by Dancing
maybe she had, in a sense, used him. And for that, she
was deeply sorry. Ashamed.
A soft knock sounded on the door, and she ran to it,
flinging it open and throwing her arms around the only
man aside from John that she'd ever even thought she
could love.
"I'm sorry," she said into the warmth between his neck
and shoulder. "You have to know I never deliberately set
out to hurt you. I just wanted my pain to go away."
"Did it?" he asked, backing her up to step inside and
shut the door.
"Yes..." She wanted to stand there in the cocoon of
his arms forever, but for what she had to say, even that
felt somehow wrong. So she retreated to a kitchen bar
stool, needing, for some unfathomable reason, to say
what she had to say alone. "For a few incredible mo-
ments when we were together, the pain was gone. All I
could think about was the possibility of an amazing
future—with you. But then I was hit with the guilt."
Setting his keys on the counter, Dalton climbed
onto the stool beside hers. "You vowed till death do
you part. What don't you get about the fact that
you've parted?"
She sighed. "This is exhausting. We just keep talking
in circles. Believe me, I know everything you're saying
is true, but it's one thing to say it and another to believe
it, live it. Your situation with your dad really isn't all that
different. If you leave the bank, you stand to potentially
lose his love and respect. I think he'd eventually get over
it, but in the short term it'd be hard."
"You're right," he said with a grim-faced nod.
"So if we're both right, why do we feel wrong?"
Sharply exhaling, he held out his hand to her and she
took it. "Sleep with me," he said. "No funny business.
Just sleep. Blessed, mind-numbing sleep."
Holding on to his hand for all she was worth, she led
him to her bed.
"Hi, Mr. Dalton!" Anna said, jumping on Rose's bed.
Dalton groaned, rubbing his right hand over his eyes.
He'd meant to be up and out of the loft before the little
girl woke, but clearly that plan had fallen through. Time
for plan B—whatever that was.
"Mommy, I didn't know you were having a sleep-
over. Let's have pancakes!"
Sunlight streamed through the loft's soaring win-
dows. Rose looked soft, beautiful and tousled and Anna
had scampered off to the kitchen, where she was now
banging pots and pans. Completeness swelled Dalton's
chest. The feeling that here, with these two girls, maybe
he'd finally found home.
"You're still here." Rose cast him a luminous smile.
"Where else would I be?" he answered with a wink.
"Mommy? Where's the pancake stuff?"
"How'd you sleep?" he asked, brushing strands of
hair from her eyes.
"I slept all night, if that tells you anything."
"Mmm." he said with a manly swell of pride.
"Looks like these arms of mine are good for something."
"Mom!"
Rose grinned. "Duty calls."
"Let me," he said. "You stay here and lounge."
"Sure?"
Kissing the tip of her nose, he said, "Absolutely."
Rose chose to take a shower instead of lingering in
bed. Then she helped Anna get ready for school while
Dalton prepared their breakfast feast.
At first, she'd been terrified of what Anna might
think or say about Dalton having accidentally spent
the night. She'd been ashamed, worried what the neigh-
bors might imagine. Moreover, what John might have
thought. But neither she nor Dalton had planned on
falling into such a deep sleep. It just happened. Sort of
like the way, without either of them knowing it, they'd
started to take on the feel of a family whenever the three
of them were together.
As much as she still feared the idea, she'd also begun
liking it, trying it on for size.
Soon, the scents of coffee brewing, bacon frying and
pancakes browning in a cast-iron skillet filled the loft.
Dalton had set the table, cleaned a few dozen straw-
berries he'd unearthed in the fridge, then called the
girls to the table.
"Dese are woot," Anna said, mouth loaded with
pancakes.
"Don't talk with your mouth full, sweetie."
"I know," the girl said after swallowing. "But, Mom,
they're really good."
"What can I say?" Dalton preened. "When you've
got it, you've got it. I'm a natural when it comes to
the kitchen."
"A natural-born disaster," Rose teased, eyeing the
splattered mess.
"I'll clean up after myself."
"You'd better," she said with a wink. "My biweekly
manicure is this morning. No way am I canceling
because a cooking diva like you trashed my kitchen."
"I'll stay home and clean, Mommy."
"I'll bet you would," Dalton said, ruffling the girl's
silky hair, which felt even softer than her mom's.
"Hey, I'm a good dish washer."
"Yes, you are," Rose said, "but you're even better at
spelling, and I don't want you to miss your new word list."
Carrying her plate to the sink, Anna made a face.
Rose whispered, "Sure you want to have kids?"
"More so than ever," he said, giving the child a
wistful glance as she shoved crayons, a Barbie and a
Matchbox car into her My Little Pony backpack. "Anna,
what grade are you in?"
