Cassandra nodded. “The tapered columns are one of the main features of a true Craftsman,” she said. “I remembered what you told me. That’s why I thought this mantle was perfect.”
“It is, you did really good on this one,” Dakota said, grinning. “Now about that tile…” she said, her eyes falling on the tile that had been sent over to the site.
“Not as good?” Cassandra asked grimacing with one eye closed.
Dakota laughed out loud and shook her head.
“I’m still looking, I promise!” Cassandra said, holding up her hand like she was being sworn in. “There was one Art Nouveau tile that I saw that I really want to get my hands on. It’s a really great dark sage green with a four-leafed flower pattern in darker greens. Art Nouveau is the right time frame, right? The twenties?”
Dakota nodded and smiled at the excitement in Cassandra’s voice. She could see that the rich socialite was finally excited about something. Dakota was beginning to wonder if Cassandra had indeed done some changing. Everyone at the site broke for lunch then, which left Cassandra and Dakota alone in the house together.
“Jazmine isn’t happy that you’re working with me, is she?” Cassandra asked.
“No, she’s not,” Dakota said honestly.
Cassandra nodded. “She still hates me,”
“Well, you did almost let me die, Cass…”
“I know,” Cassandra said, grimacing. “I’m the one that caused the wounds that could have killed you. I know… I’ve actually wanted to talk to you about that a few times…”
“Okay,” Dakota said, sitting down on the stairs, her look open. “Talk.”
Cassandra was so surprised by the sudden opportunity that she was unable to formulate a thought. She’d honestly expected Dakota to completely shut her down the minute she’d brought up the idea of talking about what had happened. She moved to sit on the stair just below Dakota, leaning against the rail, her leg extended out to the side, so her foot was against the other railing. Dakota noted the cute little designer work boots she wore.
“How much did you pay for those?” Dakota couldn’t help but ask.
“What?” Cassandra said, lifting her foot and turning it this way and that. “They’re really cute, they’re Frye boots, and they were very cheap only three hundred.”
Dakota coughed, shaking her head. “Only you would by three hundred dollar work boots that were designer.”
“Well how much were yours?” Cassandra asked.
Dakota looked back at her and grinned. “Well, they’re Under Armour and I wear them every day so I need good quality ones, and still they were less than half of what you paid.”
“I see,” Cassandra said. “My boots aren’t poor enough,” she said, with a grin.
“They’re very you,” Dakota said, grinning.
They were both silent for a couple of minutes.
“So,” Cassandra began, still not sure what she wanted to say. “About what happened… What I did… to you… I know that nothing will ever make up for that and you don’t know how much I’ve regretted my actions every day since then…” She looked up at Dakota. “I don’t want to make excuses,” she said, “but you should know that I did check myself into a facility when I left here after that incident.”
Dakota looked surprised and nodded slowly. “Okay…”
“The doctors thought that I must have had some kind of psychotic break… You know I was on so many different medications at one point…” She reached up putting her hand on Dakota’s leg. “Still, I’m not trying to make excuses. You are right, I could have killed you, and no matter what I say now, or what my reasons are, you’d have still been dead and I would never have been able to forgive myself.”
Dakota looked back at her, wanting to believe that Cassandra hadn’t meant to kill her. She hoped that she could trust what Cassandra was saying this time. Cassandra knew that Dakota was looking for signs that she was lying or pretending to be sorry about something she wasn’t. Cassandra withstood Dakota’s inspection, her look completely open and honest. Dakota decided that either Cassandra was telling the truth, or she’d become a damned good actress in the last so many months.
“Okay,” Dakota said again. “So the opportunity to work on this house really is exactly what you said, your apology.”
“My crazy way of apologizing, yes,” Cassandra said, smiling sadly.
Dakota blinked a couple of times, nodding as she tried to assimilate what Cassandra was saying. Cassandra could see that she was having a hard time believing her sincerity, and she couldn’t blame her. Things with Dakota had gone so badly, and had been so violent and angry and dangerous that it was a wonder that neither of them had ended up dead. What Cassandra hadn’t told Dakota was that she’d nearly killed herself by driving drunk and high at breakneck speeds in the Alps. She’d been trying to outrun the demons that had possessed her to do such a horrendous thing to Dakota.
