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She rolls her eyes. “Right, like you didn’t make the better meal between us.”

“I made a meal, you made art. I’m eating art.”

She laughs and I love to see it. There’s a natural, easy smile on her face now that warms me from the inside out. She’s relaxed and engaged, a full one-eighty from how she was behaving when I first entered the kitchen. I take an easy, deep breath, allowing myself to relax with her.

“Jesus, get a room,” Beau mutters.

Josie’s blush deepens and she turns her attention to her food. Emmett is already opening a can of stew, apparently ignoring the whole situation. Beau stomps over to the fridge and starts pulling things out. After just a few minutes, Beau and Emmett are sitting at the table with us, Emmett with his stew and Beau with a sandwich.

It’s nowhere near as good as mine.

10

JOSIE

It’s quiet around the table as everyone eats. My face still feels hot. Was I really flirting with Hunter? I didn’t mean to. Just yesterday I thought I would be spending the rest of my life with Preston, how could I be flirting with somebody else so quickly? I shouldn’t do that. I should be spending more time grieving the loss of my engagement and healing my brain, not jumping on the first smile that comes my way.

My shoulders feel heavy and a tingle of embarrassment curls in my chest. The silence is stretching and I can practically feel Beau’s judgment every time he glances in my direction. Beau… he’s Hunter’s brother, right? Or is he Emmett’s brother? I look at the three of them. Beau and Hunter share a similar jawline, but Beau and Emmett share the same vibe.

I can’t take the silence anymore.

“So… how do the three of you know each other?” I don’t look at any one of them directly when I ask, leaving the question open for anyone to answer. “How did you all end up in this cabin together?”

Hunter grins. “Me and Beau are twins, so we know each other because we shared a womb.”

“Twins? Really?” I look between them. Apart from the jawline, I can’t see much similarity between them at all.

“Twins don’t all look alike,” Beau grumbles around a mouthful of food.

“Yeah, I got the looks.” Hunter winks at me, making me blush.

Beau snorts. “I got the personality.”

“Notice he didn’t say it was a good personality,” Hunter stage-whispers to me.

“Better’n yours,” Beau says around another mouthful. “At least I’m interesting.”

Emmett chuckles. “Interesting is one way to put it. Confounding, interesting, same difference, right?”

“Well if he got the looks—” Beau stabs a finger in Hunter’s direction. “And I got the personality, that just leaves you with the beard.”

Emmett grins and strokes the aforementioned facial hair. “It’s a good beard.”

“He did get the personality,” Hunter admits. “I just got the good personality.”

Beau flicks a crumb at Hunter, who grins. I’m smiling too, enjoying watching their banter. It’s easy and friendly, even though they’re giving each other shit. They seem super close, and it makes my chest ache a little. This familial closeness isn’t something I’ve ever shared with my sister… we’ve always kind of been pitted against each other, competing for my mother’s approval.

Courtney got that approval in spades. She’s a lot like my mom, very focused on how people perceive her. She married the perfect man, in her and Mom’s opinion, and has the perfect life. Her house looks like a showroom and her closet gives the impression that she has a personal stylist.

She’s always been like that. Always striving for perfection, usually achieving it. It made it difficult for me to open up to her about anything, frankly. Successes would trigger competitiveness. Failures would trigger a lecture. There was no easy banter, no giving each other shit, none of the friendly back and forth that I’m listening to right now.

“How do you both know Emmett?” I ask, redirecting the conversation back to my curiosity.

“Oh! When Beau and I were nineteen, we joined a wildland fire crew. Emmett had already been working there for a couple of years, he showed us the ropes.”

“And the hoses, and the first aid kit, and—” Emmett grins as Beau cuts him off.

“Yeah, yeah, you showed us everything. Everything except how to avoid poison ivy.”