by Emily Childs
She gives me a watery smile and kisses me sweetly. “So we start slow.”
“We start slow. Sort of.” I rise and give her my best sly grin. “If it’s not too soon, I’d love to take you out tonight on our second first date.”
She leans closer, her lips brushing my cheek. “Sounds perfect. But how turned off would you be if I pick a three-year-old’s birthday party for a date?” Dot laughs when I lift a brow. “It’s Brin’s birthday tonight. Care to accompany me?”
“Accompany you? So formal.”
“It is a rather formal affair. A mermaid and unicorn theme. The fanciest.”
I kiss her, slower, needier. We’re breathing hard when I pull back. My forehead to hers, I grin and say, “Count me in, Dottie.”
***
“This is stupid, right?” Maddie tucks her dark hair behind her ear, adjusting her top in the mirror in the entry way. “What am I thinking?”
“It’s not stupid,” I tell her as I fasten my watch.
“This is kind of like meeting the parents, except there is something different about meeting the friend group. It’s almost more intimidating.”
I flash her a grin. “They’ve already seen you and talked with you before. Trust me, they’re all nice. That’s saying something, since half of them were supposed to hate me. They were still nice.”
Maddie snorts. “I feel bad for hating Dot on default when really I should’ve been reserving my best insults for you.”
I roll my eyes. “A mistake I won’t be repeating. But let’s not talk about me, let’s talk about Will.”
Maddie turns away, her face a red mess. “There isn’t really anything to talk about. He’s nice and I’ve had dinner with him a few times.”
“And you’re meeting the friends.”
“Stop reminding me.”
I nudge her elbow. “Come on, tell me what’s up.”
Her eyes are glossy when she faces me, tension in her jaw. “I told him about Royce, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“I wasn’t.”
“I thought he ought to know it could be a messy ride,” she hurries on. “We haven’t done anything, but he’s been . . . nice to talk to. He’s a little shy, honestly, but he’s also . . . gentle. Does that make me sound like an idiot?”
I squeeze her against my side and shake my head. “No. Not an idiot. You deserve a good guy. A gentle guy, Maddie. From what I’ve seen, Will is a good one.”
She grins and returns to her reflection in the mirror. Blowing out a nervous breath, she smooths out her shirt. “I can’t wait until this divorce is over. Your friend called, by the way. I think I’m going to add him to the team. He says with all my journals and saved texts, he’s confident the judge will rule in my favor and I might be officially divorced at the end of the month!”
My shoulders straighten. Second only to the idea that Dot is back in my life, the notion that my cousin might be single soon is like fresh coffee in the morning. “Then we’ll be celebrating again real soon.”
Maddie grins at her reflection. It’s nice to see her smile. If anything, I ought to be buying Will a round of drinks for bringing that back.
“So,” she says when I grab my car keys. I’m going to be late picking up Dot, and on a first second first date, I don’t plan to be late. “When are you selling those shares to Liam and the board?”
I instantly tense. “We have a meeting tomorrow.”
“Think he’s really going to keep cool about it?”
“Who knows? Who cares? He doesn’t have a choice anymore. I want to go back and get my programming endorsements. I’m tired of doing things for other people who don’t matter.”
“Good,” she says. “You guys do you.”
I wink. “I plan to make sure it’s us from here on out.”
Headlights pull up to the beach house and Maddie’s countenance brightens. “That’s Will. I guess I’ll see you there.”
I head to the front door, exchange a few words with Will, then drive down the road to Dot’s house. She doesn’t even let me knock on the door before she’s pouncing outside. I have flashbacks to our dates before everything fell apart. No matter how often we saw each other, Dot always greeted me with the thrill of a first date.
My body heats, glad to see some things haven’t changed.
She kisses me without a pause, without a wall between us, and I think it might be better if we stayed in tonight.
“Second first date,” she says against my lips.
I grin and take her hand in mine. “Would you laugh if I told you I got a little nervous?”
