“I know.” He gives me a cheeky grin.
“Why don’t you go with Melody and get started, I’ll be right there.”
“Okay,” he says and hops down. He and Melody disappear.
I grab my phone off the cradle and find Dawson’s number. It’s a backdoor line only myself and the other execs at Rebel have.
“Rebel Industries, Dawson speaking.”
“Hey, Dawson.”
“Hi,” he singsongs. “Are you drowning yet?”
I laugh. “Nope, not yet. It’s actually not raining today.”
“There’s a shocker.”
I shake my head. “Listen, I need a huge favor.”
“You name it.”
I launch into the details of what I need him to do. I can hear him typing away on the other end of the line as I share everything. “Make sure you issue the check from my account. Once you’ve issued the check, send it over, I’ll sign it and get it right back to you.”
“Hang on, I’ll call the courier now.” He puts me on hold and the music plays while he makes his phone call.
After a few minutes, he returns to me.
“Okay, courier set up.”
“Perfect, and make sure it’s there in the next 45 minutes or so.”
“Shouldn’t be a problem. By the time the courier is here, it will be ready to go.”
“Awesome, you’re the best.”
“I do try. And the check is sent.” I knew I’d have it before I hung up. “I’ll have the contract done in five minutes or so. Have Melody sign it and send it back over.”
“Thanks, Dawson.”
I open my laptop and log in. I left my email open last night, and it’s overflowing like usual. “Can you clean up my email? Get the pertinent stuff over to Rachel and then leave me with the rest?” I ask as I glance at the growing list. I find his email with the check and open it.
“Absolutely,” he says absently, and I know he’s working on the contract.
I grab the pen and sign on the pad. I press enter and it places the signature on the line.
“Contract sent.”
“You’re awesome.”
“I miss you.”
“I miss you too, Dawson. You should come out to visit.”
He chuckles. “Soon, I will. Rachel is doing great, but I’m afraid to leave her right now.”
I snort. “I totally understand.” I open the contract and read through it briefly. It’s perfect and absolutely what I needed. “Hang on,” I say into the phone and pull it away from my ear. “Melody?” I holler then return the phone to my ear.
“What are you guys doing today?”
“The zoo, I think.”
“What’s up?” Melody says from the doorway.
“Come sign this for me?” I say and offer her the pen. She comes over to the desk and takes it. I turn the computer toward her, showing her the contract. “We’ll have Mr. Gonzales sign this. While it’s not a legal document, it should hold up in court.”
“It’s great,” she praises then signs the pad.
I hit enter and move the signature to her line and save it before shipping it back to Dawson.
“Perfect, you have everything,” I say into the phone.
“Great. I’ll get it packaged up and make sure the courier knows. I set up a return so they can bring the document back. I’ll send two copies so Mr. Gonzales can have one.”
“He won’t give a shit.”
Dawson snorts. “No, probably not, but at least we will have done our due diligence, and I’ll make sure to get the confirmation receipt from the courier when he returns.”
The doorbell rings. I look at my watch. It’s about 7:30who on earth could that be?
“Wonderful. Scan and send everything over to me when it’s done. I’ll print it off for Melody, and we’ll be good to go. Thanks again, Dawson.”
“Anything else?”
“Not right now.”
We hang up after a short good-bye right as Diem comes into my office with a rather large bouquet of flowers in his hand.
I raise an eyebrow. “It’s 7:30 in the morning.”
Diem chuckles. “You, above all else, know money can buy a lot of things.”
“Truth. Who’s it from?”
He sets it down on my desk. “No clue. Didn’t ask and didn’t look. It doesn’t smell like anything besides flowers and they are most definitely not dead. I figure they’re safe.”
I laugh and pluck the card off the stick.
I open it and sprawled in a very jagged, very manly script is:
Always love me
I flip the card over, but the only information is the florist’s address and name.
“What’s it say?” Diem asks, and I hand it over to him.
He quirks an eyebrow. “Dirk?”
“Probably.”
I look closer at the bouquet, and I know it’s Dirk because mixed in with the various flowers, like the rhododendrons, are cherry blossoms.
“It’s him,” I state simply as I take back the card and read it again.
Conceited jerk.
“Breakfast is ready,” Diem says as I ponder the flowers Dirk sent.
“Who delivered them?” I ask.
“The florist. His van was parked in front of the porch.”
I nod. “Thanks.”
He leaves, and I tuck the card back onto the stick, and I leave them in my office and join everyone for pancakes.
Chapter 50
Xavier
My phone rings. I pull it from my pocket. It’s Randy.
I silence it, but don’t reject it. Thinking better of it, I decide to answer. “Hey man,” I say.
“What are you doing?”
“Trying to figure out how to get my boat back,” I tell him.
“Where is it?”
I sigh. “The impound lot.”
“What the fuck happened?” he asks.
“It’s a long story, but I need to go get it. I’m going to have to drive it back here. Can you take me?”
“Will you explain what happened?”
“Do I have to?”
“Yes, if you want a ride.”
