“It’s just a thought. No decisions need to be made anytime soon.”
Her eyes hold mine, and I see the moment she starts taking my suggestion seriously. Her eyes light up, and I know I’m not the only making big plans for the two of us.
Maddie comes storming into the kitchen. “I’m so hungry! Can you hear it?”
Without missing a beat, Theo scoops her up. “There’s an angry bear in your tummy, Mads. We should feed it.”
“It’s not a bear, it’s me!” Her indignant tone is adorable, and I truly don’t know how Larkin and Theo keep a straight face around her.
“Here you go.” Ainsley saddles up next to me, handing me a plate. We dish out a little of everything on our plates and take a seat in the attached dining area. I watch Gavin fill his plate so high it’s comical, and then he turns to the fridge and pulls out a container filled with fried chicken. He plops a couple of pieces on top of his plate and then joins us at the table.
“So, what’s the plan? Are you both staying the weekend?” Larkin asks as she sits down.
“Umm.” I hadn’t planned that far. I just knew I needed to be here for Ains and didn’t second guess it. I didn’t come up with a plan.
“I think we’ll probably stay tonight since it’s already late, and then drive back tomorrow if that’s okay with you?” Ainsley says before shoving a fork full of noodles in her mouth.
“Yeah, the guest room is yours until you want to leave. You know our house is your house.”
The love in this family reminds me of mine. The fact that we both have families that love us, that support us and show up, is as incredible as it is rare.
“Thank you both for letting me invade family time,” I say, suddenly feeling a little intrusive.
“You’re never invading, Ledger. You’re welcome anytime,” Larkin says.
I smile, thankful for their hospitality. And when my eyes move over to Gavin’s, about to say something to him about his fierce protection over Ainsley, I see him demolishing the cold chicken on his plate.
My eyebrows furrow as Ainsley leans in and whispers, “Long story, but he found cold chicken when they first took custody of him. He became obsessed and still won’t eat it any other way.”
A chuckle escapes me as everyone digs into their food. Their family dinner doesn’t look much different from mine, and I’m eager for the day we can have everyone together for one big family dinner.
Chapter 38
Ainsley
Ledger and I have been busy as hell the past couple of months, restructuring Bluebell Landscaping and finally testing things on Jenna’s yard. Shockingly, she’s been a breeze to work with and there has been no awkwardness between any of us.
It helps that she pegged us as being together immediately, so the elephant was no longer parading around the room.
That’s the other thing. Life with Ledger is fucking incredible. We spend our days turning Bluebell Landscaping into the next big thing and our nights wrapped up in each other, enjoying the hell out of not hiding anymore.
Once word got out about us, the entire town was in our business. It was something I dreaded so much. It caused a lot of hurt within our relationship. Now, I realize that yes, everyone is in our business, but it’s because they care about us. They just want to see both of us happy, and it thrilled them that we’re together.
It’s been quite the change of pace for me, and I’m happy to say I love it.
To the shock of no one, when we came back from Larkin’s house that fateful weekend, my parents were sitting on my porch, waiting for us. My dad immediately embraced Ledger and told him he was glad to have him join our family. Everyone’s eyes were glassy, and I finally felt like this place was home. Like it was where I was always supposed to be.
Things have moved quickly since then. We decided my settlement money should go to creating a house both of us would feel comfortable in. The choice seemed obvious: turn Ledger’s current house into our dream home and add an actual office to the nursery so we have a designated workspace to grow with. My house was always just going to be a rental, no matter how much I love that wildflower field in the backyard. Keeping the house that holds so many memories for the Huttons was the only thing I wanted.
So, after Jenna’s yard is complete, we’ll be drawing up plans for the house. It’s overwhelming in the best kind of way.
A knock sounds at the door and I look over, confused. No one knocks here. They just burst in whenever they need something. That was a lesson that was learned the hard way, so maybe one of the Hutton siblings finally got the memo that Ledger isn’t alone anymore.
I go to open the door and see Arlo on the porch.
“Good evening, Sherriff, what can I do for you?”
“There’s been word about a new guy in town. Alice and Mabel were concerned that he seemed ‘unsavory’—their words, not mine. So I’m just checking the outskirts, seeing if anyone has noticed anything. They said they overheard him asking Kelly about an assassin in these parts.”