“Yes, but only because I’ve been in knots all day, too. Weird, right?”
With her hand in mine, I press her knuckles to my lips, shaking my head. “Nah, we’re normal.”
The ride to August and Lily’s house isn’t long, and when we pull up, we’re bombarded with balloons and pink and rainbows. Dot pauses at the car, grinning shyly as I lace our fingers together.
“I didn’t think we’d ever be here again,” she admits.
With a squeeze to her hand, I take the first step toward the house. “I didn’t either, but I’m glad we are.”
We still dodge a few topics. Like the worst of the last year. I want to ask, mostly about her family, how we go on with them and knowing how much of a role people we cared about played in our breakup. I want to be with Dot, so it’ll be hard to avoid her parents forever. I want to relearn everything, what new likes and dislikes she has, her plans with the clinic, with moving. I want to know it all, but at the same time this does feel new. A weird balance of knowing each other, of having a history, and starting from square one all rolled into something exciting.
By the looks of the crowd inside, we’re the last to arrive, and when Lily answers the door, we’re swallowed.
Everyone goes on, gushing and celebrating over us getting together again. Even Rafe’s and August’s mama has something to say about it.
“I’m pleased as all get out,” Millie Whitfield says while sneaking a gummy worm to little Brin. “You’ve got that smile I’ve been missing, Miss Dottie.”
Jace taps my arm while Dot and Millie talk. “So,” she says, eyes toward the center of the room where Will and Maddie are talking, close together. “Tell me as a sister what I need to know about your lovely cousin.”
I take a drink from a pink plastic cup, glad to have the attention off Dot and me for once. “Maddie was always like a sister to me. We were really close as kids until—”
“The ex, right?” Jace interrupts. “I’m gathering she has a real piece of work who likes to cause trouble for her.”
I nod, uncomfortable sharing too much. “He’s bad news. She’s tough, though. We haven’t talked much while she was married to him, but left the door open, you know, for when she left. We knew it was an inevitable thing. My side of the family seems to be the only side willing to support her right now.”
Jace snorts angrily. “Ugh, I get that. You know half our family is ridiculous.”
I assume she’s talking about her uncle, Rafe’s and August’s dad, who disowned them before they were even born.
“I think Will has been helping Maddie open up again.”
Jace grins, watching as Will goes red in the face, laughing at something Maddie says. “I think she’s good for him, too. I just wanted to snoop and be nosy.”
“As sister’s should.”
She smirks. “I knew I liked you.”
Even being forced to wear a unicorn party hat with rainbow streamers for the mane, I’m not sure I’ve laughed this much in a long time. After Brin is tucked into bed, completely trashed from a sugar high, we head outside for drinks and excess cake. In truth, tonight feels like I’ve been here all along. Like I wasn’t the outsider looking in, tormenting his ex all this time.
“What I want to know—scratch that—what I demand to know,” Olive starts, “is how the heck y’all kept being engaged from us.”
“Better question,” Zac sa
ys, “why keep it a secret?”
“Y’all are nosy,” Dot says.
“Hey, I wasn’t even around during all this and I want to know, too,” Josephine adds.
“Are you going to be mad, Ollie?” Dot grins at her friend.
“Probably.”
“It’s nothing against anyone.” Dot looks to me. “We wanted to do it our way at first and have a big to-do later. My folks were being a little weird—now we know why—and I didn’t want any kind of drama on my wedding day.”
Olive doesn’t seem appeased. She glares at me. “And you, sir. You were just going to let her not invite me to a wedding?”
I laugh nervously. “We were going to have one, I swear.”
“Not good enough. On round two, I expect to be there for the original. Up close and personal.”
Round two. Heat blooms through my chest. I steal a glance at Dot whose cheeks are kissed pink. She rests a hand on my back, fingers tracing the lines of my shoulders. I like the sound of round two.
***
“I liked tonight,” Dot says. She leans back against the car windshield, watching the dark line of the shore.
