Dream On (Stories of Serendipity #2)

by Anne Conley

  “What kind of signs? I can do a sign.” Summer asked.

  “Alyssa and Dalton together forever . C , c heesy stuff like that. I don’t really like it.”

  “Of course you don’t, but what could it hurt?”

  Jessie piped up, “What about Dalton?”

  Alyssa shrugged, “What about him?” Dalton felt the pain the words evoked. He was intimately familiar with it.

  “Have you talked to him? How’s he doing with all of this?”

  “I don’t know, Jessie. He’s probably fine. I imagine he’s moving on with his life.” He felt himself choke up with tears , and then felt himself try to hold them back. “I don’t want…I can’t talk about it. I’m sorry.” She took another drink of her beer. “Who’s going to sing?”

  “I’ve got a hankering for some B-52’s. Who’s with me?” Summer asked, and Alyssa felt a little better as she watched her friends clown up on the stage singing “Rock Lobster.” Dalton enjoyed feeling the smile on her face.

  The next morning, Dalton awoke to an unbearable sense of sadness. She hadn’t sung the night before. It broke his heart a little to realize that.

  Chapter 24

  Alyssa was having a hard time getting used to the signs. It had started with just the square around the courthouse, where she didn’t go much. Then other business owners had caught on, and now the signs were everywhere. You’d have to be living under a rock to not know about Alyssa, Dalton, and Steven.

  Summer had, predictably, been the first one not on the square to post a sign in the window of ‘ A Summer Place. ’ It said, Dalton and Alyssa—when will you see what the rest of us do? Y’all were made for each other! Other signs around town had things like, Alyssa and Dalton, sitting in a tree…, or Alyssa and Dalton, t T wo souls, one heart. The Methodist Church even joined in , on its bulletin board , with : Alyssa and Dalton, come to church together. The Lord will see you through.

  Most of the signs were hand-lettered , on poster board, but a few, like the church’s were on the permanent light boards with removable letters. A couple of businesses had even had signs professionally printed.

  Of course, people talked to her, too. Some even told her they’d talked to Dalton already. Most were trying to play match-maker, but there were a few who told her she was better off without him.

  Alyssa was flattered by the attention, but at the same time, unnerved. She really didn’t like her private life, or lack thereof, being plastered up all over town. There was really no way around it, though. Michael, her lawyer, had started it, and there didn’t seem to be any way to stop it.

  To top it all off, the dreams had started up again. She was dreaming of Dalton’s life once more. She could feel he was hurting inside, as much as she was. These past weeks had been just as much torture for him as they were for her, and somehow, that made it worse.

  And now she knew he was planning something.

  Alyssa didn’t know what. She hadn’t been privy to his thoughts, except she knew he was dreaming of her again , , too , b . B ecause he was talking to her, when he was alone, and it freaked her out a little. Like last night…

  He’d been out in the barn, hauling sacks of feed out of his truck, when he started talking to her.

  “Alyssa? I’m dreaming of you again, which tells me you’re probably doing the same. I just want you to know, I love you. These feelings aren’t going away. Something is telling us to be together, that we need each other. Can’t you see it? I know I’m not good enough for you, but I need you in my life. You and the kids. I can’t tell you how much I miss those little pistols…”

  He’d continued talking to her, telling her how much he missed her, until she awoke with a sadness in her gut she couldn’t name. It was as if she had undergone surgery , and the doctor had removed something vital. She wasn’t able to function without it.

  And she needed it back.

  Dalton slipped the tee shirt over his head, ran his fingers through his hair, and hopped on his motorcycle.

  He had decided he needed to take action. The longer he waited, the crazier he was going inside. He had run his plan past his mom for her approval, and to his surprise, she had told him to “get your ass in gear and get that girl back.”

  So, that’s what he was going to do.

  Pulling up in front of her school, he propped up the bike and marched into the principal’s office.

  He took a deep breath before saying, “Dr. Cahan?”

  Dr. Cahan looked up , and greeted Dalton with a surprised, “Hi. What are you doing here?”

