My smile got bigger.

* * *

“Miss Lanie!”

This was screeched the moment I walked into the restaurant behind my mother but ahead of my father, who was holding the door, and it was shrieked by Molly Kincaid.

Obviously Hopper hadn’t told his kids I’d be there. I knew this because Molly was screeching and Cody was sitting on a bench at the side of the entry of the restaurant and considering me with some surprise. Hop was standing by him looking his usual amazing in faded jeans and boots. He had a black thermal henley under his cut and his hair was falling in his face.

All him, just him, no pretense.

However, he had shaved but he’d left a new patch of whiskers under his lip as he’d said he’d do.

It was a good addition.

I only had seconds to take all this in because Molly was racing to me with her usual Molly exuberance.

She skidded to a halt, her head tipped back, her long, gorgeous, wavy black hair wild and free, her gray eyes shining with little kid excitement.

“I can’t believe you’re here!” she cried then twisted toward her dad. “Dad, look! Miss Lanie’s here!”

“I see,” Hop murmured, moving toward us, and it crashed over me this sucked because I couldn’t touch him, kiss him, even smile at him like I wanted to smile.

Instead, I caught his eyes and greeted, “Hey, Hop.” I looked down to Molly. “How are you, sweetie?”

“Great!” she cried.

I grinned at her and looked to Cody. “Hey, Cody.”

“Yo!” he called, all mini-biker badass.

I smiled at him, my eyes slid to Hop and I thought, to hell with it.

I moved into him, wrapped my hand around the leather over his bicep and leaned in.

Brushing my lips against his cheek close to his ear, quick and low, I whispered a much different, “Hey.”

“Hey.” His return whisper was also quick, low, and rough.

I pulled back, caught his eyes, saw they were intent, warm and pleased, gave him a small smile then turned toward my parents.

“Mom, Dad, isn’t this fabulous?” I asked even though they were taking all this in, especially Hop. The blank masks on their faces didn’t quite hide their aversion to our present company. “This is a really good friend of mine, Hopper Kincaid.” I motioned to Hop. “And his kids, Molly and Cody.” I motioned to the kids.

“Hey!” Molly chirped, grinning big at Mom and Dad.

“How do you do,” Mom replied and, at her formal words uttered to an eleven-year-old, my head quickly turned to Hop whereupon I rolled my eyes before I turned back to Mom and Dad.

I did this hearing Cody’s repeated, “Yo!”

Dad’s mouth got tight before he forced it to smile at Molly then he looked to Hop.

Hop stuck out his hand. “Mr. Heron.”

“Yes,” Dad mumbled. “Good to meet you, erm… Hopper.”

Hop gripped Dad’s hand tight and let it go. “Hop.”

“I’m sorry?” Dad asked, taking a step he didn’t need to take away from Hop.

“Hop,” Hop repeated. “Friends call me Hop. Lanie’s a good friend, means her family are friends.” He smiled at Dad. “So call me Hop.”

“Right,” Dad murmured, then obviously forced out a mumbled, “Hop.”

Hopper ignored that, leaned into Mom and took her hand, saying, “Mizz Heron.”

“Well, um… of course, uh… pleased to meet you,” Mom stammered, uncomfortable and also moving back quickly after Hop released her.

We all stood there and I waited.

It didn’t happen.

This ticked me off so I did something about it.

“Just FYI,” I began. “Mom and Dad aren’t Mr. and Mrs. Heron. They’re Joellyn and Edward.”

Mom’s face was so hard I thought it would crack when she pushed her lips up into a smile. Dad jerked up his chin.

Ugh.

My eyes went back to Hop and I watched his eyelids go soft, a barely there movement but it eloquently stated he was good; he didn’t care my parents were how they were and I shouldn’t either.

So I decided not to.

“Hey!” I exclaimed, clapping my hands. “I know!” I looked to Hop. “Have you put your name in already?”

“Yeah, Lanie,” Hop replied, his lips twitching.

“Well, we’ll go to the hostess station and change it.” I looked to Mom and Dad. “Table for six!”

Dad’s face looked as if it had become carved in stone and Mom made a strangled noise but I just looked down at Molly.

“Would you like that?” I asked.

“Yeah!” she cried, jumping toward me, grabbing my hand and tugging me to the hostess station.

I went but turned my head as I did so, asking Cody, “What about you, kiddo?”

“Cool,” he stated nonchalantly.

