by Cindi Madsen
She hoped.
“What were his exact words?” Kathy—no, Kathleen, she was almost sure—asked.
“Just, um, ‘Will you marry me?’”
More sighs.
Kathleen patted her hand. “And, honey, where are you staying right now? Because we have plenty of room here, and we’d be happy to have you. I could fix you up a guest room tonight.”
If Wes asked, she was denying this ever happened. All bets were off the instant he shoved her into this craziness. When Kathleen raised her eyebrows and tilted her head, Dani said, “Thank you so much for the offer, but I’m staying with Wes.” Before his mom could insist she stay here and her supposed-to-be-relaxing vacation went to hell, she turned to Audrey. “So, you’re getting married in three days! That’s so exciting.”
Pretty soon the conversation was about flowers and dresses and everything they still needed to get done before Saturday.
Even though Wes’s family was huge, and nothing like hers, it made her miss her own family. After her father passed away when she was ten, she and Mama had to pull together and keep getting through life one day at a time. Abuela Morales had visited often to help out, and they’d all kept one another going through the years. When Abuela’s health started slipping, Mama moved in with her to help out. It’d been forever since Dani had visited, and if Mama or Abuela even got wind of this engagement, fake or not, she’d never hear the end of it.
I should call and check in. See if Abuela is still trying to take off her oxygen, claiming she doesn’t need the stuff. It was expensive to have it in-home, but breathing was vital to life, so it was staying, no matter how much Abuela fought it. It’d be so much easier if she’d stop resisting the things she needs to get better.
“Dani?”
She jerked out of her thoughts, looking toward the voice. Kathleen. “Sorry, what was that?”
“Have you and Wes picked a date or location?”
Luckily, Wes chose that moment to poke his head into the room. “The backyard’s set up and Dad took out the dessert and wine already,” he said. “Let’s all go hear what the boss wants us to do the rest of the week.” He flashed a smile at Audrey, who stuck her tongue out at him.
Dani quickly stood and moved over to him. She wanted to stay mad, but he winked at her, a goofy grin on his face. As much as she teased him about the scruff, it did look pretty hot on him. She wondered if it’d be weird if she ran her fingers down it again—she could always play it off as part of the engaged act, after all.
Wes put his hand on the small of her back. “So did Dani tell you about how I proposed to her at my show, in front of an entire audience?”
Confusion flickered across all the faces in the room.
She slid her arm around his waist. “I told them how you asked me after we took a hike. Out in nature.”
“Right! The first proposal. That was the real one, of course. Then I called her out of the audience at our show to embarrass her.”
No one sighed. Ha. They like my story better.
Gradually, everyone got up and headed outside. At the top of the porch steps, Wes grabbed her elbow, holding her back. “I didn’t plan on announcing it, but you were right about the ring being noticeable. How’d it go with the girls? Audrey didn’t make you feel bad, did she? She’s been moody for weeks, so whatever her deal is, it has nothing to do with you.”
“Next thing you know, you’ll be telling me that failing to mention your entire freakin’ family was going to be here had nothing to do with you.”
“Oh, that was all me.” His grin widened. “Thought it’d be more fun.”
She was considering shoving him down the steps for fun, but then she noticed all of his family was suddenly watching them with weird expressions on their faces.
“Um, why’s everyone—”
“Dani?” she heard from behind her, and Wes tensed.
She wouldn’t have recognized the voice, but from Wes’s reaction, she was pretty sure she knew who’d be there. Sure enough, Sophie stood just behind them. “I needed to ask Audrey a quick question about the shoes…” She held up a bag. “I didn’t realize… I mean, I knew you’d be here.” She glanced at Wes. “But I didn’t expect… Sorry. Hi, Dani.”
A breeze blew Dani’s hair in her face and she reached up to tuck it behind her ear.
Sophie gasped and her face paled. Her gaze was glued to the ring on Dani’s finger. “Did you and Steve get back together?” There was a sad, hopeful pinch to her voice.
