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“I know it by heart,” she said, putting her plate on the table.

I hesitated, not wanting to cross any boundaries like I’d done in Dallas. I wanted to respect Fletcher both as her parent and as my partner. “Let me check with him.”

“Why?” she asked, a grumpy tone in her voice.

I raised my eyebrows. It had been a long time since Maya had taken that tone with me. “Excuse me?”

“Let me call my mom,” she ordered. “Now.”

“Why don’t you take some time to cool down in the backyard. I’ll call your dad while you do.”

“FINE!” she yelled, stomping outside with Graham on her heels. The slamming door rattled the house.

I closed my eyes and took deep breaths, trying to remember that she was tired. That even though it had been a good day for her, she had used up a lot of her energy learning the ropes.

Once I’d calmed down a bit, I called Fletcher and filled him in. “Sorry, I didn’t know what the rules were with Regina and me and calls. I know I overstepped at the ice cream shop and didn’t want to do it again.”

“It’s fine if you call her,” Fletcher said with a sigh. “But maybe keep the phone on speaker just to make sure everything’s okay. I’ll text you her number.”

“Thanks.”

“Thanks for watching Maya,” he said.

“Of course,” I replied. “Like you said, I’m not just the nanny... I’m here for you.”

“I love you, Liv.”

My heart warmed at the words. “I love you too. See you in a couple hours.”

“If I make it that long,” he teased.

We hung up, and I went outside, dialing Regina’s number. Still a little grumpy with me, Maya sat at the picnic table, talking with her mom, and soon Rhett and Fletcher were there with us. We all had plates full of Frito chili pie, drinks in hand, as we talked about Maya’s first day at Cottonwood Falls Elementary School.

When she went to change for bed, I wanted to address the pit of worry in my stomach for Rhett. I didn’t know if it was okay to talk about or not, but I needed to ask him if there was any news. “Rhett, have you heard anything more about the spot?”

He and Fletcher exchanged a glance, and Rhett’s expression was unreadable.

He cleared his throat, looking down, and when he looked back up at me, his smile was brighter than I’d ever seen it. “They were able to remove all the cancer. I’m going to be okay.”

I literally screamed, jumping out of my seat and hugging him tight.

When Fletcher met my gaze, I swore I saw moisture in his eyes.

Rhett cleared his throat, pulling back. “So I’ll be around when you two finally tie the knot.”

Fletcher laughed. “I’m not getting married again.”

Rhett drew his eyebrows together and looked from Fletcher to me. “You’re kidding right.”

Fletcher opened his mouth, but I quickly said, “Of course he’s joking, Rhett. We’ve barely started dating. You know you’d run to the hills if someone mentioned you marrying one of the girls you’ve dated for a week.”

Rhett eyed us suspiciously, about to ask something, but Maya came out and said, “Livvy, can you help me pick out my clothes for tomorrow?”

“Sure, sweetie,” I said. I gave Rhett one last hug and said, “See you at Wednesday night dinner?”

“Of course,” he said. “I’ll need someone to run interference between Mom and me when I tell them I had, and then subsequently didn’t have, cancer.”

“True,” I said. I sent Fletcher a half smile and walked inside to help Maya.