“What are you doing here?” Bennett snaps, as though I’m a thorn in his carefully tended bouquet.
“I work here,” I fire back, my back going straight from the tone he’s using with me. As if I’m inconveniencing him by returning home. “Poppy just hired me.”
Off to the side, I hear Brooks Watson whisper, “Seriously, who is that?”
Lottie shushes him.
Our eyes are locked, and my heart hammers. What was I thinking letting Poppy convince me to do this?
Emmett Noughton shouts from across the yard, “Danson, Ben put it three inches too far left. He’s not listening to your rules!”
Who is Danson?
Bennett blinks, shoulders stiffening. “Welcome back to Willowbrook.”
With that, he turns away, letting Emmett loop an arm around his neck, and they all mess around just like back in high school. I feel someone’s eyes on me, and I turn to see Lottie and Brooks watching me with equal parts polite curiosity and gentle concern.
“Congratulations,” I manage to squeeze out of my constricted throat because crashing someone’s wedding reception is awkward enough without forgetting my manners.
“Thank you,” Lottie replies, but I can barely hear her over all the cousins’ roughhousing.
I retreat to the truck for another tray of flowers, dodging arriving guests as tears threaten.
Stupid, Delaney. Stupid. Stupid. Of course he still has that effect on you.
Back at the truck, I’m about to get another flat of flowers, but Poppy comes out of Bennett’s parents’ house dressed for the wedding, interrupting me. How did she get ready so fast? She certainly doesn’t look like she just spent an hour loading flowers into the truck. “I’ll carry those. Why don’t you run home, change, and come back? Lottie would love it if you were here.”
“Can’t. I should get back to Leia.”
“Are you okay? You look pale.” Poppy steps closer, smiling at whoever is behind me, before setting her concerned gaze back on me.
“Just not used to so much manual labor.” I laugh it off, but she only looks behind me again.
“Hey, B.” Poppy gives him a chagrined smile. Probably for springing me on him.
There goes my heart again, beating so hard I worry it’s going to burst out of my chest.
“I hear you hired someone without consulting me?” Bennett says with the same clipped tone as before.
I’m not sure how I thought he’d react to me reappearing in town, on his ranch, but bitterness wasn’t on the list. Then again, I could destroy the entire widower crown he proudly wears.
Damn it, there goes my bitterness getting out of control again. And it has nothing to do with Bennett, well, not entirely. It has more to do with my life imploding and landing me here.
“Look! Delaney!” Poppy pivots, hands on my shoulders and turns me to him.
I try to swallow down the desire that still pools deep in my belly for him.
“She’s back.”
Bennett’s eyes barely meet mine for a second before he sets his gaze on his cousin. “Give us a minute, Poppy.”
Poppy’s arm slackens, and she eyes me for a second. “Am I missing something?”
I scoff and shake my head, playing off the fact that being this near to him again is affecting me. “Nope.”
“It’s just been a long time. I want to catch up,” he says.
“Ohh…” Poppy buys his charm, and she probably still has some hope that we might rekindle the teenage romance we thought would take us down the long road. If she only knew the truth about how twisted our lives have been, but Bennett loves his secrets.
