Delaney's POV:

It didn't take a rocket scientist to know who daddy had called to inquire about puppies, especially when we pulled up to the large iron gates at the road that kept the public off the property. There was only one person in Jefferson that felt the need to have a gate on his property and that was Brantley Gilbert, the town's superstar and Chloe's favorite music artist. She literally listened to nothing else, even his older stuff that was only on youtube.

Growing up in Jefferson, Brantley had been your typical bad boy; drinking, partying, drugs, and music had all been things that he had partaken in –all things that I had never dabbled in. Well, except for the alcohol; there was nothing better than a stiff drink or a perfectly chilled glass of wine after a rough day of working with kids. That wine was even more necessary when those kids got buck-wild near the beginning of winter break and at the end of the school year. Anyone who has ever worked in a school or with school aged children knows exactly what I'm talking about.

Since Chloe was a huge fan of Brantley's music, I had heard every song he'd ever written and watched more than a few interviews so I was no stranger to the man that he had become. I knew about the success he had found. I knew about his struggles with alcoholism. I knew the happiness that he found with Amber, his highschool sweetheart and the devastation that he had experienced after her untimely death. All of it made my heart ache for him and his kids. In the grand scheme of things, it made my sad situation with Alex and his cheating ways seem so much less significant. I guess that old adage about someone always having it worse than you couldn't be more true....

"Looks like Brantley has done good for himself." I said as the gates swung open and Daddy eased his truck down the curved cement drive.

"Brantley who, mama?" Said Chloe from the backseat, clearly having heard me and having a certain Brantley on her mind. I turned in my seat so that I was looking into the eyes of my children. They both looked at me eagerly, awaiting my answer. A smile spread across my face as I dragged out the moment. When I knew that Chloe and Colton were both about to burst, I smiled bigger and said one single word. "Gilbert."

"Oh, my GAHHHHHTTT!" squealed Chloe, her little voice quite shrill. Her hands were flapping up and down and her legs were kicking the back of the seat. Beside her, Colton rolled his eyes, something that I got on him about all the time but even I could ignore it with how shrill Chloe's voice was at the moment.

"You never told me you knew him." said Chloe, practically vibrating from excitement in her booster seat.

"Well, I don't really know him. We grew up in the same town, but he was older than me. We weren't what you would call friends. He hung out with different people than I did and had different hobbies than me." I said, turning back in my seat and looking through the windshield.

The house came into view and my breath hitched. The cabin style house that he called home was beautiful with its treated logs and massive windows. The porch looked inviting, begging for someone to plop down in one of the rocking chairs with a good book and a steaming cup of coffee on a cool fall day. It was obvious that his late wife had been a part of the design process since Brantley didn't look like the type that would care if there were various types of flowers in the yard that would bloom at different times of the year so that the landscape always looked homey.

"Yeah, he has." said daddy, replying to my statement from earlier. "He's really proven to the people here that a person can have whatever they want as long as they work towards their dreams and never give up."

"I've read a few articles about him. He hasn't had it the easiest, especially in the last year or so." I said, as daddy parked the truck in front of the massive sop off to the side of the house. "He's really been through it."

"He has." said daddy, a sadness in his voice. "I couldn't imagine being in his shoes right now. Losing your wife and the mother of your young kids so tragically..."

"She was shot in the head." Chloe chose that moment to chime in, her knowledge of how Amber had died spilling from her mouth in that blunt way that all kids had. At seven, she didn't know the need to choose her words wisely so that they didn't seem so shocking. It was something we worked on daily but obviously she wasn't grasping the concept too easily.

"Chloe Danielle, remember what I've been saying about choosing your words?" I said, adding that mama tone to my voice that meant business as I turned in my seat so that I was looking at her.

"Yes ma'am." she said, bowing her head, feeling ashamed that she had let her thoughts come tumbling out of her mouth without a thought. "We have to say stuff so that it doesn't hurt people's feelings. People don't like when we don't make our words prettier and not so ugly."

