Mallory’s tears drip to Graham’s shirt, her hand trembling as she watches him.
“I never thought I’d be able to handle having a life that wasn’t in my control,” he continues, his voice starting to crack. “But when I look at my life now and imagine it going back to the way it was—organized and clean—I hate it. Because that means you’d be gone.”
“Graham …” she whispers.
“Mallory, will you please do me the honor of being my life?”
“Your life?” she asks, her voice trembling.
“My life. My wife. All of it. Will you?”
“Yes,” she says, full-on sobbing. She tries to get down to hug him, but ends up falling ungracefully onto his chest. He holds her to him, whispering things only they can hear in her ear.
My tears stream just as hard as Mallory’s. Where her heart is full, mine is so achingly empty.
Sienna puts her arm around me and the contact kills me. I can’t take it anymore. I bury my face in her shoulder and let the tears fall. If I could get up and go to the bathroom without everyone seeing my face, I would. But it’s too late.
Barrett stands and puts his arm around Mallory. “You’re crazy for putting up with him, Mal, but we love having you in the family. You temper him a little. We’re all thankful. Especially Lincoln. Congratulations!”
Everyone descends on the newly engaged couple as they get to their feet, trading hugs and congratulations. Mallory can’t stop crying long enough to say anything and she won’t let go of Graham’s arm. He doesn’t seem to mind. He’s beaming like the little kid that found the golden egg at Easter.
“Excuse me, Mr. Landry,” Troy says from the doorway, his voice only barely heard over the roar of the celebration. Everyone settles and looks at Barrett’s right-hand man.
“Since when do you call me Mr. Landry?” Barrett asks. “You want a raise or what?”
Troy laughs. “I’m talking to Mr. Landry. Harris.”
“What can I do for you, Troy?” Dad asks.
“There’s a visitor here that’s not on the gate list. He says he’s here to see you.”
“What’s his name?”
“Dominic Hughes.”
I gasp. Everyone looks at me as I sit with eyes the size of saucers, looking at Troy. “Did you say Dominic Hughes?”
“Yes.”
Dad’s eyes flip to me and then back to Troy. “Let him in, please.”
“He’s here?” I ask Sienna. My heart flips, my stomach rolling, my hopes spiraling way too high to be safe. “Why is he asking for Dad?”
“I don’t know,” she tells me. “Guess we’ll see soon enough.”
My attention fixes on the doorway. Everyone settles down, some refilling their drinks, until Troy comes back in. “Mr. Hughes is here.”
My breath is held hostage in my chest as I wait for Dom to come into view. When he does, I just cry.
He’s wearing a pair of dark jeans and a light blue shirt that matches his eyes. He has the sleeves rolled up because he hates them cinched around his wrists. The top two buttons are undone on the collar as well for the same reason.
His eyes survey the scene in front of him. I can’t imagine what he thinks of us all. He seems a little overwhelmed and a lot nervous as he tucks his hands in his pockets.
Finally, his sight sets on me. A lump spontaneously appears in my throat, my eyes blurry again, as Sienna takes my hand and squeezes it.
“Mr. Landry,” Dominic says, walking across the room and extending a hand to my father. “I’m Dominic Hughes.”
Dad stands up and shakes his head, not looking nearly as shocked as I would’ve imagined. “It’s nice to meet you.”
He moves to my mother, who remains sitting. “It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Landry.”
“It’s Vivian, dear. But, yes, it’s a pleasure to meet you as well.”
Alison giggles, looking at me. Barrett glares at her.
Dom nods to Mom, retreating a few feet back closer to the doorway.
With each movement, he flinches. He’s trying hard to seem like he’s not in pain, but I can tell by the way he favors his side. The way his teeth clench. The way his eyes lack the spark I’m used to seeing.
He takes a deep breath and blows it out. “I didn’t expect so many of you,” he admits, looking a little bewildered. Finally, he looks at me again.
His eyes soften, his shoulders sag, and I can tell he wants to tell me to, “Come here,” like he always does.
“What are you doing here?” I ask softly.
“Good question. A lot of judgements have been passed—from you about me, me about some of you. It’s easy to do that, I guess, when you don’t really know the other people or anything about them.”
“Your brother still owes me a bottle of Patrón,” Lincoln says.
“Lincoln, now isn’t the time,” my father says, bending forward to look at his youngest son. “I’m sorry, Dominic. Go on.”
“Yeah, um, you all love her a lot. And I didn’t understand that for a long time. Not why you love her—that’s obvious,” he blushes. “But this big interaction you all have. I just have a brother and it’s been the two of us for a long time. This whole thing,” he says, moving his arm in a circle indicating us, “is new to me.”
“It gets easier,” Alison chimes in. “Trust me. I’m not from this sort of family either.”
This seems to settle Dom a bit. He looks at me, his eyes completely sober. “I’ve worried a lot that I wouldn’t be able to take care of her. Not like she’s used to. I mean, look around. I can’t give her these things.”
“I’m her father,” Dad says calmly. “I’ll give her these things. You don’t have to worry about that. I’ve worked my tail off for decades to give my children this. It’s your job, if you choose to take it, to give her the things I can’t.”
