Page 162 of The Lost and Found Girl

She could both check him out and have a conversation with him at the same time.

Necessary, all things considered. They had lives. She couldn’t get lost in lust every time she looked at him.

And there was so much life. Marianne felt buried in it sometimes. Helping Lydia with Riley and Hazel, trying to help shoulder her grief.

“We should have Christmas with your family again this year.”

“Jackson...”

They had a deal that they were supposed to split the holidays between his family and hers, and they’d done Christmas with the McKees last year.

“It’s the first year with Mac gone,” he said, his voice getting heavy at the mention of his brother-in-law. “I don’t think we should miss Christmas Day too.”

Marianne couldn’t disagree with that, but of course if her mother-in-law did, it would be Marianne who heard about it later, not Jackson.

And if her parents weren’t so... So damned terrible when things were dark, then maybe they could just go on as they’d originally planned. But as much as Lydia was distant, and that was her choice, Marianne knew some of it was just the learned coping mechanisms of a McKee.

Her teenage years had been... Grim.

She didn’t even like to think about them. She’d just been so dark and depressed all the time and her parents had left her to it. Ignore it, and it’ll go away.

And Marianne was the oldest, so she was the one they’d made all their major mistakes on. While Ruby, of course, was the fairy princess everyone found a constant delight and who benefited from all their previous years of...

Oh. There were those sibling dynamics Jackson had mentioned.

“Let me deal with my mom,” he said, as if he had read part of her mind.

“Thanks,” she said, flinging her arms around him and bringing them both down onto the bed.

He grinned, moving his hand down to her lower back. “You’re very welcome.”

There were things, and she knew it. Things they needed to talk about. They hadn’t gone on a vacation in years. Getting the store going, getting the online storefront established, kids and school and her family...

And Ava. Lord, Ava. Who was fifteen, volatile and reminded Marianne way too much of herself at that age.

They needed to talk about it. They needed to figure out how to take care of them, and not just everyone else. Mac’s death had shaken the foundation of the family. Mac was one of Jackson’s best friends, not just a brother-in-law. He had been family to Marianne. Ava and Hunter had adored him. And in the months since, they’d tried so hard to keep up normalcy for Riley and Hazel while also trying tobe there. Not just pretend it hadn’t happened. Not just pretend it was all fine.

There was so much stuff out there, beyond their bedroom door. So much life. So much worry. But in Jackson she’d always found... Peace. Calm.

There were years of her life that were just... A blur. But she remembered the day she first met him. The day she first saw his face. It had all come into focus.

And here, in this room, it was just the two of them, and it was like that first day.

Like everything made sense.

“I love you, you know,” she said. “I think I forgot to say it today. The store gets really busy and we get really busy and...”

“I know,” he said, kissing her. “I don’t forget you love me.”

“Thank you.”

His smile turned wicked, and she really did love it when he was wicked. That he still could be, even after all this time. “You could keep thanking me verbally or...”

She gave him her own wicked smile right back. “My pleasure.”

5

1917—The new bridge will connect the orchards with the town and bear more weight than the previous bridges. After a vote at the town hall meeting, Sentinel Bridge is the agreed upon name.