Chapter 46
Chapter Forty-Six
Delaney
Bennett drives us over to the stables and parks. The girls cheer in the back seat, both taking off their seat belts and going for the car handles.
“Whoa, hold up,” Bennett says, giving his stern dad expression.
I’ve been taking note of all his parent looks. The stern one like now, the worried one when one of them says they fell, the happy one when they show him attention. He is a great dad, which I knew he would be.
Leia is becoming more relaxed around him, and I’m pretty sure the day is coming when she’ll seek him out over me.
“You’re not riding Biscuits or Sparkles. You’re riding with us,” Bennett says.
The girls look at each other, then get out of the truck.
“Why can’t I ride Biscuits?” Wren asks.
“You’re not ready to go on the trail yet, but you can ride with Delaney or me,” Bennett tells her.
She looks at Leia, and the two of them walk to the barn. I glance at Bennett, unsure if he would like to experience this with Leia and have Wren ride with me, but he only takes my hand, allowing the girls to walk ahead of us.
“So, you want to tell me about why you learned to ride?” He knocks his shoulder into mine.
We actually haven’t talked about it.
“Nash is a snitch,” I say.
“Hey, why didn’t you tell me? I’m proud of you.”
“I just wanted her to learn, and then I thought what fun is it if she knows and I don’t? So, I learned too.”
He squeezes my hand. “I wish I could’ve been the one to teach you.”
I roll my eyes. “Don’t be jealous of Ray. He didn’t much care for teaching. Not sure why he signed up to run lessons.”
“I guarantee you he admired your ass when he taught you how to trot.”
“He was, like, seventy and married.”
He shrugs. “It’s a great ass.”
I shake my head and chuckle. Once we’re inside the stables, he goes into Cedar’s stall, where Wren is already waiting, Leia standing next to her.
Bennett comes with me to Junebug’s stall, holding the saddle. “So, I’m thinking we should pick out a horse for you,” he says, eyes not meeting mine while he concentrates on getting the horse saddled.
“I don’t need a horse, and I cannot afford one.” I give Junebug a pat and am rewarded with a nuzzle into my hand.
“It would be a gift from me.”
“No, Bennett.” I glance out the stall at the girls and back at him. “You will not be buying me a horse.”
“How will we go on family rides?”
“Poppy doesn’t mind me using Junebug, so we’ll go with that.”
He follows my line of sight to the girls, who are now at the stall door. “Conversation for another time.”
I help Bennett saddle both horses, but let’s face it, I don’t do nearly enough.
The girls decide who they want to ride with, and Leia waits by Cedar while Wren stands next to me.
I try to mask my surprise and act as though it’s perfectly fine that they switched it up. This is what we want. One day I’d like to have the conversation with Wren about where our relationship stands, but Leia hasn’t even referred to Bennett as Dad yet, so it’s probably a little early for that.
Slow and easy. We’ll get there.
We take the trail I’m familiar with and come to the same spot I brought Leia to when I told her Bennett was her father. On the other side of the field is where I lost my virginity to Bennett.
We all climb down off our horses. The girls have been doing an excellent job since they’ve been riding a couple times a week this summer.
In that regard, dating an Owens has had its perks.
Leia isn’t being charged for lessons, and she goes out with Wren all the time, even when they don’t have lessons.
I was too busy making sure the girls were safe that I never noticed the blanket and picnic basket, along with some games spread around for the girls. There are even little glass mason jars filled with battery-operated tealights.
“Bennett,” I say with a huge smile.
“Look!” Wren and Leia run over to one of the games.
Bennett takes my hand. “This place is where we’ve made a lot of good memories, and I want to continue them. I haven’t been this happy in a long time.”
“It’s like a dream.”
He stops us at the blanket, and I sit down before taking off my boots. He does the same. The girls are completely occupied going through the games, so he opens the picnic basket and takes out a bottle of champagne.
“What are we celebrating?” I watch him open the bottle.
“Us. All of us.” He pours two glasses. “I love you, Laney, and I can’t wait to make so many more memories with you.”
I clink my glass with his. “I love you too.”
I turn to watch the girls play cornhole, not really knowing the rules and running back and forth to toss the bags. Leia stands where she should, but Wren runs closer then tosses it.
I laugh at them. “They’re so opposite. Which is a good thing.”
“That’s what Principal North said.”
My head tilts. “When did you talk to him?”
“It was before we got together. He compared Leia to me and Wren to Emmett, saying Wren was bringing Leia out of her shell. But now that I watch them, I don’t think Leia’s shyness and hesitancy to try something new is bad. I think it’s a great quality to have growing up.”
“She’s coming around, I see it. When she started—” I stop, embarrassed that he wasn’t there.
“Go ahead, Laney, I want to hear the stories.”
“It’s just…” I inch closer, my throat getting tight. “I hate that you missed that part. Like how I’m telling you a story about your own child. It’s not fair.”
His hand cradles my cheek. “Please tell me.”
My hand covers his, and I squeeze. “You’re too good of a guy.”
“I’ll take it.” He winks. “But you’re wrong. Now go ahead and tell me.”
I stare into his beautiful brown eyes a second longer before starting my story. His soft smile says he really has made peace with the past and does want to move forward.
“It took her two months to talk to anyone in kindergarten. She wasn’t even one of those kids crying and clinging to me.
She’d give me a hug and go in. The first day, I peeked in, and she just sat at her desk and watched all the other kids running around and playing with things.
Like a little observer. The teacher would give me weekly updates, but it was like the click of a switch two months later.
Leia was never the one to talk nonstop, but she would smile and wave and laugh with the other kids at drop-off and pick-up.
It just took her some time. But once she’s comfortable, she’s all in. ”
Bennett urges me to lean back into him, and I do, both of us watching the girls.
“She’ll get there, B, just be patient. I promise one day she’s going to jump in, and I know you’ll be there to catch her.”
His hands run down my arms. “I will be. Let her take all the time she needs. But, Laney…”
I look over my shoulder.
“With all the past, are you okay, I mean with Wren… I know what you said at softball, but I just want to make sure. I mean, she’s Kristie’s…”
The torment in his eyes tugs at my heart, so I straighten and turn around to face him. This time I cradle his face with my palm. “I already love her like she’s my own. And I will love her for Kristie because that was the most important thing to her. She wanted Wren raised—”
His face twists, and I quickly realize I never told him about Kristie’s visit. He doesn’t know.
“Did you talk to Kristie?”
I look at the girls. We really need to clear this up, but right now, I don’t want to spoil our day by delving into the past. “Would you be mad if we delayed this conversation for later tonight?”
His expression says he wants me to answer now, but his voice says, “Okay. Tonight.”
“Thanks, and I promise to tell you everything when we get home.”
He hums.
“What?”
“Home. I want us to have a home that’s ours. I’m thinking it’s time I build on my plot of land.”
The girls run over, both of them grabbing our hands and tugging us off the blanket.
For the rest of our time in the meadow, we don’t talk about Kristie or our future.
We just enjoy the moment, the memories we’re making—together.
We play games with the girls, eat the cupcakes and get frosting on our noses.
When the girls are distracted with the sparklers Bennett brought, he holds me, kissing me as if it’s a promise that there will be many nights like this one.