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I grunt.
“Wouldn’t have anything to do with Poppy, would it?”
It has everything to do with Poppy. She comes over for dinners, and I sneak over to hers some afternoons before I go get the kids from Momma. I see her every day with my kids, teaching them how to train the dogs or taking them to see the new rescues. I’ve tried telling her that it’s not her job to spend time with them or to watch them while Momma goes to town.
But she just ignores me, saying she has just as much fun as they do. And while I fought her on it at first, I’ve just started letting her do what she wants. Mainly because catching glimpses of them throughout the day makes my heart happy.
“Maybe.”
“You lettin’ her in?”
I glance at Hayes out of the corner of my eye. I don’t want to answer that question. I’m letting her in as best I can, but I still have too much to worry about to let my guard down completely.
“Rhett, look.” He sighs. “I know you hate this shit, but I want you to listen to me for once. Take it from someone who royally fucked up and wishes he could take it all back, yeah?”
When he doesn’t continue, I realize he actually wants me to acknowledge him.
“I’m listening,” I tell him.
“Good. I know you’ve been burned before. Leah really fucked you up—”
“Already heard all this from Wells,” I say, cutting him off.
“Yeah, well, now you’re gonna hear it from me, you stubborn asshole, because it doesn’t seem to have sunk in.” His horse takes a few steps and settles. His agitation is leaking into her. “You need to get over it. Let someone in who is good for you. Poppy is good for you. I’ve seen the way you look at her, like she lights everything up. And the way she treats your kids? Shit, man. You aren’t gonna find that just anywhere.”
“She’s a whole decade younger than me.”
“Get over the age thing,” he groans. “Who gives a fuck?”
I huff. “People might. I don’t want people talkin’ about her or me or the kids. You know how this town is. Everyone is in everyone else’s business, and she doesn’t deserve having people talk about her behind her back for being with an old man. And my kids sure as shit don’t deserve it.”
“Take other people out of the equation. Because they aren’t in your relationship. Do you, Rhett Black, really care that she’s twenty-seven?”
“She’s twenty-six.”
“For literally like eight more days. Don’t be an ass.”
“I care that I would be saddlin’ her with two young kids.”
“She wants kids.”
“How do you know that?” My brow furrows, and I can feel the anger in my chest start to build. Have they been talking? He’s my brother, and it shouldn’t bother me. But it does. I don’t want anyone else getting close to her like that.
“Heard her chattin’ with Momma about it last week, calm down. Momma asked her if she wanted kids someday, and Poppy couldn’t shut up about it.”
I grunt again because I know that. She’s told me herself she wants kids. So why am I so worried about the fact I have two? She clearly loves them and loves spending time with them. It’s harder to get her to leave them at the end of the day than it is for her to leave me.
“I know.” I sigh. “She’s told me she wants kids. Multiple times. And I’ve seen her with Joey and Wade…she loves those fuckin’ kids.”
“She does,” he agrees. “So what’s really holding you back?Youdon’t care that she’s younger. You know she loves your kids. What else is there?”
I think about that question for a minute but come up blank. Is it that she technically works here? That should probably be something that makes me think twice, and it may have at first, but I don’t really care anymore. It doesn’t affect us like I thought it would.
Unfortunately, I think Hayes is right. Leah wanted this life until she decided the city had more to offer. And Poppy comes from a faster way of life. She’s moved around so often it worries me that she can’t put down roots. If I let her in and let her get close to my kids in that way and she decides she doesn’t want this life anymore?
I can’t do that to my kids.
“Alright, fine.” We start to follow the cattle as the last of them are herded through the fence. “You’re right. Leah fucked me up. She decided she didn’t want kids anymore and didn’t want this way of life. But this is who I am. Those kids are all I’ve got. And this ranch is in my blood. If I make that mistake again and let someone in who is just gonna walk away because they got a wild hair up their ass, the kids will get hurt.”
