by Terra Kelly
Mr. Daniels nodded. “She sure does.”
Chapter 24
“Hey babe, are we cutting any part of the routine out tonight, or are we all set for timing?” One of the main dancers Ellie asked and sat down in a chair in front of the makeup mirror beside Shawna.
Shawna had the lipstick uncapped and the tube next to her lips. All she could muster had been, “Uh huh.”
“Hey, you okay?” Ellie asked, sounding concerned.
Shawna dropped her hands to the table and turned to face Ellie. “What?” She had been trying to process for hours what her father had said to her earlier on the beach. The word dementia kept rolling around in her mind. Sure, she didn’t have a perfect relationship with her parents growing up, but they were still her parents. The fact that they had a falling out over something so petty really bothered her, especially since she now knew she had missed out on five years with her dad. It felt too hard to process, and she needed to find a way to toughen up before the show.
Shawna shook her head. “Sorry, I’m feeling a little distracted tonight.”
Ellie reached her hand forward to grab Shawna’s. “Do you want to talk about it?” she asked.
“Not right now, but thank you, sweetie,” she said and reached down to pick her lipstick back up. As she started to apply the red magenta color, she said quietly, “We should be good tonight, our sets are timed perfectly.”
Ellie leaned up and kissed her temple. “Okay, babe. If you need to talk, I’m here morning, noon, and night.”
Shawna smiled. “You’re the best.” She continued to put her finishing touches on her makeup while trying to get in the dancing frame of mind. Dancing while distracted had always been an adventure over the years for her.
About thirty minutes later, the floor director, Todd, yelled from the dressing room doorway, “Five minutes to show time.”
There were about seven women and three men who performed every week. They didn’t always perform together; on average you would see them together for one to two performances a night. Then the rest of the time Shawna had center stage with one to four of the dancers. They had the same routine for only a week and then their choreographer would switch it up for them. Shawna loved the long hours and truly adored the dance routines.
She stood up from the little chair and headed over to grab her hot pink feather boa. Her outfit for the evening had been a hot pink and red strapless corset with a tight fitting red skirt that covered her legs. For shoes, she loved four-inch heels for everything she wore.
“You all ready?” She started heading towards the door, turned back, and said what she always did to them, “Go rock it out. You know I love you all.”
As she started to head out, Todd handed her a mic. She nodded, inhaled deeply, and made her way to the center of the stage. She always had to get her grounding once out there with all the lights shining in her eyes and noise coming from the crowd. It had been overwhelming at times. Of course, it never took her long to get in her element and just start singing. For the first number, she just stood and sang a powerful song while three of the performers did a number off to the side. She usually let her eyes wander to see who had decided to come for the show. She almost stopped singing when she spotted two very familiar faces sitting off to the side: Her parents. Somehow she kept it together and magically never missed a beat.
Once the last set finalized, she headed to the dressing room to quickly change. She kept the corset on, because they took forever to remove, grabbed a silk robe, and headed out to the front dining area. She stood by the stage and glanced toward where she noticed her parents earlier, spotting them immediately. At the same moment she caught sight of them, Danny walked up to their table with two bottles of beer. What the hell?
She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly as she made her way toward them. When she approached, Danny smiled and stepped up to her. She took a few steps back away from him and said, “I’m confused.” Then she pointed her finger at his chest. “You should be at work?”
Danny put his hands up in surrender. “Right, about that.”
“Uh huh, I’m listening,” she said, feeling a little heated. She hated feeling frustrated, but it had been odd to see Danny with her parents.
Her father cleared his throat and said, “Please don’t be upset at him. We asked him if it would be possible to watch you perform before we headed home.”
Her mother sounded so happy when she said, “Oh honey, you truly have a gift. It has always been a joy watching you perform, but it felt different tonight.”
“You’re in your element here, Shawna,” her father confessed.
