Page 75 of Every Single Vow
She raises up on her bare toes, pressing a kiss to my lips. “You’ve always been my hero, Coop.”
“And you’ve always been my queen of chaos.” Her head tilts back in laughter. “Let’s go. Maddox and I are on balloon duty.”
Three hours later, balloons, streamer, and a buffet style pizza palooza is taking over Ivy and Maddox’s living room. The cake is displayed at a small table in the corner with a huge blowup13in gold floating up behind it. Me, Maddox, Ivy, and Laiken are huddled in the kitchen, hiding behind the island. The rest of the crew is hunkered down in the living room. It’s been all hands ondeck today, and I was even surprised Clyde was willing to help. He’s taken it upon himself to teach Ari the art of rolling your own tobacco. Which frankly I’m not sure if it’s a good history lesson, or a disaster waiting to happen. He means well, but we had to give Ari the bigjust say nospeech to smooth it over.
My phone dings, signaling that Dakota and Ari are in route.
“They’re coming,” I whisper. “Get ready.”
Dakota knocks twice on the back door, acting as if she’s completely clueless to what’s waiting on the other side. When she swings the door open, she slides to the side while we all spring up shouting, “surprise!!!”
Dakota grins, her hands coming up to cover her mouth as Ari gapes at the room. Her eyes bounce around, landing on every face before she stops on the two tiered cake and balloons. Her face morphs from shock, to blank in a matter of seconds, followed by a trembling lip.
Oh no.
One second, she's standing with wide eyes, then the next, she’s bolting out the door.
Chapter forty-nine
Dakota
Crap.
I give a sympathetic look to the group, before I go after Ari. My heart breaks at the thought of making her cry. Was it too much? Did she hate birthdays? The sounds of her sniffles lead me to the barn, where she’s leaned against the stall, petting Rebel. Cooper had mentioned he saw her sneaking down here, but I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. And right now, she reminds me more of myself than she ever has. Sneaking down here to see these horses was my safe haven.
“Hey,” I say gently. “You ok?”
Her eyes are trained on Rebel, a few tears rolling down her pink cheeks. “I’m sorry.”
“What do you have to be sorry for?” I lean against the wall to the tack room and cross my arms. “If I overstepped, I’m sorry.”
“You didn’t.” She sniffs.
“Talk to me,” I urge softly.
“I just…” she sighs, then turns to peer at me over her shoulder. “I’ve never had a birthday party before.”
Oh, my heart.
“Or a cake. Or balloons.” She pauses. “A family.”
“Ari.” I take a step and wrap my arms around her. “It’s ok.”
“I’m sorry I ran. I don’t like anyone to see me cry,” she admits.
“Reminds me of someone else I know.” Cooper saunters over, his big arms coming out to wrap around us both. “What has my girls crying in the middle of the barn?”
“Just a little overwhelmed,” I whisper.
He shoots me a wink over her head. “I’m a little wounded you didn’t like my balloons. I practically gave up a lung to make that arch.”
Arizona chuckles and untangles from my grasp. “I love the balloons, Papa C.”
“Good.” He squeezes her shoulder. “You alright? We don’t have to go back in if you don’t want to.”
“I do.” She nods.
“She just needed a minute,” I offer.