"First. But I'm smart enough to be in fifth."
"I don't doubt that for a minute," he said, snatching
his and Rose's plates. "Do you drive Anna to school?"
"We're in a car pool. This is her friend Abbey's week,
but I should get her downstairs to wait."
"Hurry back," he said, craving a kiss but not wanting
to be overly affectionate in front of Anna.
"Baby, you ready to go?"
"Uh-huh. Bye, Mr. Dalton! Have a happy day!"
"You, too," he said, answering her wave.
With the little dynamo out of the loft, the space
suddenly felt enormous. By the time Dalton finished the
dishes, Rose was back, gifting him with a bright smile
and proper good-morning kiss.
"That's more like it," he said, settling his hands low
on her hips. "Some men need coffee in the morning, but
I'm thinking all I need is you."
"Likewise," she said with another kiss.
"Hey, I'm sorry I was still here when Anna got up.
I'd planned on setting my cell's alarm to wake me in an
hour, but we fell asleep before I got the chance."
"It's okay," she said, adding soap to the dishwasher,
then starting the load. "At least I think it is. I have to
admit, when she first bounded in, I was worried about how
she'd take finding you here, but she really didn't seem all
that surprised. Guess that's because she likes you."
"I suppose. Still, I wonder if she'll have questions for
you this afternoon when she gets home."
"That would be understandable, seeing how I have
questions m
yself."
He took her hand, eased his fingers between hers.
"Got anything I can help figure out?"
His cell rang.
"Damn. I'm found." On his way to fish the phone
from his jacket pocket, he said, "Whatever you were
about to say, hold that thought. Hello?"
"Son," his father bellowed into his ear. "I don't know
where you are, but you'd better get your rear down to
the bank ASAP."
Click.
Grimacing, Rose said, "The man's loud."
"You think?" Flipping the cell shut, Dalton sighed.
"You can't imagine how tired I am of this. His need
for control."
When he lowered onto a bar stool, she slipped her
arm around his shoulders. "Do you think his testiness
has to do with his heart condition? His fear that he's got
to get everything done in a hurry, just in case he doesn't
live to see another day?"
Dalton laughed. "With any other man, I'd agree with
you and cut him some slack. Trouble is, William Macy
Montgomery popped out of his mother's womb barking
instead of crying, and he's been doing it ever since."
"I guess that means you're leaving?"
"Eventually. First, I thought I might have a second
cup of coffee, then read the paper. After that, how about
we take a leisurely stroll through the park? It's supposed
to be another gorgeous day."
"All of that sounds amazing, but, Dalton, don't you
think you'd better do as he asked? I mean, there's no
sense in getting him any more worked up. You'd never
forgive yourself if something happened to him."
"Relax," he said, drawing her in for a kiss. "The man
will outlast us all. He's too damn stubborn to do any-
thing but."
"HEY, MISS ROSE. Good to see you," Frank said when
she helped herself to her favorite booth at the deli. "I
don't know where you learned to perform miracles, but
you must've gotten an A+."
"Oh?" she answered, sipping the raspberry tea he'd
been kind enough to remember she always ordered. "What
did I do that's so miraculous?" Other than have the best
night's sleep she'd had since before her husband's death.
"Mona and Alice. They're back together. Alice called
me last night to say she's already planning the costumes
for your little tykes' dance routine."
"That's great," she said. "Any idea what look she's
going with?"
The waitress brought a bowl of homemade chips.
Frank slid into the booth's empty seat, helping him-
self to a handful of the yummy treats. "According to my
wife—she works down at Hobby Mart—Alice has
cooked up some kind of Carmen Miranda theme with
loud orange dresses and fruit bowls on the girls' heads."
"S-sounds nice," Rose said, barely avoiding choking
on her latest chip. Fruit bowls? Wow. Oh well, at least
she wasn't having to make them.
Famous last words.
That night, after she and Dalton had tucked in Anna,
they sat at the kitchen counter, assembling elaborate hats.
"Tell me again how we managed to get roped into
this?" Dalton asked.
"Making an amazingly long story short, Mona got
stung by a bee and Alice had to take her to the emer-
gency room. If we don't get the hats done, Alice won't
have time to sew the dresses, seeing how the pageant's
only a week away."
"Right," he said, scratching his head. "Why didn't I
think of that?"
After hot-gluing a plastic banana to a plastic pine-
apple, she gave him an elbow nudge.
"Ouch," he complained. "You made me get hot glue
on my thumb."
"Poor baby," she said, drawing the wounded append-
age to her mouth for a medicinal suckle.
"You keep that up," he said, "and this hat assembly
line is being tossed out the window."
"Oh?" she asked, eyebrows raised. "And what, pray
tell, might we be doing instead?"