Wes slid his arm around Dani’s waist. She tried to remind herself this was why she’d come, and that Sophie was the one who’d dumped Wes, but there was a sick, heavy feeling in her gut instead of the “so there” victorious high she’d expected.
“Dani and I are…engaged,” Wes said.
“Oh. Well.” Sophie’s smile was more like a grimace. “Congratulations.” She raised her voice and glanced at where everyone was sitting, watching the show. “Audrey, can I steal you away for a second?”
Under normal circumstances, Dani would be mentally mocking her for saying, Can I steal you? But right now she was too busy feeling sorry for her.
She doesn’t have a right to be hurt, though. If she wanted Wes, she shouldn’t have crushed him. She deserves to feel stupid for letting him go.
Wes was putting on a cool front, but Dani could feel his fingers twitching at her waist and see the uncomfortable pinch to his features. There was a whole lot of awkwardness coming at her from the entire family, actually. And Dani wondered, once again, if Wes were actually as over his ex as he claimed.
Chapter Four
Wes glanced over his shoulder at Dani when he heard her footsteps. He grated cheese onto the eggs and slid a plate across the counter to her.
Her eyelids were still half closed and she was shuffling more than walking—she wasn’t a morning person and would actually get mad at him when he was happy first thing, often asking what his deal was. It was kind of cute, this messy hair, scrunched-together eyebrows, and lips-stuck-out-in-a-pout side of her.
“You think breakfast is all it takes to make me forget you threw me to the wolves last night?” she asked.
“One, those wolves are my family. And two, you haven’t tried my eggs yet. This super-smart girl taught me to put green chilies and cheese in them.” He shot her an extra-sugary grin and extended a fork.
She stared at it for a moment and then swiped it out of his hand. “You’re lucky I’m hungry.”
He sat across from her and dug into his breakfast. “I think last night went pretty well, actually. Now that my family knows about the engagement, the hardest part is over. Hopefully they’ll leave me alone from here on out.”
“No, they’re going to want to know when and where and a hundred other details.” She shook her head. “I should’ve known you’d make up an onstage proposal.”
“What’s wrong with that? As if a proposal after a hike really sounds like me.”
“Hey, I was on the spot because of you.” She pointed her fork at him, a dangerous look in her eye. “If we’re going to really do this, we need to get our stories straight.”
He leaned his forearms on the table. “If? One night with my family was enough to scare you off?”
“Not your family. Sophie. It seemed like…” She stirred her eggs with her fork, the scraping noise against her plate loud in the sudden quiet.
Wes tensed. “Like what?”
“Like there are some unresolved issues there.”
He gripped the counter so that the edge dug into his palms, not wanting to get into this. “I’m resolving the issue. I’m engaged to you now.”
She tilted her head, giving him that no-nonsense look. He usually liked that she called him on his crap, but sometimes—like now—it was annoying. “Seems like delaying the issue to me. Look, I know you’re a guy—”
“Damn straight.”
“And there’s some man rule that you’ve got to be all macho—”
“Rule number thr
ee, actually.”
Both of her eyebrows shot up. “Would you just let me finish before I make you cry and break rule number three?”
He considered telling her to go ahead and try, but clamped his lips instead. When she set her mind to something, there wasn’t much chance of changing it, so he might as well ride it out and be done with it.
“Don’t give me that face. I’m not saying we need to have a big talk about it, but as someone who was dumped by the guy I thought was the one, I do understand, you know. You hate the person and still want to get back together somehow, even though it makes no logical sense. It sucks and it hurts and you want to return the hurt right back. But are you sure this fake engagement thing isn’t going to make things worse?”
Wes sighed. Time and time again, his sisters had asked him what went wrong, how he felt, a hundred other questions that he didn’t want to answer. But Dani was here and, unlike his sisters, she did get it. He was pissed she was pushing him, yet glad at the same time. He wanted to get how he’d felt the last few months off his chest. “Ever since we broke up, I’ve felt lost, trying to figure out what I really want. And I still don’t have a damn clue. But I do know that I need to prove to her, to my family, and to myself that I can move on.”
