The Morning After

by Dorie Graham

  “I’ve had this conversation with Sophie. She certainly didn’t have anything positive to say about it.”

  “I guess it could be possible. It’s just contrary to the nature of the gift, since it would mean staying with this one love and not moving on to heal others.”

  Nikki nodded. Hope flickered through her. If it were possible that she could find one true love, then maybe she could bear losing Dylan.

  Or maybe Dylan was that love.

  “I’m sure there would be consequences, though,” Maggie warned.

  “Consequences for staying with one man, you mean?”

  “Yes.”

  “What kind of consequences?”

  The look of concern Maggie wore intensified. “I would think that staying with one man could well cost you your gift.”

  DYLAN YANKED ON A WEED and failed again in his latest attempt to force Nikki from his mind. The woman had him all twisted up inside. Just the thought of her touch brought a mixture of peace and despair. Peace in the memory of her…healing qualities. Despair in the sure knowledge that he’d driven her and her odd magic out of his life for good.

  His gaze swerved from the clump of green in his hand to the barren clay pot beside the fountain. He scowled. Damn, he’d been a little exuberant in his weeding. He dropped the clump back into the pot and huffed out a breath. What the hell was wrong with him?

  “Dylan, there you are.” Evelyn’s too-sweet voice sounded from behind him.

  He turned. She stood with her back to the setting sun, her damn fiancé glued to her side.

  “Dylan.” Nick nodded a greeting.

  “Nick.” Dylan rose, brushed off the dirt, then briefly shook the man’s hand.

  Evelyn peered at him. “Dylan, what are you doing? And why are you doing it?”

  “This, my dear, is called yard work. I’m tending to my garden.”

  “Looks more like you’re desolating it.” She indicated the planter around the fountain.

  He glanced over his shoulder and cringed. The dark soil lay exposed and broken. Only fragments of the flowers remained. He had indeed been most efficient in his weeding. “I’m thinking I might start fresh with something new.”

  “But, darling, I know you have a service to take care of that. Why on earth are you bothering with it?” Evelyn wrinkled her nose in disgust.

  “So is there a point to this little visit, or did I just get lucky?” He was being a prick, but somehow he couldn’t stop himself.

  Nick clasped Evelyn’s hand. “Evelyn wanted to drop in and see how you’re doing.”

  “We were in the neighborhood house hunting,” she hurried to add. “Isn’t that exciting? We might be neighbors.”

  Not likely, since he was moving soon. And thank God because he couldn’t stand little visits like this all the time. His irritation built, filling him until he nearly burst with it. “So you came to check up on me. What’s the matter—my sweet mother afraid I’ve gone off to dirty the family name?”

  Evelyn’s eyes widened. “If I was here at your mother’s request, what would be so wrong with her wanting to check to see that her only child was faring okay after that horrendous scene at the party?”

  “Tell me something, Evelyn. When are you going to wise up and quit brownnosing my parents?”

  “I don’t think that’s called for.” Nick draped his arm protectively around her shoulders as she pulled herself up as straight as a pole.

  “That is so unfair. Maybe I needed to know for myself that you were okay.”

  “Well, if you’re so concerned for my welfare, why didn’t you think about that before you invited Nikki to that party?”

  She stared at him openmouthed.

  “Come on, Evelyn, who else? I told you to stay away from her. You knew I didn’t want her sucked into that slime pit of a family I have—”

  “That is a horrible thing to say about your parents—”

  “You just had to interfere. I thought I saw your car the day of the yard sale. What did you do? Wait around for the opportunity to talk to her when I wasn’t here? Did you see me leave, then decide to make your appearance?”

  Her face turned scarlet. “We may have stopped by, but I can’t recall if you were here.”

  “Look, honey, he’s obviously fine. Let’s go.” Nick took her arm to lead her away.

  Evelyn made a feeble protest but let Nick guide her through the archway toward his Jag parked prominently in the drive. She glanced back once, but when Dylan glared, she tossed her head and continued on.