  “I need her back. She’s going to be gone the rest of the day, if this goes right. Do I have your permission to interrupt her class for a few minutes? Please?”

  Startled into submission, Dr. Cahan nodded, open-mouthed, and Dalton stalked to Alyssa’s classroom. He knew he had at least one supporter in there, as this was third period, and Kelly was on his side. And the feed store boy. And hopefully, a few others.

  Quietly, he opened the door to her classroom , and stood in the doorway. His heart pounded at the sight of her. He hadn’t seen her since the meeting, and if it was possible, she looked even worse.

  Her hair was in a tangled not on top of her head, looking dull and lifeless. She had dark circles under her eyes that he was sure matched his own. Her mouth was drawn down, etching deep lines in her face. She was wearing wrinkled clothes, that didn’t match, and he couldn’t tell because she was sitting behind her desk, but it looked like the top was on backwards.

  Dalton took a breath to steel his nerves , and clenched his fists together, feeling the sweat break out on his palms.

  A muffled gasp escaped from Kelly, who looked up to see him. The noise caused Alyssa to look up at Dalton, and the pain in her eyes made his heart pound. He had to fix this.

  Walking toward her slowly, he could see her eyes travel down his face to the tee shirt he was wearing, and the corners of her mouth twitched. Good.

  “Alyssa?”

  She didn’t speak. He took her silence for acquiescence, because he couldn’t take it any other way.

  “I love you. And I miss you. I need you.”

  Blessed silence from the classroom. Alyssa just stared at him.

  “I want to be a part of your life. After the school board debacle and the community’s involvement, I believe it’s clear we can make it work.” He paused to see if she had any reaction at all. She blinked. Then she looked around the room.

  “Am I dreaming?”

  He had been walking towards her, and he finally reached her desk. Leaning over it, he cupped her chin in his hand and tilted her face up.

  “Not this time, Sunshine.” He lowered his lips to hers , and gently kissed her.

  The classroom erupted into a cacophony of cheers, hoots, and wolf-whistles.

  “Ahem.”

  They parted and turned to see Dr. Cahan standing in the doorway. Dalton watched Alyssa blush straight to her toes.

  “Ms. Fuller, you may take a personal day for the rest of the day, if you wish. I’ll cover your classes.”

  “Thank you, Dr. Cahan,” she said quietly, as she gathered her purse.

  Dalton held out his hand to her, and she slipped her smooth fingers inside. He led her out the front door of the school, to his motorcycle. He climbed on, and handed Alyssa a helmet, gesturing for her to get on behind him. They were acting on instinct, no words were spoken.

  Alyssa couldn’t breathe. She had stopped breathing when she looked up and saw Dalton standing in the doorway to her classroom, and she hadn’t breathed since. Her heart pounded in her ears, as she climbed on the motorcycle behind him , and leaned forward to wrap her arms around his waist.

  He took off, and suddenly the breath she wasn’t breathing escaped her in a loud “whoop!” She felt, rather than heard Dalton’s low chuckle as he increased his speed , when they left the parking lot.

  The wind whipped across her face, so she buried it between Dalton’s shoulder blades, and forced herself to breathe deeply. Sh
e had missed his smell. As she inhaled the citrusy scent, tears squeezed out of her eyes, and she tightened her hands around his waist feeling him against her.

  How could she have let him go? Why had they spent so much time apart? She listened to the rumble of the motorcycle , and felt the hot vibrations between her legs. Her thighs pressed up against the outside of Dalton’s, and she let out another loud “whoop!”

  Dalton threw his head back and laughed, and she was sure he was feeling it too, this feeling of freedom, that had suddenly overtaken her. She was not a pawn anymore.

  Alyssa had a sudden sense everything would be all right. All she had to do was trust in them, and the rest would work itself out. She had missed him so much . T , t he kids had missed him, and apparently, he’d missed them, too.

  When he pulled the bike into his barn, Alyssa felt a sense of anticipation. He scooped her up into his arms and carried her inside the barn to a bed he’d made of hay, covered with a quilt. Silently, he laid her down on top of it , and stretched his own body out next to hers. She watched his steely gray eyes, as they roamed her face, searching for something. Finally, he spoke.

