by Jeannie Watt
She wouldn’t have given up getting to know him, given up feeling as if she had a real grandfather for the first time in her life. It would have hurt like hell to lose him, but that was the trade-off for growing close and it was better to take a chance than to shut herself off due to fear.
And how long had it taken her to figure that out? Until she’d forced herself to actually think about the issues she had been ignoring.
It made her wonder how much more she had to learn. How much of the obvious was escaping her...and how she might clue in on that knowledge.
Jolie fed her animals, let Gus out of the house to do his business in the sodden yard, then let him back in to shake water all over the furniture. She barely noticed the canine shower as she headed for the stairs and bed. She fell into bed and even though she hadn’t expected to sleep, she did. A deep, thankfully dreamless sleep that she woke from with a start.
Dylan needed her.
She needed him.
She reached for her phone and punched in his number, hoping she didn’t wake him but sincerely doubting she would. He answered after the first ring.
“Where are you?”
“The hospital.”
Her heartbeat stuttered. “Is everything—”
“Fine. I’m just waiting to see Mike.”
She let out a breath. “Can I join you?”
There was the briefest of pauses before he simply said, “Yes.”
* * *
DYLAN WAS IN the ICU when Jolie arrived and she waited for him in the same room where she’d sat the night before, certain that Mike was going to die. When Dylan came out of the ICU hall, she got to her feet and he smiled at her. An exhausted I-haven’t-slept-in-days smile.
“He’s doing okay,” he said. “He recognized me. Squeezed my hand. I think he would have talked if there hadn’t been a tube down his throat.”
Jolie didn’t want to think about Mike hooked up to tubes and monitors, but she was so glad to hear that he was making progress.
“Did you get any sleep last night?”
“Why do you ask?”
And that was her answer. “You look like hell.” Or as close to it as he could come. No matter what, he looked good to Jolie.
“I didn’t sleep,” he confessed with a half smile.
“Do you want to go home? Try again now that you’ve seen Mike?”
He gave a slow nod then reached out to take her hand. “Yeah. I think I do.”
Jolie walked with him as far as his truck, and when he went directly to the passenger side and opened the door, she got in without a word. He closed it, walked around to his door and joined her inside.
The drive to Mike’s house was less than a mile, which he said had helped save his grandfather’s life. As he pulled into the driveway, Jolie caught sight of the sandbags behind the house and the water creeping ever closer to the back fence.
Dylan didn’t seem to notice or care. He met her at the hood, took her hand again and led her to the unlocked front door.
The interior of the house was pure Mike, only without him there. The news was still on and Speck was curled up in his chair. Dylan let the terrier out the back door and then came back in to pick up the remote and turn off the news.
“I left it on for her so that the house was as normal as it could be without Mike. She knows something’s up.”
“Are you going to be able to sleep?”
Dylan nodded and reached for her.
Jolie slid her arms around him, nuzzling his neck before bringing her lips up to his, kissing him deeply. He pulled her against him, kissing her back, helping her understand just how deeply he’d missed her.
He brought his forehead down to hers and she felt his breath fan over her cheeks as he said in a low voice that sent shivers through her, “I have missed you.”
“Damn it, Dylan.” She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and hugged him tightly. “You make it so hard to live without you.”
“Do you still want to do that?”
“No.” The word came out so fast that Jolie half wondered if she’d really said it out loud.
But Dylan’s reaction told her she had. He swung her up into his arms and headed down the hall to his bedroom.
Jolie needed him so badly, needed to let him know that she could be in this for the long haul. She wasn’t miraculously better, but she was working on it. And she felt so right when she was with him. He did complete her, and if she lost him, she’d lose a part of herself, but that would happen whether they were together or not, because she realized now that she was never going to stop loving him.
Never. A very long time, but that was how she felt. Once they hit his room, they fell into his unmade bed, still half dressed. It didn’t matter because this was not about long, slow, lovemaking. This was about reclaiming one another. Long and slow could come later.
Dylan managed to get his pants off and her pants off. Jolie gave up trying to help and just let him have his way with her, which he did. Afterward they fell asleep in a tangle of arms and legs. The last thing Jolie remembered was Dylan yanking a blanket up over them and then tucking her head under his chin. She’d breathed in his comforting scent and fallen asleep.
* * *
DYLAN WOKE WITH a start, disoriented in the semidarkness, then slowly realized he was in his room at Mike’s house, with Jolie in his arms. He stroked his hand over her hair. He’d find another job if the one he was in kept her from being able to commit to him. Sometimes you had to compromise, and he knew deep down that he’d get more satisfaction out of a life with Jolie than he was going to get out of law enforcement.
Damn, but he loved her. He pressed his lips to her temple, smiled as her eyes came open. “We should call about Mike,” she said. “And then go visit him.”
