Dare Me Once

by Shelly Alexander

  And it killed her that she was going to have to deliver the same disappointment soon.

  “Come on, Ben,” Megan said. “Open your gift.”

  He shook his head again. “No!”

  She turned a huffy look on Trace. “You’ve already worked on him so he won’t want to come live with me in Los Angeles.”

  Ben’s little body trembled at Lily’s side, and she rubbed his back.

  “Megan.” Trace shook his head and nodded to Ben in a gesture that said Not in front of him.

  Ben dropped to his knees and rocked. “I’m not leaving my duckies! I’m not going to live in Los Angeles!”

  “Megan, it’s time for you to leave.” Trace stepped between Ben and his mother.

  “I’m not ready to leave. I came here to see my son,” she said.

  “Ben.” Lily pulled her phone from her pocket and leaned down to whisper in his ear. “I’ll see if I can fix it with your teacher so you don’t have to go back to school on the bus.” It was an overstep, but she doubted Trace would mind if it meant protecting Ben. Kids could be unkind when they sensed weakness, especially on a school bus. What if they’d understood enough to ask Ben questions about his mom? In his agitated state, it was the last thing he needed. But the ducks always soothed him, so she handed her phone to him. “Want to take today’s pictures of the ducks?”

  “Really?” His rocking slowed.

  Megan and Trace’s showdown wasn’t over, but Trace was doing his best to shield Ben from the fireworks by staying firmly planted between his son and Megan.

  Lily nodded and gave Ben a gentle hug. “The school day will be almost over by the time you get there. After you take pictures of the ducks, it might be a good idea to record them because their chirps are turning into squawks.” She’d grow feathers and cackle herself if it meant keeping Ben from having a meltdown.

  He snatched her phone and ran full-throttle toward the lane that led to the cottages.

  “Ben!” Megan called after him.

  He didn’t slow.

  Lily stood, but she didn’t leave just in case Trace needed her. She turned and made a wrap-it-up gesture to Miss Etheridge. Better the kids head over to the bus in case things got even more out of hand.

  Megan’s knuckles turned white as chalk as she gripped the gift. “This isn’t over.”

  “Damn straight it’s not.” There wasn’t a morsel of sympathy in Trace’s tone. “I knew you’d screw this up. I just didn’t think you’d do it quite so publicly while stabbing Ben in the heart.”

  For the first time since she’d arrived, Megan looked contrite. “Fine.” Her bottom lip quivered. “Take me back to the Cape.”

  Trace huffed out an exasperated laugh. “Take the ferry.” He strolled in the same direction as Ben. “I’m not your chauffeur.” He stopped long enough to turn to Lily and said, “I’ll be with Ben.”

  Megan’s eyes rounded, and she stared at Trace’s retreating back. Obviously, she was used to Trace mediating between her and Ben instead of making a real effort as a mother.

  “Megan, can I get you a cloth?” Lily kept her professional demeanor firmly in place. She knew from dealing with her friends-turned-mean-girls after her father was arrested that it was best to kill them with kindness. And if kindness didn’t work, signing them up for every spam email list she could find made Lily feel better. She bit the inside of her lip and waited for an answer.

  Megan turned glazed eyes on her. “Beg your pardon?”

  “For the paint.” Lily pointed to the bright smears on Megan’s suit.

  Megan shook her head and looked down at the gift. “It’s ruined.” She fingered the ribbon. “I guess I didn’t handle that very well, did I?”

  It wasn’t Lily’s place to say Hell no, you didn’t. Megan stood there in her expensive clothes and nails, so perfect she’d probably walked out of LA’s most posh salon and stepped right onto a plane bound for Angel Fire Falls. All Lily saw was a younger version of her mother. Perfectly put together on the outside, pathetically unhappy on the inside. And all Lily could do was pity her. So she said, “Parents make mistakes.”

  “You’re very good with him. He seems to be very attached to you,” Megan said.

  Something prickled up Lily’s spine. “I work here, so we see a lot of each other.” Lily had a sudden urge to bolt just like Ben, but no way was she leaving Megan to roam the resort or the island alone so she could terrify the villagers and wreak more havoc on Trace and Ben. “Can I find you a ride to the ferry?” Maybe Charley would be willing to drop Megan at the terminal before picking Sophie up from school.