  “I don’t want to hurt your children, or you, Alyssa. We’ll take this one step at a time. I promise.” Using a finger to lift her chin, he wiped tears she didn’t know were there, away from her face before lowering his mouth to hers in a tentative kiss. His lips met hers softly, nibbling on them, until she opened her mouth up to his.

  Their tongues entwined hesitantly, as if unsure of where they were headed. Dalton’s hand came to Alyssa’s neck, and he grasped it lightly, curling his fingers in her hair. Alyssa could hear his groan against her mouth, and she increased the pressure of the kiss. Grasping his tee shirt in her hands, she pulled him closer, and he wrapped one arm around her waist, pressing her body against his. He pulled away from the kiss, leaving her breathing hard, ragged gasping breaths.

  “Alyssa. I need you to know I will never leave you again. No matter what you tell me to do. It hurts too much.” He kissed her again, gently. “We belong together.” Another kiss. “You know that, don’t you?”

  She giggled into his mouth, as he kissed her yet again. “Yeah, I know. Your shirt says so.” She looked at him pointedly.

  He looked down at himself , and shrugged sheepishly. “I kind of forgot about that.” His tee shirt was gray with neon orange lettering, and said, I love Alyssa, Sierra, and Cayden Fuller, and I don’t care who knows it.

  “How are the kiddos? I missed them almost as much as I missed you.”

  “They’re fine. This whole mess had them twisted up for a while, but the signs around town cheered them up. Sierra’s been reading them all to Cayden, and they’ve gotten a lot of pleasure from them.”

  “You know what else I’ve missed?”

  “What?” Alyssa was nuzzled in his neck, inhaling his smell.

  “Watching them sleep. I’ve missed that peace.”

  “Yeah?”

  “And I’ve missed watching you dance in the kitchen when you don’t think anybody’s looking.”

  She giggled into his neck. “I’ve missed Bossy.”

  “You only saw her once.”

  “We had a connection.”

  Chuckling softly, he pulled her closer. “What else did you miss?”

  “I missed your shoulder rubs. I missed talking to you about my day at work. I missed you holding me like this. I missed kissing you.” She pulled his face to hers again, delighting in the feel of his mouth against hers. She had missed this so much.

  The passion of the kiss increased, until they were gasping and groaning into each other’s mouths again. Dalton pulled away. “I didn’t bring you here to the barn to make love to you, Alyssa. I just wanted to be with you.”

  “I know. You want our first time to be in a bed, where we can make all the noise we want, alone, privately. You have such high expectations.” She teased him, but only half-heartedly. She wanted their first time to be special, too. She was formulating a plan. “My birthday is next weekend…” She said hopefully.

  His mouth quirked up in a mischievous smile. “Oh yeah?”

  “Yeah. You know what that means?”

  “Birthday sex?”

  “Yeah. Will that be special enough for our first time?”

  Chapter 25

  Alyssa had some shopping to do before Friday. She needed new panties. Her raggedy cotton briefs weren’t going to cut it. Overwhelmed at the department store, she called Summer.

  “Help me. I’m having dinner with Dalton.”

  “Okay. So, how do I help? You need some recipes?”

  “I’m at Penny’s. Can you meet me in the lingerie department?”

  “My kind of helping. I’ll be there in five minutes.”

  When Summer got there, she took in Alyssa’s flustered look at the underwear table, and ushered her into a dressing room. “What exactly are you looking for?”

  “It’s going to be our first time to…make love, and I want it to be fun for him. I’m curious about some things, and I want to feel…sexy.” Alyssa blushed. Summer was one of her best friends, but this was still hard for her to talk about. “I want to be more aggressive with him. I’m not sure that’s the right word. Do you see what I’m saying?”

  “I think so. It’s y’all’s first time to have sex, and you want it to be special, but you also don’t want it to be plain Jane sex. Right?” Alyssa nodded, and Summer looked thoughtful. “Do you have a plan?”