I recline on the top of my hood, looking up at the satin sky. Out here, free of city lights, the stars are vibrant. Diamonds in the sky. “I did, too.”
She rests her head on my shoulder. I breathe in the fresh sugary scent of her hair and pull her tightly against my side. We don’t say anything for a stretched silence. I don’t mind, simply having her back in my arms like this is enough to satisfy me for an unforeseeable time. Forever, maybe.
“When you stopped talking to me, I thought you’d move on and forget all about nights like this,” Dot whispers against my chest. “Maybe even be glad to be rid of me.”
Her voice is soft and vulnerable. With one hand, I cup the side of her face, the pad of my thumb outlining her top lip. “Hey, you are anything but forgettable. You and me, Dot—we’re okay. Whatever you need to say, whatever I need to say, we say it, now.”
She grins against my skin and props up onto her elbow, so she’s half on my chest. “I tried to forget you.”
“What, like dating?”
She traces the edge of my jaw, inching closer. I’m nothing but pliable clay in her hands. She could do just about anything and I’d comply.
“A few dates, yes. But I always compared them to someone else. Wasn’t fair to the guys, really, to drag them along with my epic perfection. I had to let them down easy.”
I laugh, enjoying the way her body shudders against mine. “You say it like a joke, but I don’t think you know what you do to me.”
“What about you?”
“What? Did I date?” She nods and I let out a long sigh. “I went on three blind dates arranged by Liam. I wasn’t pleasant company and decided to dive into work instead. Basically, I lived my best hermit life.”
Her smile fades. For a second I think she’s sad or disappointed, but when she kisses me it’s pure desire. Rough, deep, heady. When she pulls away, my hand is in her hair, hers in mine, our breaths heavy.
“What was that for?”
She grins. “For being you and for coming back. I want to start over—with you.”
I reach around her waist and give her side a squeeze. Faces close, I brush my lips against hers, leaving plenty of room for more. “I’m here, Dottie. Until forever.”
She touches the spot where her words are on my skin, then kisses me like it’s the last and first time rolled into one perfect moment.
Chapter 21
Dot
My bed is covered in clothes, cardboard boxes dot my floor, and I’m starting to lose my mind. I don’t even know where to start.
“I can’t wait to have you a stitch closer,” Olive says as she handles some of my cocktail dresses I haven’t worn in months. “But this view—it’ll be hard to beat.”
My chest cinches in a bit of reluctance. I’ll miss the beach house, but my promised thirty days are winding up quickly. I’ve stuck to my guns and refuse to be tethered to my folks even if I am paying rent. I don’t want their name on anything to do with my life, house included. Luckily, I found a cute one-bedroom twin home in Honeyville. Plenty of room for me, and if I ever want to stretch my legs, well, it helps that I have a boyfriend who lives in a five-bedroom beach house.
“It’s time to cut the cord,” I tell her.
“How is that?” Olive asks and sits on the corner of my bed. “Have you spoken to your daddy at all?”
I shake my head. “Not since the meeting with Walter. He corresponds any business stuff through email. Mama has called once, though. No apology, of course, only insisting I let bygones be bygones.” I snort. “As if it’s something I can just brush off like it didn’t totally alter my life.”
Olive shakes her head. “I keep thinking to when we first met Sawyer. I never would’ve thought he’d be the guy parents would drive away.”
The dinner date with Rafe and Olive had been mere weeks before it all fell apart. We’d been secretly engaged at the time. I smile at the fun we had, both Sawyer and me taking guesses on how long it would be before Olive and Rafe came to their senses and realized they were crazy about each other. “None of us knew,” I say softly. “I don’t get it, Ollie. All because Sawyer wanted to have a different career.”
She rolls her eyes, but Olive gets the narrow-minded thinking that goes on in the life of our parents. “It’s stupid. Hey, at least when we have girls, we won’t be chasing away respectable guys, right?”
I pause. “Is that an announcement?”
