Love In Focus

by Anna J. Stewart

  Dante did as he was instructed and didn’t move. Instead he watched Nissa struggle to put on her mom hat while still clenching her fingers into his bare flesh. He lifted his hands as if to touch her, but she aimed a look at him that changed his mind.

  “Wait, hold on, slow down, Caley. What do you mean you’re in the hospital?”

  Nissa leapt off him, spinning to her feet as she pressed her phone harder against her ear. Dante bent over to retrieve his shirt, then picked hers up off the floor, holding it while Nissa began to pace.

  “What kind of smoothie? Did it have soy because you know you’re allergic—no, no, of course I’m not mad. Not at you anyway. Is your father there? Let me speak to him. He’s not.” She gnashed her teeth so hard Dante flinched. “Okay, yeah. Yes, of course, I’m on my way, but it’s going to take me a little while to get there. Where’s your brother? Can you put him on the phone?”

  Dante tugged on his shirt and marveled at the controlled panic washing off Nissa in waves.

  “Hey, little man.” Nissa accepted the shirt Dante offered her with a distracted smile. “You doing okay? You scared?” Nissa pressed her lips into a thin line and squeezed her eyes shut. “No, of course I know you’re a big boy now. And big boys don’t cry.” She mouthed a profanity laced reference to her ex-husband. “You’re being great, Wyatt, taking care of your sister. Did you call the ambulance yourself? You did? I am so proud of you. You’re Caley’s superhero, you know that? Can you take care of her a little while longer? Yes, I’m on my way. And yes.” She cringed as she looked at Dante, as if worried what he might think. “I’m going to bring you home. You call me if you need me, okay? I’ll be there as soon as I can. Uh-huh. Bye.” She clicked off and turned shocked eyes on Dante. “I’m sorry. I need to—”

  Dante held out his hand. “I’ll drive.”

  Chapter Six

  “You doing okay over there?”

  Nissa dragged her distracted attention from the darkness outside the SUV’s passenger window and looked at Dante. He’d made the drive to San Francisco in record time, breaking not only the speed limit but maybe even the sound barrier. As much as she’d been determined to manage her new life on her own, she counted herself fortunate he was with her. “Just contemplating how many different ways I’d like to kill my ex-husband. I nearly lost my daughter tonight.” Her entire body ached, and not in the way she’d been building up to a few short hours ago. Her muscles hurt from the tightness in her body. From her head to her toes, every inch of her was held tight enough to snap. “He left them alone, can you believe it? A seven and a five year old left alone in a strange city so he could go out to dinner with his bosses.”

  “He didn’t hire a babysitter?” Dante really didn’t think his opinion of Lance Drummond could have dropped any further but apparently even bottoms had basements.

  “He left them with Arabella.” Nissa kicked her foot against the floorboard. “A child herself , one who apparently thought smoothies were an appropriate dinner choice. Sugar aside, she must have used soy milk.”

  “Caley’s allergic?”

  “Yes.” Nissa pressed her fingers hard into her eyes. “I’d bet every penny in my purse Lance neglected to let Arabella in on that bit of information. Or if she did, she didn’t understand the severity of it.” Lance never paid attention to his children’s allergies. To him, that was Nissa’s responsibility. “You’d think the epi-pen Caley carries with her at all times would have been a clue. Idiot.”

  “And you thought yourself in love.” Dante glanced behind him before changing lanes for the turnoff for the hospital. “Beating yourself up about this isn’t going to help Caley, Nissa. You want to get all the anger out now, that’s fine and good, but don’t use it to punish yourself. What you are right about is that he should have known and let any caretaker in on it. A responsible parent would have. When you’ve assured yourself Caley is fine, you get a copy of the doctor’s report along with any statement Caley might have made when they brought her in.”

  “What? Why?” Nissa turned in her seat.

  “It’ll make good ammunition in any custody battle that might ensue.”

  “Oh, right.” She sagged back. “I should have thought of that, shouldn’t I?”

  “No, you’re thinking of what you should be right now and that’s your daughter.” He reached over and took hold of her hand. “That’s what you have me for.”

  She slipped her fingers between his and squeezed. “You’re a good roll with the punches kind of guy, Dante. Must come in handy in your line of work.”

