***
Two days after Shiloh moved in with Harley, it was her birthday. She didn’t even know that Harley knew when her birthday was, so she was very surprised when she came downstairs that morning and saw an envelope with her name on it propped up on the counter. She picked it up she biting her lip. She opened it and pulled out a birthday card that was simple and cute and wished her a happy birthday.
She was fixing coffee when Harley came downstairs.
Harley walked over to her and kissed her cheek. “Happy birthday,” she said smiling. “You gonna be ready soon?”
“Thanks, yeah,” Shiloh said, nodding.
A few minutes later in the car, Shiloh suddenly realized that they weren’t headed the usual way to the office.
“Where are you going?” Shiloh asked, looking perplexed.
Harley grinned, but didn’t answer. A few minutes later, she pulled up to the curb of the Soho House of West Hollywood. She handed the valet the key to her car and a fifty-dollar bill. Then she walked over to open Shiloh’s door.
“What’s going on?” Shiloh asked.
“Come on,” Harley said, smiling as she held her hand out to Shiloh.
She led Shiloh into the membership only restaurant and to the elevator that took them up to the rooftop garden.
“Oh my God, this is beautiful…” Shiloh breathed.
There were sweeping views of Los Angeles. There were cushioned chairs and couches, plants and trees. It was a beautiful restaurant. They were seated near the windows and had a great breakfast.
“This was so sweet of you,” Shiloh said, sighing. “Thank you, Harley.”
Harley nodded, her look expressionless.
They left the restaurant, and Shiloh expected Harley to head to the office. She didn’t. Instead, she headed east on Sunset and took a right on North Doheny Drive. A couple of minutes later she pulled up to Salon Benjamin and got out, handing her key to the valet once again and leading Shiloh inside. Two hours later Shiloh was still surprised by her morning of beauty. Her hair had been colored, highlighted, cut and styled. When she emerged, her hair was a rich mahogany brown with burnished gold and copper highlights that lit her face beautifully. It was cut to frame her face and flowed down her back in waves. Harley had sat by and chatted with the staff and Shiloh the entire time.
“You are too much,” Shiloh said to Harley when they were back in the car.
“Me? No…” Harley said, grinning.
Once again, Harley didn’t head in the direction of work.
“Are we even going to the office today?” Shiloh asked.
“It’s illegal to work on your birthday,” Harley told her.
“News to me,” Shiloh said, grinning.
Harley drove out to North San Vicente Boulevard and then took a right. Shiloh was once again surprised when she stopped at the Beverly Center shopping center and pulled into the parking garage. Harley got out of the car, and walked around to open Shiloh’s door.
“Okay, we’re just window shopping now, right?” Shiloh said, knowing full well that Harley had already spent a lot of money between breakfast and the hair salon. She’d glanced at the prices in Salon Benjamin and just about passed out.
Harley didn’t respond to the question, instead she led Shiloh into the mall.
“Pick a store,” Harley said, grinning.
“For…” Shiloh said, narrowing her eyes at Harley.
“It’s not polite to look a gift horse in the mouth, Shy,” Harley told her with a wink.
“I am not spending any more of your money,” Shiloh said, folding her arms with resolve.
“Then spend yours,” Harley said, handing her a credit card.
Shiloh looked at the credit card, she was damned if it didn’t say her name on it.
“What did you do?” Shiloh asked Harley.
Harley smiled benevolently. “I knew you’d only let me spend so much of my money, so I put money on this, and you’re going to have to use it, ’cause it’s no longer in my name.”
“You are a real brat, you know that?” Shiloh said, doing her best to look mad.
In truth, she’d never had anyone treat her like this. Her heart was touched so deeply that she had no way to express it properly. She put her arms up around Harley’s shoulders, hugging her tightly.
“You are way too generous, Harley,” she whispered in her ear. “I can’t even begin to thank you…”
“You don’t have to thank me, Shy,” Harley said, looking down at her. “I just want you to have fun on your birthday, okay?”
Shiloh pressed her lips together, tears in her eyes suddenly.