  He stood, feet planted and hands fisted, until long after they’d gone and the last of the sun’s rays drifted below the horizon. The fading light seemed to drain him of his guilt, of his anger, of his strength. He was empty, a hollow shell, ready to be crushed and broken against the fates. He stumbled to the hammock and fell into it, too tired to even make it into the house.

  The fountain splashed and gurgled. A flock of birds flew by. He breathed in the sweet aroma of summer flowers and for the briefest moment let himself be transported to that first time with Nikki, when she’d brought him to such indescribable ecstasy.

  Nikki.

  She was as mysterious and magical as one of Kathy’s mermaids. The two would have been great friends. He could feel it in his gut, Kathy’s whimsical nature lightening Nikki’s intensity and Nikki stabilizing Kathy. They were different but made of the same strong cloth.

  And he’d lost them both.

  He closed his eyes. As the darkness closed in around him, he imagined Nikki beside him.

  Fight, Dylan. Fight the darkness, she seemed to whisper with the wind.

  He clenched his fist on the empty spot beside him. He’d been right when he’d told his parents he was no match for her. Nikki walked her true path.

  Maybe it was time he walked his.

  15

  DYLAN’S GAZE SWERVED FROM the cluster of eighteen- and nineteen-year-olds gathered in the hall outside the admissions office to the class enrollment form in his hand. The knot in his gut tightened, anxiety over starting again at this late date filling him.

  He’d been excited when American InterContinental University had accepted him, giving him credit for his past courses and real-life experience. He’d armed himself with the determination of a man who’d walked away from one life and had embarked on a new one. He’d brought the admissions director a portfolio filled with small projects he’d helped Steven with over the years, as well as all the notes and drafts on his house. The man had been duly impressed. He’d even let Dylan enroll right away. He was able to audit courses, though the summer session was well under way.

  Now all he had to do was choose some classes. Ignoring the students milling about, he glanced over the list in front of him: Architectural Drafting, Engineering Graphics, Materials and Processes. He swallowed as doubt assailed him. It had been so long since he’d sat in a classroom, completed term assignments or crammed for exams.

  Everyone deserves happiness, Dylan.

  Nikki’s words drifted back to him and his resolve hardened. He’d spent too long in the gloom. If he ever hoped to find happiness, he had to start with himself.

  One thing he knew for sure: practicing law had not made him happy. It made him sick to think of the number of guilty clients he’d helped walk through some technicality. He’d been good at his work, no doubt. But facing himself in the mirror each morning had gotten more difficult with each day.

  No more.

  He lifted his pen and bent over the page. “Materials and Processes, here I come.”

  Moments later he glanced over the completed form, a sense of accomplishment filling him. He’d pull a full load and spend as much time shadowing Steven as possible. Suddenly his future looked brighter. He had nothing to offer right now, but if he actually saw this through, would he have a chance then with Nikki?

  SQUELCHING INCESSANT thoughts of Dylan, Nikki trailed into her living room. Tess lay sprawled on the lounger while Ramon painted her toenails and Nash, a
nother of her minions, sat in a nearby chair sketching them in what appeared to be charcoal.

  “What are you doing?” Nikki asked Tess.

  Tess glanced up from the book in her lap. “I’m reading. It’s most fascinating stuff.”

  She raised the book and Nikki read the title. “Tantric Healing for Beginners.”

  “You should read it,” Tess said. “I have all kinds of new exercises to try. Ramon is my victim.”

  “Always willing for you, my sweet.” He blew gently on her toes, then moved on to her other foot.

  “What kinds of exercises?”

  “Well, the first has to do with a chakra cleansing.”

  “A what?”

  “I know about those.” Nash glanced up from his drawing. “They’re energy centers.”

  “Energy whats?”

  “Yeah.” Tess sat up straighter. “Little swirling things. Here’s a picture.”

  She flipped through the book, then held the open page toward Nikki. Nikki moved closer and squinted at a photograph of a woman with a rainbow of circles overlaid along the vertical axis of her body. “Hey, I think I’ve seen those.”

