Hayden took a tortilla, then passed the plate of them to Eve. “I spent a few months working in Texas with Rhett last year.”
“You worked for me,” Rhett clarified, taking a seat across from Hayden. “For, not with.”
“A technicality.” Hayden reached for the bowl with taco meat, in full-on teasing mode. “I was your free babysitter.”
“Free being part of freeloader.” Rhett served all three girls macaroni and cheese. “Fact was, you never babysat for me. And you moved out so quickly, I thought the girls scared you off.”
“Your girls love me. And I paid rent,” Hayden protested, although Eve got the feeling this was old ground they were playing out in lighthearted fashion. “Plus, I bought groceries.”
“How about a truce during dinner?” Eve said.
The Bennett men bent their heads over their plates, smirking at each other. Eve knew from pre-wedding activities a decade ago that this peace would only last a short while. The Bennett brothers were known for their teasing, nonstop banter.
Conversation flowed around Eve during the meal. Hayden brought Rhett up to speed on his efforts to pay their grandfather’s debt and bring the ranch back up to profitability. Rhett talked about the ranch he’d been foreman of in Texas.
While they talked, Irene was quiet, her gaze seeming to turn inward. She wasn’t listening. Or perhaps the details were taxing her worn-out, only partially recovered brain.
“Who taught you how to ride?” Katie asked the twins.
“Our daddy.” Sadie dipped her biscuit into a blob of blackberry jelly she’d put on her plate.
“We started on ponies.” Piper grinned. “Sadie used to fall off all the time.”
“Because I rode bareback.” Sadie spoke without upset or malice. More like it was fact.
“She broke her arm.” Piper, on the other hand, was enthusiastic about the tale. “Twice.”
Eve felt a clutch of anxiety.
Hayden took hold of Eve’s hand under the table. “Kids have the ability to get back in the saddle after an accident.”
“Because we love our horses.” Sadie had the Bennett dark eyes.
“And they love us.” Piper had hazel eyes, which she must have inherited from her mama. “And that’s why we always get back on.”
“Because nothing in life is easy,” Sadie said. “Right, Dad?”
“Truer words…” Rhett smiled. “Isn’t that what Grandpa used to say about Homestead Hollow? He had a hard time repairing the log cabin there to keep it watertight, snug and warm.”
“Clyde loves that place,” Gran said, using the present tense and giving her grandsons a case of the frowns.
Without thinking, Eve tightened her hold of Hayden’s hand.
His brows rose. “What’s wrong, puddin’?”
“Pudding?” Katie chortled. “Mama, he called you pudding!”
“What would you have me call her?” Hayden demanded, although good-naturedly. “Sweet cheeks? Honey boo? Hot lips?”
Everyone at the table laughed, including Eve, despite her blush. And she kept on laughing at the other suggestions for terms of endearment. She laughed so hard, she forgot for a second that they weren’t really married.
*
“Eve seems nice,” Rhett told Hayden when they were sitting in rockers after the kids went to bed. “I don’t really remember her from before.”
“She’s more than nice.” There’d been a few days when Hayden thought he didn’t deserve her. “She’s good with Gran. And Katie, of course.”
“Is there another Bennett on the way?” Rhett asked in a careful voice. “Maybe a Hayden Junior?”