I threw him a smile, went to the hostess station and changed Hop’s table request to a six top. I got the bad news a bigger table was going to take ten minutes and headed back to the crew. Mom and Dad were clearly uncomfortable, but Hop was just Hop, hot and casual. Cody was swinging his legs, oblivious to everything.

“We’re in,” I announced. “But it’ll take ten minutes or so.”

“Bummer, I’m starved,” Cody muttered.

“You’ll live,” Hop rumbled, looking down at his son and smiling.

“I’ll do it starving,” Cody returned.

“But you’ll do it,” Hop retorted.

I grinned at them.

“So, how do you know our daughter?” Dad asked a question he was being purposefully obtuse in asking because he knew the answer and Hop’s eyes went to him.

“She’s Chaos,” he answered, and that warmth gathered around my heart again.

“I’m sorry?” Dad queried.

“Chaos. She’s Chaos. Her girl, Tyra, is married to a brother of mine,” Hop explained. “Known Tyra years, known Lanie years. Both of them are Chaos.”

“Right. Of course,” Dad said, sounding like he didn’t think it was right at all. “I had heard that Tyra had…” He trailed off then to me, “I haven’t asked yet. How are Tyra and her boys?”

He pointedly did not ask after Tack.

I ignored this. “She’s great. Over the moon happy. Tack’s good, too. The boys are good kids even though they’re hooligans.”

“They aren’t hooligans,” Cody contradicted and I looked down at him. “They’re awesome.” He looked at my dad. “They’re younger than me but I hang with them because they got good ideas.” He lifted his hand and tapped his fingertips to his head. “Genius.”

“Genius at getting in trouble,” I put in and Cody looked at me.

“Mister Tack doesn’t mind.”

“Miss Tyra does,” Hop stated and his son looked up to him.

“Girls do that, not likin’ the way boys act,” Cody retorted.

“They do that when boys act like idiots,” Hop returned.

Apparently Cody couldn’t argue with this because he shut up.

I started laughing.

Molly leaned into me and she laughed too.

I slid my arm around her and pulled her closer. Hop trained eyes to his daughter then to me and the warmth in them, the soft around his mouth, made the snug feeling around my heart gather closer.

“What are you doin’ today, Miss Lanie?” Molly asked and I looked down at her.

“Don’t know yet, honey. My parents are here from Connecticut so just visiting, I guess,” I answered.

“You can’t just visit in Vail!” she objected and looked from Dad to Mom. “You should hang with us. We got all sorts of fun things planned.”

I decided in that moment I loved Molly Kincaid.

“I don’t think—” Dad started but I was faster than him and jumped at Molly’s innocent offer.

“What a fantastic idea!” I cried and looked to Mom and Dad. “Isn’t that a fantastic idea?”

“Darling, we don’t even know their plans,” Mom noted logically but slightly desperately.

We didn’t but I knew whatever it was would be a lot more fun than visiting with Mom and Dad.

“Kids make everything fun,” I declared.

“Can’t argue with that,” Hop put in, then looked between the elder Herons. “You’d be welcome and my kids would love it. They think the world of your daughter.”

That was well played, an out and out invitation no one could politely refuse coupled with a compliment to their daughter that was clearly genuine, making it additionally impossible to refuse.

It was so well played, it took a mammoth amount of effort not to smile huge at Hop or, say, throw my arms around him and kiss him hard. Instead, I just caught his eyes and hoped he read what was in mine.

He did and I knew it when his eyes flashed and a wave of goodness surged from him and crashed into me.

Hop’s remark was met with silence. Through the wave of goodness I noted this and I looked to my mom and dad.

Mom rallied first, too Southern not to.

“We’d be delighted, of course. Any friends of Lanie’s and obviously, children do make everything fun.”

She apparently decided to ignore all the things she didn’t like about Hop and smiled with real warmth at his kids.

“Awesome!” Molly cried, jumping away from my arm but grabbing my hand again.

“Sucks there’s no snow,” Cody declared. “But there’s like, a gazillion candy shops in the village and Dad says we can hit them all.”

Molly let my hand go to lift both of hers in the air and yell, “Sugar high!”

“Right on,” Cody mumbled, grinning up at his sister.

I grinned at him then I turned to find Hop grinning at me.

All good. It was all good.

Because Hop made it that way.

And, well, Molly, but Molly was Hop’s so I decided to give him the credit.

“Kincaid? Party of six?” We all turned to the hostess and she smiled. “We had a table open up early.”

“Well, isn’t this an all-around lucky day?” I declared, curving an arm around Molly and turning us both to the hostess.