He reached across the counter and grabbed Dani’s hand. “So yes, I still want to go through with our plan. It feels like finally closing that chapter in my life, and hopefully after this wedding everyone will stop asking me about Sophie and what happened, and I can move on for real.”
She stared back at him, unblinking for a moment, then squeezed his hand. “Okay. If you think it’ll help you. I just don’t want to be the thing that gets in between you and Sophie resolving whatever…” She made a vague hand motion, like she didn’t know how to finish.
It was a nice thought, but it didn’t change anything. Besides, regardless of what everyone seemed to think, he didn’t want to be with Sophie anymore. He truly just wanted to get on with his life and look into the helicopter tour idea more seriously.
He stood to dump his dish in the sink, and Dani came over to do the same. He filled a glass with orange juice and handed it to her. While he was serious about putting his past behind him, he wasn’t sure Dani actually was, despite what she’d said last night. “Since we’re talking about this stuff, what are you doing to move on from Steve the Prick?” When she didn’t say anything, he added, “Not so fun now that you’re the one having to talk about your ex, is it?”
“I’m trying, okay? But it’s not like anyone’s asked me out.”
“I think you’ve got to go places besides work for that to happen.”
She shot him a glare.
“Plus, you can be kind of intimidating.”
She blew out her breath, making a pfft noise with her lips. “Me? Intimidating? That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“See what I mean? You don’t soften anything. I try to tell you something, and you call me stupid.”
“Well, you’ve stuck through my not softening anything all these years.”
“Yeah, but I’m not trying to date you.”
She leaned back against the counter and her T-shirt rode up a few inches, showing off a stripe of her toned stomach. Guys in Arkansas must be blind or stupid. “Yesterday I was thinking it was time to get out there again, but today I’m wondering why I should bother. It’s kind of nice to be unattached. To visit you without having to defend myself the whole time.” She lifted one shoulder. “Maybe being single for a while wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.”
Wes took a gulp of orange juice straight from the carton, something that used to drive Sophie crazy, and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “You might be on to something.”
“And maybe we’ll know we’ve found the right person when we’re with people who are actually cool enough to accept us for who we are.” She bumped her shoulder against his. “And who our best friend happens to be.”
He tapped the carton to her glass. “Cheers to that. Now let’s put all this behind us and have some fun.”
“What did you have in mind?”
…
Dani should’ve known from the smile Wes had flashed her earlier that she was in trouble. But she’d gone along with the “it’s a surprise” answer, foolishly thinking it’d be a fun adventure. Now her throat was dry as she studied the red helicopter. She’d never told anyone, but she always hated that moment before taking off in an airplane. And even worse, when the plane was heading toward the ground and the bumpy landing she always feared would turn into a fiery crash. Those were the times she’d muttered desperate prayers.
Riding in a helicopter with Wes the adrenaline junkie at the controls? She didn’t know if there was a prayer big enough.
He put his hand on her arm. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were second-guessing going for a ride with me.”
“You can’t second-guess if you never once guessed.” She took a step back from the machine. “You go fly around for a few minutes and I’ll meet up with you later.”
He caught her hand as she tried to take another step back. “You’re the one who told me I’d be good at this. Don’t you trust me?”
She glanced from him to the helicopter and swallowed, but there was still a big knot in her throat.
“It was bad enough when you talked me into that bungee jump thing at Carowinds Amusement Park right after graduation. And while I was screaming and my life was flashing before my eyes, you told me you thought my harness was slipping.”
He clamped his mouth, but she could tell he was fighting a smile. “I’ll take it easy.” He pulled her toward the aircraft. She tried dragging her feet, but it wasn’t slowing him down like she hoped it would.
