Page 54 of Falling For You

"My father had to raise me on his own after that. Just the two of us." She paused. "He never remarried. Never dated, as far as I knew. He worked, came home, made dinner, helped me with my homework. Showed up for every game, every recital, every school thing that needed a parent in the audience."

"He sounds like a good man."

"He was the best man I've ever known." Her voice didn't waver. "He never made me feel like I was a burden, even though I know it wasn't easy." She watched the flames. "He died a few years ago. Heart attack. I was at the academy."

The fire crackled. A log shifted and sent sparks upward.

"I don't think about it most days. But that deer… my body just…" She closed her mouth. "I'm sorry. That must have been scary for Birdie."

"Don't apologize for that."

"Still. She shouldn't have had to see that."

"She's okay. She was more worried about you than scared." I paused. "She wouldn't leave your side."

Andy was quiet. Then she turned to face me.

"You're a good dad, Wyatt. Birdie's very lucky to have you."

I looked at the fire. That last part landed somewhere I wasn't ready for.

My father left when I was four. Packed a bag one morning and didn't come back. My mom raised me and my brother by herself after that, and she died two years before Birdie was born. After Lillian was gone, with just me and my daughter left in that house, I was terrified I was going to turn out like him.

"Thank you." I looked at her. "It means a lot to hear you say that."

She nodded. I could feel the heat of her arm next to mine. The fire was low enough that her face was half in shadow. We were closer than we'd been all weekend. Close enough that I could see her pulse in her neck.

I wanted to kiss her. I wanted to lean across the small distance between us and press my mouth to hers. I wanted it so badly that my hands tightened against the ground.

She turned her head slightly. Her eyes met mine. I watched her eyes drop to my mouth and come back up.

"Daddy?"

Birdie's voice, small and groggy, from the tent behind us.

"Yeah, sweetheart?"

"Can I have water?"

I closed my eyes for a second. Then I stood up. "Yeah. I'll bring you some."

I filled her water bottle, brought it to the tent, held it while she drank, and wiped her chin before she lay back down. When I came back outside, Andy was banking the fire.

"We should probably turn in," she said. She didn't look at me when she said it.

"Yeah. Probably."

We cleaned up without talking. Rinsed the mugs. Packed the cooler. Simple tasks that didn't require looking at each other. Andy ducked into the tent first. I followed. Birdie was already asleep again, back in the middle where she belonged.

I lay down on my side. Andy was right there, her eyes open in the dark.

"Good night, Wyatt."

"Good night, Andy."

She closed her eyes. I didn't. Not for a long time.

We packed up in the morning. The three of us moved through the campsite. Birdie handed Andy the sandbag anchors without being asked, and Andy stacked them by the truck. She brushed my arm passing me the cooler lid and neither of us stepped back.