“Is there any chance you’ll ever be able to forgive me?” Cassandra asked, knowing she was really pushing her luck at this point.
Dakota smiled softly. “I’m working on this house, aren’t I?”
The smile that lit Cassandra’s face suddenly was almost painful for Dakota to see.
“And you’re doing an amazing job,” Cassandra said, nodding and smiling still.
Then she looked at Dakota. “Jazmine really does hate me, doesn’t she?”
“She doesn’t trust you.”
Cassandra pressed her lips together in consternation. “I wouldn’t trust me either,” she said honestly.
“You wouldn’t?” Dakota asked, looking surprised.
“No,” Cassandra said, shaking her head, “because I think I’m in love with you, Dakota.”
“Holy hell…” Dakota breathed.
“What the fuck!” Jazmine raged as she paced back and forth in front of their bed.
Dakota sat on their bed with her legs pulled up to her chest, watching Jazmine pace.
“This is exactly what I thought, this is it! Goddamn her!” Jazmine yelled, throwing her hands up in frustration. “I knew it! I knew it!”
Still Dakota made no comment, knowing that nothing she could say to Jazmine at that moment was going to be heard. She needed to wait for her to calm down.
“No, that’s it, no… You’re done, you’re not going back there,” Jazmine said then, standing with her hands on her hips and her feet wide apart.
“Why?” Dakota asked mildly.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Jazmine asked looking stunned.
“No, I’m honestly asking you what you think has changed here,” Dakota said, her tone slightly lower this time, indicating that she was doing her best to keep her cool.
“Didn’t you just tell me that she admitted that she’s in love with you?” Jazmine asked sarcastically.
Dakota’s eyes narrowed slightly at Jazmine’s tone, her lips twitching with the effort to not react solely to that.
“Jaz, I know you’re upset,” Dakota said evenly, “but watch your tone with me right now.”
Jazmine stared back at Dakota, her mouth hanging slightly open at the rebuke. Dakota could see the play of emotions across Jazmine’s face: shock, anger, assumption, rejection, and right back to anger.
“Whoa!” Dakota said. She held up a hand as she saw the fire in Jazmine’s eyes suddenly, and her hands ball into fists. “Just stop and think for a minute, Jazmine… Think!” Dakota all but yelled.
When she could see that she wasn’t getting through, Dakota got off the bed and walked over to where Jazmine stood. Reaching out she touched Jazmine’s face and Jazmine stared up at her, her mouth still tight in anger.
“You want to be with her, right? That’s why you want to stay with the job,” Jazmine said, finally letting fly all of her concerns and fears. “You want her, you want that…”
“No!” Dakota said, raising her voice so she could be heard over Jazmine’s ranting. “How many fucking ways do I have to say it?”
“Your actions speak for themselves,” Jazmine practically spat.
“Yeah?” Dakota asked, sharply. “What do the actions of a raving lunatic say?”
“You think I’m a raving lunatic?” Jazmine asked hotly.
“I think you’re acting like one right now.”
“Because I don’t want you to keep working for someone that wants to fuck you?” Jazmine countered.
Dakota gave a short derisive laugh. “Lots of women want to fuck me, Jazmine, that doesn’t mean I’m going to do it.”
“Well, this one has a big pocket book, so…” Jazmine said, her tone trailing off nastily.
Dakota looked like Jazmine had just slapped her. In truth she felt like she had. Jazmine could literally see the mask drop over Dakota’s face, closing her completely off. Without another word, Dakota stepped back, walked around Jazmine to heading for their closet, and went inside and quietly closed the door.
Jazmine hadn’t moved when Dakota walked out of the closet three minutes later. She now wore boots and a jacket. She picked up her keys off the dresser and pocketed her wallet, then walked out of the room.
