Cam packed the last of the books into the box on the table and taped the box shut. They didn’t have a lot of things to move from their space over Junky’s Auto Shop, but what they did have was all packed up and almost loaded into the back of Evan’s truck. After only a month of officially dating, Evan had asked Cam and Morgan if they’d be willing to move out of their far too cozy apartment and into his house with him.

Morgan had jumped at the opportunity for more space and more privacy. The fact that Evan lived closer to her friends hadn’t hurt either. The decision had been a little harder for Cam. Not because she didn’t want to live with Evan. More than anything, she did. They spent all their time together anyway, and it didn’t make sense for her to keep the little apartment. Not to mention, it would be nice to have an actual bedroom again and all the privacy that came with that. But it was bittersweet, too.

Cam had come to love their home over the garage. There was still nothing special about it, except of course for the very reason it was special. It had been the first place Cam and Morgan had called home together. Just the two of them. She knew she was being sentimental, but the apartment over Junky’s represented their fresh start and their coming together as mother and daughter.

She wiped a tear from her cheek and laughed at herself as she carried the box down to Evan’s waiting truck.

“Is that everything?” Evan took the box from her and loaded it with the others.

She nodded as another wave of emotion hit her.

“Hey.” He pulled her into his arms. “It’s okay.”

“It’s silly.”

“It’s not.” He stroked her hair. Cam was grateful that he didn’t make her feel self-conscious for the sudden display of emotion. “This was your first place together. I get it. You’re allowed to feel whatever you need to feel.”

She lifted her head and stood on her toes to kiss him. “Thank you. I don’t want you to think I’m not excited about living with you.”

“I don’t think that for a second.” He held open the door of his truck for her before joining her in the front seat. “Maybe you’ll feel a little better when you see the surprise I have for you at the house.”

“Surprise? What is it?”

“If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise.” He laughed and Cam rolled her eyes with a shake of her head. She took one last look out the window and then fixed her eyes forward on their future.

It wasn’t until after they’d unloaded all the boxes into the house that Evan finally took her hand and led her out to the backyard. “It’s time for your surprise. Are you ready?”

With the busyness of the day, she’d forgotten all about it, and told him so. Evan pretended to be offended, but he smiled and led her through the yard toward the shed in the back corner by the driveway. “I’ve been working on this for weeks,” he said. “I hope you like it but we can make changes if it’s not everything you need.”

Confused, Cam opened the door of the shed and stepped inside. Where she’d expected to see shelves of pots and cans of paint, there were clean walls painted a light gray. A desk sat in one corner, with a large interchangeable backdrop set up on the other side of the room.

It was a studio.

It was her studio.

“I know we’ll still need to put in some shelves for your things, and maybe over here we can—”

“It’s perfect.” She silenced him with a kiss. “I can’t believe you did all this for me.”

“Baby, I’d do anything for you.”

Cam glowed with happiness. The last month had felt like a dream, only better because she knew she wasn’t going to wake up.

“Do you think you’ll be able to book enough jobs now so you can finally quit waitressing?”

Cam shook her head and wandered around the small space. It was perfect and there was no doubt she’d be able to book more work now that she could offer an indoor option as well as the outdoor sessions she’d been doing. But she was still hesitant to let go of her shifts at the End of the Road. It wasn’t that Cam loved her job, she didn’t really at all, but she wasn’t bringing in quite enough yet with her photography. “Soon,” she said. “One thing at a time, okay?”

Evan came up behind her and put his arms around her. “Okay.” He kissed the top of her head. “Now, what do you say we go get you unpacked in our house?”

She liked the sound of that. A lot.

“What do you have in this one?” Trent carried the box into Morgan’s new room and made a show of putting it down on the stack. “I think you have bricks in there.”

“Not bricks.” She laughed. “Books. Well, photo albums really.”

“Photo albums?” Trent collapsed into her desk chair. “Like, old-school photo albums?”

