“So, date,” Jenna said, still not relenting.
“I’ll tell you when you tell me more about this guy who’s too old for you.”
“I never said he was too old,” Jenna corrected. “I said, he thought I was too young.”
“And how old is he that he thinks sixteen is too young?”
“Twenty.”
“Too old,” Alex confirmed, her heart seizing in her chest at the thought of her baby niece getting involved with a grown man.
Jenna rolled her eyes and handed the phone over.
She hadn’t been kidding. Dylan’s headshots were more than some business red tape he’d done for his job. These were pictures meant to sell him as a man and did they ever. He looked wide and brawny, his arms crossed over his chest, pulling at his jacket in all the right places.
His brown eyes were serious and spoke volumes about how he’d do business for his clients. He’d play hardball, serious and to the bone, until he came out on top.
It was a total turn-on.
Alex carelessly handed the phone to her niece, pretending she hadn’t imprinted that photograph into her memory banks for all time.
“Whatever. He’s okay.”
Jenna laughed, not believing her aunt at all.
“Whatever you have to tell yourself.” She stood from the island. “Mom sent me to get you for dinner at Grandpa’s. She said no ifs, ands, or buts; you’ve been summoned.”
It was too much to hope for that her sisters would let her stew in her moment this afternoon. They’d both want to make sure she was okay.
She wanted to argue, but at the same time, she filled with warmth at their interference. She needed them more than ever right now.
“Let me grab my coat,” she told Jenna, washing her hands.
She hurried upstairs to change, a strange sensation climbing up her neck and clamping tightly onto her. It was like a hand grabbing her by the scruff and just squeezing.
She breathed through it, struggling with her sweatshirt, making it almost down the stairs before she had to press a hand to the wall to keep her balance, her chin dropping to her chest as spots danced before her eyes.
It was one of those damn dizzy spells, like a bucket of water over her head. It came out of nowhere, jarring her senses and throwing her off-kilter.
The room spun and for a second, her hand slipped along the wall. She squeezed her eyes shut, leaning her back against the wall and sliding down. Her foot missed the edge of the step she was on and she was helpless to stop it, her knee crumpling and sending her spilling down the remaining stairs.
Alex’s first thought was of the time Andy had fallen down the stairs and she’d given her a ration of shit. What adult falls down the stairs, she’d joked. First day on your new feet, she’d asked.
It wasn’t so funny when it happened to you.
Her second thought was of the baby she was carrying and how sad Beth would be if she lost it because Alex had been careless.
How sad she would be.
3
Dylan was waiting impatiently Thursday morning for Lexi to show up at Boston Beans. She was late, but he had time.
He’d been disappointed when she hadn’t called or responded to his text. After the way they’d left things, he’d been fairly sure she wasn’t going to call, but it was a let-down no matter which way he sliced it. For whatever reason, she’d taken a huge step away from him the week before.
He’d shown up anyway, ready to remedy whatever hole he’d stepped in. He’d done something, or said something, she hadn’t liked. Whatever it was, he’d fix it.
He checked his watch again. She was usually at the shop by seven in the morning. It was going on eight and she hadn’t shown yet. The people in the shop said they were still expecting her, so he’d wait it out for a while longer.
There was just something about her that he liked. Her humor, maybe. Her sense of fun or the laughter that lurked just under the surface all the time. Her sarcasm that seemed to run deep. He wasn’t sure which it was—maybe all of them, that made him want to learn more.
He straightened when a little silver car pulled up to the curb and parked in a no-parking zone. It was her, sitting in the passenger seat, a man behind the wheel. Her niece, Jenna, sat in the back. He recognized her from the pictures Lexi had shown him before.
The man threw him. The guy slid out of the car and stood to his full height. They were the same size, just over six feet, but the man had to outweigh Dylan by nearly fifty pounds. He was watchful as he got out of the car, scanning the surroundings as Lexi and her niece got out of the car.
