Page 75 of Sudden Summer

“Tell me what you were saying.” I tried not to grind my teeth, but the fact that I couldn’t find my own hat this morning was pissing me off, and now my brother thought it was his place to⁠—

“I was saying we’re lucky that we had a sudden summer this weekend. I thought it might be a washout with how cold the breeze has been this week, but man, mother nature really turned out for us today. All this sunshine made for the perfect day to celebrate Juniper.”

“Yeah, we’re lucky,” I answered, my heart beating overtime as Birdie caught my eye and winked. My own personal sunshine, the woman who filled my chest with warmth and hope of better days to come, was across the yard.

And I couldn’t fucking take the distance any longer.

“And now I know we’re not talking about the weather. God. Go over there, Beau. Make her give Hayes back his hat. You’re drooling, and it’s annoying me.”

I set my hand on the top of her head and ruffled her hair up, just like I used to do when she was six. Got the same reaction, too. Jessie turned redder than a beet, her hands swatting at me when I was already halfway to Birdie.

“Asshole!”

“Kiss your kid with that mouth?” I yelled back, my shoulders shaking with laughter. Jessie was always on my ass about not swearing around Beckett. Fair, honestly, because he was a parrot and ratted me out a time or two when I slipped up before. Still, it was fun to tease her.

“I’m about to kill my brother,” I whispered as I slipped my arms around Birdie’s waist.

“What? Which one? And why?”

My finger tapped the brim of the hat on her head. “You should know the rule, Chickadee.”

“Please.” Her eyes rolled as she pushed away from me, adjusting Juniper on her hip. “Hayes saw my face getting red from the sun, and offered me his hat to make sure I didn’t burn. He was just being nice.”

“Well, my mistake. But if I could find my damn hat…” My hand slid around the back of her neck, and I moved the two of us closer together. Juniper looked up at me with the same wide-eyed expression as Birdie. I pressed a kiss to my daughter’s forehead before using my free hand to pluck the hat off Birdie’s head, soothing the insult with another kiss.

“Beau.”

“Vi, back me up here?” I asked my sister-in-law. “It’s a rule for a reason.”

“He is kinda right, Birdie. It’s an adorable tradition.”

“Adorable?” I scoffed. “Never mind, Vi. I’ve got this covered.”

My finger traced over the redness on Birdie’s cheeks. “You’re mine. M-I-N-E. He wants to protect someone from the sun, he should find his own girl.”

“This is truly so childish,” she giggled. “Juniper, don’t be like me. Don’t fall in love with a cowboy.”

My heart rate tripled. “Fall in love, huh?”

Birdie’s mouth dropped open, her cheeks turning even more red as her bottom lip got captured between her teeth.

“Your cover’s blown, Chickadee.” I scooped Juniper out of Birdie’s hand, and ran towards my sister.

Jessie didn’t even stop her conversation with Hawk as I plopped my daughter into her arms. I ran back to Birdie, who was leaning against the tree I’d left her under with a confused look on her face.

“Don’t. Move,” I growled as I winked, scooping my brother’s ugly ass hat off the ground. I stormed inside, finding Hayes and Lachlan leaning over a laptop. I tossed the hat right back in Hayes’s face.

“Don’t think about offering your hat to my girl again.”

“Take care of your girl and I won’t have to offer her jack shit,” Hayes teased.

“Get your ass outside. I’ve got something else to say. Lach, stand by the fucking door if you can’t come out.”

I turned, stomping back out of the house without shutting the door. Hayes and Lach were the only family members inside, but I still wanted them to hear what I had to say.

I marched straight up to my girl, who was still standing under the tree, a sweet little confused smile growing across her face. I didn’t slow down as I got closer. No. If anything, my body was speeding up, trying to keep pace with my racing heart.

When we were finally standing nose to nose, I scooped her up in my arms and marched her back towards where my family had all stopped their own conversations, and zoned in to my shenanigans.