And to Poppy, who left her own seat to climb onto Markus’s lap and wrap her arms around him. ‘’S okay, Uncle Markus.’
Sierra put her pen down.
She picked up her wine and downed it in one go, drawing puzzled looks from Markus and Nina and a giggle from Poppy.
Without a word, she walked through to the lounge and turned off the record.
She pulled out her phone as she re-entered the kitchen, connected it to the portable speaker on the kitchen counter, and hit play on ‘Pink Pony Club’.
Markus narrowed his eyes. ‘Girl, you know this is my jam. How can I mope when my jam is playing?’
‘We’re done moping for today,’ Sierra stated as the opening notes sounded. She refilled her wine glass with zero thought to the fact that she hadn’t eaten since breakfast, and held out her other hand for Poppy, who immediately jumped off Markus’s lap to take it.
She momentarily paused the music when neither Nina nor Markus moved. ‘Okay, you two need to get on our level. We’re going to karaoke the blues away,’ she warned. ‘Up. Up!’ When they both stood, Sierra said, ‘Poppy, the mics!’
Poppy needed no explanation. She dragged a chair to the kitchen counter and pulled two wooden spoons and two spatulas from the holder beside the stove. She passed Nina a spatula, but when she came to Markus she asked, ‘Which one do you want, Uncle Markus?’
Markus sniffled. ‘The wooden spoon, baby.’
Poppy passed it to him and reclaimed her position at Sierra’s side.
‘Y’all ready? ‘Cause you can’t sing Chappell Roan half-heartedly.’
Markus undid the top button of his shirt. He reached for a dishtowel, flung it around his neck like a scarf, and then held the wooden spoon up. ‘Ready.’
Nina tossed her hip-length hair. ‘Ready.’
Sierra started the song from the beginning again.
As the piano intro started, she and Markus took off immediately, word for perfect word.
They carried the first three verses, but when the chorus hit, Nina and Poppy joined in, shouting, ‘Pink Pony Club!’ into their spatulas at the top of their lungs.
It hurt to watch her. As she sang and danced and laughed, Sierra looked so happy. She looked, Benji realized, like she used to, and for only a moment, he imagined what it would have been like to watch her goof around withtheirdaughter.
As Nina and Sierra belted out the lyrics to ‘Pink Pony Club,’ Markus paused to twirl Poppy.
At Benji’s side, Mav leaned against the doorframe, crossed his arms over his chest, and grinned like an idiot. ‘It’s not fair that I get to be this happy.’ He nodded in the direction of the little group. ‘Look at my girls, man.’
Benji gave him one solid punch on the shoulder. ‘If anyone deserves it, you do, Mav.’ But because he couldn’t stand to steal Sierra’s smile, he turned to go. ‘See you tomorrow.’
Mav straightened, reached out one hand to grip Benji’s arm. ‘Dude … Stay.’
Benji cast one last longing glance into the kitchen just as Sierra looked up and saw them. Her smile faltered, then died. She stopped singing. Her eyes, so bright just moments before, dimmed.
‘I can’t, I have some things I need to go over for tomorrow,’ Benji lied. With one last tap on the doorframe, he left.
He didn’t lament his luck or give the hollow feeling in his chest much thought – it was familiar by now. He knew that if he had stayed, Sierra would have tolerated him. But he didn’t ever want to be the cause of any more of her pain.
From the moment she had broken things off, he’d tried to give her space. He’d taken to eating with the wranglers and avoiding the ranch house. He’d given up spending every free minute with Mav. He’d even stopped spending time with Poppy unless he couldn’t avoid it, or it was out of the house. And, yeah, it hurt. He grieved for all those things he’d once had and lost. But he’d do it again, and more – for her.
He went straight to the wranglers’ cabin, walked past the team, who were gathered around the table, eating dinner, to the fridge. Benji pulled out a beer, twisted off the top, and took a long pull to try and ease the tightness in his throat.
It didn’t work.
How could things unravel so completely?
‘Hey, Boss,’ Skye called, ‘we’re gonna play poker after dinner if you want in!’
