“Seriously, how are you going to eat dinner?” Lottie nods at the bag of chips.
Romy rolls her eyes. “Don’t worry about me. When do we get to meet her?”
“I already did,” Lottie says. “Mom picked her and Wren up from school, and they came by the store. Good thing Delaney’s genes are strong.”
“She has Bennett’s eyes,” Mom says, spooning rice into a bowl.
“You knew?” I ask her.
She shrugs. “Suspected. I mean, I saw that Sean guy’s pictures, and she sure doesn’t look like him. But what reason did I have to think she was yours? You never told us about you and Kristie separating or that Delaney and you were an item in California.” She hasn’t looked at me once.
“There didn’t seem like any point in telling you once I knew Kristie was pregnant, and we were coming back to Willowbrook together.”
“So these past seven years have been what exactly? You unable to move on with your life? Why haven’t you if you were able to move on after you separated from Kristie?” She hands my dad the bowl of rice, and he takes it to the table.
“I wasn’t trying to raise a daughter by myself back then.”
“Oh, okay,” Mom says, putting the chicken in a separate bowl and holding it out for Lottie.
“Just say it,” I snap.
My dad comes back in from the dining table and gives me his stern fatherly look. “Watch it.”
“You’re clearly Team Delaney, so I want to hear your excuse as to why it’s okay that she kept from me the fact she was pregnant with my daughter. To have that monster of a man raise her instead of me.”
My mom walks by me and goes into the dining room.
“Mom?”
She turns around and locks her gaze on me. “That’s for you to figure out, not me.”
I throw my arms in the air and look at my sisters who aren’t agreeing that it’s absurd that Mom’s being like this. “Aren’t you upset that you lost out on time with your granddaughter? Don’t you care?”
She slams the spoon on the table. “Of course I’m upset and saddened, but how will that help right now? Is me being mad or questioning Delaney going to change what happened? No, it’s not. The only control I have is what happens now.”
The door opens, and Mack runs in, tongue hanging out, stopping at Lottie. She bends and pets him. “Oh, Mack, you missed it. Sorry, buddy, but good news, you have another playmate coming soon.” She eyes me with a smirk.
Fucking hell.
“I’m hungry,” Wren says, coming in a minute later with Brooks behind her, assessing the room.
“Let’s eat.” Dad picks her up and swings her around. Her squeal of laughter loosens the tension in the room.
Dinner is quiet since no one says much, but everyone’s gaze roams across the table every time Wren brings up her friend Leia.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Bennett
Lottie and Romy tell me they’ll handle the dishes, so I’m quick to say goodbye to my family after dinner.
“You’re not staying for the firepit?” my dad asks.
I shake my head. “No. Wren has school tomorrow.”
Mom has been ignoring me while she puts away the leftover food. She shoves a container into my chest. “For Nash.”
“What about Uncle Jensen?” Wren asks.
