Cate surveyed the mess she’d made in the Cross family kitchen with a frown. She must have been insane to have agreed to make a wedding cake, of all things, right out of the gate, and with only a week and a half to go now, at that. Hunter and Emerson had been really easy to work with, though, clearly describing what they wanted and giving her enough leeway to be creative with some of the smaller aspects. Owen had been wildly encouraging, too, foregoing the rah-rah cheerleader route for the sort of quiet, truthful encouragement that felt far too good, yet right at the same time. Add to it the incredible sex they’d been having pretty much every night and the easy conversations they’d been having every day, and Cate couldn’t deny it.

She was crushing on Owen Cross. Hard.

“Stop,” she whispered, although her mutinous belly had already done a little backflip at the mere thought of him. Everything about Owen screamed “family man”, and she couldn’t give him what he’d ultimately want from her if they fell for each other. She knew this. Had known it from the beginning. Yet, somehow, she managed to still feel so good with him that that troublesome little fact got brushed to the back of her mind.

What if she didn’t stop? What if, somehow, she and Owen could make things work, just the two of them?

“You look kind of lost in thought.”

Marley’s voice hit Cate with no small measure of surprise, and her head sprang up to meet the younger woman’s stare.

“Oh!” She laughed, not wanting to scare Marley off since she hadn’t seen her since she’d dined and dashed on Saturday night, but it still came out tinged with nervousness. “Yeah, I guess I was zoning out a little. I’m working on Hunter and Emerson’s cake, and there’s a lot to get done before the wedding next weekend.”

Marley’s shoulders tensed beneath her dark gray tank top. “So, I guess you’re going to the wedding, then.”

“Yes,” Cate said. Cake aside, Owen had asked her to be his date the other night as they’d been drifting off to sleep. After the time she’d spent with both him and his family over the last four weeks, her yes had been as automatic as breathing. “I’ll deliver the cake early on the morning of the wedding, but I’m also going to the ceremony and reception with Owen.” A thought occurred to her, sending her brows creasing down. “Aren’t you going, too?”

“No. I don’t know.” Marley knotted her arms around her rib cage, staring at the floor tiles. “Hunter and Emerson have asked me a bunch of times, but I just don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“You don’t.” A shot of frustration moved through Cate’s chest. It must have shown on her face, because Marley’s scowl went from steely to ironclad.

“No. It’s a small wedding for everyone who’s really close to them, and I’m not part of their family.”

“That’s bullshit.”

Cate heard the challenge only after she’d issued it, but still, she stood firm. Marley might be hurting, but she couldn’t deny the truth. Not only was she biologically part of the family, but from her looks to her tough-edged spirit, she was a Cross through and through.

Of course, Cate should’ve known she’d argue anyway. “Excuse me?” Marley asked, frost crisping every syllable.

God, she was as serious as Owen. But Cate’s pragmatism was equal opportunity, and it was past time for someone to stop tiptoeing around this girl and deliver some tough love, straight-up. “I said, that’s bullshit. Also, here. Stir this.”

She handed over a bowl full of buttercream frosting and a silicone spatula, which Marley was too shocked not to take.

“I probably shouldn’t.” Marley tried to push the oversized stainless steel bowl back in Cate’s direction. “I mean, it’s for the wedding cake. I don’t want to screw it up. And what do you mean, that’s bullshit?”

Cate shook her head, picking up a bowl of her own. “It’s just stirring. You can’t screw it up. And I mean just what I said. You might not be okay with it yet, but you’re part of this family. You’re going to have to face that at some point.”

Marley huffed out a breath, but put the spatula into the bowl and started to stir the frosting nonetheless. “Owen and Hunter and Emerson and Eli are part of this family. Not me.”

Cate measured her words for a second, trying to temper them, but, oh, screw it. “Being Tobias’s daughter won’t make you any less of your mom’s daughter, too, Marley.”

“I don’t want to talk about Tobias.”

Marley delivered the words with enough brittle edges that Cate knew better than to push. Still… “Fine. Let’s talk about your brothers, then.”

Marley stirred the buttercream in her bowl, and, huh, she actually had some nice technique. “What about them?” she asked.

“Owen and Hunter love you, and even though Eli’s not here all the time, I’m sure he does, too.” Cate replied. “They’re good men, and they want to be part of your life. It might not hurt to let them.”

“Might not.” Marley’s knuckles whitened over the spatula, her eyes laser-focused on the bowl cradled in at her side. “That’s only a maybe, and I’m not really crazy about those odds.”

Oh. Oh. Something twisted, deep behind Cate’s breastbone, but she shook her head despite the tightness expanding in her chest.

“I know it’s scary, taking the risk of letting someone care about you again. Of caring for them back,” she said, because, God, she really did. She might not have realized it at the time, but she could see now that she’d purposely kept people at arm’s length after Brian and Lily had died. It hadn’t just been everyone in town who had tiptoed around her and thought “poor Cate”. She’d done her fair share of it to herself, too.

