I'm glad I didn't bet Finn because I would have lost. I was sweating in all the wrong places and desperate to cool off.

His entire family had migrated down to the small lake and most were camped out on the shoreline with their feet in the water. I have no idea how the humidity wasn't getting to them, but it forced me to tie my hair up to get it off my sticky neck.

I was standing near the platform that holds the rope swing when his Uncle Mike looked at me and said, "Get on in there. If you don't have a suit, just stand here and strip on down to your bra and panties." I hoped my glasses covered most of my shock and luckily Finn was next to me and herded me off before anything else creepy could be directed at me. Finn was also correct in that his uncle was a starer. I caught him just staring at me while I had a brief conversation with his wife.

Finn drove me back to the house so I could get changed and when we make it back to the water, all of the adults are now in a line, waiting to swing into the lake.

"I can't do this Finn. I'll float around the shallow area, but I am not swinging into the lake." We then watch as his mother grips the rope, runs off the platform and swings over the shimmering lake. She drops into the water with a big splash and everyone applauds her.

"That's fine, but that means I am going to have to leave you for a bit. I am definitely swinging."

I shove him towards the platform and he watches me gradually get into the water. His aunts are thrilled to have me join them and his cousins are either in line for the platform or watching their own young children in the shallow area.

"Come on in honey, the water is fine," his Aunt Sandy tells me. I've finally figured out his mom is one of four sisters and two brothers and they all have children around Finn's age. The youngest cousin is twenty-two, but she's off at some party with her friends. The rest of his cousins have children and it seems Cade and Finn are the only ones that have yet to make babies, but according to Lynn, Wendy and Cade have been trying for two years. I realized Cade wasn't here after we got back from playing with the goats and I hoped it didn't have to do with me. Mimi reassured me that they were coming later, they were just popping into another party first.

A little girl using all of her energy, doggie paddles in front of me and Sandy asks, "Have kids?"

I shake my head, "Not yet. But hopefully someday."

"No kids at your age is a real anomaly around here," she replies and I am grateful that the conversation doesn't go further when Lynn asks, "So your Katherine Melvin's daughter?"

I nod, "Yeah, did you know her?"

She nods, "We were in the same grade together actually, but ran in different circles." I'm curious as to what the different circles were but Mimi interrupts before I can ask.

"Finn says you're here for the summer to fix up your grandmother's house. Did you spend a lot of time here as a kid?"

I wonder how much Mel or Finn filled her in about my past. Finn said he mentioned Mark but didn't elaborate much.

"Just the summers when I got a bit older. My mom and grandma had a bit of a tumultuous relationship, so I wasn't around too often. I'm actually still discovering Magnolia."

Mimi pipes up, "There isn't too much to discover in Magnolia I'd imagine. I don't think much has changed in fifty years here."

"Now don't scare her off Mimi," his Aunt Brenda says and I've come to realize that Finn was right. She is the most soft-spoken and sweetest of the sisters. She saved me a plate of veggies and dip after the kitchen was ransacked during lunch, so when I got back from my tour I had something to snack on.

"We want her to stick around," Lynn adds and my heart swells at the sentiment.

I glance over at Finn who is now next in line to swing into the water and say, "I might have one good reason to stick around."

"Oh I have never seen Finn this way around any woman, you should know," Sandy says and all the sisters nod in agreement.

"He's got it bad," Lynn agrees and Mimi adds, "My son is smitten. That's for sure."

"Wendy actually said something similar, but I hear he's a bit of a commitment-phobe," I mutter and they all dart glances at each other, which speaks volumes.

"He just hasn't found the right one to really settle him down yet, but he'll change his ways."

"Would you get married again?" Brenda asks and I nod, "Oh I hope to. My first wedding was a courthouse wedding. I want a big old white wedding the next time around. And babies, I want babies."

"Don't say that too loudly around Finn," Mimi says with a chuckle and it's statements like that that have me worried.

"I know, when we first met, he told me he won't marry again unless he needs someone to split the mortgage with," I tell the women and Lynn winces.

"He's a bit salty about his divorce, which I hear you're going through too. Are you ready to jump into something serious before the papers are signed?" Sandy asks me and I hear Finn shout behind us. I turn to watch him swing off the platform and he backflips into the water. The stupidest things have me swooning. All his cousins cheer when he pops out of the water and he gives me my favorite smirk. He swims right toward me and I am glad I didn't have to answer Sandy's question.

"You'd look pretty good swinging off that thing," he tells me while panting.

"And I'm sure I'd look even better drowning."

"You can't swim honey?" Mimi asks me, clearly shocked at the revelation.

"Not well," I confess and she waves a hand at me. "We got life vests and a whole crew of swimmers here, nothing will happen to you."

"She doesn't want to get her hair wet," Finn baits, and I frown at him.

"We all know you're pretty hun. Trust me, wet hair won't look bad on you," Sandy says with a big hearty laugh.

"Does anything look bad on her?" Brenda asks Finn and he shakes his head, "Not that I've seen."

"We were just telling her that you are goo-goo about her," Mimi jokes and even in the sun, I can see him blush.

"Oh yeah, she knows," he says back to me and it hits me in the heart. Is he goo-goo about me?

"Oh do I?" I ask him, hoping he'll finally tell me how he feels. Give me something, if not even a playful hint that I mean more to him than a summer fling.

"I'd be even goo-gooer about you if you came on the rope swing with me," he taunts and then flicks his gaze over to the platform. I watch as the younger kids flip into the water and then look back at Finn, "If I do the rope swing, you have to start watching the Real Housewives with me."

