“Who’s that?” One of the adorable little boys points at me. He looks to be close to Kendrix’s age.
“This is my friend Delaney.”
“Hi.” The little guy waves up at me. “You’re really pretty.”
I blush. That’s what my life has come to. I blush when a child pays me a compliment. “Thank you.” I crouch down to get to his level. “What’s your name?”
“Knox Alexander Beckett. That’s my sister. Her names Everly.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Knox.” I hold out my hand and, like the little man he presents himself to be, he doesn’t hesitate to put his in mine and shake.
“That’s Everly.” Kent points to two girls, who appear to be not much younger than Knox. “The one on the right is Everly, and Finley is on the left. These little monsters,” he says, tickling the two little boys who look just alike and are sitting in his lap, “are Ben and Beck.”
“And this little angel?” I ask, waving to a little girl who looks not much more than a year old.
“This is Daisy.”
“Hi, Daisy.” I hold my hand out to her, and hesitantly, she steps toward me. She looks over at Kent and he smiles at her and she changes course and tumbles into him and the twins.
“Come here, you.” He grabs her and blows on her belly, making her laugh. The boys rush off and Daisy cuddles up in Kent’s lap, content to stay where she is.
“They’re all adorable.”
“We have one more. Ryder is three months, so he can’t toddle after me like the others, and then Tyler and Reagan are expecting number three—they have the twins—in a few months.” I nod, taking it all in, and trying to memorize that the twins are Tyler and Reagan’s. “She’ll have lots of cousins. Lots of family to support her.” Kent’s voice is soft, almost reverent when he speaks of Kendrix.
“I’m not going to remember all of this.”
He grins. “You’ll catch on in no time. Come on. I want you to meet the wives and the guys officially, of course.”
“Officially? Have I not already met them?”
“Yeah, but that was as Delaney, a girl from my past. The one that got away.”
“As opposed to?”
He smirks and shrugs, lacing his fingers through mine and pulling me further into the house.
“There he is.” Tyler smiles as we enter the kitchen.
“Hey.” Kent waves to the group. “Everyone, I’d like for you to meet Delaney.”
Before I know what’s happening, the women in the room rush to me, all of them taking turns giving me a hug and welcoming me. “I’m Mara,” the last one says. “I know you’re not going to remember all of us, but that one’s mine.” She points to Seth. “Welcome. What would you like to drink?” she asks.
“Uh, just water is fine. Thank you.” She nods, and before she can turn to retrieve a water, Seth is there handing it to her, making her laugh. “Thank you,” I tell them both.
“All right, boys, now that all the ladies are here, we’re going to chat. Pizza will be here in fifteen.” Mara grins. She takes hold of my hand and pulls me behind her to the living room. “I cheated,” she says when we’re all seated.
“Pfft,” another one speaks up. “It’s food, and the kids will love it. No one ever said family dinners had to be homemade.”
“Exactly,” another woman agrees before turning to me. “Ridge is mine.” She smiles. “Kendall.” She goes on to tell me her kids, and then each of the women takes a turn doing the same.
“I’m sorry if I don’t remember all of this,” I tell them.
Mara waves her hand in the air. “You’ll get it. There’s a lot of us, and as the newest member of this brood, I can tell you it can be a lot to take in.” She gives me a kind smile that has me relaxing even further into the couch.
“Your home is beautiful,” one of them says. I think her name was Reagan.
“Thank you.”
“When we were kids, we would always call it the castle.” She laughs. “I can’t imagine living there.”
“I can’t either,” I confess. They give me an odd look, and I realize Kent really hasn’t told them much about me. About us. “I was in a car accident a few years ago. I lost my memory.” Their reactions range from gasping to hands covering their mouths, and whispers of sympathy. “When I woke up, I didn’t know anyone. But within a couple of months, I had most of my memory back, as far as we can tell, except for anything beyond my high school graduation, which is when we moved here.” I see the confusion in their eyes and I’m sure they’re only holding back because we just met. “I don’t remember Kenton,” I say softly. “He remembers me. He has a picture of us on his phone. We looked happy.”