Strike me down now for wanting to know what he said.
“Are you almost done?”
I want to ask what her dad said, but I’m sure I won’t get the answer I want. Seven-year-olds bounce around topics like a scroll through social media.
I secure her braid and hand her the helmet. “All done.”
She smooths her hand down her head and smiles. “Thanks.”
Then she puts her helmet on her head, staring at me with those same blue eyes that used to stare back at me through my phone screen when I’d search them out as a reminder that Kristie was what Bennett wanted. She rests her knees on the bench of the picnic table and wraps her arms around my waist, hugging me tightly.
Emotion clogs my throat. I’ve never felt more like a horrible person. Here I am hugging his daughter, and he has no idea the little girl in the corral is his too.
“You’re really nice. Leia’s lucky to have you as her mom.”
Wren runs off without saying anything more. Nash scoops her up and carries her over to Biscuits.
A few minutes later, Levi saunters over and sits beside me. “How you doing?”
“Why do you keep asking that?”
Silence stretches out between us.
Levi leans back on his hands, both of us staring at the girls. “It’s a little unfair, right?”
“What is?”
“You braiding both of his daughters’ hair?”
My stomach drops, and I freeze, unable to look over at my brother. “What are you talking about?”
He sits up and lowers his head to shoot me a look. “You know damn well what.”
I glance at the girls, then around us. “Levi…”
“Has he seen her yet?”
“How did you know?” I’ve never told anyone about my affair with Bennett. According to my family and everyone else, I got with Sean, and we were pregnant immediately.
“You forget, I was out in California visiting you right before you dated Sean. I’ll give it to you, you put on a really great act, but I woke up once in the middle of the night and saw you crying on the balcony. Then I came back to Willowbrook, and suddenly Bennett and Kristie have moved back. Honestly, I wasn’t one hundred percent sure I was right until you just confirmed it.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“First of all, it’s none of my business. Second, I thought you were the one who left him for whatever reason.”
I shake my head. “It was him.”
“I’m not sure he wanted too though, right?” He arches an eyebrow.
“Please—”
“I’m serious.” He holds up his hands. “From my observation, Bennett never looked very happy those months before Wren was born. He always seemed to be somewhere else in his head when we were all together. Her too. I thought maybe it was a marriage thing. What the hell do I know about living with someone for your entire life, day after day? Sounds like complete torture.”
“Grow up, Levi.” I swat his leg.
“Then you met Sean, and I figured you’d tell me. She looked so much like you when she was younger but now…” He cringes.
“God, Levi.”