“No,” she pouts. “Still empty-wombed.”
I shove her shoulder a bit until she smiles. It’s hard to tell her to be patient, but really it’s only been a couple months. Instead, I change the subject. “I’m thinking of surprising Sawyer tonight at his office. What restaurant says: I want to tell you I love you again, but I’m scared?”
Olive beams and tosses a silk blouse at me. “Coming from you, I’d say anything. But if you’re going for super romantic, then I’d say Fazoli’s.”
I bite the inside of my cheek, smiling. A week since Beach Day, since I dropped my defenses and let Sawyer in again, and I want him to know he’s right back to making my heart race like the Kentucky Derby.
It’s easy to admit I love Sawyer—I never stopped loving him. We haven’t said it to each other outright. He’s dropped a few hints, of course, but we’ve yet to go back down that road. One thing we agreed to was not keeping things from each other. To me, I know what it feels like to wake up and not have Sawyer Lanford, so he’s going to know how I feel. A week in, or not.
Olive sighs and flops back onto my bed. “I’m so happy for you, girl. But I do stand by my threat that if you try to get married without me again, I’ll never stop holding a grudge against you.”
“Let’s get through a week of being back together before we’re talking weddings.”
“I’m just putting it out there.”
Olive is the friend who gets excited over a firefly. By the time she leaves me to get ready for my surprise date, we’ve squealed a few times over the potential of my relationship, laughed until our sides hurt, and have aches in our cheeks from smiling.
I decide to go all out and pop into one of those fancy cocktail dresses, a set of nude heels. I even put on three different shades of eyeshadow—the big guns. It’s after seven, so I hope most of the folks at Sawyer’s office are gone and we can schmooze alone.
My car smells of rich, garlicky marinara. I have half a mind to pull over and devour one of the breadsticks, they’re that good. Olive was right, though. Sawyer is a sucker for ravioli and meat sauce. A stupid grin has been plastered on my face since I left Fazoli’s, all from imagining a romantic night, and hardly believing we’re here after all this time.
As I pull into the parking lot of the building, my phone rings. At the name, my jaw tightens. So much for telling Olive Daddy has only tried to communicate through email. Why is he calling? I don’t find out becaus
e I don’t answer. Not tonight. The last thing I want is an argument, or any more talk about the way he nearly ruined my relationship and has no remorse.
“Nope.” I ignore the call and pull into a parking stall. The lights are dim in the building, but I see Sawyer’s car. All the better. We must be alone.
My palms are clammy with all the butterflies dipping in my stomach by the time the elevator opens to the floor where HealthyRx has taken up shop. It’s orderly and freshly decorated. Maddie told me she has a love of interior design, and she’s good. The walls are welcoming but not overdone. It’s sort of exciting to know Sawyer built this using the passion my father found so distasteful. A small business, perhaps not as profitable as Lanford & Hewitt, but I see a lot of potential here. Besides, if this sort of work makes him happier, that’s the thing that matters most, right?
With the steaming bags in hand, I saunter toward the back office and knock. “Sawyer?”
My shoulders slump. It’s empty. A gym bag is open on his desk and inside is his button-down shirt and slacks.
He must be on a run.
Well, cold pasta will still be a surprise when he gets back. I move some of the files on his desk to the side, his two keyboards, a laptop, then set out the plates of food. Movement out in the hallway draws my attention to the door.
He’s here.
“Sawyer?” I call out when it takes longer than I think it should to come into the office. Nothing. I step out of the office into the hallway. It’s still dark, most of the other offices are closed but one, so I make my way toward it. “Sawyer?”
The space, complete with two narrow desks and a kitchenette, is empty and dark. In another area of the office, something drops. The thud of it echoes down the hallway. On the back of my neck, the hair stands on end and goosebumps prickle up my arms.
Before I can turn around and investigate, a burning hot freight train hits my head. Hazy, colorful stars dot behind my eyes. I stumble back, my hip strikes the corner of one of the desks.
