Page 132 of Sawyer

“Hey, y’all,” he says with a smile as he closes the door behind him. “How’s it going?”

He’s playing the nice guy. No trace of the asshole who made Ava cry into my shoulder yesterday.

Ava has Junie wrapped around her legs. “Apparently it’s going really well. You guys had fun, huh?”

June nods. “We did, Mommy. But I missed you.”

“Aw, I missed you too, Bug.”

“Yella!” June shouts when she sees my daughter. “Yella, hi! You’re here! Hi!”

She makes a mad dash for Ella, the two of them colliding in a hug that ends with Junie lifting Ella off the ground.

It has us all in stitches.

“Patrick Swayze and that chick fromDirty Dancinghave nothing on these two,” I say.

“That your daughter?” Dan asks.

“Yep. She’s a few months younger than June.” I extend my hand. “I’m Sawyer, Ava’s boyfriend. Pleased to meet you.”

I don’t miss the tic in Dan’s jaw when he takes my hand and gives it a firm shake. “Dan Owens. So how’d y’all meet?”

“In Austin, actually,” Ava says. “Then we randomly ran into each other again here in Hartsville.”

I nod. “Been together ever since.”

“Nice.” Dan puts his hands in his pockets as he looks at me. “And you work here on the ranch?”

“I work on my own ranch, as a matter of fact.”

“Lucky River Ranch,” Ava adds, glancing at me. “It’s one of the largest in the state. Sawyer and his brothers are co-owners.”

A pink flush is working its way up Dan’s neck.

Ain’t my style to gloat, but I do allow myself a little smirk. “It’s a nice spot.”

“Sounds like it,” he replies.

I turn my head to look at the girls, who are busy helping each other into princess dresses. “Your daughter is adorable. She’s got a big heart, and she’s been so good to Ella. Really helping to bring her out of her shell.”

“Thanks,” Dan says. “She is cute.”

I look at Ava. “Y’all are doing a great job raising her.”

“Takes a village,” Ava replies, a small smile on her lips. “We’re so proud of her.”

“As you should be. It’s an honor to be part of that village. She’s a special little girl.” I turn my gaze to Dan, and wait for him to say something back to me along those lines.

He doesn’t.

He does, however, have the grace to look a little sheepish. He’s gotta know I spend more time with Junie than he does. He should feel shame for that. I won’t call him out on it, of course. But I can heavily imply that he’s let these girls down in a big way.

Then again, I try not to judge Lizzie for the choices she’s making, even though it’s hard not to resent her for chasing her dreams while I’m here doing the hard work of raising our kid. Who knows what Dan’s story is? Maybe he doesn’t aspire to be the same kind of involved parent that Ava and I are, but it’s obvious June adores him.

For that reason alone, I’ll never, ever start shit with this man.

“She is special, isn’t she?” Dan says at last. Rocking back on his heels, he tilts his head toward the door. “Welp, I should get going.”

---