She found it hard to breathe all of a sudden. Five years ago, they seemed certain dancing had to be the worst career choice. Now, today, they were gushing over her talent to own a stage. She put a hand on her hip and turned her head to the side. “Wait, I need to still process this all.” She turned toward her dad. “First, we lose touch because I chose to be a dancer. Second, you come here and drop a bomb shell on me about your health. Now, you’re here tonight gushing about my performance. Seriously, I don’t have the energy to be mad, but I am confused. Yes, I want you in my life, I did the moment I walked away. I just feel scared to let you back in, unsure of what it all means.” She paused for a beat but quickly continued. “You were supportive while I was growing up, and I know I was blessed. But let’s not forget how work always came first…your phone calls were more important than watching me perform.” She grabbed Danny’s beer and took a much-needed swig. “You should know, I’m happy, like really, really happy.” She handed the beer back to Danny. “And yes, that includes this guy, too,” she said and then sighed. “Your words cut deep five years ago. It’s hard to just let that go. I’ve never felt like I amounted to anything, until tonight. Standing on that stage and seeing you in the audience, I felt alive, and free.” She shook her head. “I was too afraid to go home because I didn’t feel good enough about my career. Somehow tonight I do feel good, but now I have to let your painful words go. I want to. Trust me. I do.”
Shawna’s father stood up and reached for her hand. “Darling, you have every right to be upset. For as long as my mind will allow, I plan to make it all up to you somehow. I regret it all. It took me about twenty-four hours to really realize the magnitude of my decision, but by then it had been too late.” He turned toward her mother. “She has never let me forget it still to this day. If anything, please let us back into your life for your mother’s sake. She has missed you so much and regrets not fixing this broken tie years ago.”
Shawna stood there with tears running down her face. She had always been a firm believer in letting go, and tonight would be one of those important moments to just let go and move forward. She walked over to an empty chair and carefully propped herself up, which felt almost impossible with a corset on. She looked over at her mother and then glanced at her father and let out a heavy sigh. “I miss you both so much.” That’s all she could manage to get out at the moment.
Her father stepped up beside her. “Oh Shawna, we miss you,” he confessed. Then her mother lunged forward and wrapped her arms around Shawna, squeezing her tightly. Her father laughed. “Careful, honey, she’s not like a stress ball.”
Shawna’s eyes caught Danny’s, and she reached her hand out to him. He grabbed it and smiled. She just mouthed the words, “Thank you.” The one man who already had her heart had just done a selfless act by trying to bring her family back together. She couldn’t understand why he would do that, but then she stopped that thought immediately, because she did know. Danny didn’t have parents that truly loved him, yet it was obvious she did. He bet on her family when the stakes were high, and he won big time. She planned to let him know later just how much he won.
Shawna felt anxious to see Danny; it had been three full days since she had the chance to say a proper thank you. He had let her know via text message that their dance schedule would be a bit off due to a few work situations. When she finally heard from
him, Shawna quickly asked if he wanted company for the evening. Of course, he demanded that she hurry that pretty little ass straight over to his bed. She found his bossy nature quite sexy.
Before she headed out, she spent some time creating a fun dessert as a special thank you. By fun, she actually meant boozy. For about two months now, she had been thinking about making one of her favorite treats, no-bake booze berry cheesecake. To kick it up a few notches, she added some Bailey’s Irish Cream…and then almost ended up eating the whole damn pan.
As she made her way to the door, she thought about that night at the club. In a blink of an eye her life had changed…everything had changed. Three days in a row, her parents had called just to see how her day had been. It felt…good.
Shawna lifted her hand to knock, but the door swung open before her knuckles made contact with the wooden surface. Her eyes went wide, and she lightly laughed. “Well, hey there, my sexy firefighter.”
Danny rolled his eyes at the pet name and bent to kiss her. “Hey, red. What do you have there, hiding under your arm?”
“We-ell…it almost didn’t make it, but I stayed strong and decided to share some,” she said jokingly and held the pan out in front of her for him to take.
