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working on.” He stood. “I'll go say hello to Nancy and Dwayne and then fix myself a plate.” He winked at her and strode away.
    He returned a few minutes later with a plate in one hand and a bottle of water in the other. The four of them ate and talked until, finally, Ethan ran up to the table.
    He grabbed Sara's soda and slurped off it before announcing, “Mom, I want a trampoline for my birthday."
    She raised a brow and reached out to rub a smudge of dirt from his cheek. “We'll see. In the meantime, why don't you sit down and have something to eat. I'll go fix you a hotdog."
    "Okay.” He hopped up on her chair.
    Nancy had just started to put the food away when Sara reached the buffet tables. “Let me grab Ethan a hotdog, then I'll come back and give you a hand."
    "You most certainly will not. You've done more than enough already. Besides, my sister-in-law is going to help me as soon as she's done eating."
    "You sure?” Sara squeezed little dots of ketchup down the hotdog, just the way Ethan liked. “You know I don't mind."
    "I'm sure. You go sit down and relax. Don't think I didn't see you yawning your head off a little while ago,” Nancy added with a sidelong glance.
    "You got me. I am a bit tired,” Sara admitted. “I'll definitely be crawling into bed early tonight."
    "Good. Oh, and we'll be opening presents in about half an hour. Shelly's climbing the walls with excitement."
    Sara glanced over to yet another table where a literal mountain of brightly colored gifts waited. “Can you blame her? I've never seen so many presents."
    "Tell me about it. This is the biggest birthday party we've ever thrown for her."
    Sara had to suppress a smile. Most adults didn't have birthday parties this elaborate, never mind a five-year-old little girl.
    Nancy picked up the untouched bowl of tuna dip and grimaced. “Not one of my better ideas, huh?” With a shrug, she headed into the house.
    Sara returned to the table and set the plate down in front of Ethan. “Eat, sweetheart.” She looked over at the men. “Shelly'll be opening her gifts soon and Garrett isn't here yet. Am I the only one who's concerned about that?"
    "He'll be here, don't worry,” Danny assured her.
    "Hey, look Mom, there he is!” Ethan shouted, pointing toward the patio doors.
    Sara spun around, relieved. He was talking to Dwayne and, from the looks of it, turning down the offer of a beer. Another weight lifted off her shoulders. She wouldn't have to worry about him going off half-cocked when she told him about Mike showing up at the bakery.
    Garrett knelt down and gently tugged one of Shelly's pigtails before producing a pink and purple wrapped package from behind his back. Shelly squealed with delight and ran off to place it with the others. Garrett stood back up and scanned the crowd—an easy feat from his lofty height.
    She waved at the same time Ethan jumped off the chair and made a beeline for his favorite uncle. Garrett waved back, then bent down to scoop Ethan up in his arms. Sara knew Ethan loved it when Garrett held him up high like that, where he could look down and declare, “I'm taller than you,” to everyone who walked by.
    "I was starting to worry,” she said, when they reached the table. And for the first time, Sara realized Garrett wasn't alone. Standing beside him was a man she'd never met before.
    And with a face like that, she damn sure would've remembered.
    Grinning broadly, Garrett winked at her.
    Sara nibbled suspiciously on her bottom lip. Garrett playing matchmaker?
    "Jason, I'd like you to meet my family. Uncle Luke, my brothers, Danny and Nicky, my sister, Sara. And this guy here,” he ruffled Ethan's hair, “my nephew, Ethan. Sara's boy. Everybody, this is Officer Jason Thomas."
    Jason nodded and shook hands with the men, even Ethan, much to his delight. But when he took her hand, he raised it to his lips for a gentle kiss. “Sara."
    "Jason,” she murmured. Good Lord, the man was gorgeous. She glanced over at