Priceless (Forbidden Men #8)(71)

“I...I’ve been pretty messed up,” Daisy Gamble answered, her voice wavering.

“Yeah, well boo-f*cking-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 though 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.

Finally noticing a new person, Beau shied against his mother’s cheek and gazed at Daisy from wary blue eyes. When Aspen glanced uncertainly toward Noel, he nodded once.

“This is Beau,” she introduced. “And I’m Aspen, Noel’s wife.”

“So nice to meet you,” Daisy told her warmly before turning to Teagan.

“My daughter, Teagan,” Caroline said.

Not as cautious as her cousin, Teagan sprang forward to hold up a toy, eager to share it with Daisy as she announced, “Lego.”

Her grandmother smiled and accepted. “Yes, I see that.”

Teagan kept blinking at her expectantly, which roused a confused glance from Daisy to Caroline.

“She wants to play Legos with you,” Ten translated dryly.

“Oh! Well...I guess. Okay.”

As Daisy knelt on the floor and played with Teagan, Beau grew curious and finally wanted to get down to play too.

All the adults pretty much just hovered, watching closely as their children interacted with Daisy.

She never again looked in my direction or asked who I was, which I didn’t mind, but still...rude.

Probably beginning to feel like a bug tacked to a board by how closely we watched every move she made, Daisy finally lifted back to her feet and brushed off her knees. “Do you have a washroom around here I can use?”

“Down the hall,” Noel told her after a beat, as if deciding whether he really wanted her in his bathroom. “Middle door on the right.”

“Thank you.” She moved past me and disappeared down the hall.

“I don’t like this,” Ten immediately announced.

Noel and Caroline didn’t answer, but they didn’t exactly look pleased.

Aspen began to wring her hands. “How do you think Brandt and Colton are going to react?”

Her husband shook his head. “I don’t know. I just hope she’s gone before they get home so at least they have more time to adjust to this than we did.”

“Colton used to have nightmares about her taking him away,” Aspen went on, the worry on her face clear as day.

“She’s not taking him f*cking anywhere,” Noel growled. “Jesus.” He scrubbed his hands over his face. “Was I wrong to let her in the house?”

Ten snorted. “You didn’t exactly let her in.”