“And don’t do that either!” Harley exclaimed, pulling her close again so she wouldn’t have to see the tears.
Shiloh leaned her head against Harley’s shoulder until she could get her tears under control. When she finally had composed herself again, she stepped back and glanced up at Harley.
“So what am I supposed to do with this?” she asked, holding up the card.
“Spend it,” Harley said. “Make sure you get an outfit for The Club. I’m taking you there tomorrow night.”
“You are?” Shiloh asked, surprised.
“I think it’s about time you meet more than just Ray, Jerich, and Devin,” Harley said. “That’s the best way to meet everyone.”
“Okay,” Shiloh said, nodding. “Where would be the best place to find something that will work for The Club?”
“Personally, I’m all about Diesel, but you could check out BCBG or Divine or Dolce… You pick.”
Shiloh gave her a serious look. “Dolce? How much is on this card Harley Marie Davidson?”
Harley smiled, her blue eyes sparkling in amusement. “Trust me, I’ll let you know if you’re going to max it out.”
“That isn’t an actual answer,” Shiloh said.
“But the only one you’re gonna get, so get to shopping.”
They spent the next few hours strolling through stores and looking at every imaginable style of clothing. Shiloh found that Harley was a lot of fun to shop with. She continually picked up crazy stuff just to make Shiloh laugh. However, in the end, it was Harley who seemed to have the eye for the kinds of things that would look good on Shiloh.
They ended up at BCBG where Harley picked up a leather mini skirt with a scalloped edge, and a lace camisole, along with a few other pieces she thought would look good on Shiloh. She also picked out couple of different pairs of booties and handed them to Shiloh.
“I’ll be out there,” Harley said, pointing to the chairs outside the private dressing room. “I expect to see anything that actually fits,” she said with a wink.
When Shiloh put on the mini skirt, camisole, and booties she looked at herself in the mirror. She could not believe how good she looked. Harley definitely had an eye for clothes.
She walked out of the dressing room and looked around to see Harley sitting in one of the chairs chatting with a sales girl. When Harley glanced over at Shiloh however, she stopped talking. Her eyes went from Shiloh’s toes, all the way up her body, a slow approving smile spreading over her face.
“You look incredible…” Harley told her. “You have to get that for The Club.”
Shiloh bit her lip. “I can’t wear this to work though…”
“So?” Harley said. “There’s other stuff in there for work.”
“Harley, this is like eight hundred dollars’ worth of outfit!” Shiloh whispered loudly.
Harley grinned. “So?” she repeated. “You’re getting it, or I’ll use my own credit card.”
“Okay, okay,” Shiloh said, shaking her head and rolling her eyes.
“You need a jacket. We’ll have to go somewhere else for that though… Maybe Dolce or maybe even Diesel… Hmmm…” she murmured.
She pulled out her phone to look up something. As she did, she motioned to Shiloh to go try on the other things.
The next outfit was a black sleeveless blouse with white pinstripes that draped in an asymm
etrical A-line and emphasized Shiloh’s small waist. It was paired with matching tailored pinstriped pants. For fun, she put on the other pair of booties Harley had picked.
“Oh yeah…” Harley said nodding. “All of it,” she said decisively.
“But…” Shiloh began to protest. This was yet another seven to eight hundred dollar outfit.
Harley merely held up her own credit card pointedly.
“You are a brat,” Shiloh said.
Harley just grinned and flicked her finger toward the dressing room.
At the register, Shiloh was sure she was going to faint when the total rang up to over $4,000. She looked at Harley, hoping she’d say that it had maxed the card out. She didn’t.
“Harley…” Shiloh entreated.
Harley simply looked back at her with a smile on her lips.
“Now, about that jacket…” Harley said, picking up the bags and nodding toward the door.
“No,” Shiloh said, shaking her head.
“Yep,” Harley said. “You’ll freeze otherwise.”
“I have jackets,” Shiloh said.
“Not that go with that outfit,” Harley said, referring to the outfit Shiloh had gotten for The Club.
“No,” Shiloh said again.
