Page 73 of Into the Fire

Jess’s forehead creased as his brows drew together. “I already agreed to hold the rings. Now I gotta dress like an uptight banker, too?”

Emery offered him a compromising look across the room. “It won't be that bad. I promise, and you can take the tie and jacket off for the reception.”

“Good,” Jess muttered. “Ties are worthless, make me feel claustrophobic.”

Lainey leaned toward Emery and said, not even bothering to lower her voice, “He’s literally the worst.”

Jess scowled deeper. “I’m literally right here.”

Lainey groaned. “Do you ever stop complaining?”

Jess grumbled something under his breath, and Lainey sighed. “I swear, if I have to pin your boutonnière and listen to you whine the whole time, I will ditch you halfway down the aisle.”

“Promises, promises,” Jess muttered, but the corner of his mouth tugged upward.

Emery smirked into her tea, watching tension crackle between them.

Lainey lowered her gaze and crossed her arms. “Try me, Jesse, if you don't just stop whining, I’ll rip the tie off your neck myself and tie you to a chair in the back of the venue.”

Jess blinked, then smirked slowly. “Well, now you’re just making it sound like a fantasy, Lainey.”

She didn’t miss a beat. “In my fantasy, you stay tied up and quiet.”

Jess leaned back in his chair with a low hum. “I knew you thought about me.”

Lainey muttered a curse and turned back to her tablet full of never-ending Pinterest boards; her cheeks flushed despite her best efforts to look unimpressed. “You are unbelievable.”

He leaned back with a shrug, the grin never leaving his face. “And you’re terrifying. We make quite the pair.”

From the island, Emery raised a brow, slapping a sticky note on a magazine to mark another dress she liked. “You two need supervision.”

A small tug at her hand pulled her from the moment.

June stood at her side, her favorite pink cowboy boots on and her curls wild from playing outside. She looked up at Emery, eyes wide with a questioning look. “Hey, Emery?” she said, voice quiet. “Is the new baby gonna call you Emery, too?”

Emery knelt slowly, her hand still resting on her belly. “No, sweet girl. The baby’sgoing to call me Mom.”

June chewed her lip, glancing down at the floor, then back up with big, brave eyes. “Do you think... the baby would share? Like… maybe let you be my mom too?”

The question broke Emery’s heart wide open in the softest, sweetest way. She reached out and pulled June into her arms, holding her close against the swell of her belly.

“I’d love that, and I'm sure the baby would be really happy sharing with you,” she planted a kiss on her hair. “You’ll always be mine, too, June Bug.”

From the couch, Levi’s gaze met hers over the top of June’s head. There was something unspoken in it—full, steady, and entirely hers.

And as Emery sat there, with a wedding in the works, a baby on the way, and a home full of messy, beautiful love, she realized she didn’t just belong in Cold Creek.

She belonged with them.

A little messy. A little unexpected. But exactly right.