names on them.
When she spots me, she smiles and leans forward to hug me. “Sophia Aragon, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you. I have so many plans for us…wait until you hear me.” She grins at Blaire and says, “This is going to be epic.”
“Leyla,” I answer and smile at her, overwhelmed by her familiarity.
Blaire said she was lovely, and I’ve no doubt that it’s true, but I feel like I’m missing part of some old conversation. No, it’s more like there was an introductory class before the school year started, and they met, so I either catch up or I’m going to feel like the outsider of the group for the remainder of the school year.
Unless I leave sooner.
What is best for me? To leave or stay?
It’s hard to answer while I have a little boy in my arms. He’s so perfect, just how I thought my son would look, and I’m split between wanting to be around him or avoiding him. In a way, we are what the other one doesn’t have.
We spend about an hour deciding who gets to do what, and by the end, it appears that I’ve become Arden’s babysitter. Once the meeting is over and the baby is asleep, I take him to his crib. Mills stays behind with him while the rest of us go to the barn to introduce them to the kids and show them what needs to be cleaned regularly.
We agreed that one of us would be with them during cleaning time while they learn. Pierce doesn’t look too convinced about letting anyone deal with the kids. He refused to let anybody but us feed them. I’m okay with the latter. When everyone leaves and it’s just Pierce and me with the kids, he says, “Are you still okay with this?”
“What part specifically?” I ask, brushing Alistair.
“They are a bunch of overwhelming assholes,” he explains. “They’ll be hanging out with the kids often. Then, there’s Arden.”
“I offered to take care of him, didn’t I?”
He nods and opens his mouth, then shuts it.
“What is it?” I ask. “Just let it out, Pierce. It’s going to upset me more if you just bottle it up.”
“He’s not your kid,” he says.
“Thank you for reminding me that I’m childless,” I say, handing him the brush. “Make sure you finish Poppy too.”
“You were doing it. Brushing them was your idea,” he calls after me.
“Yes, but I can’t handle being in the same room as you,” I argue, unhooking the door of Ally's pen and grinning. “Have a fun evening.”
“So, how did she escape again?” Sophia asks.
We’re sitting on the porch bench, watching four of the brothers chase Ally around the land. Mills is by the barn waiting for her to run toward him so he can catch her. Good luck with that, buddy.
In her mind, she’s screaming, you will never catch me alive.
It was comical to hear Pierce yell, “Could someone close the main fucking gate? Ally is going to escape,” right as I was about to enter the house.
“Next time, I hope they don’t close the gate in time,” I say, drinking from the glass of sangria we prepared. I can just imagine the commotion she’s going to create around town. “For now, let’s enjoy the show.”
As I told them, this is going to take hours.
Sophia arches an eyebrow and grins. “I like you,” she states. “No offense to your alpaca, but she seems a little feral.”
“She’s not, but once she’s out in the wild, she hates to be put back in,” I answer, pouring more sangria in her glass. “I think it’s good bonding time for those guys. Brings them closer together.”
“Let’s pretend you are the one who let her loose,” Blaire speculates. “Why would you have done it?”
I sigh and answer, “The day we separated, I promised myself I’d make Pierce’s life as miserable as he made mine for two years. My life coach says it is the wrong approach to get closure. I call it a fun way to find a little satisfaction.”
They both laugh, and Sophia even pulls out the camera to take some video of the guys trying to capture Ally.
Pierce repeats, “Don’t get too close, and don’t look at her directly or she’s going to run away again. We almost have her.”
Ally adores him, but she also likes to taunt him. When she gets just close enough to him and he says, “Come on, girl. Come to Dad,” she takes off.
“You’d think that by the third time