Tears trickle down my cheeks as my father stands.
“Son, having a family, whether it’s two people or twenty, is a team effort. I couldn’t have done it without Vivian. We couldn’t have done it without our parents and now without our children, Alison, Danielle, Ellie, Mallory, and even Huxley and Ryan. It’s all of us, working together, filling in where the others fall. Take, for instance, Lincoln. I can bail that boy out of all kinds of legal issues, but who is going to make sure his head is on the pillow at night? Who’s going to give him children? Who is going to make sure he gets a hair cut—which you need, by the way,” Dad says, looking at Linc. “Dani does those things, God love her.”
We all laugh while Lincoln just shakes his head, pretending to cover Ryan’s ears. “Always me. It’s always me.”
“You’re too easy,” Ford tells him.
“I don’t ask my children to vet their significant others. We have Graham for that,” Dad deadpans, making us all laugh. “But I do ask them to pick someone that makes them happy. That puts them first. If they have a skill I can use in the family business, that’s a plus,” Dad laughs.
“Sir, with all due respect,” Dominic begins, “I understand that. But I want to be transparent with you. There are things about me that you might not know, and I … I don’t want any secrets. Before I ask your daughter to forgive all the things I said and implied, I wanted to come to you and lay all this out there. I don’t want it coming back to bite me in the ass later.”
“Language, Dominic,” Mom grins.
His eyes go wide. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be,” Lincoln sighs. “I get it all the time.”
“Let’s hope Dominic is more fearful of me than you are.”
“Being that you sign my birthday cards ‘Mommy,’ there’s probably a good chance.”
We laugh again, but my eyes are on Dominic.
“I know a lot about you. I knew of your father years back,” Dad says, alluding to the accident but not bringing it specifically. “I know of the infamous loan that was paid back,” he says, emphasizing the last part and looking at Graham. “I also know you’re related to Nolan, and for that, I gi
ve you my deepest sympathies.”
Dom smiles. “And that’s all okay with you? If I can get this fixed, I would like to know, for both of us, that we’re solid here.”
Dad pats him on the back, taking Dom by surprise. “You know what?”
“What?”
“I like you. It took a lot of balls to come in here and say what you said. Whether Camilla takes you back or not, that’s up to her. And make no mistake about it, I will always side with my baby girl.”
“Yes, sir.”
“But I do like you. Ford was talking to me yesterday about maybe hiring you on at Landry Security. I think you’d be a good fit.”
I look at Ford who smiles sheepishly back at me. “What’s Dad talking about?” I ask Sienna.
“I guess Ford offered Dom a job.”
“He did what?”
Ford bites his lip and watches me warily.
“So they didn’t tell you Ford and Graham went to the fight …” She makes a face and scoots away from me.
Ford now looks away, a mischievous smile on his face. Graham won’t look at me either, but my anger evaporates when Dominic is suddenly standing in front of me. He holds out his large, calloused hand.
“Want to take a walk?”
Looking up at his handsome face, I see the man I’ve been falling in love with for months, even if I was scared to admit it to myself. And seeing him here, after everything, is enough to make me fall in love all over again.
“Yes, please.”
Thirty-Nine
Camilla
The sun is bright on my face as we take the path off the side of the house and head towards the tree line. My hand is tucked in Dom’s and he’s holding it like it’s his lifeline.
“There’s a picnic table just beyond those trees,” I say. “We can sit there.”
“Okay.”
We walk quietly until we’re through the trees and at the little wooden table. It has all of our initials carved in it. I sit on one side, Dom sits on the other.
“How do you feel?”
“Better today. How are you?”
“Sad.”
He runs his hands down his face. “Cam, I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorr—”
“No, baby, listen to me. I’m sorry. For a lot of things.”
“I went and was told not to. I see why now. I got you hurt. That’s really hard to live with.”
“Let’s forget about that night, okay? If we’re going back with twenty-twenty vision, I shouldn’t have fought. I was hurt as fuck to start with and was being hard-headed about doing it. It was like I was proving to myself I could. I don’t know. It was stupid.”
“It was stupid.”
He takes my hand and holds it in the center of the table. “Fact of the matter is this: I shouldn’t have pushed you away like I did. I was mad. Maybe that was valid. But … I’ve never had someone treat me like you do. With respect. With loyalty. You showing up there to support me just blew my mind. I thought I could tell you to stay home and you would. No one has ever cared about me like that.”
“Of course I do, Dom. It hurts me when I’m not a part of something you’re doing. Like I can’t be a part of your life because it’s off-limits to me. But then I see Red and she certainly can, and I don’t mean to bring her up because I know she’s nothing to you, but it makes me jealous that she can have that part of you in any way at all and I can’t.”
“I guess I always thought you shouldn’t or wouldn’t really want a part of it. It’s a dirty, nasty world. Why would you want to be in it?”
“Because you’re in it. And I want to be wherever you are. Don’t you see that?”
He rubs a small circle on the back of my hand, a sexy smile drifting across his face. “Come here.”
