doesn’t mean that I want them alone together. “You’re smart,” Mr. Donovan says and smiles, reading the look on my face. “Now, go apologize; it works every time. It’s best you learn that real quick-like.” He pats my back again before reaching in to the SUV, grabbing two of our suitcases, and walking towards the house. I grab the other two bags out of the trunk before slamming the trunk, following behind him.

I find the kids and make sure they are okay before going in search of Lilly. I find her upstairs in a bedroom at the end of a hall, her back facing me. She is putting away the stuff from the bags her dad brought in, into a long dresser. “You need help?” I ask, walking farther into the room. Her body goes ridged, and I can hear her sigh.

“No. The kids are down the hall. Do you want to check on them?”