  “You can see them?” Nash asked, and Tess looked questioningly at her.

  Nikki blushed. “Sometimes when I’m, uh, when I’m with a man…you know, and we’re, um…”

  “When you’re doing it, you see chakras?” Tess asked.

  Nash focused on Nikki, as if he were trying to see the colored wheels of energy. He flipped to a new page, then started sketching with broad strokes.

  “Well, maybe not exactly like that, but I kind of feel this rainbow race up my spine and it bursts…” She gestured above her head with her hands, stopping as they all stared at her. “It’s just always been like that. I thought it was normal. I never really understood what it was. It’s good to know I’m not nuts after all. I’d like to learn about these—what did you call them?”

  Tess consulted her book. “Chakras. I haven’t quite gotten them down. Something like main intersections of the meridians used in acupuncture. It’s all new to me. You can read this when I’m done, though.”

  “I can help.” Maggie moved into the room from behind Nikki.

  Nikki turned, surprised. “I didn’t know you were here.”

  “I’ve been in with Erin.”

  “Is she okay?” Tess asked with a note of concern. “She’s been keeping to herself even more since her thing the other week with Ryan, who, by the way, wasn’t looking too chipper when he left. Don’t know what happened with those two, but she refuses to talk about it.”

  “Ryan—was that the young man’s name? No, I guess that didn’t quite work out the way she’d anticipated. I was hoping I could talk to her, but she’s not open to hearing anything I have to say.”

  Tess made a short sound of derision. “Join the club. We thought setting her up would perk her up, but that didn’t work. And even though she doesn’t know we had a hand in it, somehow I know she’s blaming us for this latest disaster.”

  “She’s going through an adjustment period.” Maggie shrugged. “I think we should let her ripen. She’ll be fine.”

  “Ripen?” Nikki asked. “You sound like Sophie.”

  “Well, dear, Erin’s young yet.”

  “I’m going to talk to her.” Nikki turned toward the hall, but Maggie touched her arm.

  “Wait, sweetie. She’s okay. Just needs a little time to herself. She’s going to join us for dinner later.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Trust me.”

  Nikki assessed her mother. Maggie had been a lot of things to her in the past—a never-ending embarrassment, the cause of all her troubles, the bane of her existence—but the one thing her mother had always been was honest. Sometimes painfully so. “Okay, I’ll leave her alone. But if she isn’t here for dinner, I’m going in after her.”

  “And I’ll back you up.” Maggie held her gaze for a moment and some of the tension drained from Nikki.

  Her mother cocked her head. “Walk with me?”

  For a long moment Nikki hesitated, resisting her initial impulse to blow off her mother. It seemed to have been a defense mechanism she’d developed growing up. More times than not, spending time with her mother brought news of an impending move. But that wasn’t an issue any longer. Nikki was making her own home now.

  She should at least give Maggie a chance. “It’s pretty hot out there.”

  “It’s late enough in the day, it’s starting to cool. Come on, we’ll walk along the beach, where the heat is less intense and we might catch a breeze.”

  “Hey, I’ll come,” Tess offered.

  Maggie gave her a smile. “Can I take a rain check, Tess? I’d like some time with your sister.”

  “Sure, but I want to know about any tips on tantric healing you give her.”

  “Deal.” Maggie turned to Nikki. “What do you say?”

  “Okay.” Nikki nodded. “I’ll go.”

  “SEE THAT TREE?” MAGGIE nodded toward a palm tree in the distance as she and Nikki strolled along Central Miami Beach.

  A warm breeze brushed the hair clinging to Nikki’s neck. She nodded and sank her feet into the cool water ebbing and flowing along the shore.

  “Trees are so wonderful. Their roots reach deep into the ground while their branches touch the sky. They take nourishment from the earth and light from the heavens. There’s much we can learn from that.”

  “Like what?”

  “Just like the tree, we join heaven and earth here in our bodies. Tantra helps us attune to nature—helps us expand our awareness through that attunement.”