Danny held it up to his nose and inhaled deeply. He moaned and asked, “Chocolate something, but is that booze in there, too?”
She giggled. “Maybe.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Everything is better with booze.” As she started to walk by him, Danny slapped her behind and she jumped. “Hey now.”
He gave her a light laugh from behind and asked, “How are your parents?”
Shawna melted on the spot. The man knew the way to her heart for sure. She stopped in the center of the room and turned on her heel. “Funny you should ask that,” she said and brought her finger up beckoning him toward her. “That little dessert you got there is my thank you for what you did the other night.” As he approached, she placed her hands on his chest. “You were right. I may have let my fear dictate my life, but in the end, I missed out on five years with my parents. Even if those years would have been good or bad, having them with me is all that would’ve mattered.”
Danny smiled and placed his free hand over hers. “Baby, if you could see your face right now, the way it’s glowing, and your eyes,” he paused and brushed his finger down the side of her face. “They show so much happiness.” He bent to kiss her nose. “I may be living vicariously through you now; your happiness makes me happy.” He shrugged his shoulders. “I know, I know, it sounds so cliché.”
She giggled. “I like cliché.” Then she lifted up on her tip toes, wrapped her arms around his neck, and gushed. “Thank you, handsome. Now let’s eat some dessert.”
Chapter 25
He chuckled. “Yes, dessert. I need to try this boozy treat.” Danny stepped back, grabbed her hand, and started walking toward the kitchen. “Do we need plates, or are they really necessary?”
She turned her head to the side and sounded confused when she said, “It’s already on a plate technically.”
“Oh right, silly me.” He nodded and reached into the drawer to grab two forks. Danny went to hand Shawna her fork. As she reached for it, he quickly pulled it back. He did that a few more times, while Shawna huffed and kept trying to grab it.
“Honey, I will just reach my hand in pretty soon if you keep this up,” she joked and then dipped her finger into the cheesecake, grabbing a blueberry.
He finally gave in and let her have the fork. “There, I don’t want you to go all caveman on me.”
Danny had a busy few days at work. They had a few people that were out sick, plus several calls that came in all at one time. To say things had been overwhelming would be an understatement. They did have to request a few firefighters from other counties to help with the workload. It felt good to be home, but even better to have Shawna there with him.
They both were teasing each other as they took big forkfuls of the no-bake booze berry cheesecake. Danny stomped his foot down and said, “Damn you woman, your boozy version has ruined it for other recipes. You better get prepared to make this for me at least once a month.”
She giggled. “Hell, baby, I’ll make it every week if you want.”
Just then Danny’s phone rang. He walked over to the kitchen table to grab it quickly. He laughed at his buddy Drew on the other line. “Aren’t you tired of me yet?”
Drew said, “Hey, trust me, if I could avoid talking to you, I would.” Danny could hear that his voice sounded tired.
Danny knew he had been joking; it was just how they talked to each other. He rolled his eyes. “Nice. Admit it, you just missed me. Now tell me why you called. I have an important visitor here right now.” He glanced toward Shawna and winked.
Drew started laughing. “Fine,” he admitted. “Well, mom called and wanted me to make sure to invite you to the big celebration. Alex, Alyssa, and the whole family will be here officially on Friday. So, she was determined to have a party to welcome them…which will be on Sunday.”
“Sunday?” he asked, surprised. “That seems pretty quick to have a big celebration, especially since they will have only been in town for not even a full two days.”
“You know mom, loves her parties,” Drew said. “Now, she did want me to tell you, if you didn’t bring Shawna she would not allow you to enter the house.”
Danny glanced toward Shawna and smiled. “I will make sure she is attached at my hip. Should we bring anything?”
Drew cleared his throat. “Please make sure you wear clothes when attached, that’s all I ask…oh, and one of Shawna’s magically delicious desserts. See you there at around four.”
Danny shook his head. “Okay, Romeo, I need to go. We will see you Sunday, and we may have clothes on, or we may not. I’ll keep that part a surprise.”