For the next four hours, Jazmine told herself that she was completely justified in what she’d said. Multiple texts and calls to Dakota went unanswered. In hour five, Jazmine started to worry. Dakota wasn’t drunk this time, but she was obviously upset. Jazmine started wondering if she should let the Falcos know what was happening. It took another half hour for her to draw up the courage to make that call. No matter how vindicated she felt about what she’d said, she knew that if something happened to Dakota as a result of her sharp tongue, the guilt would be on her head.
She reached out to Cody, too afraid to call Lyric or Savanna.
“Cody, it’s Jazmine,” she said when Cody answered her phone.
“What’s up, Jaz?” Cody asked, glancing over at McKenna who was holding Ana.
“I’m a little worried about Dakota, have you seen her?” Jazmine asked.
On her end, Cody’s brows furrowed. “No, why, what happened?”
“We kind of had a fight,” Jazmine said.
“Okay…” Cody said her tone leading.
“Cassandra admitted to Dakota that she’s in love with her today,” Jazmine said, her voice tinged with anger.
“Well, we kinda figured there was an angle there,” Cody said reasonably.
“Yeah, but for her to admit it and Dakota to still want to work for her…” Jazmine said her tone querulous. “It just sounded wrong to me, and I got mad…”
Cody closed her eyes on her end, she could tell by Jazmine’s hedging and justifications that something had gone very wrong.
“What did you say to her?” She asked, her tone accusing now.
Lyric and Savanna both looked over at Cody sharply, hearing the tone in her voice.
“Jesus, Cody!” Jazmine exclaimed, as she started to feel the guilt starting to creep in to her heart.
“What did you fuckin’ say, Jazmine?” Cody said sharply.
“I was really pissed off…” Jazmine said her tone tremulous now.
“And?” Cody bit out.
“And I said that Dakota wanted Cassandra because she had a big pocket book,” Jazmine blurted out, trying to rush through it like it would lessen the impact.
Cody’s mouth dropped open in shock, then she shook her head, her mouth contorting in a grimace of disgust.
“We’ll take it from here,” she said simply then hung up the phone.
“What happened?” Savanna asked the second Cody hung up the phone.
“Cassandra admitted to Dakota today that she’s in love with her, and fucking Jazmine accused Dak of wanting Cassandra because of her money.”
“Oh, Jesus…” Savanna said, looking worried instantly.
“Okay, start calling around see if we can locate her,” Lyric said. “Cody, text her.”
Dakota was driving at breakneck speeds, music pouring from the speakers in an attempt to drown out her thoughts. She was done, she was just done, was what kept running around in her head. She’d given the whole domesticity thing a try and this is what she got for it. Fuck it! she thought viciously as she slammed her foot down on the gas pedal. The Ferrari Berlinetta leapt forward. She’d dumped a lot of money into restoring the car, and had paid particular attention to the engine, giving it as much speed and power as it could handle.
Visions of time spent with Lyric in her garage working on the car flashed through her head. She shook her head, pushing the vision out. It was just replaced with pictures of baby Ana, or Cody, or… Savanna. Dakota closed her eyes for a moment, feeling a vicious stab of pain go through her heart. If she managed to kill herself this time, what would Savanna think? That she failed her? That Dakota had never really cared? That Dakota hadn’t really appreciated the gesture of adopting her… Tears coated her eyes suddenly. Damnit! This was what fucking loving people got you, you couldn’t even take the easy way out. Son of a bitch!
As if Savanna sensed Dakota thinking about her, Dakota’s phone rang. She looked over to see on the display that it was Savanna. She’d ignored numerous phone calls from Lyric, Cody, McKenna, Jazmine… even Jet had tried calling. She didn’t answer, but this was Savanna…
Sighing she touched the hands free on the phone.
“Yeah?” she answered, her voice completely toneless.
At her end, Savanna grimaced at hearing Dakota so far down.
“Dakota, honey?” Savanna said gently. “Honey, come home…” Lyric, who sat beside her, squeezed her hand. “Dakota, I know you can hear me… Please come home, babe, we just want to see you’re okay.”