And if she could keep Marley from hurting, even a little bit, by letting her know that, then she owed it to her, and to Owen, to try.

Cate put down the bowl of jam filling she’d been mixing and took a step closer. “I also know that when you’ve lost someone close to you, it’s hard to let other people in. You worry that something might happen if you allow yourself to hope or feel good, and you’ll just end up hurt again.”

“I don’t…” Marley exhaled, her voice growing softer. “Does it ever go away?”

“The pain of losing someone that close to you?” Cate asked.

But Marley shook her head. “The fear of getting close again. It must go away, right? Because you did it with Owen.”

Cate’s pulse ratcheted, tapping harder at her throat. “What’s going on with me and Owen is a little different than what’s going on with your family.”

“Is it really?” Marley asked, looking genuinely surprised. “I mean, obviously, you’re his girlfriend and I’m his sister, so it’s different in that way. But close is close. Weren’t you scared to let him in?”

Since this wasn’t about her as much as it was Marley, Cate dodged around the “girlfriend” thing in favor of answering the question without argument. “I think it was more like terrified,” she said with a small laugh. “But once I took the chance and let Owen in a little, I actually felt better, and then the rest just sort of happened all on its own. I’m not saying I’m not still scared of being close to people sometimes, or that I don’t feel sad about losing my daughter sometimes, too, but trusting the right people to care about you can make a difference in how scared and sad you feel.”

“No. I can’t trust Tobias,” Marley said, her head shake adamant. “He knew about me all this time. From the beginning. I know my mom asked him not to come find us, but he was sending her money for me. He knew, and he could’ve come anyway, or at least called, or something, and I just…can’t.”

“That’s fair.” Cate’s reply clearly had shock value, and she used the ensuing hiccup of silence to continue with, “You can’t force trust and expect it to work. But your brothers love you, Marley, maybe even more than you know. It might be okay if you let them care for you a little, just to see how it goes.”

Marley nodded. “Maybe.”

Cate had a feeling the road to trust had a lot more potholes in it than that for Marley, and that her healing would take a lot of time, but for now, this was enough to start.

“Good,” she said with a smile. “In the meantime, do you want to help me out here? This cake is kind of kicking my ass, and I could really use an assistant.”

* * *

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear you’re trying to kill me.”

Owen pushed back from the plate-lined dinner table in his kitchen, grinning despite the claim. Between the storefront project that was humming along ahead of schedule and the temperate weather kicking their growing season into high gear, he’d had a long but successful week. Eli and Scarlett were set to arrive tomorrow from Dublin, just in time for family dinner, and despite the absolute fullness of his belly right now, Owen was happier than he’d ever been.

He had family and farm. And Cate was right there with him in the middle of both.

“Hmm,” she murmured. “Death by cake? Really?” Her lips quirked into just enough of a sassy smile to make him pounce.

“I didn’t say it wouldn’t be a hell of a good way to go. But, seriously, as amazing as those test cakes were, I can’t try another bite. At least, not for a while.”

“You did just eat four slices,” she mused, licking some buttercream off the edge of her fork thoughtfully. “Granted, they were kind of small, and we did have them instead of dinner, but I’ll let you slide.” She pointed the fork at him, her smile turning serious. “For now.”

Owen pushed to his feet, moving across the floor to wrap an arm around her waist. God, he loved the way she seemed to fit against him like she was made for the space, her shoulders lining up with his chest, her mouth within perfect reach of his.

“The cake is going to be incredible,” he said after sliding a kiss over her lips. “I know you’re worried about it, and I totally get that, but really. You’ve got this.”

Owen supposed most people would’ve probably gone with a good, old, reliable “don’t worry” in this situation. But he also knew that telling Cate not to worry would be akin to telling him not to fret over bad weather or failed crops. Not worrying about something like this just wasn’t in her DNA.

Her suddenly tense muscles were case in point. “The wedding is essentially seven days from now.” She sent a glance to the window at the back of the kitchen, where twilight had already set Friday night into motion. “Hunter and Emerson have been really easy to work with, and I know I’m not a dolt when it comes to baking. It’s just that making a cake for a function like this is so much bigger than anything I’ve ever even dreamed of doing. I’m scared it’s not going to be perfect, you know?”

“Is anything ever really perfect?”

Whether it was the question or the laughter he’d pinned it with that made Cate’s eyes go wide, he couldn’t be sure. “Some things are,” she said.

“Maybe to you, sure,” he countered. “But I think perfect is more in the eye of the beholder than it is a golden rule, just like I know everyone is going to love Hunter and Emerson’s wedding cake. Including the two of them.”

Cate bit her bottom lip, and hell if that didn’t make the way he was holding her that much more enticing. “I am really close to nailing down the final recipes for the flavor combination they chose,” she admitted. “And now that Marley’s helping me, things are going a lot more efficiently, too.”

At the mention of his sister’s sudden change of heart—or at least in attitude—Owen’s chest tightened. “I know she seems to like baking, but she’s been such a hard ‘no’ on anything having to do with our family, including this wedding. I still don’t know how you talked her into helping you make Hunter and Emerson’s cake.”

