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“Especially when Jude came along. The kid wouldn’t shut up,” I say with a chuckle, nudging my younger brother with my arm.

He fakes offense, but his twitching smirk gives him away. “Hey, I wasn’t that bad.”

“Why’d you think I stopped comin’ here with y’all,” Will says. “I needed solitude too.”

That gets all of us laughing.

“OK. So what do we do with this information? Maybe Iz and I can talk to Dad and get a look at the town’s old records?” Birdie suggests. Her dad is the mayor of Timber Falls so if anybody can give us access to the town archives, it would be him.

But as soon as she says it, I get a better idea. “I’ll do it,” I offer.

Birdie cocks her head. “You sure? I don’t mind.”

I shake my head. “I want to. I can also try a few online searches too. See if there are any of those genealogy sites with the Wilsons of Timber Falls on there. That could be a good place to start. Then, with more info, I’ll chat with the Mayor.”

“Maybe you should see if Iz wants to help? It would be a memorable second date,” Birdie says, waggling her brows.

Jude scoffs. “They got to get through the first one before they can think about a second.”

“I have a good feelin’. It’s Case’s turn, I just know it,” she says, talking like I’m not even here. “Iz seems very cheerful whenever I see her now. So it must be the Call.”

“Really?” Sutton replies, rubbing his chin, the family tree discovery pales in comparison to my love life it seems.

I roll my eyes. “I am still here, you know.”

“We know,” Sutton, Jude, and Birdie say in unison.

Will chuckles and rests a hand on my shoulder. “Better get used to everyone bein’ in your business, brother. It’s payback for when all y’all made me go hunt down Birdie. Remember that?”

My gaze narrows and snaps his way. “That was different. You two were dancin’ round each other and either losin’ phone numbers or makin’ the other one wait because he lost the phone number.”

“I didn’t lose it. I washed it. There’s a difference,” Will explains.

“And I wasn’t makin’ him wait. I was busy,” Birdie adds.

“Busy makin’ him wait,” I mutter, earning a playful slap on my arm for my troubles.

“Anyway, don’t think I can’t see what you’re doin’, Cayson Cooper. You’re hopin’ you’ll distract us enough that we forget about you and my best friend .”

I smirk and lift a brow her way. “Did it work?”

“Nope. So spill. When’s the first date? Iz won’t tell me anythin’ so now I have to hound you for all the important information,” she huffs.

I bite back a grin at learning Isla is keeping our nightly phone conversations private. Funnily enough, I have been too. That’s because they’re ours and I cherish them. Knowing she’s doing the same has me feeling some kind of way.

“If you must know, we’re seein’ each other Thursday afternoon,” I tell them.

“As in tomorrow?” Sutton asks, his eyes wide.

“Yep.”

“And you were goin’ to tell us about this when ?” he pushes, but he's really asking when was I going to tell him .

“I’m tellin’ you now.” I shrug. “Didn’t think it was a big deal to anyone else.”

They all stare at me like I’ve suddenly sprouted two heads. “You didn’t think we’d care?” Will asks.

“I just–”

“Of course , we care, Case. I’ve never seen you like this,” Sutton says.

“Like what?”

“Smitten,” Jude says, answering for him.

“I think they mean fallin’ for a woman,” Birdie adds. “Though I must say, you picked very well. Iz is awesome.”

She is. But I don’t think I picked her. I don’t think she picked me. I think someone–or something –played a hand in that.

I open my mouth to dispute that but stop when I spot Birdie’s glare. “Don’t you dare say you’re not fallin’ for her because it’s written all over your face. Hell, it’s written all over hers too. You two have a connection.”

I nod. There’s no way I’m denying that. “We do. Felt it the moment I met her.”

“And you’re plannin’ to explore that. Right?” she continues, not hiding the hope in her expression.

“Yes…”

I glance my twin’s way and stare at him. As he’s always been able to do since we were young, he reads me like a book. Understanding fills his gaze.

“You don’t want to jinx it. That’s it, isn’t it?” he says. “You don’t want to risk anythin’ happenin’ or any one of us–yourself included–doin’ somethin’ to ruin it.”

My throat thickens as my heart tries to lodge itself there, pumping so hard I swear it’s moving my chest with every pounding beat. All I can do is nod.

“If this is it, if Isla is my One, I’m not lettin’ her slip through my fingers again. She makes me feel whole… worthy, like I’m meant to be here on the mountain, in Timber Falls, even if it was just to see her again. To get another chance with her. I–”

“We get it,” Will says, his voice soft and low.

“You do belong here, Case, and I don’t want to hear you think you don’t.

This whole thing–all of us gettin’ the place back up to how Gramps had it, how he’d want it–that can only happen because we’re all here together.

This is our birthright, our family’s legacy. Your legacy. OK?”

I nod, my entire body relaxing as I let Will’s words sink in.

“And as for you not wantin’ to mess up with Isla, there ain’t no way, no how, that you could ever do that.

Wanna know how I know that?” Birdie says, a wry smile playing on her lips.

“Because you care already. You were a friend to her when she was a total stranger and you felt the pull to her–to each other–before you even knew about the Call. You might have a way to go persuadin’ Iz that the Call is real, but you Coopers aren’t the type to shy away from a challenge.

Especially when it’s somethin’– someone –you want.

” She glances up lovingly at Will. “Trust me. When you meet your One, you just know .”

“Now they’re gettin’ all gushy and lovey dovey again. Thanks for that, Case,” Jude teases.

I bark out a laugh at that. “You’re welcome. Now, if we’re finished here, I have work to do.”

“Don’t we all,” Will adds with a snort. “You still up for helpin’ us in that cabin after lunch?”

“Sure am. I’ll bring the coffee.”

“Only if you get Wyatt to make it. That stuff is strong enough to chew, I swear,” Sutton says, folding up the family tree and shutting the book before handing it back to Birdie.

“Where is he anyway?”

Will grins. “When I heard y’all hollerin’ about Grumps escapin’, I sent him on a mission to the barn to get one of the stalls reinforced, just in case the donkey needed to go into hidin’.”

“I think he’s put himself into hidin’. He took off through the fence and disappeared,” Jude says, shaking his head. “He’ll come back though.”

That’s when we all share a knowing grin. “He always does,” I reply.