“I was wondering if you were going to show?” Dylan said, stepping up to them.
Lexi looked completely blank as she took him in, her mouth hanging open a little. She looked different. Not just that her hair was a little curly or that her eyelashes didn’t have the same curve, but there was just something bone deep that struck him as odd.
Jenna, Lexi’s niece lit up, her face stretching into a wide smile.
“Do I know you?” Lexi asked, her eyes wide.
So, that’s how they were going to do this? Pretend the last few weeks hadn’t happened?
“I thought so,” he said. “Enough that I thought you’d at least remember me.”
“Oh, she does,” Jenna interrupted.
The man bypassed the trunk where Lexi kept her baked goods and went right to her side, his hands too familiar as they clasped onto her shoulders.
“Can we help you with something?” he asked.
“This is Dylan James,” Jenna said. “He’s a friend of Auntie Alex’s.”
Dylan cut his eyes to Lexi, her shoulders slumping with relief.
“I’m Andy,” she said with a smile, sticking her hand out to him. It was then that he noticed more subtle differences: the scar on her lip and the way her nose tilted up a little.
“She told me she had sisters,” he admitted.
“Didn’t mention the identical twin?” the man asked, his lips twitching up at the corners.
“No, she left that part out,” Dylan admitted. “Where is she?”
They looked between themselves, his radar prickling with awareness at their hesitancy.
“What?” he asked, wary.
“She’s in the hospital,” Jenna told him. “She fell down the stairs last night. Scared the life out of me.”
The man put a hand on her shoulder in support. He now had one hand on each of their shoulders: Andy and Jenna. They were his. He was sending a very clear message, and Dylan respected the hell out of the silent and subtle display.
“She’ll be fine. They’re keeping her for observation until this afternoon,” Andy told him.
“Where?” he asked, already taking out his phone, ready for the address.
Thankfully, Jenna supplied the information he needed without hesitation.
“I’ll get the things out of the trunk,” the man said before turning back to Dylan. “Owen.”
They shook hands.
“Dylan.” He followed Owen to the trunk of the car, reaching for the basket of Lexi’s baked goods. He really just wanted to jump in a cab and get his car and speed to her side, but he was taking their leisurely pace to mean her condition wasn’t life or death. Still, he felt a sudden wave of urgency in getting her things at the Bean squared away before he could go to her. “I can help get things set out. I know where she likes to put them.”
“I’ll take the picture,” Jenna supplied happily. “I’ve got access to her social media.”
Dylan eyed the girl. “I heard you were quite the advertising whiz kid.”
For her part, Jenna just shrugged as she helped put the doughnuts in the display case. “Auntie Alex hates people but still wants to sell to them. Someone had to help her.”
He thought of Alex and didn’t think she hated people. She’d been friendly enough with him, but he often felt the same. Some days, dealing with clients took more patience than he possessed.
“I offered you an internship,” he
told Jenna, fudging his original offer. “But your aunt told me you were too young and I’d have to ask your parents.”
“What kind of internship?” she asked.
“Seems like you’ve got a good grasp on what people want to see and how they want to receive the message. I’m sure we could set you up with our ad guy over the summer, if that’s what you think your future holds.” Dylan looked behind the girl to her father. “And if your parents think it’s a good idea.”
Owen couldn’t be any older than Dylan was, but the idea of having a child, let alone one Jenna’s age, was nearly unfathomable.
“We’ll see,” was all Owen said, his eyes tracking Andy and Jenna.
Andy was talking to the manager of the Bean at the counter, her blue eyes, so like Alex’s, grave as she spoke. Dylan felt a slither of unease slide down his spine.
“How bad is it?” he asked Owen, his gaze unwavering on the other man. He hoped like hell his look was serious enough that Owen would tell him the truth.
“Not bad,” Owen said. “She just got lightheaded and took a spill. No broken bones. No real injuries other than bumps and bruises.”
That didn’t seem too bad. “Why the hospital stay?”