Drew just groaned and then the line went dead. Danny put the phone out in front of him to see if he really did hang up. He did. Looking up at Shawna, he acted wounded. “He hung up on me. I think the Romeo part may have crossed the line.” They both burst out laughing. “So, Sunday we have a date with the Winters. Connie made it clear you better be there, too.”
Shawna sighed. “Awwww, love that woman. Let’s bring the no-bake booze berry cheesecake for some dessert fun?”
Danny walked up to Shawna and moved a strand of hair away from her face. “Sounds perfect, red.” Then he bent down to kiss her. “But not boozy. Sweet little Lexie will be there and loves dessert.”
He placed his hands on her hips and pulled her closer. He smiled against her lips. “Now on to more pressing matters.”
Shawna smiled back. “Yes, we do need to take care of that…thing.”
Then he started to move her backward toward his bedroom.
“Danny!” Connie grabbed his hands and pulled him in for a big hug. Danny noticed her pull back and look over at Shawna. She flashed the biggest grin. “Shawna, darling,” she said excitedly.
Danny loved how Connie had always been so happy to see her family; they were such an important part of her life. He started to head inside and found himself almost tumbling over. Lexie, Alyssa’s daughter, had made a dead run at his legs. Getting his footing, he bent down and picked her up. “Well hello there, gorgeous. Fancy meeting you here.”
She giggled. “Uncle Danny, I live here now.”
His eyes went wide. Feigning shock, he asked, “What? Here in Wilmington? No way.”
Lexie slapped her hand to her forehead. “Oh goodness, Uncle Danny, we need to talk.”
Shawna walked up beside him and rubbed Lexie’s back. “Baby, Uncle Danny forgets a lot.”
Lexie lunged forward into Shawna’s arms. “Will you be my Aunt Shawna someday?” she asked.
Danny noticed how several people in the room went silent at that question. Nothing like making a party awkward. He cleared his throat and asked, “Who’s hungry?”
Alex walked up and slapped him on the back. “She does know how to render people speechless. Gott
a give her credit for trying.”
For a brief second, Danny let the words, Aunt Shawna, roll around in his mind. They did sound nice together. Then he stopped. He knew it was crazy to even think about that yet. Although, loving her was starting to become easy. Of course, he didn’t plan to let her know his feelings just yet.
“So, decided to move this way, huh? Why the change?” Danny asked Alex as he reached to grab a chip to dip in some salsa.
Alex smiled. “Well, it was hard to do, especially with having the cafe. It really all came down to family. Lexie will not be little for long, and she talks about you all every day.”
Danny nodded. “Yeah, I get that. Mom said Anna has the cafe now?”
“She does with Stu. They both have been really the main stars for keeping the cafe afloat. Before I came in the picture, Alyssa struggled with being there as much as she should’ve been.”
Alyssa came up beside Alex and wrapped her arm around his waist. She rested her head on his shoulder. “Then you came along and made life so much better,” she gushed.
“Awwwwww,” Shawna teased as she joined the conversation. “Your story reminds me of a fairytale. Something I hope for someday.” Then she looked up a Danny. “Or, well, maybe it’s already happening.”
Danny shrugged his shoulders. “Um, I think the jury’s still out.” Danny had been joking of course, but the expression on Shawna’s face told him he may have gone too far in his teasing. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close. He lightly laughed. “Red, this,” he circled his hands in between them and confessed, “is pretty damn fantastic.”
He noticed her eyes soften at his words, but all she said was, “Good.” He moved his hand lightly back and forth on her waist, making her body shake a little. She rested her head on his shoulder, and laughed softly.
A little while later, Danny found himself standing next to Grant, Alex, Joshua, and Drew. They were all drinking a beer and shooting the shit. Grant had just lifted his beer to take a swig, when Georgie made her way over to the guys with Alyssa and Isabel. Danny noticed how Grant fumbled a little with his beer and spilled a little down his chin.