Morgan nodded. When she was a kid, she’d loved all the pictures her mom took. So much so that she’d beg her to print them all out so she could put them in albums and flip through them. “Mostly just family pictures, holidays and things like that.” Maybe she could put together a little photo album for her new baby brother or sister? It was still going to be a few months until the baby was born, and she’d mostly gotten used to the idea of not being the only child in her dad’s life, in fact, it surprised her that Morgan was actually looking forward to having a sibling. Her dad had really stepped up when it came to parenting, and while they still weren’t as close as they could be. It was better. She shrugged, returning her attention to Trent. “Maybe I’m a little old-fashioned, but I like looking at them in front of me instead of a computer screen.”

“Makes sense.”

“It does?”

“Sure.” He spun in the chair and grinned. “It’s just like I prefer real books to those e-book things.”

“Right?” Morgan turned around so Trent wouldn’t see her goofy smile. She couldn’t help it. Just being around Trent made her stomach curl up in knots and made her want to squeal, and she was so not the squealing type.

“Hey,” Trent said. “Do you have any more boxes to bring in? I’ll get them for you before I have to go.”

Morgan felt the disappointment all the way to her toes. “You have to go?”

He nodded. “I have to work. First shift at Hill’s Hardware store later today.” He flipped his hair back off his face. “My dad was super pissed about the whole party at the lake and more or less told me to get a job or else. It took a few weeks, but I finally convinced George Hill to give me a job. I think it’s my dad’s idea of keeping me out of trouble.”

“But you’re not trouble.” She took a step toward him. “I mean, it’s not like any of what happened was your fault.”

“I know, but you know parents…”

Morgan nodded.

“Besides, I think I could use the extra money anyway,” Trent said. “I was kind of hoping that maybe you’d be my date for the year end formal?”

“Of course.” She didn’t even bother to hide her excitement. Morgan’s smile stretched her face. “I’d love to be your date.”

He stood up so they were only inches apart. Close enough to…

“What’s this about a real date?”

Both Morgan and Trent took two huge steps backward at the sound of Evan’s voice. Morgan spun around and clutched her hands together in front of her.

“Do we need to make some rules about having boys in your bedroom?”

She was positive that her face was flaming red, but if Trent noticed, he didn’t say anything. Instead, he grabbed her hand and gave it a quick squeeze. “I should get going anyway,” he said to her. “I’ll call you later, Morgan. Bye, Officer Anderson.”

Evan nodded and let the boy past. When Trent was gone, Morgan put her hands on her hips and stared at Evan. “Are you seriously going to make him call you Officer Anderson? He’s my…well, I guess he’s my boyfriend.”

“Then yes.” Evan laughed. “I’m definitely going to make him call me Officer Anderson.”

Morgan threw up her hands with a groan and started to unpack a box.

“Are you getting settled in okay? Your room all right?”

Her room was awesome. It was twice the size as the one in the apartment and she had her own bathroom. Evan’s house wasn’t huge, but compared to what they’d been living in, it felt massive. Most importantly, it felt like a home.

“It’s great,” she said. “Thanks, Evan.”

He nodded and took another step inside. “I just really want you to…well, it’s important that you…” He laughed. “This is not coming out right.”

“It’s okay.” She looked over her shoulder and pulled a stack of books out of a box. “I get it.”

“Are you okay with all of this?” he asked. “I know it happened kind of fast.”

To people of the outside looking in, it might have seemed that things between her mom and Evan had moved quickly, but for Morgan, it was natural. Anyone could see that they were meant to be together. There was no point in pretending anything else. “It’s fine, Evan. Honestly.” She picked up an old teddy bear and sat on the bed, facing him. “Are you okay? Because you look a little stressed.”

Evan laughed. “I’m not stressed. Not at all. But I did want to ask you something. It’s kind of important.”

Morgan crossed her legs up underneath her and settled in because she had a feeling she knew what he wanted to say to her.

“I know that the last few months have been kind of crazy for you,” he started. “It’s been a bit of a transition.”

“You could say that.”

“And I know I’m not your dad.” He twisted his hands together. “You have a dad, and I never want to come in between that. You know that, right?”