My favorite words fall on my ears, causing a spatter of goosebumps to dot my skin. I stand and walk around the table to him, sitting next to him but facing the other way.
He takes my hand and laces our fingers together, resting them on his thigh. “Let’s do this. For real this time,” Dom says. “And by that I mean no excuses. We’re all in. If you don’t think I’m good enough for you, tell me now. Because once you commit, I’m holding you to it.”
“Hold me to it, please.” I look at our hands. “And if you think I’m too much of a liability to you, tell me now. Because once I commit, I’m definitely holding you to it.”
“Please do.”
We exchange smiles, like we used to before the fight, and I feel my insides melt. He leans forward, his lips hovering over mine. His breath is hot and spicy and I can taste the desire in the air.
“Cam?”
“Yeah?”
“Can I tell you one more thing?” he asks, brushing the pad of his thumb over my bottom lip.
“Yeah.”
“Make it two.”
Laughing, I pull away, squeezing my legs together to dull my pulsing core. “What is it?”
“I cleaned out my locker today at Percy’s. I told him I wouldn’t be back in, at least not for a long time.”
“You didn’t have to do that,” I tell him.
“I did. It’s time to find other coping mechanisms for things. Guess it might have to be your body,” he shrugs.
“Oh, darn,” I deadpan.
Laughing, he looks at me with that killer smile. “The other thing?”
“Yes?”
He takes a deep breath, the smile on his face the widest I’ve ever seen it. “I love you, Cam.”
“I love you too, Dom.”
Epilogue
Camilla
One month later …
“Do you have to go?” I hold my sister in my arms. We’ve done this before, said goodbye as she heads out on a new adventure, but this time feels different. “Stay here. Please.”
“Oh, stop it,” Sienna laughs, pulling away. “You can come visit me anytime. The next time Dominic turns into an ass, just hop a plane and come to Illinois.”
“I still don’t get the whole Illinois thing,” Lincoln says. “What do they know about fashion there? Isn’t it like cornfields or something?”
“Soybeans, I think,” Ford adds. “Either way, get going or you won’t make it far by nightfall.”
I walk with Sienna to her car. It’s loaded down with all the stuff she didn’t want to send with the moving truck. Troy and Nate helped get the final few things loaded while Sienna, Joy, and I made a last trip through her house earlier this morning.
Dom watches me from the porch of The Farm. He’s talking to Barrett and Huxley about fishing, something I didn’t know he knew about. He gives me a sweet smile as I say goodbye to my sister.
Things have been good between us the last few weeks. We’re taking it slow, one day at a time, but it feels like we’ve already been together forever … it’s just different now.
There’s no second guessing, no worries about outside influences. The only thing I have to worry about is my mom getting all flustered when Dom’s around. She thinks he’s the cutest thing she didn’t birth since my father.
Joy finishes her goodbye with Sienna and she and Nate take off, leaving our family to have a few moments alone. Mom and Dad go over the last-minute instructions about not talking to strangers, no picking up hitch hikers, and keeping your doors locked.
“It’s not like she hasn’t done this before,” Ford tells Mom. “Let her get out of here.”
Mom dabs at her face with a handkerchief. “I hate to see you leave, sweetheart, but I know you have to do what you have to do.”
“I’ll come back. You know that,” Sienna promises.
“Here’s a few bucks,” Dad says, handing her a wad of cash.
“I have a credit card.”
“And she knows how to use it,” Graham sighs. He pulls her in for a hug. “I’m heading into the house. Good luck to you. Call if you need anything.”
“I will, G,” she says, kissing his cheek. “Congrats on the engagement. You should elope to Vegas. I’ll be your attenda
nt.”
“No Vegas weddings in this family,” Mom interjects. “Goodness. Are you trying to kill me?”
Graham laughs, joining Barrett and Dom on the porch. Ford says his goodbye, followed by Lincoln. Before I know it, it’s just me and Sienna.
“Once I get settled, we’ll make plans to meet up. I heard the boys in Illinois are super cute. You can be my wing girl.”
“Dom’s totally not going to go for that,” I laugh. “But I’m all about coming to see you.”
She looks at Dom and gives him a little wave. “He’s good for you. I’m proud of you for fighting for what you want.”
We hug again. I feel Dom’s palm rest on the small of my back as I give my sister a kiss on the cheek.
“I’ll miss you,” I tell her. “Be careful. Call me a lot.”
“I’ll miss you too. And call me and keep me posted on everyone. And don’t let Graham elope without me. And I want to know any murmurings of baby names from Alison or Ellie. And try to work in Jane, since it’s both of our middle names.”
Laughing, I watch her get in her car. “I love you, Sienna.”
“Love you back, Cam.”
“Bye, everyone!” She starts the car and rolls down the window. “If you want a vacation, come see me!”
I lean against Dominic as we watch my twin sister speed off, honking the horn just before she’s out of sight.
“How do you feel?” Dom asks me, knowing I’ve worried about this for weeks.
“A part of me feels like crying. But a bigger part of me knows she’s just off for another adventure.” I look at him and smile. “She’ll be back.”
“How do you know?”
“Because we’re Landry’s. We always come home.”
The End
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