When Archer and Brooks returned, Archer’s eyes sought mine first.He inclined his head, and I gave him a sympathetic smile before turning away.Poet was staring at me, and she raised her brows in a silent question that I wasn’t going to answer.
We sat down at the dining room table, Lenni sandwiched between Archer and me.Conversation felt forced, and Lenni was staring at her plate.
Archer kept glancing at his daughter like he wanted to say something to her but wasn’t sure what.Finally, he cleared his throat and said, “I work here at Elk Ridge.”
Lenni shoveled in a bite of green beans.
“I’m a blacksmith and a farrier.”When there was no inkling that Lenni had heard him, Archer went on, “I shoe horses.”
Lenni bobbed her head in understanding.
Muddy lifted the plate of chicken and held it out toward Lenni.“Another piece?”
Lenni yawned and hastily covered her mouth.“No thanks.I’m kind of tired.”
“You want to hang out in the den?”Muddy asked.“The couch is comfortable, and we allow goats on the furniture.”
Muddy made sure Lenni was settled in the den—with the gaggle of animals trailing after her.
Hadley brewed a fresh pot of coffee.Salem and I put the leftovers into containers.Declan and Cas loaded the dishwasher.Brooks sprayed the table and wiped it down.
Muddy returned to the dining room, closing the double doors behind her.“I got her set up with the TV.But I don’t think she’ll be awake longer than ten minutes.Mildred was curled up right next to her.Tempest and Fig were at her feet.”
“And Lottie?”Poet asked.
Muddy shot Poet an amused look.“Top of the couch cushion.”
“Who wants coffee?”Hadley asked when the pot had finished brewing.
After the coffee was poured, everyone congregated around the dining room table once again.I sat next to Archer and could feel the heat of his leg next to mine.
Muddy peered at Archer with her hands around her coffee mug.“Okay.Start talking.”
Archer looked at Brooks who nodded in encouragement.Archer sighed.
“Brooks and I used to be in a motorcycle club in South Dakota,” he began.“And Lenni’s mom was ...one of the girls we hung out with.”
“That’s a polite way of putting it,” Brooks added.
“Yeah.”Archer rubbed the back of his neck.“One day, she just stopped showing up at the clubhouse.I figured she’d moved on, you know?I had no idea she was pregnant.”
Archer wrapped his hand around his coffee mug as he formed his words.“Nancy said when Blair found out she was pregnant she left South Dakota and moved down to Georgia.She didn’t want to raise the baby around a bunch of bikers.I don’t blame her for that ...at all.”
He swallowed as he stared at the mug.“Six months ago, Blair died in a car accident on her way to pick up Lenni from school.”
“Fuck,” Cas murmured.
“Who’s Nancy?”Muddy asked.“In relation to Lenni?”
“She was Blair’s best friend.Blair named Nancy guardian in her will.Nancy said they’d talked about it once, but it was more of a verbal agreement.No one actually thinks this kind of stuff really happens, you know?She was shocked as hell when the will was read.”
“That would be a shock to anyone,” Muddy said.
“Nancy’s an accountant for a Fortune 500 company.Got a job offer in Hong Kong.Dream promotion that will make her career.Perfect for a single, career driven woman.Only ...”
“Only she had Lenni,” Grampy finished.
“Yeah.Nancy tried the best she could for a while, but she never really wanted kids.She knew I wasn’t in the club anymore—Blair had been keeping tabs on me.Checking on me every now and again.She told Nancy she was thinking about reaching out to me.Nancy tracked me down after she got the job offer.And here we are ...”
