Page 151 of Stay Wild Darlin’

She narrowed her eyes, but I didn’t flinch.

“I was hired as her nanny. That’s how this started. I’ve cared for her every day since. I’ve rocked her to sleep, cared for her through fevers, kissed her scraped knees, taught her first words. And no, I’m not her mother. I would never try to replace that.” I paused. “But I love her. I show up for her. I will protect her.”

Brooke stared at Dalton for a long beat, then let out a humorless laugh. “Fine. You want the truth? Here it is.”

Dalton frowned. “The truth about what?”

“About how I ended up here. About why I stayed.” Her jaw tightened. “We grew up together. I moved to Lindley when we were teenagers for you. I worked at that shitty bar and, yeah, I made choices.”

He didn’t move. “What choices?”

Brooke’s eyes went cold. “I got off birth control on purpose.”

Silence slammed through the room.

I turned, locking eyes with Fable, who looked as blindsided as I felt. She gave the slightest shrug, like nope, didn’t know that either.

“You didn’t know that?” Brooke taunted. “Dalton’s been in love with me for forever, so I wanted to make sure we would always be connected. I told you earlier, but no one here’s listening. He always comes back. Every single time.”

My hand slipped off Dalton’s thigh. “I . . . I didn’t realize.”

Dalton’s whole body tightened. His fists clenched before he slammed both palms down on the table hard enough to rattle the glass in front of Brooke.

“I didn’t ask you to move here, Brooke,” he shouted. “I didn’t fucking want that! God—” He pushed back from the table and stood up fast, breath ragged.

I stood too.

There was too much between them. More than I understood.

In truth, I didn’t want to understand it all.

I looked at Brooke, and beneath all the cruelty, I still saw the wreckage, the damage, and the desperation.

“I—” My voice caught, so I swallowed hard and tried again. “I’m gonna head out. You two . . . you need to figure this out.”

Dalton grabbed my arm, his voice cracking. “Poppy, please. Don’t leave.”

I looked into those deep green eyes I loved more than I could admit aloud. Still, I shook my head. “No. You need to talk to her, Dalton. Without me in the room. Cora’s safe, and that’s all that matters right now. We’ll— we can talk later.”

He didn’t let go right away, but he didn’t fight me, either.

Fable tried to say something as I moved toward the door, but I gave her a small shake of my head. Don’t.

Harleigh followed me out, silence thick between us.

“You want me to kick her ass?”

I tried to smile.

I couldn’t.

“No,” I whispered, eyes drifting back to the dining room. “She’s not worth it.” I paused, the ache in my chest too deep to swallow. “This is . . . sad, Harleigh. Cora deserves so much better than all this.”

It was the last thing I said before the door closed behind me, before I walked to my car, and I finally let myself fall apart.

53

Dalton