“I’ll call an uber.”
“Oh, for shit’s sake, Dirk, what’s gotten into you?”
I pinch the bridge of my nose in frustration. “I honestly don’t know.”
“I’ll take you to the impound lot. On one condition.”
“I really don’t feel like talking about it,” I grumble.
“Have dinner at my house tonight?”
I drop my head in defeat. “Alright,” I concede.
“Good, come on up to the house. I’ll be ready to go in a few.”
“Thanks.”
“Yup.”
We hang up.
I really wanted to see Rebel last night, but I was slightly relieved when she didn’t come to pick me up. I don’t know why, but having Diem scolding me felt like I did as a kid when Jack would jump on my shit about one thing or another.
I deserved every single second of it.
I would have bailed my own ass out if they would have let me.
But then again, if Skylar hadn’t gotten involved, the charges wouldn’t have been dropped. At least, that’s what Detective Holmes told me over the phone about 20 minutes ago.
I pull on my jacket. It started raining again about an hour ago. It’s nearly 11:00 in the morning, and I really need to get to the impound yard before it gets too late to drive the boat back. I leave my house and set the locks and security system before heading toward Randy’s house.
I’d called Detective Holmes this morning after I picked up a new phone, asking about the charges. He returned my call. He told me Skylar made a very convincing case for me last night. She’d relayed to him whose house it was and the reason for my being there. Though, it was close, it wasn’t quite right, but I let it go because it wasn’t worth the argument. He said he took my case to the homeowners and explained everything. They were willing to forg
ive the incident, but strenuously requested I never step foot on their property again.
I agreed. What I went there looking for wasn’t there anyway.
I was looking for a simpler time. A time when our biggest worries were getting home before the streetlights came on. I was looking for answers. Answers to questions I don’t fully understand.
I light up a smoke as I climb the dock steps.
I’m caving.
I’m about three seconds away from hopping in my truck and driving to her house. Fuck the boat.
My bravado was lost when I opened that envelope.
I felt like a complete and total twit for the way I treated her. The way I’m still treating her.
But fuck! I have a right to be angry. Don’t I?
I check both directions on the street ,and seeing the all clear, not that there’s ever any traffic on this road, I put my cigarette in my mouth and pull a long drag from my smoke as I start to cross the street.
I’m being an asshole.
She doesn’t deserve the way I’m treating her.
But goddammit, she promised me she wouldn’t leave me out, and yet she did it again.
No, she didn’t, dickweed. She’s fucking here, isn’t she?
Yeah, but for how long?
You’ll never know if you don’t ask her, moron.
Jesus, my little inner voice is an asshole, too.
Only because you’re an idiot.
“Alright!” I snap at no one as I get to the curb and step onto the walkway leading to Randy’s house.
“Who are you talking to?” Randy asks from the porch.
I jump slightly, not expecting him to be outside.
“No one…myself.”
“Giving yourself a pep talk, are ya?”
“More like arguing with myself.”
“You call her yet?” he asks.
“No. And I don’t want to talk about it.”
He puts his hands up in defense or frustration, I can’t quite tell which because he lowers them quickly. “So, what’s the argument about?”
“Whether or not I’m a moron.”
“I can answer that one for you.”
I roll my eyes. “No thanks, I think I’ve got it figured out.”
“Still not going to tell me why we’re getting your boat from impound?”
“I went to Bainbridge last night. Docked and got drunk.”
“Ohhkay,” he says, confused.
“I was at my mother’s house.”
“What the hell you go there for?”
“Answers,” I state simply. It’s the truth, a very vague truth.
“Find any?”
“Not a fucking one.” I take a drag off my smoke and lean against the railing.
“She’s here.”
My eyes dart to the door. “In there?”
“No, at her house, in Seattle.” He puts his hands on his hips the way he always does when he’s trying to make a point.
“Yeah, I know.”
“Then why in the hell are you not over there right now?” He glares at me. “We had this fucking conversation before you decided against my advice and went fishing anyway. Quit wasting time. You’re fucking miserable.”
“She didn’t tell me.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Deidrick. She did tell you, she showed up to tell you. She didn’t do it over the phone, she didn’t wait until after it’s born. She’s right here, right now. She moved across the fucking country, stepped down from her company and moved across the country. She took the choice away from you. Is that why you’re acting like this? Because you’re not her knight in shining armor outside her penthouse window?”
“Yes, okay. Fucking yes. Because I didn’t get to grovel my way back into her life, because that’s exactly what I wanted to do,” I snarl.
“You could have been. But instead, you went fishing.” He sighs. “Maybe she’s not entirely wrong. Maybe being with you really scares her.”
“What are you talking about?” I snap.
“You. Went. Fishing. You didn’t go to New York, you didn’t go running after her when she left in June, or two years ago. You went fishing.”
“I didn’t go fishing two years ago.”
He throws his hands up again. “No, but instead of calling in reinforcements so you could go after her, you drove the boat back to Seattle.” He narrows his eyes at me. “All you had to do was call me, and I would have happily taken your place, but you didn’t. Both times, you chose the boat over her. Tell me something. Come March, when your second baby is due, where will you be?”
