Chapter Fourteen #2
“Kids don’t count as witnesses,” he hurriedly explained.
“I don’t know.” Evie stared up at him, gnawing on her lip. “Two kisses a day… Even if they were bad kisses, that seems like a lot.”
“Not if they’re very bad kisses,” Hayden gently teased.
She huffed. “You’re making fun of me.”
“I suppose I am.” He gave into temptation and brushed a lock of blond hair from her face. “But that’s only because I’ve never had a woman ask me to do my worst in the kissing department.”
That drew a brief chuckle, a warm glance. “There’s always a first time for everything.”
“I’m not sure I can set the bar so low. I think we need a trial run at horrible kisses.” Hayden drew Evie closer and kissed her sweetly, tenderly, and almost, but not quite, chastely.
When the kiss ended, Evie stared up at him with those wide blue eyes. She’d expected to be underwhelmed.
But by the look on her face, he hadn’t succeeded.
*
My husband can kiss.
Even when he was supposedly trying not to kiss her breathless.
Eve left the bedroom she now shared with Hayden and went downstairs on autopilot, intent upon helping Irene finish dinner. Still floating on a kissing cloud, she entered the crowded kitchen and said to no one in particular, “What can I help with?”
“Nothing. Food’s ready. Sit,” Irene directed. She and Rhett were transferring food from pots and pans into serving dishes. Irene seemed fully present, which pleased Eve as a nurse. “Dinner is about to be served. Tacos, beans, salad, cheesy macaroni, biscuits, and chicken nuggets.”
“Quite the buffet.” Eve took a seat next to one of Rhett’s girls.
Piper and Sadie were a year older than Katie and were cowgirls through and through.
They wore T-shirts and blue jeans. Their dark brown hair was held in plain ponytails.
They’d been in awe of Katie’s pink tutu, which she’d been wearing when they’d arrived earlier.
And her collection of princess dresses, which they’d tried on but almost immediately shucked off.
Hayden entered the kitchen. “My nieces!” He hugged Piper and Sadie. And then he dropped a kiss on top of Eve’s head before sitting next to her.
She raised her brows.
“Pecks don’t count,” he whispered.
Thank heavens for that!
Eve bit back a smile. “How often do you see Piper and Sadie?”
Hayden took a tortilla, then passed the plate of them to Eve. “I spent a few months working in Texas with Rhett last year.”
“You worked for me,” Rhett clarified, taking a seat across from Hayden. “For, not with.”
“A technicality.” Hayden reached for the bowl with taco meat, in full-on teasing mode. “I was your free babysitter.”
“Free being part of freeloader.” Rhett served all three girls macaroni and cheese. “Fact was, you never babysat for me. And you moved out so quickly, I thought the girls scared you off.”
“Your girls love me. And I paid rent,” Hayden protested, although Eve got the feeling this was old ground they were playing out in lighthearted fashion. “Plus, I bought groceries.”
“How about a truce during dinner?” Eve said.
The Bennett men bent their heads over their plates, smirking at each other. Eve knew from pre-wedding activities a decade ago that this peace would only last a short while. The Bennett brothers were known for their teasing, nonstop banter.
Conversation flowed around Eve during the meal. Hayden brought Rhett up to speed on his efforts to pay their grandfather’s debt and bring the ranch back up to profitability. Rhett talked about the ranch he’d been foreman of in Texas.
While they talked, Irene was quiet, her gaze seeming to turn inward. She wasn’t listening. Or perhaps the details were taxing her worn-out, only partially recovered brain.
“Who taught you how to ride?” Katie asked the twins.
“Our daddy.” Sadie dipped her biscuit into a blob of blackberry jelly she’d put on her plate.
“We started on ponies.” Piper grinned. “Sadie used to fall off all the time.”
“Because I rode bareback.” Sadie spoke without upset or malice. More like it was fact.
“She broke her arm.” Piper, on the other hand, was enthusiastic about the tale. “Twice.”
Eve felt a clutch of anxiety.
Hayden took hold of Eve’s hand under the table. “Kids have the ability to get back in the saddle after an accident.”
“Because we love our horses.” Sadie had the Bennett dark eyes.
“And they love us.” Piper had hazel eyes, which she must have inherited from her mama. “And that’s why we always get back on.”
“Because nothing in life is easy,” Sadie said. “Right, Dad?”
