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“But, I want talk to Kinsley mo…” whimpers Rynn, pouting.
“How about I pour you that sip of juice your daddy promised,” I cut in, hoping I’m not overstepping but do I really, like really care if I am? Not really. “And then I’ll tuck you in.”
“Daddy?” asks Rynn, giving me a confused look. “You mean Beebs.”
“Beebs?” I echo.
“I’ll explain when you come back,” Bennett says. “You’re sure you’re okay to stand up?”
“I fainted, briefly,” I emphasize. “I’m not an invalid.”
Bennett’s eyes fall over on Rynn, giving a conspiratorial look. “You holler for me if she looks sick again.”
Rynn gives a silent, but assertive thumbs-up.
“Good night, honey.” Bennett tousles her auburn hair, then draws her into his arms and kisses the top of her head. When they pull apart, she looks up at him, concern in her eyes.
“I promise, there aren’t any tweetle beetles,” Bennett answers her unspoken question with calm, confident reassurance. “Only you, lovebug.”
“Pwomise?”
“Pinky swear it.” And, they do. “Sleep tight, baby.”
Her smile melts my entire heart so that it almost feels put back together in one piece. She kisses his bristly, tanned cheek and mutters, “Night, Beebs.”
~ * ~
I was right. She is gorgeous, and funny, and perfect.
“You have a daughter,” I state the obvious, returning to the living room. A daughter who doesn’t call him Daddy.
“You didn’t know,” Bennett says quietly, almost like a question, almost to himself. I take a seat next to him on the sofa, breathing in the scent of him and it takes me back, back, back.
Back to long walks and longer talks and sunsets and holding hands jumping into the lake, kisses that tasted like cherry cola and pizza and our first, not-yet-legal sips of whiskey. Touches that almost turned into more.
“I don’t know what?” I ask.
“Rynn…she’s…” He takes a deep breath. “She’s Grover’s.” Oh.
Ohh.
My heart tips all the way over.
“Oh—my God. Bennett. I’m so…” Speechless. I am so fucking speechless. I should have called. He’d changed his number. I should have searched for him harder online. He doesn’t exist online. “I should have come here.”
“You did,” Bennett says matter-of-factly. “Almost died doing it, too.” His lips pull up in an almost-grin. It’s a relief, that grin. When he first dropped me onto the sofa and went stomping all over the house so heavily I was sure he was going to cut paths in the floorboards, I thought for sure he would return to give me what-for. He always watched out for me, warned me never to hike alone, least of all at sunrise or sunset or in extreme hot or cold.
But he didn’t. Because Bennett has bigger concerns now than just me. He has a reason. And it’s Rynn and that makes me so, so happy.
“You know what I meant. Sooner,” I say. “I should have come back here when…” I stop myself. “I’m sorry.”
“Everything happens for a reason, right?” Bennett muses. “Rynn’s my whole world.”
“I know that.” I sip my ice water, noticing it’s been refilled since I left to tuck in Rynn. After a bedtime story and a game of tickles, she went down like an absolute angel.
“Thank you,” I tell Bennett, after a long moment of silence that isn’t discomfiting. “Y’know, for saving me.”
“Thank you, Kin.” He reaches over, takes my hand tenderly, yet protectively, into his. Where it fits exactly the way it used to. “For the same reason.” He says that last bit so quietly I wonder if I made it up in my head.