She nodded, no longer sure of what he was going to say.

Evan swallowed hard and shifted into the seat Trent had recently vacated. “I guess what I’m trying to say is, all I want for you and me is to be…”

“Friends?”

Evan laughed. The tense mood diffused. “Of course friends, but also…I hope that I can be maybe a sort of…”

“Stepdad?”

“Well, yes, but…I’m probably not explaining it properly, but I want to be there for you, Morgan. Whatever you need, okay? You can count on me.”

Evan was always so self-assured and confident; seeing this different, nervous version of him was kind of strange for Morgan. But also, it was funny. And sweet. Because she wasn’t stupid—she knew exactly what Evan was trying to say. She crossed the room and stood in front of him. “You know what?”

“What’s that?”

“I already know I can count on you for anything.”

He stood and pulled her into a hug. Morgan hadn’t really thought about how strange it might be for her mom to date, and maybe that’s because it was Evan she was dating and it wasn’t strange. In fact, she felt lucky more than anything that her mom hadn’t chosen some idiot, but instead had found a guy who not only accepted Morgan as part of the deal, but also really liked her.

“Now,” she said when the hug was over. “When are you going to put a ring on it and ask my mom to marry you?”

Put a ring on it.

For the next three days, Evan couldn’t get Morgan’s question out of his mind. Of course he wanted to marry Cam, but maybe things were happening too fast. After all, there was no need to rush. He planned to be with her forever—he could wait.

Even if he didn’t want to.

Fortunately, after some initial tension, his mother and Cam had gotten past the history between them, and although Evan knew their relationship might never be a close one, at least it wasn’t going to be awkward. Despite her misguided attempts to help Evan, he knew his mother’s heart had always been in the right place and it was a relief to him that they’d all been able to move forward and let the past go.

Morgan seemed to enjoy having a grandmotherly figure around since Cam’s parents were so far away, and his mother had embraced Morgan as her own, enlisting her to help around the garden, a project Morgan actually seemed to enjoy.

Every day, it felt more like they were a family and Evan thought more about making it official.

Evan could be a patient man if necessary, but he was also a man who knew the value of being prepared, which was why he’d gone shopping to pick out the perfect ring and had been carrying it around in his pocket ever since. He had no immediate plans to ask her, but if the situation came up…well, he wanted to be ready.

It was a rare Friday night that Evan wasn’t on shift, so they’d been able to accept Christy and Mark’s offer for chicken wings and beer. On one end of the table, the girls were in a deep conversation about something, although Evan couldn’t quite make it out. But it didn’t matter. He loved watching her, especially when she was so relaxed and happy. So different from when she’d moved to town. A lot had changed.

Evan reached for his bottle of beer.

“It’s pretty crazy, don’t you think?”

Mark was asking him a question. Evan racked his brain in an effort to remember what his friend had been saying, but he came up empty. “Sorry,” he admitted. “I was daydreaming for a minute.”

Mark followed his gaze and laughed. “I can see that. I was just saying how crazy it was that you guys are sitting here, back together again. It’s kind of like old times, isn’t it?”

Evan nodded. “It is. Who would have thought we’d all end up like this, hey? Cam and I. You and Christy still crazy about each other.” Something flickered across Mark’s face, and Evan hesitated. “Is everything okay there?” He lowered his voice. “With Christy, I mean?”

Mark nodded, and returned his focus to his beer, but a moment later when the women excused themselves to go to the restroom, he put his bottle down on the table and looked at Evan. “Can I give you a piece of advice?”

Evan nodded.

“Don’t let babies make you crazy.”

“Pardon?” He sat back and chuckled, but Mark wasn’t laughing. “What’s going on, Mark?”

“No one ever tells you that trying to have a baby can actually destroy your marriage,” he said with a sad shake of his head.

“Destroy? What are you talking about?” Evan vaguely knew that Mark and Christy had been trying to get pregnant, but he certainly didn’t know any of the details about it. “Making babies is the fun part, right?” He winked but Mark wasn’t laughing.