“Truer words…” Rhett smiled. “Isn’t that what Grandpa used to say about Homestead Hollow? He had a hard time repairing the log cabin there to keep it watertight, snug and warm.”
“Clyde loves that place,” Gran said, using the present tense and giving her grandsons a case of the frowns.
Without thinking, Eve tightened her hold of Hayden’s hand.
His brows rose. “What’s wrong, puddin’?”
“Pudding?” Katie chortled. “Mama, he called you pudding!”
“What would you have me call her?” Hayden demanded, although good-naturedly. “Sweet cheeks? Honey boo? Hot lips?”
Everyone at the table laughed, including Eve, despite her blush. And she kept on laughing at the other suggestions for terms of endearment. She laughed so hard, she forgot for a second that they weren’t really married.
*
“Eve seems nice,” Rhett told Hayden when they were sitting in rockers after the kids went to bed. “I don’t really remember her from before.”
“She’s more than nice.” There’d been a few days when Hayden thought he didn’t deserve her. “She’s good with Gran. And Katie, of course.”
“Is there another Bennett on the way?” Rhett asked in a careful voice. “Maybe a Hayden Junior?”
“No.” This wasn’t the first time he’d encountered that bit of logic. “Why does everyone think that?”
“Because you got married out of the blue.” Rhett rocked in silence for a bit. “If it wasn’t a shotgun wedding, why did you get hitched all of a sudden?” He gave Hayden a knowing look. “You can tell me.”
The truth pressed at the back of Hayden’s throat.
But Evie couldn’t afford even a whisper of their marriage being anything but love based.
“I always liked spending time with Evie. Back then, I just didn’t realize she was my person.
” The moment the words were out, Hayden knew they were true.
Evie was as much his person as he was a Bennett.
He met his brother’s gaze squarely. “I can’t explain it. ”
“Don’t try.” Rhett patted him on the shoulder. “You finally found the woman worth breaking that vow you made to protect your heart. And here I was worried that you’d be lonely the rest of your life.”
“Like that was a big worry of yours,” Hayden scoffed.
“It has been.” Rhett shaded his eyes as he looked toward the setting sun. “Every time I try to talk to you about Mom or Grandpa, you change the subject.”
“Because—”
“See!” Rhett laughed as if Hayden was a hot mess and didn’t know it. “You did it again.”
He hadn’t. “I don’t see you talking about how your marriage ended with Kristin over and over.”
“That’s because once I got over Kristin leaving us, I didn’t need to whine about it anymore.
” Rhett set his cowboy hat on his knee, leaning toward Hayden over the arm of his rocking chair.
“But you…” He chuckled. “You’re not over Mom leaving or Grandpa losing his mind or Vi getting cold feet.
Why? Because you hold your feelings close to your chest. Let me tell you.
That stuff doesn’t heal if you don’t clean it out and make some repairs. ”
“Repairs?”
“To your heart and your mental health.” Rhett sat back in the rocker, setting his cowboy hat on his head.
Hayden rolled his eyes. “I see you’ve earned your marital therapy degree since I saw you last.”
Rhett blew a raspberry, pointing toward the sunset. “My wish is that you finally listen to me and let your guard down, not just with Eve but with all of us.”
It was on the tip of Hayden’s tongue to wish Rhett would shut up. But Rhett wasn’t done.
“We stopped in Denver to say hello to Grandma Capshaw.” Their maternal grandmother. “She went into her usual mantra that Mom always wanted to take us with her when she left, but Dad refused.”
“Easy to make that argument when Dad isn’t around to refute it.”
“Look, the learning here is that divorce is hard. I’ve seen the fallout on my own kids.
It put things in perspective for me about our parents’ divorce.
We don’t know what kind of marriage Mom and Dad had.
But we have to see both sides, whether we’re in a relationship or looking at one from the outside. ”
Although Hayden found Rhett’s newfound self-awareness interesting, he wasn’t about to tell him that. “You definitely have been reading self-help books.”
Rhett swatted Hayden with his cowboy hat.
“Will you shut up about Mom and feelings if I say I’ll think about your wise words in my own free time?”
“Yeah.” Rhett set his cowboy hat back on his head. “And trust me. Eve will thank me if you do.”
“Ha, ha.” Hayden watched the sunset, wishing the path he’d taken to be where he was today had been different.