“I’m okay,” Dakota said automatically.
“I said we want to see you, Dakota,” Savanna said, her voice still soft. “Please come home, honey.”
Dakota didn’t answer, she just grit her teeth in an effort to resist Savanna’s soft entreaty.
“Dakota… Please honey…” Savanna said, her voice growing more worried. “You have to know that we love you and that we are here for you. We will take care of you, please honey, just come home.”
It almost worked, she almost managed to shut her heart down and would hang up in a second. Then Savanna sniffled, and Dakota knew she was lost. Tears came instantly to her eyes. The woman that had become the mother she’d never really had was crying, and it was her fault.
“Okay,” Dakota said, her voice affected by the tears in her throat. “I’m coming home.”
“Okay,” Savanna said, sounding relieved. “Now can you please slow down for me too?”
Dakota gave a short astonished laugh. “How did you…” she began to ask.
“I know Ferrari engines, Dakota, all my girls drive them,” Savanna said, smiling through her tears.
Dakota smiled fondly, knowing Savanna included her as one of her “girls.” It broke her heart a little more.
“I’m coming home, and I’ll take it slow,” Dakota told Savanna, willing to promise anything to get her mother to stop crying.
“Thank you, honey, we’ll see you soon.”
“Okay,” Dakota said, nodding.
“Love you,” Savanna said then.
“Love you too, Dakota replied, feeling her heart ache.
A half an hour later, the dark silver-gray Ferrari pulled up to the front of the Falco home. As she climbed out of the car, Dakota felt exhausted suddenly. As she rounded the front of the Ferrari the front door opened, and Savanna ran out to grab her up in a hug. Dakota held Savanna, burying her face in Savanna’s long mahogany hair.
“Okay, honey… Okay…” Savanna said soothingly, her hands rubbing Dakota’s back.
Lyric, Cody, and McKenna watched from behind them, all of the smiling. It still amazed them that tough little Dakota would crumple so easily for Savanna and no one else. Savanna was always the Falco ringer when it came to Dakota.
When Savanna finally let Dakota go, she took her hand and walked her into the house. The other three parted to let them pass. S
avanna proceeded to sit Dakota down at the dinner table and holding both of her hands, she looked into Dakota’s eyes.
“Before we worry about anything else,” Savanna said. “When did you eat last?”
Dakota shook her head tiredly. “I’m not hungry,” she said her voice reflecting her exhaustion.
Savanna’s lips tightened in dismay. She glanced back at Lyric who stood behind where Dakota sat. Lyric nodded, gesturing with her head toward the spare bedroom. Savanna got the message and smiled, moving to stand.
“Okay, honey, let’s get you to bed then, come on,” Savanna said tugging Dakota back to her feet.
An hour later, Dakota was asleep in the guest bedroom. Cody and McKenna had gone back to their house, and Lyric and Savanna lay in their bed.
“What the hell was Jazmine thinking saying that to her?” Lyric asked, her tone indicating how crazy she thought that it was.
“Jazmine isn’t near as confident as everyone thinks,” Savanna said. “And I think that her stupid comment came from that place in her.”
Lyric looked back at Savanna for a long minute. “You do realize that I’m not Cody, right?”
Savanna gave her a narrowed look. “I think I know you’re not Cody, but I also know how smart you are, so I figure you’d get it.”
“Sorry, babe, no psych degree here,” Lyric said.
“Okay,” Savanna said, settling closer to Lyric. “First of all, Jazmine is majorly indebted to Dakota, for the million she invested in the studio. Further, she’s living in the house that Dakota bought and now Dakota is talking about paying for an expansion to the studio…”
“Okay…” Lyric said, nodding slowly. But she still didn’t understand.
“What people say to you is never personal,” Savanna said. “It’s a reflection of their own experience of life.”
“You’re getting all psych-y on me again…” Lyric said with a grin.
“What Jazmine said to Dakota wasn’t a reflection of what she thought of Dakota, it was a reflection of what she thought about herself.”
Everything to Everyone Page 19