He reached for his shirt, feeling a sense of satisfaction that had eluded him for a long time. Jolie smiled at him as she slipped into her underwear; a tired smile with no hint of wariness or self-protection. His heart squeezed and he smiled back as she handed him his pants. He could spend every morning of his life like this, watching Jolie dress, having her hand him his pants, hopefully shed in the heat of the moment hours before. Yes. That was exactly what he wanted.
When they got to the hospital, they were greeted by the happy news that Mike’s condition had improved significantly overnight.
“He’ll be out of ICU before the end of the day,” the attending nurse predicted.
Jolie squeezed Dylan’s arm, but when he asked if she wanted to go into the ICU with him for a brief visit, she hung back. “Later. When Mike’s feeling more himself.” He frowned at her, wondering if her fears were kicking in, when she said, “Mike might not want to have me see him at his most vulnerable.”
And she had a point. Mike was like that, and it touched him that Jolie understood. He squeezed her hand and went into Mike’s room. When he came out, Jolie looked up from her phone and he gave her a thumbs-up. “You’re right. He says he’ll happily entertain visitors as soon as all the damned tubes are out of him and his hair is combed.”
“I’m just glad he’s all right,” she said. But she didn’t look at him and Dylan started to get an uneasy feeling. Too many times things had gotten out of hand because he and Jolie hadn’t been up front with themselves or each other. He wasn’t going to let that happen again.
They’d just stepped out onto the damp pavement when they turned to each other and said simultaneously, “I’ve been thinking—”
Instantly they both closed their mouths and then Dylan said, “You want to go first?”
“I’m looking into delayed grief counseling,” she said simply. “I think I’ve sidestepped this matter for too long. My sisters handled matters differently than me, but that’s okay.”
“Totally okay,” he agreed even though he
had a hard time pushing the words past the lump in his throat. This was a big step. He reached out to take her hands and she laced her fingers through his.
“And you?” She lifted her chin and briefly he thought about losing himself in a long exploration of her lovely mouth.
“I won’t work in law enforcement if it makes you unhappy.”
She squeezed his hands but didn’t jump on his offer as he’d expected. “I have this plan,” she said slowly. “We take things one day at a time. We talk and love and deal. Even if I’m shaking in my boots, I’m not going to close you out.”
“How could I pass up a deal like that?” He took her lips then and she melted into his kiss. When he finally raised his head as an elderly couple walked by, he said, “I’ll be there for you. You be there for me. And you know what?”
She smiled against his mouth. “What?”
“I think we’re going to make it.”
And then he leaned in to kiss his cowgirl once more.
EPILOGUE
DYLAN SQUINTED OVER Jolie’s shoulder at the computer screen. “I’m going to take your word for it that that’s a kid.”
“Wait.” Jolie reached out and grabbed Dylan’s hand before he got away and then pointed at the ultrasound photo of Dani’s baby again. “See the nose? The little chin?” Her soon-to-be-born niece had the most adorable nose and chin.
“Oh, yeah,” Dylan said. “I see now. Cute.”
Jolie leaned back in her chair to smile up at him. “I can’t wait to get my hands on her.” Dylan gave a soft laugh and she tilted her head back farther, frowning at him. “What?”
He settled his hands on her shoulders, and bent to give her an upside-down kiss. “I kind of feel that way about you sometimes.”
If it wasn’t for the awkward position, Jolie would have pulled him in for a more serious kiss. As it was, she ran her hands up along the planes of his cheeks, gave him another quick kiss and then straightened in her chair as the video Skype call from Finn came in on her iPad.
“Hey, guys,” he said once the connection was established, “have you finalized the plan yet?”
“Pretty much,” Dylan said. “Are you sure they’re going to let you out this time?” Finn’s deployment had been extended from four months to six, and then, just as his six months were up, to an entire year. That had meant making adjustments at the store. Dylan had wanted to hire a manager, but instead Mike came back to work full time.
Finn laughed. “Twelve months is the max.”
“Or so they tell you.”
“Home in June. You can bank on it. So you’re leaving for Colorado in early April... Jolie, are you sure you want to go with this guy?”
“What can I say? I’m smitten.” Jolie smiled at the screen and reached up to run her hand over Dylan’s arm as he stood behind her. She truly was smitten, but that didn’t mean that the past few months were without their challenges. With the help of counseling, though, she’d learned strategies to deal with the fear, to stop expecting the worst and to enjoy the present. It was hellishly difficult at times, but Dylan was patient, and she was determined. And it wasn’t as if he didn’t have a few lessons to learn himself—like how to let go of a few words when things were bothering him. They were doing well together, and Jolie sometimes had a hard time believing she’d almost chosen a life alone over a life with Dylan.