“So help me, I never thought there’d be a time when I dreaded the thought of making love to my wife, Evan.” He dropped his head and shook it slightly before looking up again. “Wait. That’s not entirely fair. I want to be with Christy. It’s all this measuring temperatures, taking pills, injections, schedules and positions and…” He shook his head again and took a deep drink of his beer. “I guess it is what it is. But I’ll tell you something, Evan. It’s a total mood killer. And it’s changed her. Hell, it’s changed us.”

Evan didn’t know what to say to his friend. “I’m sorry, man.” It didn’t feel adequate, but it was all he had to offer, so it would have to do.

“Hey,” Mark said. “Don’t worry about it. I’m sorry to drop that on you when we should be celebrating.” He lifted his beer. “To you and Cam. Together the way you always should have been.”

Evan toasted and took a drink, but he didn’t completely agree with his friend. A lot had happened, and some of it he would change if he could, but most of it, he wouldn’t. They wouldn’t have been any good to each other all those years ago. They needed to grow up, find themselves, have their own lives before they could fully appreciate what they could have together. And who they could be on their own.

He believed that.

He also believed that it was time to make sure Cam knew exactly how he felt.

Evan spotted the women making their way across the room. Cam stopped to talk to Ben at the bar. She smiled at something he said and her whole face lit up. He excused himself from the table and went to her, not able to wait one more minute.

“May I have this dance?”

She turned and her whole face split into a smile. “Now?”

“Of course now.”

She laughed. “No one else is dancing.”

“I don’t care about anyone else.” He held his hand out and she took it.

He thought he heard Ben say something in the background, but a moment later the song changed to a slower beat and Evan pulled his love into his arms.

“You’re crazy,” Cam said, but she snuggled into his embrace.

“I know it.”

He spun her slowly around the small dance floor, keeping a close hold on her. “Are you happy?”

She nodded against his chest. “So much. Everything is perfect right now. Just the way it is.”

“Perfect?”

Cam pulled back a little so she could look him in the eyes. “Yes. I couldn’t ask for anything else. Morgan is getting settled in and in the last few months, she’s like an almost completely different person. It’s just…it’s nice to see her happy.”

“And you?” He ran a finger down her cheek before cupping her face in his hand.

She smiled and leaned into his touch. “It’s all a work in progress, but yes. So much happier. Thank you.”

“Thank you?”

“For everything,” she said. “Just for being you. For being here. For loving me.”

He shook his head softly before reaching up and holding her hands in his hands. His eyes shone, but he looked directly into hers when he said, “Baby, I love the fuck out of you.”

She chuckled at his harsh choice of words.

“I know that’s not the most eloquent way to say it,” Evan said quickly. “And I’m sorry for the curse. But it’s the truth and the only way to really say it. You mean more to me than anything else in the world.” Her laughter stopped and she looked straight into his eyes.

“It’s a lot, Evan. A single mom with a teenage girl—it’s a lot.”

“I know it.”

“And I don’t want you to—”

He put a finger to her lips. “I’m never going to do or be anything that I don’t want. Do you understand that?”

She nodded.

“Which means, I would not be here right now if I didn’t one hundred percent want all of this. You. Morgan. All of it.”

“I know. It’s just—”

“No. There’s no just.” He spun her slowly. “There are going to be challenges. It’s not always going to be easy, but it’s going to be amazing and I’m all in, babe. For the hard stuff and the easy stuff. All of it. I’m in.”

A tear slipped down her cheek, but she was smiling.

He didn’t want to let her go, so he held her close with his left arm and slipped his hand into his pocket. His fingers wrapped around the ring and he knew what he needed to do. Without missing a beat, he moved her easily around the dance floor, twirling her out gently before pulling her close again and as he did so, he took her left hand and slipped the ring on her finger.

Cam froze and stared at her hand. “What is—”

“It doesn’t have to be anything.” He pressed a kiss on her forehead. “Or it can be everything. Whatever you want it to be.”