  “Yeah.” He glanced away and for an instant Nissa thought she saw him cringe. “Real handy. What law firm does your ex work for?”

  Nissa rattled off the name. “Why?”

  “No reason. Just making conversation.”

  Nissa didn’t believe him, as she saw the hospital pop up in the distance, any argument she might have made died behind the thought of getting a hold of her kids again. “I guess bringing them home is going to put a crimp in…this.”

  “This?” Dante grinned.

  “You know what I mean.” Disappointment panged low in her belly. “I hope you understand why I had to…you know. My kids come first. They always will.”

  “I should be offended you feel the need to explain it to me, but given your previous relationship experience, I’ll let it slide.”

  “Doesn’t anything unsettle you? Make you angry?”

  “Plenty.”

  “That’s it? Plenty? No elaboration?” It dawned on her that she didn’t really know anything about him other than the fact he was compassionate and willing to help where he saw a need. “Your parents did a great job with you.”

  “Parent. My mother,” Dante said as he turned into the emergency room parking lot. “She raised me pretty much alone after my father took off.”

  Nissa frowned. “But I thought you said you and your father were close. That’s why you were taking pictures—”

  “My relationship with my father is complicated.” Dante offered a tight smile. “Before she died, my mother made me promise to take care of him. Even though she’d remarried—a few times—she still loved him. Despite everything. I’ve never understood that, but I told her I would.”

  “Because it gave her a sense of peace?”

  “Yes.” His jaw pulsed. “I hated that even at the end she was still thinking of him. It’s not as if he’d do the same. See? Told you. Complicated.”

  Nissa felt his hand go stiff and he tried to pull free, but she held on. “You didn’t have to keep your promise. She wouldn’t have known.”

  “You didn’t know my mother,” he laughed, but it wasn’t one that made her heart sing. The sound made her heart hurt. She’d never considered it a possibility for a man who looked and acted like Dante, but he sounded…lonely. “But it doesn’t matter. I don’t break my promises, Nissa. Whether the person is around to see it or not. I might not always make the right choices in life, but promises are sacred. They keep me focused, keep me grounded. I don’t make many of them, but when I do, they’re written in stone.”

  “You’re a strange man, Dante Thanos. A rare man.”

  “Why?” He pulled into a parking spot and unlatched his seatbelt. “Because I do what I say I’m going to do?”

  “Yes.” She left it at that as she climbed out of the car.

  Because if she thought about it any longer, she’d have to admit she was more than halfway in love with him.

  *

  “Hey, Mom!” Caley grinned her front-toothless grin at Nissa as she and Dante entered her room. “That was fast! See, Wyatt, I told you she’d be here quick.”

  Nissa let out a shuddering breath and realized she didn’t remember breathing at all on the drive in. She dropped her bag on the floor and raced to her daughter’s bedside where she sank onto the squeaky plastic mattress. The second she smoothed Caley’s blonde curls away from her pale, splotchy forehead, the knots inside her eased. Her daughter’s face was swollen and Nis
sa could still hear a wheeze in her chest, but other than that… “How are you feeling?”

  “I’m good. I had a horrible stomach ache and I threw up all over Dad’s bathroom. He’s going to be so mad.” Caley’s gaze skittered from Nissa’s as she turned wide eyes on Dante. “Hi.”

  “Hello, Caley.” Dante leaned against the doorframe, looking like one of those TV doctors every cast member swooned over. All that was missing was a pair of scrubs and a stethoscope. “I’m Dante. A friend of your mom’s.”

  “He’s really tall, Mom.” Caley whispered as if Dante couldn’t hear her.

  “Dante what?” Wyatt, a cap of dark springy curls covering his head and action figures clutched in his hands, dropped out of the chair next to his sister and walked over to Dante. He tried to tug his pants up, which sagged around the butt even as they were getting too short. “I didn’t know mom had any friends.”

  Dante looked down and for an instant Nissa worried Wyatt would see Dante’s expression as menacing, but she realized he was displaying more nerves than she’d previously seen.

  “Dante Thanos.” He held out his hand as if greeting an adult. “I’m a new friend of your mother’s, but I’ve heard a lot about you and your sister. It’s nice to meet you.”

