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"Play?" Jason didn’t need to be invited twice His favorite part of these faethers was the time after lunch that he spent with his nieces and nephews Chasing after Ronnie and Ryan and a Frisbee kept hih he didn’t care to ad around with a pair of eight-year-olds The boys enjoyed it, too, and before the afternoon was over Rich and Paul invariably joined in

As they did now The two brothers against Jason and a handful of youngsters in a game of Frisbee football A few minutes into the co hi triumphantly on to the disk

Ronnie and Ryan cheered, and Jason felt as pleased with his small feat as he’d been with the home run After an hour, the two teams took a break Breathless, he reached for a cold soda, pulled back the tab and guzzled it down

He turned, looking for Charlotte The last ti up the re on a blanket under aJere, beside her She was playing a ga sounds Her eyes radiated a happiness he’d never seen A joy that transfixed him

"Jason, are you in or out?"

Jason barely heard the words, his gaze on Charlotte

"In," he decided, tossing the e back to the field A couple of aainst hiht the Frisbee and lobbed it to his twin Jason glanced toward Charlotte again and saw her lift Jereh up at hi Charlotte with his brother’s child did funny things to his chest She was s, happy A powerful emotion seized his heart in a way that was almost painful

One pain was followed almost immediately by another as the Frisbee hit him hard The wind momentarily knocked out of him, he doubled over

"Uncle Jase!"

"Jason!"

Paul and Ronnie were the first to reach hiht?" Paul asked

Jason’s eyes moved toward Charlotte and he shook his head "No," he muttered, "I don’t think I am"

Six

So this hat it meant to be part of a family, Charlotte mused, as Jason drove her and Carrie ho, of acceptance She’d never experienced anything like it before It was as though Jason’s faenuinely cared for her Charlotte couldn’t recall a ti as she had that afternoon

After the gaether for a picnic Charlotte didn’t think she’d ever laughed ahter echoed in her ears The cousins were as close as brothers and sisters, the older ones watching out for the sht like brothers and sisters, too,her attention

Carrie had bea every minute of it

After the initial round of questions, Leah and Jamie had treated Charlotte like…well, like faood friends, yet included Charlotte in all their conversations Jason’s brothers, too, had tried to make her feel cole question about her relationship with Jason, probably content to have their wives fill in the gaps later

"You’re very quiet," Jason said, taking his eyes off the road for a second "Anything wrong? My brothers didn’t--"

"No," she assured him with a smile

The only sound was the huy, was exhausted after chasing the children around for most of the afternoon She’d enjoyed herself asthe sa important because they only had each other

Jason parked the car, then carried the near-empty picnic basket into her kitchen He hesitated after setting it on the counter "You’re sure nothing’s wrong?"

Charlotte nodded "Positive I had a wonderful ti Carrie and me"

He didn’t seem to believe her "Did Leah and Jamie hound you with questions?" he asked for the second time that day, a pensive frown on his face

"Jason," sheup at him "I meant it Every word This day with you and your brothers and their fa introspective it’s because…well, because I’ve never realized until no ht hers, as if he wasn’t sure he understood

She ed to meet his eyes She felt close to Jason just then, closer than she had to anyone, and that confused her She was falling in love with thisshe couldn’t allow Was it Jason she loved, or his family?