Chapter 41

Lincoln

I suck in a deep breath as I push open the barn doors and walk through to where I’ve made myself a makeshift workspace. I’ve been distracted and half listening to just about everyone that stepped in my path. Somehow, I volunteered to run a PTA event I have no business participating in. I fucked up a mash bill so badly that the entire distillery smelled like burnt hair for three days. And all of it is because of the one thing I had decided I’d never do again: fall in love with a woman. Fuck, I miss her. How could I miss someone so much that I’ve only known for a short time?

And then when Lark asked, “I thought Faye was going to come over for dinner this week.” I damn near lost it trying to explain that she had to go away for a little while and I wasn’t sure when she would be back. If she would be back. I’ve sent text messages and left voicemails, telling her I miss her, but nothing has been read or returned. I don’t know where she is or if she’s safe and that chews away at me every night when my arms feel empty without her in them.

“Dad,” Lily laughs out. “I think she likes the bows in her hair. She’s smiling.” The cow is definitely not smiling, but she’s well-tempered and lets Lily put bows in her hair while Lark brushes her hide.

I walk over to the stall with Dottie’s name over the top and smile at what I’m witnessing.

I look between them—Lily and Lark, and then the two newest Foxx girls, Kit and Dottie. A cow and a dog. I can’t help the smile the sight pulls from me. Fixing my glasses, I say, “I didn’t know what you two were thinking when you decided to bring home these two furry creatures. But I get it—you both have big hearts. You make everyone in this family smile and feel so loved.”

Lark looks around the barn space, toward the empty stalls and then back to me. Her eyes water when she says, “We wanted you to be happy. You said that the happiest you’ve ever been was when we were happy, Dad.”

I smile. “And are you?”

Lily smiles wide. “Dad. If this is about you telling us that you love Faye, then we already know that.”

I hadn’t thought through the idea of them just being okay with me loving someone new already. If it’s been fast for me, then it’s bound to feel the same for them.

I shift and look at Lark, and she smiles. “You’d have to be blind not to see it, Dad. You love her, right?”

I look up at the rafters and suck in a breath. “Yeah, Lark, I do. I love her a whole lot.”

Lily points at me and says, “I knew it. The moment I saw our soulmate marks and those diamonds near her eyes, I knew it. Dad, did you know her middle name was Rose?”

Actually, I didn’t.

“Hello?” Lily says, throwing her arms up. “Her middle name is a flower. Soulmate!”

I bark out a laugh. “So wise, Lil.” I don’t try to keep the welled tears from falling. “I’ve

been worried about how you’d feel. She’s not Mom?—”

But Lark cuts me off, “We were lucky to have Mommy for as long as we did.” She wipes away the tears as she lets her sister rest her chin on her shoulder.

Lily hands her one of her gemstone rocks. “Here, Lark. An onyx rubbing stone for courage.”

Olivia and I were broken before she died—our relationship had lost so much of what made us happy as a couple, but she was an amazing mother. She was the kind of mom a man hopes his kids luck out having. I would always be grateful to her for that. For them. I’m so proud as I watch them work through this—creating space for someone new.

“She loved you very much. More than anything.”

Lark sniffs, and then smiles at me. “I think Mom would want us to have more of that feeling—of someone else loving us and wanting to spend time with us.”

“You two are pretty great,” I say, rubbing my hand along Lily’s back.

“Obviously,” Lily whispers.

Lark smiles at her sister and rubs her thumb along the smooth black surface of the stone. “Dad, you’re my best friend in the whole world.” Pausing, her brow pinches as she says, “I liked Faye from the first minute we met her. I was nervous she’d take all your time. But I know that won’t happen now. I just don’t want to be sad again—love someone, just to have them taken away.”

My stomach sinks at hearing that, because I feel that too. I swallow the lump in my throat and look up, trying to stop more tears from falling. “We have a great life, just the three of us. I didn’t want to find someone else to add to this. We’ve been figuring things out pretty okay on our own, yeah?”

Lily wipes at her eyes as she nods.

Lark chuckles, looking at me knowingly. “But then Faye showed up.”

“Knocked me right on my butt,” I say with a smile.

“Dad, is that why you hated her at first?” Lily asks, always so curious.

They don’t need to know the details of how we started, but I can be honest enough here. “I didn’t know her. I had an idea about her that ended up being wrong.” I suck in a deep breath. “I’m scared too. Loving someone and them leaving. Or not coming back. But if she does?—”

Lark chimes in to finish the rest. “Then you’re going to make sure she knows how much we want her here.”

“Yeah, kiddo, then I'll make sure she knows how much we want her to stay. And how much I plan on loving her.”

“We,” Lily corrects. “How much we plan on loving her.”