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She flashed a big smile. “Juice, please?”

Kensey pulled a juice box from the cooler and popped the straw in. Katie took it and took a drink.

“You’re a natural with them,” Cleo said, stretching out on her own towel. “I don’t know why you ever thought you weren’t good with people.”

“Because I wasn’t.” I bounced Katie gently on my knee, earning another giggle. “I’m still not, really. Not with most people.”

I looked around at the group that had assembled on the beach. Beau was already knee-deep in sand with Grant, the beginnings of a castle taking shape. Drew was setting up an umbrella while Callum unpacked the cooler. Victoria and Kensey were arranging towels and toys that would keep the kids busy.

These people had accepted me. Not because of my last name or my position or what I could do for them. They’d accepted me because Beau loved me, and that was enough for them.

Katie grabbed my sunglasses off my head and immediately tried to put them on her own face. They were comically oversized, sliding down her nose and making her look like a tiny movie star.

“Picture!” Cleo demanded, already holding up her phone. “This is too adorable.”

I posed with Katie, both of us hamming it up for the camera. The old Darcy would have worried about how she looked, whether her smile was right and what people would think if the photo ended up online. This Darcy just enjoyed the moment.

The afternoon unfolded in a blur of sand and laughter and the kind of chaos that only happened when small children were involved. I helped Grant decorate his sandcastle with shells we’d collected. I let Katie bury my feet in sand while she shrieked with delight at her own mischief. I ate sandwiches and drank cold lemonade and listened to the Blackwell siblings bicker and joke and talk over each other in that way families do.

At some point, I found myself sitting at the water’s edge with both kids, letting the gentle waves lap at our toes. Katie was fascinated by the foam, reaching for it each time it retreated. Grant was explaining to me, with great seriousness, that the ocean stretched around the world.

I felt Beau before I saw him, his presence warm at my back as he settled onto the sand beside me. His arm came around my waist, pulling me close.

“Having fun?” he asked.

“More than I expected to.”

He pressed a kiss to my temple. “You’re amazing with them. You know that?”

I watched Katie go after a retreating wave. Grant dug a trench in the wet sand.

“They make it easy,” I said. “Kids don’t care about all the stuff adults care about. They just want you to be present and pay attention to them. They want to be taken seriously even if they are very unserious humans.”

“That’s harder than it sounds for some people.”

“I know.” I leaned into him, letting his warmth seep into my sun-warmed skin. “I used to be one of those people.”

“And now?”

I thought about the question. “Not going to lie, but I might have faked it in the beginning.”

“Don’t we all?”

“Maybe.”

This was the life I wanted. Not the corner office and the board meetings and the endless performances.

“Every day, I’m learning something new about myself,” I said. “I didn’t think I liked kids. Honest to God, they scared me. Now, I see how much fun they are. Just wild and carefree.”

Katie came running back. She threw herself into my lap, small arms wrapping around my neck.

“Darcy, look!” She held up a shell, presenting it to me like the most precious treasure in the world.

“It’s beautiful, sweetheart. Should we add it to the castle?”

She nodded enthusiastically.

“Duty calls,” I said to Beau, dropping a quick kiss on his cheek.