The two brothers rocked in silence as the sky turned purple.
Hayden broke the silence. “Can you help me and Roddy continue moving livestock tomorrow?”
Rhett stopped rocking. “Dude, I just drove from Texas to Montana with two little girls. I’m not going to just drop them in your wife’s lap for the day. I promised them we’d ride around the ranch.”
“The ranch you’re going to inherit? Willow Creek?”
“No. This one. The one where I grew up. Mostly.” Rhett’s voice was rising, along with the color in his cheeks.
“Come on, Hayden. Think like a parent. From what Katie said, you haven’t taken her out riding since you got married.
You haven’t even given her riding lessons. You need to take a personal day.”
“I can’t. And you can’t either.” There was a schedule to keep, taxes and bills to be paid. The reminder brought the weight of things pressing hard on his shoulders.
Rhett shook his head. “Kids grow up fast, Hayden. I’ll help you get ready for the livestock auction, but only if we have a family day tomorrow.”
“A family day.” That reminded him of Katie wanting to take a lazy day. And if he spent the day with Evie, there’d be plenty of time for kisses with appropriate witnesses. “All right.”
“All right?” Rhett chuckled. “I thought you’d put up more of a fight.”
“Naw. I’m turning over a new leaf. Got to be a good family man, just like you’re saying.”
“A new leaf? Hayden Bennett?” Rhett laughed, louder this time. “Now this, I’ve got to see.”
*
Eve was tucked into bed with the lights out when Hayden entered the bedroom. Their bedroom. She’d taken the far side of the bed by the window, turned her back to the door, and had the covers up over her head.
Calm, she was not.
She could hear Hayden removing articles of clothing even with the quilt covering her head.
And then the bed shifted as Hayden got in on his side. “Can you breathe under there, Evie?”
“Yes…kind of.” Eve uncovered her head without rolling over. Trust Hayden to use humor to try to diffuse the situation and make her smile.
“Do you snore?” he asked without a note of teasing in his voice.
“No!” Eve flopped onto her back. Not that she could see Hayden. She’d propped a pillow between their heads, and the room was only lit by a quarter moon outside. “Why would you ask that?”
He chuckled. “It’s a valid question when we’re going to be sharing a bedroom.”
It was odd hearing him but not seeing him. “Do you snore?”
“No one’s ever complained.” He sounded like he was smiling.
“Hay-Hay.” Against her better judgment, Eve drew the pillow to her chest so she could see Hayden’s face. Or at least the shadow of it. “No wife ever wants to hear her husband speak about other women.”
Hayden rolled onto his side, propping his head on his hand. He took his time answering. “Evie, you should know. I’m not a ‘stay the night’ kind of guy. Not that I make a habit of—”
“Enough said. Too much, in fact.” Eve liked that Hayden hadn’t been serious enough about anyone to sleep over. But more than that… The details… Wife or not, she didn’t want to know.
“Right. Got it.” Hayden sighed. “While we’re talking, Rhett convinced me to take tomorrow off for a family day. That’s ‘Bennett-speak’ for a ride and a picnic.”
“That sounds nice. You have a good time. I took Friday off to study. I’m meeting Ted to study at the Coffee Corner tomorrow and—”
“We’ll have a good time as a family,” Hayden said quietly, an edge to those words. The same sharpness he’d used when he’d checked out her study partner. “Think of Katie. She’d love to go and have you with her.”
“Your grandmother and I will stay back.” Eve had to study for a quiz on Monday and said so. Best excuse ever.
Not that it worked with Hayden.
“I need to work too, Evie,” Hayden said in that quiet, firm voice of his, the tone that said he’d made up his mind. “But, like Gran said that first morning you were here, we didn’t have a honeymoon. And you coming along will go a long way in convincing Rhett that we’re in love.”
“But…” Eve scrambled for an excuse. “We don’t have cowboy boots or riding gear.”
“Evie.”
She did so like the way he said her name. “You’re not going to let me argue my way out of this, are you?”
“Nope.”
Eve sighed.
Hayden rolled over, turning his back to her. “Good night, wife.”
She rolled over, turning her back to him. “Good night, husband.”
But somehow, Eve knew it wasn’t going to be a good night. Not at all.
She was afraid she might do something embarrassing, like snore or spoon her husband.