Page 76 of Already Callin’ You Mine

“The red ones are candy apples and the brown ones are caramel apples,” Jace explains, picking up Otis and depositing him on his hip so he can see. “And then, Miss Dolly here rolled some of them in extra goodies. Nuts, M&Ms, coconut, chocolate, and…”

He trails off, pointing to a caramel apple dipped in a brown and white swirly concoction that looks like chocolate to me, but still different.

“Tiger butter,” Dolly McLain—oops, she’s Dolly Hayes now—answers. “Peanut butter and white chocolate.”

My mouth waters as she describes it, that combination sounding sinful. Especially when paired with a caramel apple.

“Twix or treat!” Otis holds out his bucket to her. Dolly giggles, reaching behind her and grabbing a handful of candy from her own bucket.

A disappointed look crosses Otis’s face as he watches her, then turns his attention to the apples.

“The apples aren’t part of trick-or-treat, buddy,” I explain. “We have to buy those.”

“I want.”

Of course he does. His mouth is already smeared with chocolate from the three peanut butter cups he shoved in there before I could stop him after our first truck. The mini Snickers I caught him sneaking after the second truck seemed to disappear without leaving a trace. Who knows what else he’s managed to consume in the short amount of time we’ve been here.

Add in his lack of nap this afternoon—way too much excitement flowing through his little body—and this is going to be a recipe for disaster.

“You have enough candy,” I tell him, trying my best not to sound like a mean mom.

“I want!” he declares again.

Jace turns to me, his face telling me everything I need to know. He wants to spoil my child. My heart squeezes, loving that he’s a softie at heart, and that said heart is all about Otis, but we can’t be pushovers. Jace isn’t the one who is going to have to deal with the fallout.

“Could we split one?” Jace mouths to me, giving me puppy dog eyes. Big, beautiful, deeply soulful, brown puppy dog eyes that I have no chance at resisting.

Sighing, I shrug, giving in. “We can all share one. One.” I hold up a finger making my point clear.

“Alright, Otis, which one do you want?” Jace asks him, giving him a playful jostle.

“You pick.”

“Me?”

Oh, wow. I rock backward, trying to keep myself in check, but it’s tough. Watching these two, the bond they already share, enough so that Otis is letting someone else pick dessert, hits me square in all the feels. Feels that I’ve been trying my best to fight.

“My favorite is the one with peanuts. Should we go with that?” Jace continues. Otis nods emphatically, his eyes lighting up. Reaching into his pocket, Jace pulls out his wallet, grabbing some cash and handing the bill to Otis. “Good deal. Give that to Aunt Dolly.”

Aunt Dolly…

We went from Miss Dolly to Aunt Dolly in under three minutes. Holy shit. I have no idea what that means. Did Jace call his sister-in-law that out of habit? Because he thinks he’s Uncle Jace, so why not make someone else in the family an aunt? Or because that’s how he sees this—the three of us as a family. Mommy, Daddy, and Otis.

My chest constricts, the ability to breathe a little tougher as I start to overthink. It had to be a slip of the tongue. Had to be that there is some kind of inside joke I don’t know about. Maybe lots of people in this town call her Aunt Dolly. She does own the town diner and is a staple at every event—even before she married Hux. So that’s totally plausible.

Yeah, that’s it. Nothing more to it.

Or is there?

“Where’s Hux?” Jace asks, looking into the tent.

“He’s helping Anton with the hayrides. I found that my night goes better if he’s not standing here trying to eat the merchandise.”

I laugh, her ease at calling her husband out like that actually quite sweet. Watching the two of them in action, I know she does it out of love, their relationship so easy and relaxed. Although, from what Jace told me, it took a while for them to realize their feelings for each other.

“Sounds about right,” Jace mutters, then turns to me. “How about a hayride?”

“Yeah!” Otis exclaims, shoving an entire apple slice in his mouth.