I had to laugh too. “My father claims I robbed my mother of throwing us a wedding. There’s a reason we eloped.” I winked at Saoirse, who was recovering from her tears. “Congratulations on the new one that’s coming. I look forward to seeing him or her adorned in bows.”
Elena’s eyes twinkled at her daughter. “I don’t think we could stop her from doing it if we tried.”
“So we won’t,” Lock added.
“Hannie puts bows on Daddy,” Caleb announced.
Saoirse covered his mouth with her hand. “All right, bud. That’s enough secret spilling for one day.”
After lunch, which ended with Caleb essentially challenging me to a duel, Saoirse took me on a tour of the grounds in a covered ATV.
“Your nephew has it out for me,” I told her.
“Well, he’s been my number one man since birth, so it makes sense he wants you dead. He views you as the usurper of his position.” She patted my knee. “Just let him tell you he’s bigger than you and he’ll let his grudge go.”
“As it is, I’m halfway to being gaslit into believing he is bigger than me. The kid is masterful.”
She smiled as she drove us over rolling terrain, her shoulders relaxing as the breeze caught her hair, blowing it away from her face. Wyoming suited her. Or maybe it was being around her family.
I fucking liked how much she unabashedly adored them all. Hated to say it, but with the way she’d described her parents' breakup, I’d assumed the entire family was dysfunctional, but that wasn’t the case at all. Lock and Elena were devoted to each other and their kids. Sure, Caleb was one hell of a gaslighter, but he was cool, and Hannah was an adorable, mellow little thing.
“Are you ready to meet my dad?” she asked.
“I’m ready. I’d be surprised if he’s any scarier than Elena.”
That made her giggle. It was light and airy. I’d never once heard her laugh that way. It must’ve been the Wyoming effect.
“I guess you’ll have to stick around and find out.”
I was all in on this lie. Might as well dig myself deeper and meet one more person I was going to walk away from in the end.
Chapter Twenty
Saoirse
Connell Kelly didn’t believe in days off.
He hadn’t always been that way. When I was younger, we’d spend weekends as a family. Oftentimes, my mother would end up locking herself away in her office and it’d just be me, Lock, and my dad, who’d been a steady, unbendable presence in my life…until he wasn’t.
I loved him. I’d never understand him betraying his marriage vows. It had taken me a long, long time to forgive him for it, but I had.
But where he’d once been my hero, now, he was just a man. Fallible like the rest of us.
Now, he worked too hard to avoid making a new life from the dust of his old one.
We found him in the horse barn, talking to a couple hands who worked on the ranch. As soon as Luca and I entered, he finished up and strode straight to me, his arms open, his smile wide, wrapping me up in a hug that could never be duplicated.
“Dad,” I sighed into his embrace, all my troubles falling away for the fleeting moments he held me. There was nothing better than a hug from my father.
“Sersh, baby.” He pulled back, his hands cupping my shoulders. “You don’t look any different.” He reached for my left hand, examining it closely. “Ah, there’s the difference. You’ve got a big rock around your finger, my girl. What do you know, what do you know.”
I wiggled my hand in his. “I’m still getting used to wearing it.” I kissed his cheek then turned, grabbing Luca’s hand with my free one. “This is Luca. He’s been through the Caleb treatment, so maybe take it easy on him.”
He let out a laugh that was only an echo of the huge, boisterous ones from years ago.
“Luca, welcome to Sugar Brush. Have you been on a ranch before?”
They shook hands as Luca answered. “Thank you for having me. And no, I haven’t, but I’ve heard I’m missing out.”
“I don’t know about that.” Dad chuckled. “From the way I hear it, you’ve been living the high life in Denver. At least until you met my daughter.”
Ah, so he’d done a little research into his new son-in-law. Probably not finding the most flattering pieces of info either.
Luca hooked his arm around my waist. “I lived a very different life before Saoirse, one I’m not ashamed of—though I wish like hell it hadn’t been documented for anyone to read the bits and pieces the press chose to publish.” His fingers curled around my hip, lightly tapping a pattern there. Was he actually nervous? Luca wasn’t one to fidget.
I covered my hand with his. “Thank god no one followed me around in my early twenties. I would hate for all my adventures to be on the internet for anyone to Google.”
Dad raised his hands. “Point taken. No father wants to see his new son-in-law pictured with all kinds of women, but not many fathers have the opportunity to easily take a microscope to their new son-in-law’s past. I’ll take what I learned at face value—it’s in the past, and Saoirse is your present and future.”
“I don’t get a clean slate with many people because of who I am, but I appreciate you giving me one, Connell.” Luca leaned forward. “And don’t worry, Elena has already told me what will happen if I misstep with Saoirse.”
That earned a genuine, belly-deep laugh from my dad and a worried look from me. “What did she say?”
Luca grinned at me. “There was something about pink bats.”
Dad laughed again. “That girl is a gift to the world. Don’t think she’s bluffing, though. She isn’t.”
“I absolutely believed her. It’s fortunate I’ll never hurt Saoirse.”
Dad gave him a long, considering look. “I’ll be honest and tell you I was prepared to be pissed off you married my daughter without getting to know her family first. But there’s something about the two of you together that eases my worries.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m willing to reserve judgment and see how this thing goes.”
Luca gave my side a little shake. “That’s all I ask.”
Dad raised a brow at me. “You still haven’t told your mother?”
“No. I’m hoping I can get away with a FaceTime call.” I held up my crossed fingers. “Think that’ll be enough?”
“Not even close, kid,” he rumbled at me. “Good luck with that.”
I blew out a heavy breath. That was a chat I couldn’t put off much longer but didn’t want to think about, so I changed the subject entirely. “Luca’s never been on a horse.”
Dad’s head swiveled from me to Luca. “Is that true?”
Luca nodded. “It is. Not on purpose. I just haven’t had the opportunity.”
He patted Luca’s shoulder. “We’ll have to rectify that. You can’t be married to a Kelly girl and not be able to chase her down on a horse. Let’s get you saddled up.”
My father and Luca talked while he gave Luca a lesson on the basics of riding. I spent time with Athena, noting with pleasure how well taken care of she was. I’d have to tell Hannie and Cay they’d been doing an excellent job with my girl.