I glance at Bennett. Maybe we didn’t think this through as far as we should have. Of course the girls are going to want to live together right away.
“Actually…”
“Shoo, you two, let them eat.” Darla comes over and pats them on their backs. She steadies her gaze on us. “What can I make you?”
“Eggs or pancakes?” Bennett asks me.
“I don’t want you going to any trouble. I can just pick something up when Leia and I leave.”
Bennett slides his arm around my waist, his hand molding to my hip, then leans in and whispers, “My bed is going to be lonely tonight.”
Darla rolls her eyes, probably seeing my beet-red face, before she heads to the kitchen. “I’ll make both.”
“I’ll help.” I leave Bennett, but he slyly pats my ass.
“Thank you. I appreciate that,” Darla says over her shoulder.
I go into the kitchen with Darla, and from what I hear, Bennett joins the Go Fish game.
“Lottie had to leave this morning to open the store, but she said the nightmare wasn’t too bad.” Darla puts the carton of eggs on the counter.
“Thank you so much for all this.” I pick up an egg and crack it into the bowl.
“You don’t have to thank us. We’re just happy to get to know her. It’s amazing how opposite the two of them are.” She glances over her shoulder.
“Leia’s quiet and more reserved.”
Darla smiles at me. “There’s nothing wrong with that. I have one of those too.” She nods toward Bennett. “She’s very smart and polite, and not that my opinion matters, but you did a great job with her.”
Pride swells in my chest. “I’m still so?—”
“No more of that.” She holds out a fork for me. “No more sorrys. We’re going to move forward now and leave all that in the past.” She puts her arm around my shoulders. “You make my son really happy, and you’re a good mother to one of my granddaughters. That’s enough for me.”
The words one granddaughter repeat in my head.
I’d love to be a mother figure to Wren, but maybe she doesn’t want that. I’ll have to see where our relationship goes.
“Now beat the eggs.” She points at the bowl.
Darla makes the pancakes, and I wonder how many times she’s measured that flour out because she doesn’t even use a measuring cup anymore.
“Don’t worry, I’m not one of those mothers-in-law who won’t share recipes or omits one ingredient. You want it, it’s yours.”
“But—”
She side-eyes me. “If you’re about to say that you’re not his wife, that’s ridiculous. You’re his future. A mother knows.”
After we eat breakfast and say goodbye to Darla and Brad, Bennett drives all of us over to The Perfect Petal where I left my car.
“I don’t understand,” Wren says to her dad. “If you guys are together, why can’t they move in with us?”
Bennett glances at me. “We’re dating, we’re not married.”
“Aunt Lottie said that doesn’t matter. Briar lived with Emmett before they were married.”
“Aunt Lottie got married in Vegas, so…” Bennett says.
I place my hand on his, turning to face the girls in the back seat. “The time will come when we’re all under one roof. I see it for us, but right now isn’t the right time. Let your dad and I go on a few dates first. We need to take our time.”
