His Little Sunshine by Della Cain

Chapter Seven

Brad

The fire crackled as we made our s’mores. Fancy chocolate and homemade marshmallows turned them into the most delightful snacks. I had to give it to Evan; he knew his confections. Not that my belly needed any more sugar after pudding and two pieces of pie.

“I like mine burnt.” Evan surprised me. I figured he would be the one wanting their original glory, but he was setting his on fire…actual fire. “It will be charred on the outside, followed by a layer of hot gooey goodness and then in the center, it will be just as it was when I put it on the stick,” he went on to explain. “Bastion likes it all gooey to the core.”

“Because it tastes best that way.” Sebastian’s was being held a good six to eight inches from the flame.

It was fascinating watching all the different methods people had. Quinn had gone to greet Daniel, Ryder, and Luke when their vehicle pulled in. I was hoping to get some clue as to where they’d been. I learned early on that unless it was a need-to-know thing, it was best not to ask because people started to think you didn’t care enough to listen and that wasn’t the case. And I did care. I just wasn’t always able to focus where it was needed, and I missed things.

“I like mine any way I can get them,” I teased. And it was probably true. I hadn’t had one I didn’t like, not even once. “We once had a filming with s’mores, and they had us try like eight different kinds to see what looked best on film.”

“I forgot about that,” Declan jumped in. “It was an outdoor-space challenge, and they decided using fun-size candy bars was a better option than decent chocolate.” He coughed into his elbow while saying, “Sponsors.” And everyone chuckled.

“Were any of them good?” Holden was standing behind Declan, his arms wrapped around him, not bothering with the toasting part of the s’mores.

“They were all too sweet.” Declan was not wrong. Most all of them were sugar overload. “But the peppermint patties looked best on camera, so they used those.”

“They even made one between sandwich cookies instead of graham crackers.” No one needed to ask Declan how he felt on that one. His face was squished in disgust. “It was not good.”

“D—Johnson made tiny tiny s’mores in the oven once using animal crackers.” I hated that he felt the need to censor his use of the name Daddy in front of me. For it had to be me. Everyone else around the fire right now had been at the playdate.

“You’ve got a good daddy.” Evan was so good at that. Seeing things people needed and making them feel at ease.

“Too bad there’s no daddy out there for me.” And then there was me, trying to make him feel better and bringing an awkward silence to the group. “I like animal crackers.”

Yeah, that was not much of a save.

And then to make matters worse, Daniel asks his daddy for a s’more…right behind me. Yep. No one, not even Fluffy had been saved from my secondhand embarrassment.

“How was the house?” I did not deserve a friend like Kasper, but there he was saving me from my own words and drawing attention elsewhere.

“It’s nice enough,” Ryder answered as Daniel and Luke were examining the s’mores supplies.

Quinn? He just stood there, watching me. Great, I’d scared him off with the whole daddy comment. And I hadn’t really meant it the way it sounded. Or maybe I had. Sometimes my words came ahead of me figuring them out, but it was most definitely not something I meant for this entire crowd, or any of it, except possibly Declan.

“They want a lot for it, given the work that would need to be done, but it gives us an idea of what’s out there,” he continued.

“It’s not like you need it now.” Johnson brought his marshmallow to the table for assembly. “Prices will probably drop a bit in winter, too.”

“It was just an idea anyway.” Ryder sat down. Unlike the rest of us, he was sugared out…or being a doctor, he saw the error of our ways. One of the two. “We saw it on one of those social media accounts for old houses and thought a country house would be nice. It’s hardly a need.”

And boom. My theory of wait long enough and all will be revealed won out again.

“You’re on fire.” Quinn reached around me and took my stick. I hadn’t even seen him come over. He gave it a shake and put it out. “I figured if you wanted it as black as Evan’s, you would’ve had it lower in the flames. Am I wrong?”

Wrong? No. So close I could kiss him without needing to take even half a step? Absolutely. And I wanted to, audience or not.

“No. Thank you.” I took the stick back from him, my hand brushing his. “I should go make mine before the marshmallow cools.”

I walked over to the table, Quinn behind me. Daniel and Luke were already on their way to cook theirs, leaving it just the two of us.

“Hold on.” He grabbed an animal cracker and started to break off bits and pieces. “It’s not perfect, but here’s a fish.” He set it down and grabbed another and started to do the same. “Think of it as the cloud animals of animal crackers because this one looks nothing like a fish.” He handed me the second one. He’d heard my comment and, instead of ignoring or mocking it, he tried to give me what he heard me say I wanted. And really, looking down at the two destroyed little crackers…he was right. I did want this.

“I love it. Are you a fish fan?” I plopped a piece of chocolate on it and started to get my marshmallow in place when his breath tickled my earlobe.

“It started out as an elephant…it morphed into a fish.” He righted himself. “Here, like this.” He put his hand over mine and helped me get the candy just right and the stick gone. “Perfect.”

“It is.” I looked up at him. “Thank you. I hadn’t meant to say that before, and you didn’t laugh, and that was…thank you.”

“Of course I didn’t laugh.” He brushed a hair from my head. “I thought it was adorable and brave.”

“Brave?”

“Let’s go sit by the fire so you can enjoy your treat.”

And so we did.

We ate, laughed, listened to Holden tell the silliest ghost story I ever did hear, and just had fun. At one time, I’d considered most of the people around the fire Declan’s friends, with me as the tagalong sidekick. But, for the first time, I felt like they were all my friends, too. Like somehow I became a part of this family, and it was everything.