Page 264 of Only Be Mine

“I’m Ellie!” she announced, as if this were urgent information. “Do you wanna race?”

Johnny blinked at her once, startled.

Then he grinned.

And ran.

I watched them take off toward the slide, Ellie’s high laugh cutting through the mountain air. I didn’t call his name. I didn’t hover.

I just watched.

“Sorry about that.”

I looked up.

A man stood a few feet away, hands shoved loosely in his back pockets, an apologetic smile tugging at his mouth.

“She doesn’t believe in slow introductions.”

“It’s okay,” I said, smiling despite myself. “He could use someone who doesn’t hesitate.”

He glanced toward the playground. “That’s Ellie. Technically not mine. She belongs to two of my closest friends. She decided I was her uncle. I didn’t get a vote.”

I let out a soft laugh. “That sounds about right.”

He stepped closer but not too close, leaving space like it mattered.

“I’m Brent,” he said.

“Cate,” I replied automatically. Then, because it still felt strange sometimes, I added, “Miller.”

The name still felt new and ordinary on my tongue. Deliberately ordinary. A name that didn’t carry headlines or court transcripts or whispered pity.

He nodded once, like that was enough.

We both looked back at the playground.

Johnny and Ellie had abandoned racing and were now arguing animatedly about who got to be the “dragon.”

Brent watched them with easy amusement. “How long have you been in town?”

“Not long,” I said. “A few months.”

He nodded like that told him everything.

“I grew up near here,” he said. “Left. Came back. Funny how that works.”

I studied his profile for a moment. There was something steady about him. Something unpolished. He didn’t scan me the way some men did. Didn’t evaluate. Didn’t measure.

He just… existed.

A gust of wind lifted the ends of my hair. I tucked it behind my ear, my fingers brushing the thin chain at my collarbone, gently fingering the gold ring I kept there, its pink diamond catching the light.

Ellie shouted from the slide, “Uncle Brent! He’s fast!”

Brent laughed. “That’s usually how this goes. She challenges someone and then refuses to lose.”

Johnny turned toward me, winded and flushed. “Mom! Did you see that?”