  “Not really. I was going to use some of the stuff out of that bag you guys gave me, but I’m not sure how to instigate any of that.”

  “Well, it’s all about attitude. And to change your attitude, we need to get out of this department store , and drive to Tyler. Serendipity doesn’t have the stuff you need, Sugar.” Taking her arm, Summer led Alyssa out the door to her car.

  Tyler was about an hour away, and by the time they got there, they had a plan. They just needed the right “supplies.” After stopping at a strip mall with what looked like a tattoo shop in the corner, Alyssa stopped Summer.

  Her eyes were wide with panic, when she saw the hookah pipes in the window.“I can’t go in there! That’s a head shop!”

  “Relax, Alyssa. They have a lingerie room in the back. We’ll find what you need. And no, you won’t see anybody you know. It’s Thursday afternoon.” Grabbing her arm, Summer pulled her inside , and headed straight for the back room.

  If Alyssa had been overwhelmed in the department store, this place had her completely flummoxed baffled . The smell of musky incense almost knocked her over as soon as she entered, and everything was leather, vinyl, or covered in fuzz, and none of it was attractive to her.

  “We’ll have to do some digging to find something that’s your style.”

  “I should say. I’m not sure there’s anything here that’s my style. Honestly, Summer. I thought we were going to Victoria’s Secret or something.”

  A young man, covered in tattoos with piercings all over his face stuck his head in the curtain separating this room from the rest of the store. “You ladies need help with anything?”

  Alyssa opened her mouth to say no, but not before Summer had drug the man into the room with them. “Yes. We’re looking for some lingerie for my friend. She’s pretty conservative, but needs something sexy for a pivotal moment in her relationship.”

  “Gotcha.” After eyeballing Alyssa’s outfit from head to toe, he asked, “Size Eight? 34C?”

  “Um...yeah.” She didn’t want to know what he thought about her ankle length brown skirt and beige sweater.

  “I’ve got some very hot stuff , here. You like thongs?”

  “Not particularly, but...”

  “No worries, we’ve got plenty of cheekies, too.”

  “Cheekies?”

  “Lacy boy shorts, that go up the ass a little bit. Very sexy.” He turned to continue rummaging, before coming out with an armful of panties, bustiers, and bras. There were garter belts dangling down also. Alyssa was
beyond mortified . t T his punk guy was pawing the stuff that were her potential underthings. She grabbed them from him.

  “That’s what I would recommend for the lucky bastard. I’ll be up front if you need more help. Don’t try stuff on. Store policy.”

  “Okay.” Alyssa swallowed while Summer started digging through what the man had left.

  She came up with a pair of the cheekie panties , and a matching bra, plus a garter belt. She led a dazed Alyssa through the store, which had way more clothing in it than she had ever imagined. Summer picked out a gray pinstriped mini skirt, with a slit up the side , and a low - cut , v-neck , black sweater. “Sexy school teacher, coming up. Dalton’s not gonna know what hit him. You also need one of these.” She said, picking up an unidentifiable object and putting it on the counter.”

  “I don’t even know what that is, Summer. What do I do with it?”

  “You put it on your tongue before going down on him.” She said said matter-of-factly simply . “It works the other way around, too. Major screaming orgasms.”

  “Oh...” Alyssa was ready to get the hell out of this store. She would buy anything to get out at this point. “Whatever. Just put it in the bag.”

  “Do you need some massage oil? This stuff tastes awesome.” The ever-helpful sales clerk was holding up a bottle.

  “Sure. Add it on. I gotta get out of here.” Alyssa was gritting her teeth to get through her mortification.

  After the head shop, they went to the grocery store, with Summer giving detailed instructions with each purchase. Alyssa was dying inside, but ever thankful they were still in Tyler. She couldn’t imagine running into a student and their parents with Summer telling her what to do with all of this stuff in her cart.

  Friday , after school, she went home to get ready. Alyssa’s stomach was in knots. She honestly wasn’t sure if she was going about this the right way or not. She knew what she wanted the end result to be. She wanted Dalton to see that she was willing to do whatever it took to keep him. And she was curious, too.