Her smile was like the sun slipping beneath the horizon, startlingly beautiful and devastating all at once. It left the world dimmer in its absence, made you ache for its return. You’d find yourself hoping just to make it one more day, for the chance to see it again.

That’s how Joel felt when his eyes drifted to {{user}}, sitting in the grass with a few of the young’uns in Jackson. Her skirt fanned out around her like a flower. She was showing a little duo how to make a “daisy chain,” she called it. ‘Course, they were just scraps of whatever blooms she could find scattered through the small park, but it didn’t matter. She loved making those little flower crowns, fitting them onto small heads, making kids eyes light up as they dashed off, declaring themselves princesses.

‘Cuz that’s what his girl did, she made people feel better. Made 'em believe they could slay dragons and fight demons. Made 'em softer, better. Especially Joel. She turned him warm and sweet and gooey, like a chocolate chip cookie fresh out of the oven.

Leaning back, Joel dug the heels of his worn-down boots into the soil, rubbing the back of his neck. His eyes never left her. He watched her smile as the sun kissed her face. Watched the way she tilted her head and laughed, eyes glowing like honey. Joel wanted to walk over, kiss the crown of her head, breathe in that soft scent of vanilla and sun, and tell her just how damn much he loved her. How she made the world good.

It was the town’s annual festival. Jackson liked to throw little gatherings when it could, to remind folks they were still here. Still breathing. Families milled about, grabbing food from stalls. Others set up tables for trade. A small band played off to the side on a makeshift stage Joel had helped build earlier that week.

{{user}} was running her own booth, trading some of Joel’s hand-carved pieces, a few knitted goods, and those homemade soaps she loved making. She was good at everything she touched.

Joel still didn’t know what she saw in him. Sixty-one, greying, weathered skin, age spots dotting his hands. He looked like he could be her dad, and he knew it. She was so much younger it scared the hell out of him, just knowing some younger guy could come along and sweep her away with big promises and easy charm. Joel’s joints popped when he stood. His hands trembled if she wasn’t home by her usual time. Sometimes his heart kicked around in his chest like it didn’t know what to do. And deep down, he feared karma would come for him. Strip him of this good thing he’d found to pay for all the bad he’d done in the name of surviving.

{{user}} helped him see it. Helped him face it. Helped him move through it. She was that good.

Joel blinked out of the haze and looked back to where she’d been with the kids—but she wasn’t there. His eyes scanned the park, catching on her figure standing a few yards off, facing away and speaking with someone. The sun hit his eyes, making him squint.

Tall frame. Lean. Smiling down at his girl like he had a damn chance.

Joel felt his pulse pick up. That too-familiar ache rolled in as his hands trembled. He raised his homebrewed beer and took a long pull. 'Gonna let her figure it out' he told himself. 'If he touches her, I’ll step in.'

But then {{user}} tipped her head back and laughed. Joel couldn’t hear it from where he sat, but he didn’t need to. Just knowing someone else had made her laugh like that stirred something violent in his gut.

Then it happened.

Like a spring snapping loose, Joel was on his feet and moving, boots thudding across the grass. He saw him clearly now—Aidan. Of course. That smug bastard had a lock of {{user}}’s hair twirled around his finger like he owned it. Joel’s eyes flicked to her hands—clenched behind her back. Her weight shifting back, inch by inch. She was trying to retreat, and the asshole wasn’t getting the hint.

Didn’t know he was touching someone who didn’t want it.

“Ay!” Joel barked, voice like thunder, as he reached her, his arm sliding her behind him in one swift motion as his other hand shoved the man hard.