Page 117 of Stay Wild Darlin’

It gutted me, not because I felt left out, but because it confirmed what I already knew, deep down in the place I kept locked tight.

She’s the one.

I could see it in the way Cora leaned into her touch. Poppy didn’t even flinch. She held her like she’d done it a hundred times before, like it was second nature.

I swallowed hard, heart thick in my throat, and forced out a breath as I drove through the familiar gates of the Culpepper estate.

The mansion came into view a second later. All white stone and clean lines with absolutely nothing out of place.

Quickly, my stomach tightened.

I hadn’t been here in years, not since I’d left everything behind.

A hand reached forward from the back seat and landed gently on my shoulder.

“Just like you told me last night, this is the right thing. I’m here for you every step of the way.”

I exhaled slowly, her touch grounding me more than anything else could’ve.

“I’ll hold Cora while you talk to them. Take your time. Say what you need to say.”

I glanced at her hand, then at her through the rearview mirror. “Okay. Yeah. Let’s do this.”

Poppy stepped out of the car, unbuckled Cora from her seat, and carefully lifted her into her arms. We started walking up the long stone driveway toward the front door.

“You said my house was big yesterday,” Poppy chuckled from behind me.

I glanced over my shoulder. “It is grander.”

“True,” she said with a smirk. “Yours is a damn estate.”

She wasn’t wrong. The house stretched wide in both directions. The perfectly trimmed hedges framed the walkway, and past the wrought iron fencing, the tennis courts and stables peeked through. Somewhere beyond that was the pool, the guesthouse, the barn, the whole curated image of the Culpepper legacy.

We reached the front step, and Poppy stood beside me, Cora nestled in the crook of her arm, her tiny face peeking out from the blanket.

“You’ve got this. You’re doing the right thing—for you and for her. No matter how they take it, we’re walking back down this driveway together.”

I nodded once, swallowed hard, and turned to face the door before raising my hand and knocking.

“I should’ve called,” I muttered under my breath.

Poppy reached over and slipped her hand into mine. “You’re here,” she whispered. “That’s what matters.”

The door creaked open, slower than I expected, and when I looked up, I froze.

Blonde hair—lighter now, dyed to mask the gray—but still the same texture I remembered from the last time I saw her. Her nose, the same sharp slope as mine. Freckles, faint but familiar, were scattered across the tops of her hands.

My mother.

Her eyes widened as they scanned over me, flicking to Poppy, then Cora.

“Hi, Mom,” I said quietly. It was as if I was a kid again, sneaking back through the door after curfew, trying to pretend I hadn’t been gone for years.

“D-Dalton?”

“It’s me.” I nodded, forcing my words out. “Can, uh, do you have a moment?”

“I wasn’t expecting you this morning,” my mother said, her tone clipped, already shifting into polite disapproval. “Your father and I have a meeting in a couple hours.”