“I have so many questions.” I can’t stand here and pretend that I’ve come close to forgiving her. I’m not sure how or if I’ll ever get over what she did.
“None of them matter.” She turns to me, her arms tighter across her chest and determination on her face. “We were always looking for ways to sever this pull to one another. It’s done now, so I’m going to tell my parents tonight and Leia in the morning. I’m taking her out for the day, just me and her. If you’d like, tell your family and Wren tomorrow. I’ll see how Leia is handling things, and maybe the four of us can do dinner next week sometime. Does that sound good?”
I nod.
“Okay.” She heads back to the truck, but circles around before she gets inside. “And I’ll drive myself to the country club from now on. Probably should’ve from the start.”
She turns her back to me again and climbs inside the truck.
There’s still so much unfinished business between us, but if she wants to pretend there isn’t, then I can do that too.
I head back to the truck and get into the driver’s seat. “Can I ask one thing?”
She doesn’t answer, but glances at me.
“Can I see a picture of her?”
The anger drops from her face, and she pulls out her phone, scanning through photos before handing it to me.
It takes me a second to look down, but now it makes sense why I’ve never met Leia. Delaney knew, from one look, I’d have known she was mine.
Chapter Thirty
Delaney
“So, where are you two ladies going today?” Mom’s being extra cheery after I told her and my dad last night that Leia is actually Bennett’s.
They took it well, and my mom admitted she’d never wondered until after she ran into Wren and Bennett at the library. She couldn’t help but notice how much Wren resembled Leia. I half wonder if this whole town has been whispering behind my back. Of course, my dad said it was a good thing because now she’s no longer tied to that no-good son of a bitch, Sean.
“The museum.” Leia grins. “But Mom said no to Wren or Kayla going. It’s a mommy and daughter day.”
Mom ruffles her hair. “Sounds like a fun day. Maybe you can have Wren and Kayla over another time. Summer is almost here. One more week to go.”
“Wren said I can go to the ranch, and we can ride bikes, feed the ducks, and horseback ride.”
My mom glances at me with raised eyebrows over Leia’s head. I ignore the look and grab the brush from the table to get Leia’s hair out of her face.
Leia finishes her breakfast while I do her hair, then we say goodbye to my mom and get in the car to make the drive to Lincoln.
She’s quiet most of the ride, and I finally push my nerves aside to begin our conversation to gauge where she is with everything.
“What do you think of Willowbrook?” I ask. “Do you like it?”
She turns to look at me in the rearview mirror. “Yeah.”
“Do you miss California?”
“Will we ever see Daddy again?”
My heart cracks. “I… don’t know.” I’ve always tried to be as honest as I could be with Leia, other than the whole “her daddy isn’t who she thinks he is” thing.
“He hasn’t even called or wrote me a letter.”
I look at her reflection. What am I doing? Thinking I’m going to tell her that her daddy isn’t who she thinks between the pretend shopping area and the rope bridge at the museum?
I get off the highway at the next exit.
“Where are we going?” she asks.