Owen stilled, as did Jenna. “You’ll have to talk to Alex about that,” Owen told him.
“She sick?” Dylan asked. She hadn’t said anything but they didn’t know each other from a hole in the wall. She could be dying, for all her knew.
And what a heartbreaking shame that would be.
“No,” Jenna said, the smile still plastered on her face.
“Jenna,” Owen warned, his voice quiet but firm.
“I know,” she said on a sigh. “Stop talking. That’s what everyone always says. I talk too much.”
“I find it endearing,” her father told her. “But, talking is one thing and breaking someone’s privacy is another.”
Okay, so something was going on with Lexi and whatever it was, it was none of his business.
Until he saw Lexi and he convinced her to tell him what was going on with her.
They finished putting everything in the case and stood back, letting Jenna take all her pictures. Within minutes, Dylan’s phone pinged with a notification that The Bad Girl of Sweets had posted something new.
Yeah. He was not only following her, but getting buzzed when she did something new.
Jenna had used a cool filter and added a bunch of hashtags. Not only that, she’d put a tag on the post that said whoever picked a certain doughnut would get a free baking class with The Bad Girl of Sweets herself. Apparently one of them had strawberry filling.
“Can I just buy all of the doughnuts?” he asked, his eyes flipping up to meet Jenna’s.
“That might be cheating,” she told him, but there was a sparkle in her eye. It was strange; she looked so much like her mother and Lexi, but still like her father, as well. “But, she’d never know.”
Without hesitating, he began piling them back into the basket and walked them to the counter.
“What are you doing?” Lexi’s sister Andy asked, her eyes wide as he pulled out a few bills and paid for the doughnuts.
“Securing my place in a baking class. I heard the teacher is the best in Massachusetts.”
“You can’t buy them all,” she insisted, her eyes narrowing.
“Let the man buy the doughnuts, gorgeous,” Owen said, pulling Andy away. “If he wants to go toe to toe with Alex, let him. It’ll be good for her to have someone else to bug instead of crashing in on us all the time.”
Andy’s cheeks pinked as she slapped her husband on the chest. “She’s my sister. She can crash in on me anytime she wants.”
Owen leaned down to whisper in Andy’s ear and if anything, her cheeks turned redder.
Her eyes met Dylan’s. “Buy the doughnuts.”
Alex laid in the stupid hospital bed, hoping Beth and Logan were leaving soon.
Ever since she’d taken that teeny-tiny spill down the stairs, the night before, they’d been hovering.
Intensely.
Beth’s gaze was laser-focused on Alex, her eyes flicking back and forth between her face and her stomach. As if, she’d be able to tell if something was going wrong in there.
The dizzy spell had come on suddenly. One second she’d been heading to grab a sweatshirt, and the next she’d been sliding down the stairs like a slinky. She was fine, for the most part. Just a bruise here and there and a great big goose egg on the back of her head.
Baby bambino or bambina Hallowell was just fine in their little slice of uterus, completely unharmed. From the way Beth was staring at Alex though, one would think the thing was ready to pop out at any moment.
Thankfully, the Monroe contingent—Andy, Owen and Jenna, had headed to Boston Beans to make Alex’s regular Thursday delivery and weren’t there to hover anymore.
“Can you stop? I feel like a bug under a microscope,” Alex complained, breaking the long silence.
“She’s just worried,” Logan murmured, his hand rubbing his wife’s back.
“All the doctors have said I’m fine and the baby is fine. I’m only still here because I hit my head. You can stop looking at me like I might expire at any moment.”
Beth just shook her head, not uttering a word, her hands gripped, white-knuckled on her knees.
“Your mother fell in the shower when she was pregnant with Spencer,” her father, Charlie Walker, said from the corner where he was camped out.
“Well that explains a lot,” Alex said.
That at least got a chuckle from the men in the room.
“It was early on and it put the fear of God into her,” he continued. “He was her first, you know. She was so careful, ate all the right things, and made sure to do everything by the book. And then one day, she just lost her legs in the shower.”
