Chapter 8
Cole
I had spent the week at Delaney’s with her and Amaryllis. I didn’t spend the night, but I was there every chance I could get to make sure they were ok. I was sitting on the couch next to Amaryllis and we were watching The Secret Garden for the 10th time that week when the doorbell rang. Looking up, I was waiting to see if Delaney heard it or if I should get up and get the door.
Delaney walked by the living room, so I turned back to the tv. “The dance around the fire is my favorite part.” I said to Amaryllis.
“Oh, it’s my favorite too. We should do that, Coley.” She had never called me Coley before. Carter was the only one who ever called me that. It made smile.
“Yes! When you have the all-clear, we’ll build a fire and dance around it.” I smiled down at her.
I didn’t see Delaney come back through, so I got up and walked to the door. “Laney, you ok?” I asked as I came around the corner. Delaney was standing there surprised as she signed for a dozen yellow roses. “Who are they from?”
She shut the door and turned to me. “I’m not sure. There’s a card.” She pulled the card out and read it. “Amaryllis, we hope you get to feeling better soon. Love, Hudson, Amelia, Lex, Carter, Vinny and Bianca.” She looked up at me. “Who is this?”
I smiled and walked up to her, kissed the side of her head, and said, “That’s my family. I hope you get to meet them one day. Let’s take Amaryllis her flowers.” Delaney continued to look at me shocked and then followed me back into the living room.
“Baby, you have a flower delivery.” Delaney said to her.
Amaryllis looked up and said, “For meeee. I’ve never got that many before.” Delaney sat down on the couch next to her. “Who are they from, mama?”
“Cole’s family sent them to you.” Delaney looked up at me and she looked like she wanted to cry so I just smiled at her.
“Wow.” Amaryllis whispered as she smelled them. “What do we do with them?”
“What if we put them on the table in the kitchen so they make the whole house smell nice?” I said to her. She nodded.
Delaney said, “I’ll go put them in water for you, sweetie. We will have to thank Cole’s family.”
“Yesss.” Amaryllis was all smiles. “Do you think they like to fire dance too?”
I laughed. “I bet some of them do. Maybe one day we will get everyone together and do it.” I wanted to go talk to Delaney. “Keep watching the movie, kiddo. I’m going to go talk to your mama.”
Walking in the kitchen, Delaney was cutting the roses and placing them in a vase for Amaryllis. “You ok?” I leaned on my left elbow as it rested on the counter, facing her. She nodded but didn’t say anything. “What’s the matter, Delaney? Talk to me.”
“They don’t even know Amaryllis. They don’t know me.” Was that what was upsetting her?
I moved closer to her and grabbed the scissors from her hands and set them on the counter. “Hey, that doesn’t matter. Those are my best friends, and they know you and Amaryllis mean a lot to me. I’m not at all surprised they sent flowers. It’s just who they are.” I grabbed her chin and tilted it up toward me. She finally made eye contact with me. “I do want you to meet them someday.” I leaned in and kissed her lightly on the lips before pulling back. “Don’t worry so much, Laney girl. Everything’s going to be fine.”
She nodded. “Ok. I’m going to finish here. Can you go back in with her?”
“Yeah. Ya know, her follow up is tomorrow. She’s doing great. Want to make plans? She’s been cooped up in here.”
She smiled. “Yeah, I’d like that. Let’s think of something.”
I leaned in and gave her a quick peck. “Leave it to me. I’ll surprise you both.”
“Nothing crazy, Cole.”
“Who? Me?” We laughed and I went back to the living room.
***
I planned a day for the three of us for after Amaryllis’ doctor appointment. Her appointment went well. They told us to make sure to call if anything seemed off with her but that she should be just fine.
I was still shocking myself at how embedded I was in their lives at that point. Never would I have expected to be saying “we” and “us” and be worried about a child that isn’t mine, but there I was worried at every turn and wanting everything to be okay.
Amaryllis was in the backseat. “Can we go to the ranch so I can see Pepper?”
The ranch and horse riding were sensitive subjects for Delaney. It was going to take her some time to move past her fear of something happening to Amaryllis. “Baby, I need you to take just a little bit longer break from Pepper.”
“But what if she forgets me?” Looking in the rearview mirror, I could see she was pouting.
Delaney turned to look at her. “Pepper could never forget you, sweetie. In fact, Pepper would want me to make sure you’re so strong when you come back to ride her again.” Delaney looked over at me.
Changing the subject was the best I could think of, so I asked her, “Amaryllis, guess where we’re going?” I looked at her in the mirror and her eyes looked up at me.
She gave me a little shrug. “Ummmm. I don’t know, Coley. You should just tell me.”
We laughed. Not even Delaney knew where we were going. I said, “I know you miss Pepper and the ranch, so I thought the next best thing would be to get you some outdoor time. We are going to Wildlife Prairie Park. The only thing you can ride there is the train but it’s still fun. They even have buffalo!” Her eyes lit up.
“I never saw a buffalo before.” She started clapping.
Delaney also had a marvel in her eyes. “Cole, this sounds amazing! It’s perfect, actually.” She smiled at me and then continued talking to Amaryllis until we got there. I was looking forward to a great day with my girls.