“Caroline,” the woman murmured, blinking rapidly. “My...goodness. You’ve grown up so pretty.” She glanced to Noel. “Both of you. You look...you look well.”
Noel narrowed his eyes. “What’re you doing here?”
The woman gave a helpless little laugh. “I don’t...I just...I’ve been clean for two years now, and I thought maybe...I don’t know, maybe we could all make...amends. I also wanted to see how my four babies turned out and if maybe there were any...grandchildren.”
When her gaze shifted to Beau and Teagan on the floor, Ten reached out and unapologetically scooped up both kids before plopping them protectively into his lap.
Scowling at the woman for even looking at them, he said, “My kid already has a grandma, thanks.”
“Ten,” Noel muttered, shaking his head, but there wasn’t any real censure in his voice.
“What?” Ten snapped back. “If this is supposed to be your mother, then I’m not impressed. Where the fuck’s she been for the past nine years?”
“I...I’ve been pretty messed up,” Daisy Gamble answered, her voice wavering.
“Yeah, well boo-fucking-hoo.” Ten obviously had no compassion for her. “Your children had to raise themselves, so my sympathy’s a little busy elsewhere, sorry.” He totally didn’t sound sorry.
“Who the hell is he?” Daisy demanded, turning to Noel, who was rubbing at a spot on the center of his head. “He can’t be Brandt or...Colton.” She winced uncertainly over Colton’s name, though, like maybe wondering if he was her youngest son after all.
“He’s my husband,” Caroline answered firmly, moving close to Ten. “Oren Tenning.”
Her mother’s gaze shifted between them before it roved around the room and settled on me. She squinted slightly, unable to place me, and no one enlightened her as to my identity, so she turned back to Noel.
“Where are Brandt and Colton?”
Noel clenched his teeth. As Aspen moved to his side, he took her hand and asked his mother, “What do you really want from us?”
“Nothing!” Flushing, she threw her hands in the air. “My goodness. I just...I want to reconnect with my children again. I want a second chance. Is that so hard to believe?”
While Ten snorted, Noel and Caroline shared a silent glance. Caroline lifted an uncertain shoulder. So Noel sighed and turned back to Daisy.
“Honestly,” he answered, “I have no use for you.” When Daisy sucked in a breath and looked as if she was going to start bawling, Noel added, “But if the others want a relationship, that’s fine. Wait, you do know they’re all over eighteen now, right? You can’t try to get custody over any of them any longer.”
Lie. Colton wouldn’t be eighteen for another three months, but Daisy nodded and said, “I know.”
My mouth dropped open. But...holy wow. Did she really not know how old her own children were?
And I’d thought my mom had been crappy.
“What about you, Care?” Noel asked his sister, arching his brows her way.
Her eyes widened. “I...” Shaking her head, she looked to Ten for help. “I don’t know.”
He stroked her leg. “Whatever you want, baby. I’ll support you no matter what.”
“We can ease into it,” Daisy rushed to say. “Meet once a month for dinner, or something. Start off casual, nothing big.”
“Then...maybe,” Caroline answered, gulping as if afraid she’d made the wrong choice.
Daisy brought her fingers to her mouth. “Thank you. Thank you for giving me a chance.”
Her daughter nodded, even thou
gh she appeared sick about the chance she’d just given.
Glancing down at the children still corralled on Ten’s lap, Daisy asked, “And who are these two little beauties?”
“Oh, uh...” Aspen swept forward cordially. “This little guy is actually mine.” She extracted Beau from Ten and swept him up onto her hip.