He whispered all sorts of naughty suggestions into
her ear, but then straightened. "Sorry. I forgot that we
weren't going to do any of that anymore until after you
give the all clear."
"It's okay," she said. And oddly enough, for the
moment, it was. Maybe Dalton had been right, and time
really was all she needed to thoroughly heal.
"Sure?" He stopped her in the middle of gluing
grapes to what she guessed was a pomegranate.
"Positive." He looked relieved, but not as relieved as
she felt that the two of them were able to have such an
open and frank discussion without Dalton getting upset
or her bursting into tears. "How did things go with your
father this morning?"
"Got an hour?"
"Sweetie..." She eyed the mound of plastic fruit
lining the counter. "From the looks of this mess, I've got
no less than five. Tell me every detail."
"Hi, Mr. Dalton!" Anna said, jumping on the foot of
the bed. Rose was missing, but the scent of frying
sausage, coffee and something cheesy gave him a clue
as to what she'd been doing. "Sleepovers are fun, huh?"
Dalton shot the girl a tight grin. He'd only meant to
shut his eyes for a second. He was still in his suit pants
and now-funky instead of crisply starched white shirt.
As he was starting to do more and more often, he'd
drifted off on top of the covers, but was now toasty
beneath a colorful quilt. He for sure hadn't meant to
indulge in another heavenly night with Rose. It wasn't
good for any of them—especially Anna, who was no
doubt confused.
Albeit, she was still jumping. "I don't have school
today because of parent-teacher conferences. That
means we'll have all morning to play."
"That's cool," he said. "Wish I got days off of work
for stuff like that."
"Maybe you should start going to school with me,"
Anna said, showing no signs of stopping her jumping
anytime soon. It was making him dizzy just watching all
that early-morning action. But she also made him happy.
What must it be like to wake each day with joy
instead of dread? He had to make it a priority to find out.
"Anna!" Rose admonished, emerging from the
bathroom with hair wet and red velour jogging suit
clinging to her curves. "How many times have I told you
to stop jumping on the beds?"
"Lots," Anna said, snatching a few more quick leaps
before scrambling to the floor. "But it's just so fun. Mr.
Dalton thinks so, too."
"Hey," he said with a wide smile, arms behind his head,
"don't bring me into this. Your mom looks pretty mad."
"She'll be okay. Back before Daddy died, we all used
to jump on the beds."
"Anna!"
"What? It's the truth."
Ignoring her child in much the same way Dalton
ignored the underlying tension, Rose hustled off to
check whatever smelled so great in the oven.
Anna hightailed it to her room.
Dalton shut himself in the bathroom to splash cold
was already past nine. Damn, he'd had no business
sleeping so late.
In the kitchen, the coast clear from snooping-kid
eyes, he snagged Rose around her waist and stole a
quick kiss. "Good morning. I'm starting to like waking
up beside you. Only trouble is, this morning, you
weren't there."
"Sorry," she said. "Now that I've slept through the
night again, thanks to you, I feel energized. Like I'm
ready to take on the world. Only instead of doing quite
that much, I figured I'd make you a nice breakfast. You
know, something to jump-start your day."
He groaned. "My day was supposed to start about
three hours ago, so it looks like Anna's the only one
who'll be jumping around here."
"I should've woken you. But you looked so at peace."
"Yes, you should have gotten my lazy butt out of bed,
but thanks for not doing it. I've gotta say, the extra shut-
eye felt great. Oh—thanks for covering me, too."
"You're welcome."
"Frankly, Alice, I'm not sure whether to turn him over
my knee or ground him. He just doesn't seem to have
the passion he should, considering the responsibility
he's about to be handed."
"Gee, Dad," Dalton said, strolling into his father and
Alice's impromptu break-room meeting, "correct me if
I'm wrong, but it seems to me that I already do pretty
much everything around here except occupy your fancy
corner office."
"Dalton," Alice admonished, "don't you dare speak
to your father like that."
"Alice," Dalton said, standing his ground, "would
you mind giving Dad and me a little privacy?"
"William?" She looked to his dad for permission. As
did everyone else in the building whenever the great
man was around.
"Go on," he said. "I'll be fine."
Ha!
"All right, then. Stop by my office when you're done,
and I'll get you that printout you wanted to go over."
"Will do. Thanks." Alice shut the door behind her.
While his father brewed, Dalton calmly fixed himself
a cup of coffee.
"Son, I don't have all day," he finally barked while
Dalton took his time adding one sugar packet, then two.
"Kindly get on with your explanation of what's gotten
into you. You haven't been acting at all yourself."
Maybe that was because ever since meeting Rose, he
hadn't been feeling himself. "Trust me, Dad, I'm better
than I've been in years."