  Megan studied her. “Of course,” she finally said. “That would be lovely.”

  Wow. She sure was some actress to have switched her tone on a dime. No wonder she’d risen above the laxative commercials Trace mentioned.

  “Great.” Lily brightened. “I’ll be right back with someone to drive you to the terminal.” She started toward the lodge to find Charley but stopped. “Would you like me to give that to Ben?” She nodded to the gift in Megan’s hand.

  Megan hesitated, then handed it over. “Please do. Thank you. And tell him his mother loves him.”

  Maybe it was Lily’s imagination, but Megan seemed to emphasize the word mother like she was trying to make a point.

  Trace did not want to adult today.

  It seemed unfair that he had to be the grown-up when Megan got to act like a child.

  He took a seat on the ground behind Lily’s cottage, leaned against a tree, and watched Ben record the ducks. Some pecked at the new pellets he’d picked up at a livestock feed store on the mainland, and the others swam in the shallow pond Ben had created from an old plastic container Charley had marked for the trash. They’d gotten so big that the toddler swimming pool Trace’d bought a couple of weeks ago was now their inside home because they’d outgrown the plastic habitat.

  Just like the ducks, Ben was growing up much faster than Trace cared to admit. Now that Megan had derailed her own ridiculous plan to gain custody, it was probably time to have a man-to-man talk with his son about the situation.

  Ben lumbered over to sit on his knees next to Trace. “Guess what I learned about girl ducks and boy ducks?”

  Trace chuckled. “Tell me.”

  Ben laid Lily’s phone in the grass and bounced on his knees. “Girl ducks quack louder than boy ducks, and their beaks are different colors.”

  “Have you figured out the girls from the boys?” Trace plucked a blade of grass and fiddled with it.

  His heart squeezed when Ben mimicked him with a piece of grass. His little head shook back and forth. “They all sound the same, but in a few weeks, we’ll be able tell the difference.”

  “Will it bother you if we have to rename them?” Trace propped his forearms over his bent knees.

  “Nope, because a boy should have a boy’s name,” Ben said as though he’d given the problem a lot of thought. “And a girl should have a girl’s name.”

  Trace pursed his lips and nodded. “Good thinking.” He gave the gray sky a once-over. “Ben, do you want to talk about what just happened with your mom?” Asking Ben to focus on the pain Megan inflicted was like driving a knife into Trace’s own heart.

  “I don’t want to live in Los Angeles,” Ben blurted.

  “You don’t have to.” Megan was smart enough to know that twenty kids, their teacher, and the Remington’s hospitality manager had just witnessed her theatrics, and she hadn’t left a glowing impression on any of them. Trace drew in a sad breath. “Do you ever wonder what it would be like to live with your mom?”

  Ben nodded, and he rubbed a hand against one thigh. “It would be boring.”

  “Why do you say that?” Trace was curious because Ben hadn’t been around Megan enough to know what it would be like.

  “Because Mom doesn’t like me.” Ben’s tone was blunt.

  Trace’s heart broke. “She likes you.” He doubted it, but how could he say so to an eight-year-old kid?

>   “No,” Ben said, all serious and analytical. “She’s the same as the kids at school who don’t like me. They stay away from me and say I’m weird.”

  Dear God. Trace was a grown man, but damned if he didn’t feel a sting behind his eyes. He didn’t speak for fear his voice would crack.

  Ben bounced on his knees. “And you’re like my friends at school. They play with me all the time. They don’t care if I’m weird.”

  “You’re not weird,” Trace managed to say with a steady voice.

  “Dad,” Ben drew out. “I am too. Just like Miss Etheridge’s blue hair is weird. I think it’s okay to be weird as long as you’re a nice person.” He pointed to the ducks. “See Waddles? He’s different from the other ducks.”

  Waddles, with his slight limp and one wing a bit smaller than the other, was the only duck Trace could pick out of the bunch. The others looked exactly alike to him. Still, he wasn’t going to let such shallow things form his son’s perception of what normal should look like.

