Cross My Heart: A Waverley-Cay Novel

by Avery Maxwell

  Pinching the bridge of my nose, I take a calming breath. “Did you at least tell Lanie I only told you so you wouldn’t crush my balls when you found out I slept in her room last night?”

  “Nope. Didn’t get the chance, Cross. She had me tearing up over the little Mary Poppins lesson you gave her.”

  I shrug my shoulders, not that she can see me. “What do I have coming my way?”

  “Not sure, honestly. She is grocery shopping with the girls right now. Did you decide on a plan?”

  I sit on the corner of my desk and smile. “I did. I told her I’m going to spend every day treating her so good she won’t ever want to give me up. Today is day one of my Make Lanie Mine plan.”

  “All right, big guy. Good luck. We are rooting for you. Miss Rosa’s got a betting pool going, most bets are on you. No pressure or anything.”

  Chuckling, I say goodbye.

  There is something endearing about Julia. Strange, annoying, but endearing just the same.

  The doorbell rings, and I run to get it. He is a little late, I hate late, especially for this project.

  As I open the door, he asks, “Mr. Cross?”

  “Yes, you must be Richie?” I respond.

  “Sure am. Heard you have a project for me, need it done by this afternoon?” He says, glancing around the house.

  “That’s right.” I usher him inside, looking around the driveway like I’m about to get caught.

  “She will probably be home around 4 pm, so it has to be completed before then. Will that be a problem?” I ask, escorting him towards the stairs.

  “Sir, for what you’re paying me, it’ll be done before four, and you’ll never even know it’s there,” he informs me.

  “That’s what I like to hear, right this way, Richie,” I say, smiling.

  Dexter: Day 1 of MLM: Mission in process. LED floodlights are being installed in her room as we speak. She never has to worry about the lights again.

  Preston: It is early in the day for word games. What is MLM?

  Julia: Obviously, it’s Make Lanie Mine. Should I expect these updates daily?

  Trevor: Who has the 802 number?

  Trevor: Also, little bit creeper-ish here, man. What happened to chocolate and flowers?

  Julia: A guy gives me flowers and chocolate, I’ll kick him in the taint all the way back to his car.

  Trevor: Noted. Again, who is 802?

  Dexter: 802 is Lanie’s best friend, Julia. Julia, meet the guys, Trevor, Preston, and Loki.

  Preston: Is she hot? The friend?

  Julia: Another douche-canoe? Come on, Dex, I thought you were better than this.

  Trevor: I think I’m in love.

  Loki: I’ll be MIA for a couple of months. I’ll be on the lookout for my invite to the wedding.

  Dexter: Be safe, man.

  Trevor: Check-in if you can.

  Preston: If Julia is shooting me down, Loki, will you be my date to Dexter’s wedding? Be safe, bud. We’ll be thinking of you.

  Julia: Definitely missing something, but hey? Be safe!

  Loki: Take care of the girl. Guys, take care of Dex. Julia? Hell, good luck!

  Trevor: Will do. Dex, keep us updated.

  Preston: What’s step two, lover boy?

  Dexter: Making dinner tonight.

  Trevor: Jesus, don’t burn the place down.

  Dexter: Your confidence in me is overwhelming.

  Preston: Dinner, got it. What else? Doll, you have any suggestions? I think it’s going to take more than dinner and some floodlights to win over your girl.

  Julia: I’m going to assume you are calling one of the guys doll and not me. If you’re talking to me, watch your balls when we meet in person.

  Preston: Noted.

  Preston: So, any suggestions?

  Trevor: Dex, lead with your heart, the rest will follow.

  Julia: Get Maria to stay!

  Dexter: Will do.

  Preston: Who the fuck is Maria?

  Slipping my phone back into my pocket, I walk up the stairs to check on Richie. He has been up there longer than I thought he would be. “Hey, Richie, how’s it going?”

  “Ah, it’s going okay. Ran into a bit of a snag with some wiring but back on track now. Can’t say I have ever had anyone ask me to put backup floodlights in a bedroom before. Definitely haven’t been asked to hide them, but whatever floats your boat, dude.”

