His deep chuckle has my stomach pulling taut. “I promise, this present is G-rated. It’s from the three of us,” he explains.
“Oh.” My cheeks heat deeper from my incorrect assumption.
Bennett turns over his shoulder. “Gunner, Gems, do you guys want to show Scarlett her present now?”
“Yeah!” Gemma smiles at me as she and Gunner move past us up the steps. My brows knit in confusion when the three of them stand outside the door to Gunner’s craft room.
“This was all Bennett’s idea, but we helped set it up yesterday while you were getting ready,” Gemma informs me.
Gunner nods his head. “Yeah, I even held the screwdriver. But Bennett wouldn’t let me do the drill by myself,” he huffs, which earns him a laugh from me and Bennett.
Gunner swings the door open, and at first glance the room looks the same. That is, until I turn toward the large window and see an oversized, adjustable drawing table and chair.
“Now you have a place to work on your designs,” Bennett explains.
I gasp as I take in the sketch pads, pencils, and various art supplies in the drawers beneath the table. “Oh, you guys! I can’t believe you did all of this for me.” I turn to face them as tears threaten to spill onto my cheeks.
Gunner and Gemma close the distance between us as they wrap me in a big hug. I close my eyes as I absorb this moment and bask in their embrace.
“Come on, Benny.” Gunner waves him over.
“Yeah, you’re part of this family too,” Gemma declares.
I watch with rapt attention as Bennett wraps the three of us in a big hug. This feels all too real, and I’m hit with the sudden realization that Gunner and Gemma will be devastated when the time comes for Bennett and I to part ways after this arrangement expires. The gravity of that has a cloak of melancholy hanging over me.
How will I ever let this go—let him go—now that we’ve found our way back to each other?
But I don’t have long to sulk in my thoughts, because Bennett takes that moment to remind me of another present that needs to be opened when he slides it into the pocket of my pajama pants.
Clearing the emotion from my throat, I give them a smile I know doesn’t quite meet my eyes before I say, “Gems, there’s one other present we wanted to give you downstairs.”
She looks between us, but Bennett just shrugs, feigning ignorance.
When we get downstairs, I tell them to follow me as I make my way out to the attached garage. Bennett must’ve already opened the garage door, because when we go outside, natural light floods the space, highlighting Gemma’s gift.
Her piercing screams of surprise echo off the walls and concrete floor. “Shut up! Are you for real right now?” Gemma asks as she runs over to her brand new SUV. It’s a white Lincoln Corsair with black rims and red interior. I was honestly tempted to get it for myself, but it wasn’t my sweet sixteen.
“Happy birthday, Gems, and Merry Christmas. I love you,” I tell her as she crashes into me for a hug.
“Scar, I can’t believe you got me a car!Ohmygod! I love you so much. Have I told you you’re the best sister ever?”
I shake my head at her and pull her in for another quick hug, before pushing her toward the car so she can check it out. Her elation and joy are contagious, and when I sneak a glance over at Bennett, I find him grinning from ear to ear behind his phone as he records Gemma’s reaction.
Regardless of how this arrangement ends, I have a feeling he’d want to continue to play a role in their lives. The thought is both reassuring and unsettling. I just hope my heart can take it.
“What are you doing back there, Benny Boy?” I ask him later that night while we’re snuggled up in bed with my back pressed snug to his chest.
“Tracing your freckles.”
“You seem to like doing that before bed.”
“It calms me. Do you know you have forty-seven freckles on your left shoulder and thirty-six on the bridge of your nose? I count them in the mornings sometimes before you wake up. Is that weird? That’s weird, isn’t it?”
“No, I don’t think so,” I answer honestly as butterflies erupt in my stomach.
“Good, because I’m quite obsessed with counting and tracing them.”
“Did you ever play the trace and guess game when you were younger?”