When they got to the door of the helicopter, Wes gestured her inside. She looked at the seat but didn’t make a move to get in.
“Do I have to throw you inside and strap you down?” he asked.
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“Wanna put five bucks on it?” Amusement flickered through his eyes.
“It’s not funny, Wes. I didn’t want to admit this, but flying freaks me out.”
“Dani. We’ve rock climbed, ridden down intense rapids, gone scuba diving, and you’re scared of flying?”
She scuffed her foot on the landing pad. “It’s bad enough in a big airplane, where I wouldn’t really see the ground coming at me if the plane went down. But there’s not as much crash room and I’d be able to see everything, and I never would’ve done those other things without you daring me to, but at least the worst-case scenarios didn’t involve falling from the sky and dying a fiery death.” Her stomach clenched as gory scenes flashed through her mind.
“I’m not going to crash us. I do this several times a day.”
She waited for the hard-to-resist dare—calling her a wuss or a girl or all the other tricks he’d used before to convince her to let go of her common sense and do something stupid. His fingers grazed her chin and then he gently tipped her face up to his.
“The constantly moving rotor makes it easier for me to maneuver than any plane. Also, there’s no wind today, so it’s perfect weather, and I want to show you the most amazing view of Charlotte, one you’ve never seen before. I promise you, we’ll come back safe and sound. But I won’t force you inside.”
She looked into his pale blue eyes, and something twisted inside of her. She wasn’t sure exactly what it meant, but she knew she was getting into his stupid helicopter despite her gut-wrenching fear.
She let out a long exhale. “Okay.”
“I knew you’d see reason,” he said, and the maddening touch of arrogance made her reach out and flick his shoulder. His cocky grin only widened.
She glanced up at the cloudless blue sky they were about to be flying into, took a deep breath of humid air, and climbed inside. Unable to relax, she sat with her back straight up and gnawed on her lip. Her fingers trembled as she put on the seat belt, checking the clasp t
hree times.
Like it’ll save me if we go down anyway. Her pulse spiked. Don’t think about that, don’t think about that.
Wes got in and flipped all kinds of switches. A low hum vibrated the cabin and then the whoosh of the rotors overhead picked up speed, growing louder and louder. “Just don’t touch any of the handles or buttons and keep your feet away from the pedals. You’re not quite ready to co-pilot yet.” He said it like a joke, but she so wasn’t finding it funny. He handed her earphones and practically had to yell now. “These cut the noise but still allow us to talk to each other.”
She put them on, feeling like a dork. They were seriously huge.
Wes slid on a pair of aviator shades. Even with the headphones, he managed to look cool. His scruff wasn’t so long that his jaw line got lost in it, he’d gelled his hair so the waves were still messy but more defined, and the gray button-down he wore had the top few buttons undone and the sleeves casually pushed up so the sun glinted off the blond hair on his forearms. In fact, there was something about his whole look, sitting in the pilot’s seat, shades on, that made him ten times hotter, even though she was pretty sure he was about to crash them both into the side of a mountain.
First the eyes, now I’m thinking about his hotness again? She really must be about to die, because those were not the kind of thoughts she should be having right now.
“Ready?” he asked.
She gripped the edges of her seat. “How long did you train for this again?”
He laughed, and she was going to ask if he was purposely avoiding answering, but then they were lifting into the air and her stomach was rising, and, oh shit! What was she thinking getting into a flying vehicle with an adrenaline junkie? It’d been a long time since she’d done anything more dangerous than go on blind dates set up by her coworkers.
Her mom and abuela relied on her; she had a job, bills, and responsibilities to think about. She didn’t have the luxury of being daring or living on the edge anymore—or more like being pushed onto the edge by Wes. Maybe it was better that they didn’t live close to each other anymore.
The buildings and trees got smaller and smaller and her heart beat faster and harder. Wes was pushing his feet and moving levers. There were so many dials and gauges that she clenched her hands into fists just to be sure she didn’t accidentally bump something and make them crash.