“Here, with her.”
He widens his eyes in surprise. “Really?” he says with disbelief.
“I’ve got time to find a replacement.”
“You have about three weeks to find a replacement. You had four months before this season, and what did you do?”
“All right. I get it. I get your point.”
“Do you really get it this time? Because right now, I’m beginning to wonder who is more scared of what the two of you have, her or you.” He takes a deep breath and lets it out. I take one last very long drag off my smoke. “Because right now, Dirk, it’s you.”
I find the ashtray Randy keeps on his porch and snuff out my smoke. “Are you going to keep scolding me or can we go get my boat?”
“Again, with the boat.”
“What am I supposed to do? I don’t want to leave it sit there.”
“You have friends, Dirk. Call Dribbler, he’ll drive it back for you. Go rent a damn trailer or pay someone to tow it back. For god sakes, Dirk, if she’s really what you want, then you’ve got to figure this shit out. Get out of your selfish, stubborn, pigheaded, jackass ways and take a chance for once in your life.”
“So, you won’t go with me?”
He slowly closes his eyes; I imagine he’s mentally counting to 10.
“I sent her flowers this morning. Alright?” He slouches a bit at my confession. “She sent Diem to bail me out last night after the cops went knocking on her door.”
“Jesus Christ, nice, man, real fucking nice.”
“I lost my phone, alright? I didn’t have a number for you, Dribbler, anyone else, let alone hers. All I had was those damn pictures she gave me of the baby and where she’s staying. It had her address on the back of it. I gave them her name. Apparently, they were unable to locate a number for her so they went knocking.” His brows knit together and his eyes narrow. “Don’t worry, I already got fucking scolded by Diem,” I say sarcastically. “Made me feel like a petulant child.”
“You’re acting like one.”
It’s my turn to throw my hands up in frustration. “Can I do nothing right?” I snap.
“She’s practically my daughter, so what do you think?” he counters. “The only difference is I’m not holding a shotgun, and rather than driving you away from her, I’m trying to make you see you have something very special right in front of you that you’re doing a damn good job of pissing away.” He sighs. “Let’s get the boat. Then you can come over for dinner,” he relents.
I nod, stoically.
Chapter 51
Skylar
“We wore him out,” I chortle softly as Melody pulls Jax from the car, sound asleep.
“That we did,” she says softly.
We had an amazing day at the zoo. Despite the rain. I nearly cancelled the trip when it started, but then I realized Seattle and rain go hand in hand, and we need to get used to it. So, we all dressed in rain gear and set off. It was a blast, and Jax had so much fun. He was very fascinated by the red pandas and the sloths. We stayed at those exhibits the longest. It was only appropriate I let him pick out a toy, and of course, he found the red panda stuff without even trying. I grab the bag from the car and follow Melody and Jax into the house. Diem behind me.
When we enter the house, I notice another bouquet sitting on the hallway table. Kara must have let these ones in. It’s full of dark pink, yellow, and beautiful bright red r
oses surrounded by lily of the valley flowers. The bouquet is gorgeous, and I know, without even reading the card, who they’re from, but I pluck it off the stick and open it.
In the same script as this morning’s delivery, it reads:
Because I will always love you.
Thank you for last night.
I’m sorry.
I hope you can find it in your
heart to forgive me.
I have to read the card twice to catch it all because my hormones kick up in triple time, and my eyes well with tears. “Asshole,” I groan.
“Everything okay?” Diem asks.
I nod and put the card back on the stick. “Time will tell,” I say softly as I pick up the vase and walk toward the hallway to my bedroom.
“Those are gorgeous,” Mel says as she passes me from putting Jax down.
“Thank you,” I smile, despite my tears. “I’m going to lay down for a while. Will you wake me about 5:00?” I ask her.
“Absolutely. Let me know if you need anything.”
“Will do, thanks.”
I step into my room and set the flowers on my dresser. I admire them for a moment before I close my door, leaving it open a shade in case Jax wakes up and comes looking for me.
I strip out of my damp clothes and look at the clock. It’s right before three, and I debate on taking a hot shower to warm up a bit. I’m about to when I yawn and decide a nap is more important. I go to the bathroom and step into my closet to swap my damp clothes for a very comfy pair of sweatpants and oversized t-shirt before climbing onto my bed and pulling my blanket over me on top of the covers. If I really snuggle in, I’ll never get up.
I close my eyes, and as I do, she starts squirming around inside me. She hasn’t reached the painful kicking stage quite yet, but I can’t help pressing my hand to the side of my belly to feel her move some more.
After a few minutes, she settles, and I doze off.
“You look good tonight. Got a hot date?” Randy teases as we enter his house. I roll my eyes. He looks down at Jax. “Hey kiddo, did you have fun today?” he asks.
“Yeah, looky, Unkey Wandy.” Jax offers his stuffed red panda as show and tell.
Always Love Me: A Standalone Second Chance Romance Page 37