  “Thanos?” Wyatt spun to look at his mom, his mouth hanging open as his eyes went huge. “Mom! Thanos is a bad guy!”

  “Wyatt!” Nissa felt her face flush. “That’s rude.”

  “But he’s a villain, Mom,” Wyatt went on. “He’s all over the comic books. He hates the Avengers. And the…”

  “And the Guardians of the Galaxy,” Dante finished with a sigh. “The bane of my existence, I’m afraid.” He offered Nissa a wink. “I believe Wyatt has found me out.”

  “So you are a bad guy?” Wyatt turned his attention back to Dante and tipped his head up, then nearly toppled backwards.

  Nissa could all but see the wheels turning in Dante’s head.

  “Every son should believe their mother’s friends are bad guys,” Dante said finally. “Until they prove they aren’t. Instead of professing to be something I might not be I’ll wait for you to decide, okay?”

  “Yeah, okay.” Wyatt didn’t look convinced and backed away in over-exaggerated steps. “Mom, should I go find Arabella?”

  Nissa pinched her lips to stop from saying what she really wanted to.

  “It wasn’t her fault, Mom,” Caley said. “I reminded Dad about my allergies. And Wyatt’s, too. You told me to, remember? But I saw her making those smoothies and—”

  “It’s okay.” Nissa didn’t want to hear any more. “So your dad wasn’t around tonight?”

  “No.” Caley plucked at the blanket on her bed. “He hasn’t been around much at all. But Arabella’s been okay. She tries really hard. But she’s not—”

  “She’s not you, Mom.” Wyatt threw himself into her lap before scrambling up. Nissa wrapped her arms around her little man and squeezed. God, she’d missed this.

  “No, I’m not.”

  Nissa shifted on the bed as Arabella Beaufort appeared beside Dante, all five feet eight and designer-encased hundred and thirty pounds of her. Her pale features, normally runway model bright, appeared strained, drawn. The stress of the evening must have created the dark circles under her eyes. Even her normally infomercial worthy hair seemed exhausted as it drooped around her face. A pang of sympathy broke through Nissa’s anger. The young woman must have been scared out of her mind.

  “Wyatt, they had popsicles in the cafeteria,” Arabella said. “I thought maybe you’d like one.”

  “It’s not blueberry, is it?” Wyatt asked as he clung to Nissa. “Cause I’m allergic and—”

  “It’s pineapple mango.” Arabella’s chin wobbled slightly as she offered the plastic wrapped treat. “Caley, is there anything I can get for you?”

  “No, I’m good. Mom’s here now.” Caley held Nissa’s hand so tightly Nissa flinched. “I just want to go home. Our new home.”

  “Yes, I know.” Arabella glanced at Dante, seemed to do a bit of a double take before she shifted her uncertain attention to Nissa. “Would you mind if we talked for a few minutes? I’d like to explain—”

  “Maybe later,” Nissa said. As relieved as she was to see Caley was all right and that Wyatt was his typical, rambunctious self, she wasn’t in the mood to deal with Lance’s chosen substitute mom at the moment.

  “Sure, yes, okay.” Arabella nodded.

  “How about you show me where the cafeteria is. I can do with some coffee,” Dante offered. “We’ll let Nissa and the kids talk a bit. It’s going to be a while before they discharge Caley anyway.”

  “Only if it’s decaf,” Arabella tried to joke. “I don’t think I can take any more jolts to my system tonight.” She turned to follow him out, then stopped. “Nissa.” She pressed a hand against her throat as she cleared it. “I will never be able to make up for this, I know. I never intended to hurt Caley. I hope you can believe that.”

  Nissa nodded. “I do.”

  “We’ll be back in a bit,” Dante leaned back in and pulled the door closed behind him.

  “He doesn’t seem like a super villain.” Caley threaded her fingers through Nissa’s. “He’s nice, Mom.”

  “Yes, he is.” Thanks to him she’d stayed sane on the drive here. “He helped me unpack your rooms and get the new house all set for you.”

  “We can really go home? Forever?” Wyatt dropped his toys on the bed as he snuggled into her. “Forever and ever?”

  Nissa swallowed hard. Like Dante, she didn’t make many promises either. Especially ones she wasn’t sure she could keep. All the more reason to beat these panic attacks. Her babies weren’t safe with Lance. “Forever’s a long time, little man.” She kissed the top of his head. “Let’s say we take it a day at a time.”