  “A limp and a lame wing doesn’t make him weird, Ben.”

  Ben shook his head impatiently. “No. That’s not what I mean. When the rest of them play follow-the-leader in a circle, he walks a circle in the opposite direction. It’s funny, and he’s not hurting the other ducks, so it’s okay.”

  Trace’s intake of breath was sharp. The ducks were teaching Ben so many things, including life skills. Lily’s instincts had been spot-on about keeping the ducks, just like everything else. And Trace hadn’t seen it.

  “If I lived in Los Angeles, Mom wouldn’t want to be around me there either because I’m different.” When the ducks started a game of follow-the-leader, he lifted the phone and hit record. And sure enough, the duck with the slight limp went in the opposite direction, lapping the others with a squawk. “And you and Lily and Grandpa and Uncle Spence and Uncle Elliott and Charley and Sophie and all the ducks live here.” He let it all tumble out at once. “So it would be boring if I lived with Mom.”

  Made perfect sense to Trace. What amazed him was that Ben had figured it out on his own.

  Trace picked at a clover. “Does it bother you . . .” That your mom doesn’t like you? Doesn’t want to be around you? Thinks you’re weird? “That your mom isn’t around much?”

  Ben kept recording the ducks. “Not anymore.”

  Huh. Not the answer Trace expected. “Why not?”

  Ben rolled his eyes as though Trace should’ve been the one to figure that out already. Ben kept recording the ducks. “Because Lily’s sorta my mom now.”

  Trace’s pulse kicked up a notch. Lily had developed a special bond with Ben. With Trace too, and she was slowly opening up to him. He hadn’t wanted to hire her, but she’d upended his world in the best way possible. He didn’t know how or even if it would all work out. She was the real deal, though. A future with Lily may not be a sure thing yet, but he wanted to take the chance and find out because she was worth the risk.

  If she’d have him. Megan probably wouldn’t vanish completely. She’d likely always be an issue to deal with, at least to some degree.

  “Hey, you two.” Lily appeared from the side of the cottage.

  The splotch of paint on her nose made Trace want to pull her into his arms.

  “Everything okay?” She sat on the grass next to Trace and cut her eyes at her left hand, which was hidden at her side. She had the gift Megan brought Ben, only it was a little more tattered since Megan had dropped it.

  He nodded and gave her a warm smile at the thoughtful gesture. That’s what made Lily so different. When most people, including Ben’s own mother, ran away from the difficulties of Ben’s condition, Lily ran toward them. And then tried to make things better for him.

  “Hey, Ben.” She held out her hand. “Can I have my phone back?”

  He stopped recording and handed it to her.

  She immediately started texting, and Trace’s phone dinged.

  He drew his brows together and gave her a quizzical look.

  She raised an eyebrow and nodded to the phone in his pocket.

  So he took it out and read the text.

  Charley’s taking her to the ferry.

  Trace didn’t have to ask which her Lily meant. The less they spoke of she-who-should-not-be-named, the better. He typed back.

  Thank you.

  Her smile was tender when she read his response. She typed, and his phone dinged.

  You’re welcome.

  She winked. “The kids left to go back to school, but Miss Etheridge said Ben could stay here.”

  Lily thought of everything. Trace couldn’t help it. They hadn’t shown a lot of PDA in front of Ben, but he reached up and caught a wisp of her hair, tucking it behind an ear. Then he let his eyes roam her beautiful face.

  She returned his affectionate stare in spades.

  “Are you guys gonna kiss?” Ben snickered. “Cuz I want to record it and show it to everyone!” He lunged across Trace’s lap and grabbed for Lily’s phone.

  Trace could swear fear flared in her eyes, and she held it out of reach.

  “Hey, we need to print the pictures of the ducks for your project, right?” Lily asked.

  Ben righted himself and bounced on his knees. “Can you come watch my presentation at school?”

  “Of course,” Lily said.

  “Uh,” Trace said like he was shocked. “You want me to go too, right?” Because he was beginning to think Ben preferred Lily over everyone else on the planet.

  “Dad,” Ben drew out again, clearly exasperated.

