Page 30 of Two Weddings and a Shoot Out

“Maybe we should talk now,” Benji grumbled.

Locks nodded. “I appreciate you making the time to talk with me. Hope, if it’s alright with you, Benji and I will take a walk to talk this through man to man.”

Hope nodded. “Okay.”

Locks inclined his head, and Benji and he walked away.

Locks felt like an ass for not talking to Benji first, but the busyness of the weekend had made him forget to find Benji today. The one time he’d thought about looking for him, someone had walked up and asked a question, and then he forgot all about Benji.

“I want to say I’m sorry,” Locks said.

“Why?” Benji asked.

Man, the kid wasn’t making it easy on him.

“Because when I talked to Mimi about us being together, I planned to talk with you one-on-one, make sure you understood that I love you too. Not just as Mimi’s grandson but because you’re you. You’ve adapted to a new situation and handled everything with your dad. You’ve made friends, and you’re very kind to people. I saw you help Clara when she dropped her crochet hook.”

Locks waited a second to see if Benji would say anything.

“Go on,” Benji muttered.

This kid. Locks was positive the years with Benji and Hope would be full of ups and downs, and frankly, he couldn’t wait now that he finally got off his ass.

“Family means a lot to me. I’ve loved your Mimi for a while but couldn’t face it because of Remi and the other girls’ mom. It was hard to realize it was okay for me to love someone else after she died. I had to be reminded that love is infinite. But love being infinite is why I know that not only am I getting Mimi, but I’mgetting the son I’ve always wanted. I have five daughters, four sons-in-law, and now, when you agree to be a part of the family, I’ll have a son. But before you agree, I want to ask, do you have any concerns?”

Locks couldn’t imagine how Benji was feeling because he’d never been in Benji’s position, but he guessed that it was unnerving to have things changing again.

“I have a lot. My first is, do you believe in hitting women or kids?” Benji asked.

Locks paused and stopped. He got down on one knee so he could look Benji in the eyes.

“I don’t believe women or children should ever be hit, and I will fight to make sure no one else hurts anyone. I promise that Mimi will never need to worry about me hurting her or you, and neither do you. Is my promise enough, or do you need something more? I know you only met me five months ago.”

Locks stared at the little man Benji was. His dad being a horrible man had left his stamp on Benji. A glimmer of hope was in Benji’s eyes, but Locks could see the kid was scared to death to believe in Locks and then be disappointed.

“Phoebe, Blake, and I talked about promises. We didn’t think a pinky swear was enough, but blood makes my tummy hurt. I don’t want to do a blood oath,” Benji said, a scared look on his face.

“In a lot of old westerns, you see a spit shake. It’s where the men making a promise spit on their palms and then shake hands. It’s more than a pinky swear but doesn’t involve blood.”

Locks fought not to smile because this was important to Benji. Locks wanted Benji to feel safe, loved, and a part of the family. He had enough to deal with growing up. Locks wanted his home life to be a place of safety and love.

“I think that would work but a couple more questions. Would you be my dad, my grandpa, or what?” Benji asked.

“That’s a good question. Do you look at Mimi as your grandma or your mom?” Locks asked.

“Mimi is my Mimi. She’s my grandma when I’m doing fun things, but sometimes she has to be the mom and tell me no. Phoebe and Blake said grandparents rarely say no.”

Locks took a deep breath because he had to get this right. “I will be whatever you want me to be, but I see you as both my grandson and my son, if that makes sense. Mimi is your guardian, and just like she is both, I hope you would let me too. As my son, if you were interested, I’d hope you might help take over the bail bonds when you’re grown up. As my grandson, I’m going to make sure you have all the fun things too, without completely going overboard, if that makes sense.”

Benji rubbed his finger across his chin, then nodded. “Yeah, it does. What about the rest? Regina, Baron, Rascal, Meg—are they grandparents too like they are to Phoebe and Blake and all the others?”

“Well, that’s a hard one because Bluff Creek is a place where everyone is family. So, they already claimed you as one of theirs, meaning, even if Mimi and I weren’t together, they’d still be your grandparents.”

“Really?” Benji’s eyes bugged out.

Locks nodded and grinned at this kid who had stolen his heart just as much as his Mimi had. “Really, but I’m hoping that you’ll still want to make it official. Mimi will be getting a property cut, and I’d like to get you one too, like Phoebe, Grant, and all the kids have.”

Benji’s lip quivered, and tears spilled over onto his cheeks. “Dad never loved me, but you do!”

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