Harley shook her head and started walking down the walkway in the mall. Shiloh had to hurry to catch up. Harley held her arm away from her body, bidding Shiloh to take her elbow. Shiloh did, hugging Harley’s arm and putting her head against Harley’s upper arm.
Harley led her to Diesel. There she picked out some clothes for herself and a black jacket for Shiloh made of one hundred percent sheepskin. It was supple and soft, and had a bit of a biker look to it, with a buckle low on the waist and motocross-style quilting on the sleeves.
“Seven hundred dollars?” Shiloh exclaimed.
“I already have my card out,” Harley said, taking the jacket out of Shiloh’s hands and putting it up with the rest of her stuff.
Shiloh gave Harley a narrowed look, which Harley ignored.
They had lunch at the Piazza Lounge and then Harley finally took Shiloh back to the house. As they walked into the house, with Harley carrying all of the bags refusing to let Shiloh touch them, Shiloh felt a sense of unreality. She could not believe how much Harley had done for her that day, not to mention letting her live in this immensely beautiful home for $200 a month. It was crazy.
Harley took the bags upstairs and put them down in Shiloh’s room. When she turned to walk out of the room, Shiloh grabbed her, hugging her.
“Thank you so much for this, you are sincerely the craziest person I’ve ever met,” she said, smiling. “But you are also the most wonderful friend I could have ever hoped for.”
Harley smiled, looking down at her. “Happy birthday, Shy.”
“Thank you,” Shiloh said, smiling softly.
Harley leaned down and kissed her lightly on the lips. Then she turned and left the room. Shiloh stood looking around the room and at the stack of bags sitting on the bed. She pulled the credit card out of her pocket and looked at it, wondering exactly how much was on it. She noted a phone number on the back.
She bit her lip, wondering if she should call the number to check. She debated for a while, but finally gave in to temptation. A few minutes later she wished she hadn’t as the operator said that there was no limit in the card and that yes the card was billed to Harley Marie Davidson. Shiloh had to sit down after that. Harley had given her a credit card with no limit… Who did that? The level of trust that it took for Harley to do that kind of thing was beyond crazy. Shiloh doubted she knew anyone that she’d trust that far. She shook her head; the woman was just too much.
Chapter 6
Jazmine got a phone call one afternoon, two weeks after Dakota started the project for Cassandra. It was one of the workmen at the site. He told her that Dakota had been hurt and that they’d taken her to the hospital at Cedars Sinai.
“Shit!” Jazmine exclaimed. “I’m headed there now, thank you!”
She drove toward Cedar, calling Cody on the way. At the hospital she went to the emergency room and inquired about Dakota.
“Are you family?” the nurse asked.
Jazmine paused, shaking her head, thinking how annoying this was.
“Yes, she’s family,” came a voice from behind her. She turned to see Lyric.
“But…” Jazmine stammered.
“He called me right after he called you,” Lyric told her, then nodded to the nurse. “Dakota is my daughter. We need to know how she is.”
The nurse nodded. “I’ll get ahold of her doctor and have him come see you.”
“Okay, if she’s conscious you’re going to have a problem with her,” Lyric said, her tone matter of fact. “So you might want to make that fast.”
The nurse looked surprised, but nodded as she picked up the phone. The doctor came out a couple of minutes later, just as Cody and Savanna joined them.
“How is she?” Jazmine asked, worried.
Savanna put her arm around Jazmine, hugging her to her side.
“Ms. Falco suffered some contusions and we’re fairly certain a concussion. We’ll need to do a CAT Scan to be sure. She took a pretty good knock to the head, although she seems fine. I can take you back to see her.”
“Thank you,” Lyric said, glancing at Savanna and Jazmine seeing the relief on both women’s faces.
In the emergency room, they immediately heard Dakota’s voice.
“Back off, I’m not kidding you…” she was saying, her tone low and threatening.
“Oh Lord,” Lyric said as she quickened her pace. “Thanks doc,” she said as she passed him to get to the curtained area. “Dakota!” she exclaimed as she pulled back the curtain. The nurse who was trying to take Dakota’s pulse backed up into her.
