“It’s beautiful,” Rae said, voice still somewhat guarded as she held the oval shape in her hand, looking at the engraved whorls and flowers.
“She told me her mom had given it to her on her wedding day, and if I was lucky enough to have a daughter, I could do the same.” The corner of my mouth tugged up as I grasped the metal. “And the best part?”
Opening the locket, I carefully turned it over so the three pieces of folded up paper fell into my palm.
“Love notes?” she asked, a hint of a tease weaving through.
“Not exactly.” I smoothed out one of the small papers and turned it so it was facing Rae. “This is my mom’s.”
“His voice,” she read aloud, then looked at me in question.
A snort left me as I opened the oldest paper. “My grandma—who, by the way, repeatedly hit my knuckles with a wooden spoon because of the sinful things I’d done with a young and devilishly handsome Beau Dixon—wrote this one.”
“His bottom.” Rae looked at me, eyes wide and amused, before a laugh escaped her. “What are these?”
“What first attracted us to our husbands,” I explained as I opened up mine.
“His—” She paused and then let out a sigh as her stare shifted to mine, smile soft and wistful.
His heart.
“I love that,” she whispered.
“Yeah.” I echoed her tone as I carefully folded up the papers and placed them back in the locket. Once it was shut, I reached for the box beside me. “Rae, I know your family was terrible and things with your mom—well . . . I love that you found our family,” I said simply.
Her head shifted subtly, all that unease bleeding through.
“I hope over time, we can show you what family is supposed to be like, but I know it won’t make up for what you went through. Anyway,” I said as I handed her the gift, “I was at the boutique about a month ago, and I saw these—they just started selling them.”
Rae lifted the top of the box and stilled when she saw the necklace. The large silver locket that was nearly the same size and shape as mine, with swirls etched into the metal that made them look nearly identical.
“And now that you’re my sister too, I wanted to give you this so you could start the tradition in your family, if you wanted.”
For long moments, she just stared at the necklace before her head slowly lifted, tears clinging heavily to her eyelashes and slipping down her cheeks.
“I don’t . . .” Her head shook slowly as she pressed her lips into a firm line. “Savannah, I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything,” I assured her. “If it makes you uncomfortable, you don’t even have to take it.”
“I want it,” she hurried to say. “I want it—thank you. Can I put it on?” The question was all uncertainty as she held the box in front of her like she had no idea what to do with something like that.
“Of course.”
I took the box from her when she got the necklace out and watched as awe tugged at her mouth once she had it hanging around her neck and was cradling the locket in her palm.
“Open it,” I suggested casually.
Her glassy stare darted to mine before falling back to her hands as she carefully opened the locket. A breathless laugh leaving her when a blank strip of paper fell out.
“Well, Ms. New-York-Times-Bestselling-Author,” I said as I stepped away to grab a pen, “what first attracted you to your husband?”
She rolled her eyes as she accepted the pen. “It’s nothing as romantic as his heart, I’ll tell you that.” Taking the cap off, she leaned over the island but paused with the tip of the pen to the paper. Her bottom lip caught between her teeth as her stare drifted to the side, a muted laugh shaking her shoulders. “You know, until this moment, I was sure it was his eyes or his dimples,” she said as she wrote something down and then handed the pen back to me.
“That family and their dimples,” I whispered.
Rae hummed in acknowledgment. “But that wasn’t it,” she said as she showed me the paper before carefully folding it.
“His irritability? Are you serious?”
“I’m so serious,” she said as she shut the locket.
“But he was the worst when you first arrived.”
“I know.” She lifted a shoulder as she leaned up against the island, expression faraway as she seemed to think back. “But I couldn’t stop thinking about how infuriating he was, and it made me want to see him again to see what he would do the next time and the next time.”
I lifted my hands, then started clearing off the island so I could clean up from all the baking. “Hey, whatever worked for you, I’m just glad it did.”
By the time we had everything put away and the counter cleaned, and Rae had stolen another couple of twists to take home with them, the guys were coming back inside.
“Answer’s no,” Beau said, sounding like he was getting frustrated with having probably repeated himself.
“You’re not even gonna let me try it out?”
Beau shot him a hard look as they continued toward the kitchen. “What’d I say?”
“What’s going on?” I asked as I folded my arms under my chest, eyes narrowing on the two of them.
Beau gestured to his youngest brother. “He wants to take their new dog with him on jobs—which means here.”
“No,” I said with a scoff. “We don’t have animals for a reason. Then there would be fur and a smell—no. And if you want more than one kid, don’t try sneaking it past me either.”
A ghost of a smile crossed Beau’s face as he turned to look at Sawyer. “As I said.”
“Good Lord.” Rae reached out, grabbing my arm. “He smiles.”
I hummed in acknowledgment and sighed. “That was nothing.”
“Wow,” she mumbled.
“I can hear you,” Sawyer said, arms out at his sides and eyes wide. “And I’m never letting you near any of my brothers again.”
Rae gave me a knowing smile and then looked back at him, all affection and amusement, but her words were for me. “I do love his unnecessary caveman moments.” Touching just beneath her bottom lip, she asked Sawyer, “Is my lipstick smeared?”
I looked at her lipstick-free lips, confusion sweeping through me.
But Sawyer was already stalking through the kitchen and reaching for her with the hand that wasn’t holding his toolbox. “We’re leaving,” he said, voice rough and telling in a way that had me wishing I wasn’t present for whatever moment they’d just stepped into. “Now.”
Rae smiled victoriously as she let him start pulling her away, hurrying to grab up their pastries and then stopping in front of me as her expression shifted to something raw and slightly vulnerable. “Thank you,” she said on a breath. “Thank you so much.”
“I’m so happy for you—for both of y’all.” I squeezed her arm since her hands were full and said, “Let me know what happens with the house.”
Excitement lit in her eyes. “We will. We’re going there now.”
“After,” Sawyer corrected.
“Gross,” I said, shoving him away. “You can leave now.”