But I wanted it—whatever fragments of himself he might offer.
I craved his touch.
More than anything, I wanted him to look at me the same way as he had this morning.
When I peeked back that way, Rhys was tossing Daisy onto his back.
Shrieking, she curled her arms around his neck. “Giddy up, horsey!” She knocked his sides with her heels.
Without hesitation, Rhys reared up and whinnied. He launched into a gallop, scooting around the island and toward the main living room where the children had run. He clamored around the huge couch as if it were a barrel, gaining on the kids who’d decided they’d be better off if they became a team. “Faster, horsey, faster!” Daisy shouted. “We gots to get ’em.”
“Y’all better not go tearing this house down,” Violet called, laughing under her breath.
“Hecks no. Got it handled, don’t we, Daisy?” Rhys shouted.
“Yep!”
It didn’t matter if I tried to protect myself against it.
The assault of emotion.
The crash of need.
The truth of what I felt.
It was there.
Seeping into my bloodstream and sinking into every cell.
I couldn’t look away as they frolicked and played and caused a commotion.
My insides twisted up tight in the sensation that swept the atmosphere.
Joy.
Like a tangible thing I could hold in my hand.
Rhys kept galloping, whinnying and bucking and making the kids howl with laughter.
Rhys and Daisy caught up to Brendon, and Rhys gave him a little tap with his hip, knocking Brendon off to the side. “Outta our way.”
Brendon stumbled a bit as Rhys blazed passed, the kid laughing hard.
“We are the champions! Kentucky Derby, here we come. Tell me you’ve got one of those fancy hats, Miss Daisy,” Rhys shouted.
“I gots a hat!”
“Dude…no fair…you’re like a bull,” Brendon hollered. He was bent in two and trying to catch his breath.
Rhys whirled around, one arm still securing Daisy to his back. “A bull? Bulls have no class. No smarts. No beauty. I’m a stallion, baby! I’m seeeeeexy!” He drew it like a clown, tossing his hair around as he reared back.
Daisy clung tight, giggling and laughing and hanging onto the crazy ride she was getting.
Giddiness welled.
Hope rising fast.
Just…this…feeling.
The feeling that I’d stumbled onto someone who was truly good. Onto someone who was kind to the core. One who didn’t mind being a bit goofy. One who brought more joy to the room just by the fact he was in it.
The way he wanted to do.
I just wondered if he knew the whole of it. If he understood what he really meant. The way everyone was drawn to the joy he offered.
“Okay, Donkayyyyyyyyyyyyy!” Brendon taunted back, catching up and tossing a playful fist into Rhys’ shoulder.
Rhys put on the brakes and whirled around, the feigned horror on his face making me bite back laughter.
“Ouch, man, that was just a dagger straight to my heart. Heck, right to the soul. I’m a stallion. A stallion.” He moaned the last and clutched his chest with one hand as if he were succumbing. His big body slowly crumpled to the floor, tumbling while he made sure to keep Daisy safe as they slumped in a withering heap to the marble.
“Oh, Lord, he’s already at it? I’m going back to bed.” The voice cut into the mayhem, and my attention whipped to the side to find a sleep-rumpled Melanie standing in the same spot where I’d been earlier.
I thought for the first time since I’d known her, her brown hair was a wild mess, bags under her eyes, her clothes disheveled.
Rhys hopped back to his feet, and he swept Daisy up as he went. He carried her into the kitchen and set her on the island as if she were two and not six. “Ahh, Mells Bells. Morning, sugar lumps. Why you lookin’ so sour? Someone in need of a little lovin’?”
Daisy hopped to her feet and spun in the middle of the island. “Yes! Amor, amor, amor!” She sang the words while she twirled and lifted her arms over her head. “We all need loves and deserve it the most.”
“That’s right, Daisy Mae. Everyone deserves a little lovin’, don’t they? All the amor.”
The glance he stole at me was so fast I wasn’t sure if I imagined it before he swept Daisy back into those strong arms and hugged her tight, just as quickly as he swung her down onto her feet.
Goodness.
My heart was going to explode from my chest. A puddle right in the middle of the floor.
Decimated.
Daisy went racing back for the stool and clamored up beside her mom.
Melanie rolled her eyes, but she was smiling a soft smile when she rambled the rest of the way in, heading directly for the coffee pot like it was a lifeline. “The only lovin’ I need in my life is from this baby right here.”
She caressed the industrial coffee machine as if it could whisper sweet nothings in her ear.