“I’m sorry, ma’am,” the nurse exclaimed as she moved around Lyric and left.
Lyric looked over at Dakota who was sitting up on the bed looking highly agitated. She smiled and seemed relieved when she saw her family.
Jazmine walked over to Dakota immediately, putting her arms around her and hugging her gently.
“What happened?” she asked when they parted.
Dakota shook her head, looking embarrassed. “I was carrying some stuff, and slipped on the stairs. It was stupid.”
Jazmine blew her breath out, and Dakota could tell she’d been worried it was something else. She shook her head slowly at Jazmine, as Lyric, Savanna, and Cody moved in to hug her.
“It’s getting late, so we’re going to need to keep you overnight,” the doctor told Dakota.
“Yeah, I don’t think so,” Dakota said immediately.
“Ms. Falco, we need to ensure that there’s nothing else going on with your head before I can release you,” the doctor said, his tone authoritative.
“And I care because?” Dakota replied, in the usual acerbic manner she had when it came to doctors.
“Dak…” Cody cautioned.
Dakota looked at Cody and narrowed her eyes.
“She’s right, Dakota,” Savanna said, rubbing her hand over Dakota’s arm. “We need to make sure you’re okay before you come home, okay?” Her tone was soothing and gentle, and as usual, Dakota responded to it.
Sighing, Dakota said, “Fine.”
Cody and Lyric exchanged a look, both of them grinning. No matter how tough Dakota acted, she would never argue with Savanna.
Things with Lily were fine for the first six or seven months. She took Dakota places, paid for things, insisted on buying her clothes and shoes, and anything else Dakota seemed to want or like. Dakota was always suspicious, but Lily seemed to genuinely want to do things for her, so she let her.
When she heard Cody had gotten out of juvenile hall, she made a point of finding out where she’d been sent. She happened upon the house Cody was staying in on a day when Cody had been leaving with a blond in a black Ferrari. She saw the huge smile on Cody’s face and wondered about it. After the car drove o
ff, Cody made her way to the house.
She was greeted by a woman with long dark red hair, and the warmest brown eyes Dakota had ever seen before.
“Can I help you?” Savanna asked her.
“Yeah, I just wanted to ask about a friend of mine,” Dakota said casually. “I was told she’s here at your place.”
“Who’s your friend?” Savanna asked her tone kind.
“Cody Wyatt,” Dakota said.
“Oh, Cody. She just left a few minutes ago, but she’ll be back if you want to wait…” Savanna said, surprised that Cody had a friend. Though she realized she shouldn’t be, t Cody wasn’t exactly an open book.
“Where did she go?” Dakota asked, wanting to know about the woman in the black Ferrari.
“She went out with a friend of mine. She and Cody seem to have become friends.”
“Friends?” Dakota asked, raising a sardonic eyebrow, her tone indicating what kind of friend she thought this woman might be.
“Oh, no,” Savanna said, shaking her head. “Lyric is a great person. She’s actually a peace officer, so you don’t need to worry about Cody in that respect.”
Dakota nodded, her look guarded. Cody was hanging out with a cop? But then she remembered Cody’s smile at the woman and something tugged at her heart.
“Okay, cool,” Dakota said to Savanna. “Well, thanks,” she said, turning to leave.
“Are you sure you can’t stay?” Savanna asked, sensing that this girl needed a connection and she was hopeful that Cody might be able to get her to stick around.
“Nah, it’s cool,” Dakota said, assuming her usual nonchalant attitude.
“Can I at least tell her who came by?” Savanna asked gently.
Dakota’s eyes softened ever so slightly at the tone, but then shook her head. “Nah, I think she’s better off here, and I’d rather you don’t say anything about me coming by.”
“But…” Savanna began, her eyes searching Dakota’s.
Dakota reached out and took Savanna’s hands in hers, in a very adult gesture. “Just take care of her, okay?” she said her voice both somber and serious.
Everything to Everyone Page 11
