Logan walked over to the two children with a cheerful smile and affectionately picked up Chloe. "My precious granddaughter, did you miss me?"
"Yes, my brother and I missed Gramp a lot."
Chloe looked at the kind old man in front of her, her sweet words like honey.
Gregory nodded beside her.
Samantha, seeing the close bond between the grandfather and grandchildren, felt a bit jealous and quickly walked over to ask, "Do you not miss me?"
"Of course not, we miss Grannie just as much."
Gregory noticed Samantha's jealous expression and quickly hugged her leg.
Samantha held the little guy, finally showing a smile.
Deanna was woken up by Lance and got out of the car, witnessing this scene and feeling stunned.
She looked at Lance with confusion.
Before she could speak, Lance read her mind and shrugged. "If I told you I didn't know they were coming either, would you believe me?"
Deanna looked into his sincere eyes and eventually nodded.
After all, Lance had no reason to lie to her.
She turned her gaze back to Samantha and Logan, her expression complicated.
At this moment, Julia came over curiously. "Who are these two people?"
She didn't recognize Samantha and Logan but saw that the children seemed very familiar with them.
Deanna replied, "They are Mr. Mercer's parents."
Julia blinked in surprise and then looked at her friend with admiration.
"You've even won over Mr. Mercer's parents. Does this mean your relationship is getting serious?"
As she spoke, she suddenly smiled mischievously and nudged Deanna with her shoulder. "When you marry Mr. Mercer, don't forget to reward me for setting you up."
Deanna felt exasperated by her friend's teasing.
She quickly stopped Julia's nonsense and whispered, "Don't say that. Mr. Mercer and I are not what you think!"
"Not what I think?"
Julia was taken aback.
She looked at her friend, then at Lance, and finally at the two children who were close to Logan and Samantha. She found it hard to believe otherwise.
Before she could say anything more, Deanna cut in, "Anyway, don't talk nonsense. The situation between Mr. Mercer and me is a bit special. Don't ask me about it because I haven't figured out how to explain it yet."
Seeing the unprecedented seriousness on her friend's face, Julia stopped joking around.
She spoke considerately, "Alright, I won't ask. When you're ready to talk about it, you can tell me."
"Thank you."
Deanna gave her a sweet smile, feeling warm inside.
Despite Julia's usual carefree demeanor, she was actually very thoughtful.
Their conversation was quiet but still overheard by Lance.
Lance maintained his usual calm expression and gently said to Deanna, "Let's go over there too."
Deanna nodded slightly but kept a safe distance from Lance to avoid unnecessary trouble.
Lance noticed Deanna's cautiousness and felt helpless.
Suddenly, he reached out and grabbed Deanna's wrist.
Startled, Deanna instinctively looked towards Samantha's direction.
Fortunately, Samantha was talking to the children and didn't notice them, which made Deanna breathe a sigh of relief.
"Mr. Mercer, what are you doing? Let go of me."
Deanna frowned at Lance in confusion while trying to pull her wrist free.
But Lance held on tightly without letting go.
"Mr. Mercer, stop it!"
Deanna's voice grew anxious as they approached Logan and Samantha.
Hearing her frustration, Lance turned his head seriously. "I know what you're afraid of. I don't like you distancing yourself from me. Trust me; I've got this."
His deep and sincere eyes made Deanna's heart skip a beat.
Before she could react, Lance had already led her to Logan and Samantha.
Samantha and Logan both noticed their joined hands.
Logan remained expressionless as if he hadn't seen anything and greeted warmly, "Dr. Deanna, long time no see."
"Mr. Mercer."
Deanna responded nervously with a nod.
She then glanced worriedly at Samantha.
As expected, she saw Samantha frowning.
Instinctively wanting to pull back her hand, she found that Lance's grip was unyielding like iron clamps.
At this moment, she heard Lance's low voice in her ear.
"Why are you here?"
Lance frowned at his parents.
Logan replied irritably, "We asked you to bring the kids home to play; since you refused, we had no choice but to come ourselves."
"Alright everyone, let's not stand at the door talking. Chloe and Gregory are eager to see their ponies."
Samantha spoke up then.
She carried Gregory through the gate of the ranch after speaking.
This was already her biggest concession for the sake of her grandchildren; she wouldn't support but also wouldn't oppose anymore.