Finn drops his head back with his hands on his waist as he thinks about my offer. He then looks at me and says, "The rope swing is fun, not torture."

"I want the remote, you want me to jump off a platform into treacherous water. Seems like a fair deal."

His aunt starts chanting, "Finn! Finn! Finn!" and soon everyone around us is waiting for him to give in. I watch a smile spread across his face and he says, "Fine. One swing, for one episode."

"One swing for one season," I counter and he reluctantly puts his hand out. I shake it and he suddenly charges at me and slings me over his shoulder. He runs up the beach with me as his prisoner and when he drops me next to the stairs that attach to the platform, he stops one of his cousins from running and points to her life vest.

"Gotta borrow that real quick, Kinley," he tells her and she quickly slides it off and hands it to me. Finn gets me strapped in and I feel like an idiot wearing a pre-teens life vest to go swing off a rope.

"I'm gonna go in the water to get you if you need help alright? Now don't chicken out my little daredevil," he kisses me on the forehead and then dives back into the water. I can't believe me plunging to my death has him so giddy.

A young girl with blonde braided hair grabs my hand and helps me up the stairs. She must have sensed my reluctance because she holds it all the way to the edge of the platform. She takes a stick with a hook at the end of it and latches it onto the rope. She pulls it over to me and then hands me it.

"Just hold on real tight and drop off before the rope comes back," she says and I am suddenly very fond of this young girl. Just telling an adult how it is. I nod to her and I hear my name now being chated around the lake. I must really like Finn a lot to do this, or maybe I am just craving reruns of my favorite show.

I spot Finn bobbing in the water, near the drop zone just waiting to rescue me if I panic. The chanting continues and I can't be chicken shit in front of his entire family. I just have to take the plunge and deal with what happens after.

I grip the rope and scream as I free-fall over the water. I release my hands as the girl instructs and am plunged into the freezing water. After I break the surface, I feel hands on my vest and hear Finn say, "You fucking did it!" I wipe the water off my face and cling to him, wrapping my legs around his waist.

"Don't let me die," I breathe out and he laughs as he takes us over to his aunts who are still cheering for me. The icy water does feel amazing and I am glad to get a break from the heat.

Everyone is hyped for me when I am back on my feet and I can't believe jumping off a platform has everyone in awe over me. I'm taking off the life vest to hand it back to the girl when I hear his uncle say, "Your shoulders are red. Come over here and I can lather you up."

I look at Finn and say, "Are there roosters on this farm?" He barks out a laugh before quickly covering me up with a towel.

****************

I surprised myself when I reached for a marshmallow without checking the calories or sugar content while we were gathered around the fire pit after the sun went down. There was just something about swimming in a lake and being in the sun all day that had me starved enough to eat sugar.

Cade and Wendy finally joined us as we were digging into dinner and Finn had no problem razzing his brother about losing to me during capture the flag. Luckily, they stayed relatively mum about the reason I was playing with Cooper as it seemed no one wanted to bring up the Mel thing.

I ask Finn to hand me a s'mores stick and he looks just as shocked.

"You're having dessert? Doth my eyes deceive me?" He jokes as I stab the marshmallow onto the silver stick.

"I'm gonna ask for two pieces of chocolate for this bad boy too," I reply seductively and Finn acts like that was just the biggest turn-on. After burning my marshmallows so they have a black crispy coat around the gooey center, I slide it onto a graham cracker and Finn says, "I've been waiting for so long to find something wrong with you and I just found it." I flit my eyes to him as I press my creation together and he says, "You like burnt marshmallows when they should be golden."

"No way, lighting them on fire so they turn black is the best way to have them on a s'more," I argue like I am an expert on such things when I actually haven't had one of these since I was a child. Finn grabs my stick to make his own and I watch as he methodically spins it over the flames, not allowing it to catch fire. When it's perfectly golden, he smashes it in between chocolate and graham crackers. He takes a bite and then hands it to me.

"See for yourself." I eye-roll him as I bite into it, getting sticky marshmallow all over the sides of my lips and once I am done, I look at him and say, "No. Burnt is better." He snags me away from the fire so I drop onto his lap and I cuddle up into him. This was oddly the perfect day. I was so reluctant to come, but he wasn't lying when he said he has a very welcoming family. I look around the firepit area and kids are cramming s'mores into their mouths, the teen cousins are huddled near the trampoline doing TikTok dances and the adults are figuring out how to do the fireworks so the toddlers won't waddle right into them.

This is family. This is what I have been craving for years. Just acceptance and dependability.

I nuzzle my nose into Finn's chest and the words I love you flicker across my mind. I try to shake them away, reminding myself it's too soon and all the red flags Finn waves around. But then he kisses the top of my head and holds me closer to his chest and there's no denying it. I am in love with Finn Weston. I think it's time for me to find out where Finn stands and if Magnolia is worth moving to.

"So this is what it is like to have a big family huh?" I quietly ask him and I hear his mmhmm in his chest. "It's nice." He gently pulls away from me and says, "I told you they'd love you. Cade was thrilled to see you today. Said I'd be a moron if I had ditched you because of Mel."

"You still need to patch that up. Family is important, I don't want to be the reason for a rift."

"We'll be fine. She'll need a babysitter for Penelope soon enough. She'll have to reach out." I nuzzle back into him and add, "Good. Because this right here, this is all I've ever wanted. I won't do anything to jeopardize it." He drops his cheek onto my head but doesn't say anything in response. I wonder if I just got too honest and did in fact, jeopardize it.