Beth’s eyes were now locked on her father, not Alex, and the relief was staggering.
“She blamed herself, thinking she’d done something wrong.” His eyes were serious but soft when they met Beth’s. “But she hadn’t. Carrying a baby isn’t an easy feat and her body rebelled against her, more than once. Just like Alex, there was nothing she could have done.”
“I don’t blame Alex,” Beth said right away.
Alex wasn’t so sure that was the case, but she wasn’t going to call her sister on it.
“When she was pregnant with the twins, she was sick as a dog. Couldn’t keep anything down for months and months.” Alex and Beth listened with rapt attention. Charlie didn’t talk much about their mother, her death nearly crushing him. He usually avoided conversations that revolved around Elise Walker because it just hurt him too much to talk about her. Now that he was taking a moment to open up, they were going to give him their full attention. “She was sure they’d come out puny because she hadn’t been able to give them enough. She worried and fretted, stuck on bed rest for the last month or so, killing herself, trying to keep down a slice of toast, that she hadn’t done enough.”
He looked at both of his daughters.
“You’re both doing enough. The doctor said the baby will be fine and Alex is healthy. We can’t ask for more than that.”
Beth nodded, her eyes watery. “Thanks, Dad.”
“Tell your sister you’re sorry,” he grunted. “You’ve got her thinking she did something wrong.”
Alex hadn’t said as much, but it wasn’t too far from the truth. While she knew that she couldn’t have helped the dizziness, the way Beth acted made her second-guess herself. Maybe she hadn’t eaten enough or went up the stairs too quickly.
“Sorry, Lex,” Beth intoned obediently. Logan’s lips twitched but he kept a fairly neutral expression.
They all turned when a knock sounded at the door. Jenna stood there, bouncing on her toes, her smile wide as she looked at Alex.
“What do you look so happy about?”
“I brought someone to see you?”
Alex raised her eyebrows in silent question.
She sat up sharply and smoothed her hair.
Dylan James had stepped into the doorway, clad in his designer suit, looking like a million bucks.
Make that a billion bucks.
“What are you doing here?” Alex asked hurriedly, hoping she didn’t look totally horrible. Hell, she hadn’t looked in a mirror since before she’d fallen down the stairs. She was sure, after her quick trip to the ground floor of her house, an ambulance ride, and being admitted to the hospital, she looked worse for wear.
His dark eyes darted around the room quickly, sending the other occupants a nod before striding confidently to her bedside.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t come?” he asked, his voice low.
Honestly, she hadn’t thought about him at all. She’d been too busy trying to will the baby inside her belly to stay put.
“He was waiting for you at The Bean,” Jenna supplied, sitting next to Charlie.
Alex cut her eyes to Dylan. She hadn’t heard from him all week. She’d been fifty-fifty on the odds of him showing up at the coffee shop this week.
“Wasn’t sure you’d show,” she admitted, smoothing the hospital gown over her thighs.
She was sure she looked ridiculous, wearing nothing but her gown and a pair of cozy, fuzzy socks.
His shoulders lifted just slightly in an infinitesimal but noticeable shrug.
“I did,” he said. “You okay?”
His fingers appeared on the bed next to her hip, toying with the blanket, as if he was considering making a grab for her but wasn’t sure. She wasn’t sure either, if she wanted him to reach for her or not.
“Fine,” she told him. “Just took a little spill.”
Logan scoffed. “Down a flight of stairs,” he added.
Dylan’s eyes narrowed as he looked her up and down, examining her more closely. “Is that true?”
She was the one to shrug now. “Mostly. I was partway down, so only half a flight.”
“Sounds like enough to do some damage. What are the doctors saying?”
“Dylan, you don’t have to do this,” Alex insisted.
“No, let him keep going,” Charlie piped in from the corner. “Let’s see what the boy’s made of.”
Delivering History (The Freehope Series Book 4) Page 5