  Trace ruffled his hair. “If you move the ducks inside, I’ll spring for ice cream in town.”

  “Can Lily go too?” Ben asked.

  Trace lifted both brows at her so she could answer for herself.

  She rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “You know, I think I like ice cream almost as much as doughnuts. Of course I’ll go, especially if your dad is buying.”

  Ben cheered.

  Trace felt like doing a little cheer of his own, because it was Friday afternoon, and they were going for ice cream. Like a real family should. He slipped her hand inside his and nodded to the gift. “Ben, do you want to open the gift your mom brought?”

  Ben nodded but wasn’t all that excited.

  Trace took the gift from Lily and gave it to Ben. He tore off the wrapping paper. He studied the mechanical duck robot on the box with no emotion. “Do I have to go live with Mom if I accept it?”

  Jesus. Ben really did know the score with his mother much better than Trace thought. “No, buddy. You’re staying right here with me.”

  “And with Lily?” Ben asked.

  Trace glanced at her. Her lips had parted, and a light shimmer of wetness glistened in her eyes. He wanted to blurt Yes, with Lily, and he was close to positive she felt the same way.

  Before he could respond, her smile wavered. “Um, well.” Her eyes darted away. “I want to stay here, but we’ll see.”

  Um, well. What the hell? Obviously, they weren’t on the same page, because that wasn’t at all what he’d thought she would say.

  And even more alarming-how did Megan know to get Ben a duck-themed gift? Trace was certain neither he nor Ben had mentioned the ducks to her before today. So was it a lucky guess? Or was someone feeding her information?

  Chapter Twenty

  LILY’S LIFE LESSON #20

  In all things, size really does matter.

  Lily sat at her desk and clicked the red notification alert in the top corner of the resort’s reservation calendar. The same notification she’d clicked on several times since Elliott had brought it to her attention last Friday.

  Ronald Parker’s upcoming stay mocked her.

  She chewed her nail and stared at the screen.

  She’d used her alone time the past few days to search the internet, social media, and online news sites for every Gulf Coast TV channel she could find. Nothing about her had surfaced. Neither had anything about Ronald Parker.

  Still, her time wa
s running out, and she needed to finish setting up the resort to run without her should it have to.

  As promised, she added STATE-OF-THE-ART GAME ROOM AVAILABLE THIS SUMMER SEASON, COURTESY OF BUZZBEE ELECTRONICS & GAMING AND BILLIARDS & MORE! to the Remington website along with their links. The new game systems had already arrived, and the boxes were scattered around Lily’s office. The game room renovations were underway, but there wasn’t time to set up the electronics, so she organized the boxes and pushed them against the back wall.

  As she finished up, her phone dinged.

  The day is too beautiful to waste indoors. Pick you up in an hour. Dress comfortably.

  Before she could respond, another text popped onto the screen.

  Thing One & Thing Two are holding down the fort for a few hours.

  She smiled at the screen. She didn’t text back. Instead, she walked to her cottage to change. Exactly one hour later, a knock sounded at her door. When she opened it, Trace lounged against the frame, a sexy smile on his handsome face.

  Lily’s girl parts sighed.

  He let a lazy gaze wander over her. It snagged on the frayed edge of her shorts. “Nice. An inch shorter and those would be Daisy Dukes.”

  She stepped outside and closed the door behind her. “How does a single guy who wears generic T-shirts that probably come in a plastic package know about Daisy Dukes?”

  “Beautiful, every straight guy with a pulse knows about Daisy Dukes.” He held up a backpack. “This one’s yours. We’re taking a scenic walk.” He pulled out the aviators that were hooked at his neckline and slid them onto his nose. “Ready?”

  “As I’ll ever be.” She took the backpack and slung it around her shoulders. “Now I’m intrigued.” She’d assumed they’d be driving. Since it was shaping up to be a gorgeous, clear day, she lowered sunglasses from the top of her hair onto her nose.

  He hitched his pack onto one shoulder and laced his fingers through hers as he led her off the porch. “Backpacking for a few hours is all it took to intrigue you? To think I’ve been wasting my time with the hot flyboy act and the great sex.”