  Nikki shook her head. “I don’t see how that relates to lovemaking.”

  “If we understand the harmony in nature, we can better understand our bodies and our energy.”

  “Our energy? You mean those chakra things Tess talked about?”

  “The chakras are like a map of the energy centers. When your chakras are open and balanced, the energy of the universe runs freely through you. Part of your gift is that when your heart chakra opens in love, it cues the rest of your chakras to open and balance. Your chakras in turn help balance and align your partner’s. It comes naturally with the gift, but meditation can make it even stronger. There are even exercises you can do.”

  “So when these chakras are closed and the energy isn’t flowing, this causes illness?”

  Maggie nodded. “They can not only be closed, they can be open too wide or damaged. The energy can be clouded or blocked. All kinds of things go wrong when we don’t follow spirit.” She smiled. “Most of us need time to work our healing through each of the chakras, but you seem to get them all in one blast, so to speak.”

  “Or I did.” She cocked her head. “Is it possible I’ve lost the gift?”

  Her mother regarded her a long moment as they continued walking. “I wouldn’t think so.”

  “But I didn’t help him. I don’t think I ever really got through to him.”

  “I’m sure you did in some way. It could be part of his path not to be healed.” She slowed and turned to Nikki. “Or maybe you knocked at the wrong door?”

  “You sound like Sophie. What does that mean?”

  “In lovemaking and tantric healing you have to find the right door through the senses. Some people respond to visual stimulation, some auditory and some through touch and emotion.”

  “You’re saying one of these senses is the key to his healing?”

  Maggie shrugged. “I knew a man once who had a great breakthrough only when we made love in front of a huge mirror. It was the visual impact that helped him. He had to ‘see’ the love I offered before he could accept it. The key may be visual for your young man or it could be something else.”

  “I’ll have to think about that. I’ve had some success getting him to open by talking, but I don’t know. Maybe I should have tried something else. It doesn’t really matter now. It’s over.”

  “Maybe. But keep one thing in mind if yo
u should see him again. You heal through the love, and the way to reach the love is to step past your fear.”

  Nikki nodded. Her fear of losing Dylan had most likely kept her from expressing her true feelings. “Well, I’ll keep that in mind should I hear from him again, though I’m not holding my breath. I’m afraid Dylan Cain has moved out of my life and on with his own.”

  “YOU NEED SOME SERIOUS HELP. Do they always whine like that?” Dylan peered at the pair of red-faced toddlers Steven had just chased out of his neighborhood pool.

  “I don’t think so.” Steven wrapped the first blond-haired girl in an oversize towel that would have tripped her up had he not been holding her.

  Dylan corralled her equally blond sister as Becca attempted to catch her with a matching towel. “Come on, sweetie. Don’t you want to dry off?”

  “They just whine when they’re tired or hungry or upset about something, right, Becca?” Steven asked her, his face intent as he unwrapped his squirming package, then tried to wrestle her into a pink ruffled cover-up that coordinated with her swimsuit.

  “So my sister says.” She tossed Dylan an apologetic glance. “I’m sorry. Mom was going to watch them, but she’s still feeling a little under the weather. Steven and I thought for sure we could handle them for one afternoon.”

  “You said you could handle them. I made some noncommittal response that you took for agreement.”

  “There, see? Marital bliss as always.” Rebecca beamed at her husband.

  Having effectively garbed and distracted his young niece with a cookie, Steven swept his wife to his side and gave her a noisy kiss on her cheek. Niece number two—whose name and age had escaped Dylan in the flurry of the afternoon except that she was barely ten months younger than her sister—giggled and calmed long enough to snatch a second cookie from Steven’s hand.

  “I don’t know about you two, but I’m exhausted just watching them. Where do they get all that energy?” Dylan helped Steven collect the assorted paraphernalia they’d hauled in with their charges: juice cups, sun-screen, matching hats that never managed to stay on their heads, a bag full of toys and water wings.