“I pretty much just asked and she said yes,” Cate said. “After the talk she and I had a couple of days ago, I think she was looking for a way to start connecting with you and Hunter that didn’t feel awkward, and helping with the cake fit the bill. It doesn’t hurt that she’s actually got skills.”

Owen thought back to the day he’d first caught Marley making brownies and smiled. “Hunter and I saw her mixing up some different flavors of jam filling today after we came in from working in the north fields, and she didn’t run out of the kitchen when we stopped to ask her how things were going. In fact, she said she even changed her mind about coming to the wedding.”

“She did?”

At Owen’s nod, Cate continued, her eyes sparkling with genuine happiness. “I didn’t want to push her the other day, but I was really hoping she’d change her mind. I’m so glad she decided to come.”

He chuffed out a quick laugh. “I thought Hunter was going to pull a muscle, he was smiling so hard.” In fact, his brother had been so happy about Marley’s about-face that Owen hadn’t even been able to give him a proper ration of shit over it.

“Hmm,” Cate said. “Somehow, I bet he wasn’t the only one happy about her decision.”

Ah, fuck. Busted. “We’ve got a long way to go to mend those fences,” Owen said, choosing not to tarnish the moment by bringing up the fact that Marley had made it wildly clear that, while she’d attend the wedding and reception, what she wouldn’t do was anything that involved their father, including family photos. “I’m just glad she’s not pushing us all away, all the time anymore.”

“I’m glad she’s not pushing you guys away, too.”

“Us,” he corrected, the word slipping out before he could trap it between his teeth and bite it back.

Cate’s brows knit together, and she pulled back to look at him in confusion. “What?”

For a hot second, Owen thought about hedging. But whether she realized it or not, Cate had played a huge part in getting Marley to start to come around, and she deserved his gratitude.

“I never would have gotten past square one with Marley if it weren’t for you. I don’t know that any of us would have. So, yeah, you’re part of that. And I’m really thankful.”

“For the record, I think you guys would have made headway on your own eventually,” Cate said, her lips curving the slightest degree before she added, “after all, you do have your own brand of charm hidden beneath that serious exterior. But I’m glad my being here helped.”

Owen pulled her closer. “Your being here does a lot more than help.”

He leaned down, angling a kiss over her mouth. She opened for him in a seamless glide, their tongues touching with just enough suggestion to make his cock stir. The feeling was sexual, but kissing her made something deep inside of him feel good in a way that surpassed plain desire, too, and, impulsively, he pulled back to grab her hands.

“Come with me,” Owen said, heading for the stairs.

“I thought you’d never ask,” Cate replied with a laugh. But rather than giving in to the demand pumping down from the primal parts of his brain that wanted to strip her naked and fuck her until they were both sweaty and screaming and senseless, he bypassed his bed and headed directly for his dresser.

“Here.” He pulled open the drawer he’d emptied a couple of days ago, his heart moving into his throat as he turned to look at Cate. But this was right—they were right. No matter how much she might have lost in the past, he wanted to be with her moving forward.

“What’s this?” she asked, both her expression and her tone impossible to read.

“It’s a drawer,” Owen replied, and, Christ, was he really going to go the Captain Obvious route now, when it really mattered? “I mean, it’s a drawer for you. To put your stuff in when you stay here. With me. If you want to.”

“Oh.”

Cate didn’t say no, nor did she run screaming from his room, both of which, Owen supposed, were a win. She did remain quiet, though, with her wide eyes fixed on the drawer as if it might sprout teeth and snap at her, and fuck it. He might not know any fancy ways to say what he was feeling, but he knew this woman, knew how much he wanted her in his bed and his dresser drawers and his life, and that was enough.

“I know you might feel like this is a big deal,” he said. “But it’s not—not in the way you’re thinking. I just…I like that you stay here. It’s okay with me if you decide not to do it every night. I just thought this would make it easier for when you do. That’s all.”

“Oh,” Cate whispered again, this one sounding worlds different than the one she’d uttered less than a minute before. “I guess it would be less of a pain than bringing an overnight bag every time.”

Hope kicked through Owen’s chest, bright and daring. “It’s actually downright practical, when you think about it,” he said, delivering just enough of a smile with the words to draw a soft laugh past Cate’s lips.

“You really know how to sweet-talk a girl, don’t you, Casanova?”

“I know how to sweet-talk you,” he countered. Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her close enough to breathe in the woodsy, herbal scent of her hair and the smell of her skin that belonged to her alone. “I have my own brand of charm, remember?”

Cate melted against him, the warmth of her body and the lush press of her curves and straightaways rekindling the darker part of the desire that had made him lead her up here in the first place. “That you do,” she said.

“Does that mean you want the drawer?”

“Yes, I want the drawer.” She kissed him just long enough to turn it into a promise. “But I want you first.”

“I’m all yours,” Owen promised in return.

And as he cradled her face and kissed her back, he knew that he meant it in more ways than one.

Just like he knew he was falling in love with her.