  *

  “Don’t suppose you have a shot of Bourbon for this, do you?” Arabella stared blankly at the steaming paper cup Dante set in front of her. The cafeteria at ten at night was almost a ghost town, with vending machines and the hum of florescent lights their only companions.

  “Rough night?” Dante sat across from Arabella, leaned back and watched her. Lance Drummond’s fiancé looked shaken to her core. Her hands trembled, and her skin was whiter than Caley’s hospital sheets.

  “It never occurred to me they’d have allergies. I didn’t know.” She shook her head as if trying to erase her mistake. “It’s been a long couple of weeks, you know? I was so excited for them to visit. Not that I’ve been around a lot of kids, but I thought it was a great opportunity for a family test run. But they’ve been miserable and being a parent is exhausting.” Tears filled her eyes. “I’ve been trying to think of fun things for us to do. Games and playgrounds and movies, but they just talk to each other, they whisper and whenever I come in the room, it’s like they’re waiting for me to pounce or something. I just wanted them to like me.” She blinked, and two fat tears plopped onto her cheeks. “And now look what I’ve done. God, how could I be so stupid! I could have killed that beautiful little girl.”

  “It all turned out okay.” He’d been where Wyatt and Caley were, dealing with a potential new step-parent. He knew genuine affection and he knew when someone was putting on a show, but he didn’t pick up on any pretence with Arabella. All he saw, all he felt, was genuine fear and remorse.

  “I guess you’ll never look at a smoothie the same way, huh?” He tried to find a way past her emotional upheaval with a joke, but Arabella’s dark brows knitted as her lips curved down.

  “I was surprised that’s what she wanted. She’d been picking at her food for the last few days but when I tried to talk to Lance about it, he just told me to figure it out. So when Caley said she wanted to make one, how could I say no? It was the first time she’d asked me for anything. Other than to go home, of course.”

  “Of course.” Dante’s frown matched Arabella’s. “Caley fixed her own dinner?”

  “Yes.” She tucked a strand of hair
behind her ear. “I watched of course, because well, a blender isn’t exactly appropriate for a seven-year-old. But she said she was a big girl and had done it at home before.”

  Dante sipped his coffee. “You remind me of Nissa, blaming yourself,” he said and earned a wide-eyed stare of surprise. “If Caley is anything like her mom, I’m betting she knew exactly what she was doing. Things like this happen, Arabella.” Especially when a determined seven-year old got it into her head she’d do whatever she had to in order to get her and her brother home. “Can we expect Lance at some point?”

  Arabella ducked her chin, but not before Dante caught the flash of anger on her face. “I called him while the paramedics were loading Caley into the ambulance. When I told him she was stable and that they said she just needed to be checked out he said he’d be home after dessert.” She took a long breath and as she released it, she sagged against the back of her chair like a deflated football. “He’s a jerk, isn’t he?” She flicked a finger against the band of her engagement ring that was clearly overcompensating for Lance’s shortcomings. “I’ve tried to convince myself I was wrong, but he doesn’t have any interest in being a father to them. He just wants a pretty picture family he can show off to my dad.”

  Dante shrugged. “Not my place to say.”

  “No.” Arabella’s tears seemed to dry in an instant. “No, it’s my place. I should have seen this sooner. The few times I’ve met Nissa, I’ve really liked her even though it’s clear she can’t stand me. Who can blame her? He left her for me. Woohoo. Jackpot.”

  Dante grinned behind his cup.

  “My parents had a beautiful marriage. And while they wanted a houseful of kids, they only had me. So I was kind of doted on.” She chewed on her lower lip. “Do you know I’ve never had a job? I don’t know that I’ve even thought about getting one. I’m qualified for nothing. I left college because I couldn’t decide on a major. I don’t understand half of what Lance talks about, but now I think he just talks to hear the sound of his own voice. Why on earth is he willing to marry me if there’s nothing in here?” She tapped the side of her head. “Sure he’s this handsome, charming guy who makes me feel like I’m the center of the universe when we’re alone, but he also can make me feel invisible when something else is in his sights. You ever meet anyone like that?”