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“Really?” I ask, trying, and failing, to contain my smile. “And how can you promise that?”

“Easy.” He leans his mouth closer to my ear. “For the first, I’ll propose to you the minute your divorce is final. As for the second, if I have to, I will tie you to my bed and not let you out until the job is done.”

Heat travels through me, and I lean into him.

I’m not sure if any part of that sentence is actually serious, but it’s good to know where his thoughts are.

“Well for now, finding a place to live where Chase doesn’t have to sleep on the couch is my number one goal.”

“That reminds me, Levi is looking to rent his apartment in the old town. Kayla says it’s small but it has two bedrooms. You could rent it while you search for a more permanent solution.”

I was thinking of searching for a house right away. But Blake makes a good point. It could take a while to find the right place, or maybe even build it.

“That sounds nice. Did he say when it’s available?”

“I think right away. I’ll call and see if you can go see it this week.”

“That would be perfect. Then Chase can come with me.”

“Alright. This week you find a new apartment, and next week I tie you to my bed.”

I pinch his waist, and I get knocked over by a shoulder bump in return, which has me doubled up laughing.

Blake and I spend the entire tournament like that, just having fun. Every once in a while we say hello to someone we know, or they stop by for a few minutes to chat. But we remain seated, next to each other the whole time.

I catch a few people staring and whispering, but I try not to let it bother me. Let them gossip. The sooner people get it out of their system, the sooner they’ll be used to it and move on to next week’s news.

Blake squeezes my leg when we see Ethan arriving on the other side of the bleachers. He’s alone. Blake waves to him, and I nod. Ethan waves back, looking grim.

But mostly, we have a great time.

Lunch is provided for the kids, so we buy a couple of hot dogs for ourselves.

Chase’s team makes it to the finals, and finishes second.

Chase wears his silver medal proudly when we make our way to the festival.

We only have a couple of hours before Blake’s game. Blake says that I don’t have to go. I’ve done enough sitting on bleachers for one day, but Chase really wants to see it, so we’ll probably stop by at some point anyway.

But first we go to the main stage, where Madison’s band is playing.

I do a quick check-in with the sound crew—everything is on schedule—and we join Scarlett and Penny near the front of the stage.

There isn’t nearly as much of a crowd as last night. Other than a few older couples and children dancing in front, most people hang back near the booths, eating and drinking.

Chase waves to Madison, and she winks back at him, unable to do more than that while playing her violin. Penny stands next to him with a huge grin and even bigger eyes.

Blake offers to get us drinks and goes off to one of the booths. I watch him chatting with a guy that frequents the Den. I like how easygoing he is with everyone.

I always thought of Bryce as the friendliest of the brothers, but Blake gets on well with everyone too. He wouldn’t be successful at work if he didn’t.

Madison finishes her song.

“For this next song,” she says. “We’re going to need some assistance.”

Scarlett gives me a grateful smile.

“Penny Young, could you come up on stage, and bring your violin.”