"Wow! Mommy, look at those mountains!" Charlie cried, staring out the window, clearly impressed.

"You've gotta love the hill country," Parker agreed, getting out of the SUV and coming around to open Lindy's door.

Dani tossed her a smile at Parker's consideration and saw Lindy's cheek turn pink.

"Anyone have service here?" Tanner asked, frowning at his phone.

"My phone's lost somewhere in my purse," Dani said, not waiting for Parker to open her door.

"I didn't even turn mine on today. Since Charlie is with me, I didn't see a reason."

"You don't carry it in your pocket and check it every five seconds?" Parker teased Lindy, flashing her a smile. "A woman after my heart."

Lindy's blush deepened, and she glanced down. Dani wondered if Parker had any idea how she felt about him, and decided he probably didn't. Men were oblivious.

Fishing her phone from the bottom of her purse, Dani glanced at the screen and frowned.

Tanner slid his gaze to her. "Guess you don't have service either."

"No, I do." Her stomach hollowed. There was another missed call from a number she didn't recognize.

"Good to know. I wouldn't have guessed from the way you're glaring at your screen. Something wrong?"

"I keep getting junk calls from the same number." It was most likely nothing.

"Are you worried about it?"

"No, not really."

"What is it you're not worried about?" Josh asked walking up, his gaze fastened on her.

Tanner turned to him. "Dani doesn't like junk calls."

"Who likes those?" Rachel rolled her eyes. "I get them all the time. If I don't recognize the number, I usually don't answer."

Dani nodded, wanting to change the subject. She'd unintentionally made this a bigger deal than it was. "That's what I'll do."

"It's not feasible if you have kids," Meredith said coolly. "You may not know the number of every school employee, doctor, or maybe even another parent. Right, Lindy?"

Looking decidedly uncomfortable, Lindy stammered, "I guess so."

Meredith was pointing out how little Dani knew about being a mother, and Dani got the message loud and clear. Her stomach hollowed. A light hand settled around her shoulders and Dani glanced up and saw Ty watching her with warmth in his eyes.

"If we get started now, we can probably be all set up by nightfall," Ty announced, changing the subject.

Dani was grateful.

***

Josh didn't like the way Dani was looking at Ty.

Like he was her hero. Which he kind of was with the way he'd stepped in after Meredith tried to put Dani in her place. He knew Mer didn't mean anything by it, and she'd later regret speaking out of turn. What bothered him was that Ty was the one who'd helped Dani while he'd just stood there.

"If you don't stop glaring at Ty, you're going to cause drama." Caleb kept smiling and looking straight ahead when he delivered that piece of advice.

Josh frowned, surprised. He was glaring?

Caleb chuckled. 

"Didn't realize I was."

"Do you realize your new pastor is not a threat to you?" Caleb drawled, handing him some stakes, and emphasizing Ty's job title.

"That's a ridiculous question. He's one of my best friends."

"Just making sure. You're acting jealous." Caleb appeared thoroughly amused. "Which I find interesting since you brought your fiancé and baby mama along."

He stiffened. "Don't call her that."

"Dude, she's still wearing the ring."

"I meant Dani, and I told Mer it's not going to work with us."

"Really?" Caleb's brow shot up. "I don't think she got the message."

"She thought Jacob needed time to adjust," he said, pulling his side down and securing it. "I think she needs closure."

"Do you?"

"No. There's someone else out there for Mer. I can't marry her when I still want to work things out with Dani."

"Hmm." Caleb rubbed his jaw thoughtfully.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, chill." Caleb dropped a stake. "Does this bad boy have instructions?"

"We lost them two years ago. You said a real man would know how to assemble a tent in his sleep," Josh reminded, lips twitching.

"I say a lot of stupid things." Caleb's brows knitted. "No one usually takes me seriously, but they're hunting me down with a vengeance lately."

The tent collapsed suddenly. "Are we talking about my life, the tent, or Rachel now?"

"Everything is falling apart so I guess it doesn't matter."

Josh clapped his shoulder. "It's gonna take faith, brother."

"We'll help you guys," Ty said walking up and taking hold of one of the poles. Parker and Tanner were with him and started pitching in.

"I'm sure you could do a much better job than anyone." Josh was unable to completely keep all the sarcasm from his voice.

Ty's gaze slid to Josh. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Ignore him," Tanner ordered, wiping his brow. "He's sore that you were all nice to Dani."

Josh shook his head, noticing that Ty's smile had slipped. "Tanner is delusional. Again. Don't listen to him."

For a moment, Ty was quiet before he asked, "What's going on with you and Dani?"

"That would take a while to explain," Caleb warned. "And the ladies are watching us like hawks thinking they're going to get their tent finished first."

"This is a competition?"

"Only if we lose."

"Keep it classy boys," Josh chuckled. "We don't want to spend the rest of the trip with the women mad at us."

"You should have thought of that before you brought two of them along," Tanner grumbled, trying not to laugh.

Ty's brows shot up.

"Josh accidentally proposed to Meredith. Dani's home for good. Josh told Mer he wanted to work things out with Dani. Mer needed closure, which is why she's here. End of story." Caleb fired the facts like a drill sergeant.

Ty's gaze swung to Josh, and Josh knew he was silently sending support. The message was clear. If he needed to talk, Ty would listen. He gave his friend a nod of thanks.

"Alright, then, the party has started." Parker grinned, his eyes cutting to Ty. "How's married life?"

A slow smile split Ty's tanned face. "The closest to heaven I'll get on this earth."

They all stared for a moment.

Tanner broke the silence. "You see that's why chicks love him. Cheesy stuff like that just rolls off the guy's tongue and women think it's romantic."

"They also like men who don't use the word chicks." Parker spoke slowly.

Tanner threw up his arms. "What you know Park? You've got a secret admirer and you're not even in the game."

"Not so secret. We've all noticed," Caleb put in, his gaze drifting to Parker. "Except Parker. He's still clueless."

Parker's jaw dropped. "What are ya'll talking about?"

"Lindy." Josh smacked his back. "She's into you."

They watched Parker's astonished expression as he tried to discreetly check out Lindy. "Nah, she's just being nice."

"And I'm just the Easter Bunny," Tanner snorted.

Parker stared at Lindy. "She's like twenty years old."

"Yeah, and you're gonna be an old man of thirty soon. So what?"

It was a rhetorical question but Parker's eyes still swung to Josh.

"She keeps staring at you," Josh continued. "I think that's why Dani asked her along."

Caleb shook his head. "I can't believe you don't see it."

"Do you see Dani sending longing looks your way?" Parker asked Josh.

Josh turned and his gaze slammed into Dani's. He saw longing and something else...love? His breath hitched, his heart raced, and still, he could not tear his eyes from hers.

"Sometimes you have to step back from the situation to see it clearly," Ty said quietly, and they finished putting up the tent.