"That's right." I nodded. I placed a hand on her knee, and she looked up, her green eyes meeting mine. "I know that the videos and interviews haven't always painted the prettiest picture of how things happened with Mrs. Gilbert, but we have to be mindful of others. It might make Brantley really uncomfortable and a whole lot sad if you say something like that in front of him. And we don't want that do we?"

"No ma'am," said Chloe. Colton even answered, never wanting his sister to deal with any kind of reprimand alone.

"So, what can we say that would be prettier?"

Chloe sat quietly for a few minutes, processing what she could say. Her face lit up and an apologetic smile spread across her pretty little face before she spoke. "We could say that Mrs. Gilbert went to heaven before she was supposed to because some people were being bad."

"That's better." I said, patting her knee before turning in my seat. When I did, my eyes locked with Brantley's over the hood of daddy's truck. I don't know if I imagined it or if it actually happened, but I was convinced that his steps faltered when he realized I was sitting in the front seat –which was crazy because I'm pretty sure he couldn't have told you my name if his life –hell, the lives of his kids– depended on it. Whatever I thought I saw was short lived, making me even more sure that I hadn't seen what I thought I did.

Chloe got her first glimpse of Brantley at the moment and her squeals from earlier returned. I don't know how it was possible, but those squeals got even louder when Brantley opened the back door of Daddy's truck, bringing himself face to face with my star-struck little girl. And then everything went silent. Chloe didn't make a peep. Colton sat frozen in place. Even I couldn't force myself to move a muscle.

Daddy, clearly not affected by Brantley, spoke up then. I think he said some sort of greeting, but I can't promise that that's right. I was too focused on the man that Brantley had become. Sure, I'd seen photos of him online, but they didn't do him justice. You had to see his muscles and ink covered arms to really appreciate the effect since photos could only do so much.

Daddy clasped my shoulder, forcing me to look at him. He gave me a knowing smirk before climbing out of the truth. What he knew I don't know but it was a smile that I had seen many times when he knew that some things were about to change for the better. He'd given me that smile when I'd gotten my acceptance letter to UNC-Charlotte. He'd given it to me when he had held Chloe and Colton for the first time. When I really think about it, I'd gotten that same smile for every big event in my life except for when I told him that Alex and I were getting married.

"Makes you wonder if he knew things were going to go south, doesn't it?" That little voice in my head that liked to make me face the things that I wanted to ignore chose that moment to start up with her snarkiness, making me wish that I could strangle her. But even I could admit that she had a point. Had I really had my blinders on when it came to Alex our entire relationship? And if so, why the hell didn't someone smack them right off my damn face; it sure as shit would have saved me a whole lot of heartache.

Pushing those thoughts to the back of my mind, I climbed out of the truck. As I did, Brantley stepped back and away from the door he'd opened. "Long time no see, Laney." he said, as he bent down and lifted his daughter into his arms. I watched –stunned that he really did know my name– as his little boy came from behind him. Since Brantley and Amber had been protective of their kids' privacy and kept their faces off of social media, this was the first time that I had even seen what –or should I say who– they looked like. No two kids had ever been a more perfect blend of both parents than Brantley's kids, not even my own who I often looked at and thought they had equal parts of me and their daddy.

"He knows your name mama! I thought you said you ain't know each other." said Chloe, pulling me back to reality.

"We uhh.." I said, suddenly at a loss for words.

We went to school together." said Brantley, looking from me to my little girl. "And what's your name sweetheart? I bet you have a pretty name."

"Chloe Danielle Davidson." she said proudly.

"And I'm Colton Riggs Davidson." Said Colton, finally breaking free of the trance he had been in.

"Nice to meet you both." said Brantley with a smile. "This is Braylen and this," Brantley moved his son in front of him so that the kids could see him, "is Barrett."

Stepping in front of Brantley, I stepped into the open rear door and helped Chloe down before doing the same with Colton. As soon as I turned around, I saw Chloe wrapping her arms around Brantley's leg, locking her ankles. She looked up at me as happy as she could me. "Forget the puppy mama, I don't need it anymore. I want Brantley instead."

Me too Babygirl... meeeeeee toooooo.

That was the thought I had but I didn't dare let the words slip past my lips.