“I won’t be able to leave until May at the earliest,” she said to Finn. “When Allie moves back.” After sharing a few shots of Irish whiskey several nights ago, her older sister had agreed to babysit the ranch even though she hated the place. The next morning, Jolie had fully expected Allie to renege, but instead she’d murmured something about making peace and said she’d move home in May. Jolie didn’t know what Allie was making peace with—the ranch or herself—but she didn’t press. If her sister was willing to brave the ranch, then Jolie was going to Colorado with Dylan.
“So that leaves only one month or a month and a half, depending on my travel, et cetera, without you there calling the shots.”
“Mike calls the shots as much as I do,” Jolie said.
“Yeah. Strange how he was no help at all while I was managing the store and now he hangs out there full time.” Finn made a comical face. “I must have been doing something wrong.”
“You didn’t have any doilies for sale,” Dylan said.
“What?”
“Never mind,” he replied on a laugh.
“Even though Mike is working full time now,” Jolie said, “we don’t want him to feel like he has to. He is pushing eighty, after all. We figure that if you’re honestly going to be back in June—”
“Count on it.”
“—We’ll nix the idea of hiring an interim manager and instead just hire and train my replacement. I’ll stay in the area until you get here.”
“Sounds good,” Finn said. He smiled a little.
“Homesick?” Jolie asked. Because there was something about him that she wasn’t used to seeing. A touch of...loneliness, maybe? A hint of vulnerability in his expression instead of his usual full-on self confidence.
“Hard not to be. But all in all, I’m good. And I’m glad that not getting home until June doesn’t screw things up too badly. Way to go, by the way,” he said to Dylan, “getting accepted to that forensic biology program. I researched it. Looks like it’s hard to get into.”
“Studied my ass off.”
Jolie could vouch for that. And she was also grateful that Dylan had managed to find a way to stay in law enforcement that didn’t keep her awake at night.
The three of them talked for a few more minutes, then Finn had to sign off.
Jolie sighed and turned off the iPad. “I miss him.”
“Me, too. But don’t tell him.”
She gave Dylan a serious look. “I don’t know...he might need to hear that.”
Dylan gave a small snort, but then he said, “Maybe so.”
Jolie got up from her chair and crossed the room to where Dylan was shrugging into his heavy coat. It was February and still frigidly cold. “Maybe I’ll come with you to see Mike.”
She knew that Mike had wanted to discuss some ideas about the gift boutique, which he was preparing to take over during Jolie’s absence. The gift section had grown and now covered almost half of the store, causing Mike to move some of the farm stock out to the warehouse to make room.
“I hope he plans to put in a lingerie section,” Dylan said as he took Jolie’s coat off the hook and held it for her.
“He has too many buddies hanging around as it is.” But the store was definitely a friendlier place than it had been less than a year ago. Not quiet anymore. Jolie had to do a lot of her work in between snatches of conversation, but she liked it that way.
“Yep, geezer central,” Dylan said as he opened the door. They stepped out into the frigid morning, only to stop at the edge of the porch. Jolie pointed at Dylan’s truck.
“Flat tire.”
“Looks like it.”
“I could help you change that,” she said, glancing up at him. “Or loan you money to buy new tires if you can’t afford them.”
He gave her a wry smile, obviously remembering saying those same words to her...just before he’d kissed her for the first time. “Or you could unhitch your truck from the horse trailer.”
She shook her head. “I don’t want to.”
Their gazes locked for a moment before Dylan said, “It’s too cold to change a tire. I say we abort mission until early afternoon. It is Sunday, after all.”
“We can have Mike to dinner. Discuss matters then. I could put on a roast.”
Dylan took Jolie into his arms, his breath warm on her face as he leaned in to touch his forehead against hers. “A roast in the oven. A long winter day...hmm. Whatever could we do to
fill the time?”
Jolie raised her lips to his and smiled.
* * * * *
Keep reading for an excerpt from A SAVANNAH CHRISTMAS WISH by Nan Dixon.
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A Savannah Christmas Wish
by Nan Dixon
CHAPTER ONE
I do not understand how anyone can live without one small place of enchantment to turn to.
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
“WAIT!” DANIEL RUSHED through the carriage house, his work boots thumping on the wood floor.
Quint climbed out of the trench. “What?”
Pointing at the two-by-fours in the channel, Daniel asked, “Who set the forms?”
“Me.” Quint pushed back his cap. “Why?”
“The footings should be on the opposite side.” Daniel unrolled the blueprints and anchored them with chunks of wood. He hated screwing up.
Taking a slug of water, Quint cursed. He joined Daniel at the makeshift table. “Sorry.”
“Let’s get this corrected.”
He worked side by side with Quint and another crew member, trenching out the correct footings to support the carriage house’s new second floor.
Pop would insist the crew fix their own mistakes, but to get the job done, Daniel preferred staying in control.
He would finish the carriage-house project ahead of schedule, because it was foreplay compared to Forester Construction’s bid on the main house. Restoring Carleton House would be the biggest and sweetest project Pop had ever tackled.