fish. Marigold fussed and reached out her arms for me, so I took her out of the exercise dish to buy myself time to formulate a response, but in the end I didn’t have to.
“Don’t be mad at Parrish,” Diesel said, sitting on the edge of the sofa closest to Beau. “The engagement only happened recently, and it was my idea to keep it quiet for a bit.” He pushed a hand through his hair. “Let me be honest with you, sir, my life is a hot mess right now. I’m nobody’s idea of a good bet. Every bit of my money and time are going to taking care of this little girl and fighting for the right to keep doing it. Meeting Parrish—heck, meeting any man who’d want to take all this on with me, but especially someone as loving and nurturing and encouraging and smart as your nephew—was the furthest thing from my mind, ’cause I’d sorta figured I’d start dating when she was eighteen or so. But then… there he was. Like a rainbow after a storm. Like finding the promised land after wandering around alone in the desert.”
He gave me a sheepish grin, like he knew he was being overly sentimental but couldn’t help it. I’d never wanted anything more than to believe his words were real.
“I couldn’t let a miracle like Parrish pass me by, just because the timing was terrible. I’m no kinda man for your nephew, sir, and that’s the truth. I don’t deserve him, and I haven’t done a thing to earn him. But somehow, I got him. So, I’m gonna try my hardest to keep him.” He looked over at me and Marigold, and his gaze softened. “To keep both of them.”
“Well, now.” Beau pulled a ginormous hankie from his pocket and sniffled into it. He mopped his eyes and cleared his throat. “Well, now,” he repeated. “Then I guess I should welcome you to the family, Diesel Church.”
Diesel, who’d just relaxed enough to take a sip of his coffee, choked and his coffee went spewing. His eyes flew to me, and I smiled as I sat next to him and thumped him on the back to help get his breathing under control.
“Thank you, sir,” he said gruffly, his eyes full of gratitude and maybe just a little bit of shame.
Uncle Beau waved this away. “No thanks necessary. You have no idea how it warms my heart to see Parrish with a baby in his arms again.”
Diesel frowned a little in confusion and looked at me, but I looked away. At some point, I was gonna have to tell Diesel about Payne and the boys. Probably. Maybe. Or not. Honestly, with so many lies floating around, this lie by omission was small potatoes, and I didn’t want Diesel to pity me for all the months my idiot self had been deluded into thinking Payne loved me.
I also very much didn’t want him to see how close I was to letting history repeat itself.
“Alrighty, then, what we need is a plan.” Beau brought his hands down to slap his knees. “Because there’s no way am I gonna sit by and watch you three take your chances when I’ve got the means to make things happen. Isn’t that right, Miss Marigold?”
Marigold, who was sitting on my lap blissfully unaware that adults were deciding her future, slapped her own chubby knees in response, and Diesel and I couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Would you look at that? She’s taking after her uncle Beau already!” Beau crowed delightedly. “So, what’s the deal with her grandparents?”
“The Kensingtons,” Diesel volunteered. “They took my sister in after our parents died. They live in Nashville now, and they’re big in horse breeding, I guess—”
“Brenda and Hunt Kensington?” Uncle Beau snorted. “Oh, I’m familiar. Your aunt Marnie’s had run-ins with Brenda in the past. You got a lawyer?”
Diesel and I exchanged a glance.
“Sort of,” I said. “Stewie is…” I couldn’t think of a word that meant generally harmless, but completely unmotivated and not quite competent. “He’s Stewie.”
“He’s fine,” Diesel cut in. “He’s qualified. And affordable. Which is exactly what I need.”
“No, sir.” Uncle Beau shook his head. “No, sir, it is not. I’ve been where you are, son. I grew up so poor, if a trip around the world cost a dollar I wouldn’t’ve made it to Virginia. I know what it’s like to have your pride be the only thing you haven’t sold or bartered. But there comes a time when