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Tess’s heart swelled about three times bigger, making her chest full and warm. She and Silas had taken things slow over the last few months, being careful to include the girls in their growing relationship, easing all of them into it, and now Morgan and Willow had developed such a bond with this man.
“I want a piggyback!” Morgan rushed over when she saw her sister on Silas’s shoulders.
“Climb on.” Silas lifted Willow over his head and held her while he knelt down so her older daughter could climb onto his back. Somehow the man managed to stand up with both girls clinging to him.
“Look at them,” Lyric commented while Tess helped her set out plates. “Those two girls are absolutely smitten with Silas.”
“They’re not the only ones.” She watched the man dote on her daughters, the three of them laughing together.
“I think Aiden is a little jealous,” Kyra murmured, stirring a pitcher of iced tea. “In a good way, of course. The girls hardly acknowledge him when Silas is around. But that’s how it should be.”
“Have you two talked about the future?” Lyric asked, pausing from her work.
“Some.” Truthfully, they’d been so busy enjoying the present moments together they hadn’t dwelled on what would happen next. “Silas has said he wants the girls to decide what his place in their lives will be.” She knew he would love to officially adopt them eventually. But he’d made it clear to her that he wanted them to decide. “We’re not in a hurry. These last four months have been beautiful.” A slow sort of progression as they all navigated new relationships. During their times together, the four of them had talked about Jace a lot. No matter what, both she and Silas were adamant that Jace would still be a part of their family.
“Maybe there will be another wedding soon,” Kyra mused, almost to herself.
“We won’t overshadow your wedding.” Her brother and Kyra were set to be married in a few weeks, and Tess couldn’t wait to celebrate with them.
Lyric grinned, her eyes sparkling with playfulness. “Since you’re the maid of honor and Silas is the best man, it’ll be good practice for walking down the aisle.”
“You know what they say,” Tess teased back. “Weddings usually happen in threes.” She gave her friend a meaningful look.
“Not this time,” Lyric insisted. “I’m not—”
A loud engine noise grumbled in the distance and a line of semitrucks turned onto the ranch’s long driveway towing livestock trailers.
“They’re here, they’re here!” Morgan hopped down from Silas’s back.
“Stay close,” Tess reminded her. Both the drivers and the horses would need room.
With the fences completed, everyone clustered around the tables, watching as the trailers backed up one by one and unloaded the wild horses from the trailers into the pasture.
“Look, there’s Legacy!” Willow pointed to the horse Tess and Silas had rescued. The horse that had brought them together.
“There she is.” Silas slipped his arm around Tess’s shoulders, gathering her to his side.
While many of the horses seemed slightly disoriented, scattering to the edges of the fences, Legacy ambled to the gate closest to where they stood and gazed at them with her ears perked.
“I think she’d like to say hello to you.” Tess nudged Silas forward. The horse seemed to watch him intently.
“Hey, Legacy, old friend.” He approached the fence slowly with Tess holding the girls back. “Give them a minute,” she said quietly.
The horse stayed still while Silas reached his hand to her snout. And then, after a few seconds, she nosed his shoulder, sniffing and snorting and grunting.
“She remembers him,” Morgan marveled.
“Can I give her a carrot?” Willow called to Silas.
He nodded and waved the girls forward. They ran to the table where Tess had left a bag of carrots and then approached Legacy with caution, the way Tess had taught them to do with any animal who wasn’t familiar with them. The horse gobbled the carrots out of their hands. Silas lifted both girls up—one in each arm—so they could pet her mane and Tess took out her phone to snap a picture.
Hopefully their future would be full of beautiful moments just like this one.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Silas loosened his tie as much as he could get away with and sipped the whiskey that was supposed to be calming his prewedding jitters.
Thank goodness Kyra had let them go with a casual sport coat and tie for this shindig instead of tuxes. Damn. This wasn’t even his wedding and yet he couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this nervous. Not for the wedding part—that was all Aiden and Kyra—but for the part that would come later when he could get Tess and the girls alone for a few special moments to propose.