  Lanie

  Chapter 22

  “What the fiddlesticks are you doing in my room?” I know I’m shrieking, but if he is doing what I think he is doing, I’ll kill him.

  “Jesus Christ, Lanie. You scared the shit out of me,” Dexter says, appearing nervous. He is guilty, I know it! I’m living with a total creeper.

  I stare from Dex to the portly man on a ladder in my room, then back to Dex. Hands on my hips, face flaming red, I wait for him to explain. The stout man quietly climbs down the ladder giving Dexter one of those man looks. You know the ones, they say, “good luck to you.”

  “You gosh-dang creeper. Are you putting one of your cameras in my room? Why? Why would you do that?”

  Dexter looks mad.

  Good, I ruined his plan, but what kind of pervert is he? Let him be angry. Three quick strides are all it takes for him to cross the hallway to meet me.

  Low and dangerous, he speaks, “Let’s get one thing clear right the fuck now, you hear me, Lanie? I am not now, nor have I ever been a creeper. Have I done anything, anything at all to make you think you couldn’t trust me?” He asks, inches from my face.

  “You did put cameras all over the house when you were in London,” I point out.

  “Dang, she got you there, boss,” says the burly man.

  Dexter gives him a deathly glare and he goes back to work.

  “Lanie,” he sighs, “I’m not putting cameras in your room,” he pauses and grips the back of his neck, seeming more unsure of himself than I’ve ever seen him.

  I let out a long breath. “Then what are you doing, Mr. Cross?”

  “Fuck, Lanie. Are we back to Mr. Cross?” He raises my face to his, “I’m installing emergency LED floodlights in your room. If the power ever goes out, they kick on within two seconds. I-I just didn’t want you to be afraid anymore,” he tells me.

  My world starts spinning. Did he really just do this for me?

  He cradles my face in his hands, thumbs wiping away tears I didn’t even know had fallen. “Lanie. Lanie, look at me, sweetheart.”

  I raise my eyes to his.

  “I’m going to do stuff like this for you every day. Every single day you’re going to be treated the way you should have been treated your entire life.”

  Without another thought, my hands wrap around his neck and I kiss him. I kiss him with every piece of my heart I can give. I’m greedy, a feeling I’ve never experienced with a man before. My tongue asks for entry; when his lips comply, he gives me a moment to lead, then takes over.

  His kisses leave me breathless. He tastes of mint and coffee. His lips are sweet and soft. His tongue begins dominating mine, his hands entangled in my hair. Somehow, he has walked us backward. I’m up against a wall, but I don’t feel trapped. I don’t feel scared. I feel wanted, needed even. I realize he makes me feel special.

  Dex ends the kiss much sooner than I would have liked, resting his forehead against mine. “Lanes, we have to take this slow. I want you to trust me. Have dinner with me tonight. We’ll put the kids to bed then have a dinner date, here at home. What do you say?”

  I’m still breathless, my brain isn’t working correctly. “Dex, I don’t know,” I say, so confused by my feelings.

  “Just dinner, for now.” He gives me a sly little smile while kissing my forehead once more.

  “Just dinner,” I repeat.

  “I can’t wait.” His voice takes on a husky edge and it sends shivers down my spine. Dex chuckles just as someone clears their throat. “Shit, I forgot he was here,” he laughs again.

  “Mr. Cross, you’r
e all set. I’ll just…ah…send you an invoice,” Richie says, clearly embarrassed by our little show.

  “That would be great, Richie. I’ll walk you out.” Dex winks at me on his way by when I remember why I stopped back at home in the first place.

  “Dex? I have to get Tate from school soon, can you help me grab the groceries so I’m not late?”

  “Whatever you need, Lanes, always,” he says, pulling me into his side.

  “Julia,” I hiss into the phone, “We just put the kids to bed. He wants to have an…um, hmm…I don’t even know what. A date? At home? He says it’s just dinner, but come on. He hasn’t made it a mystery, he flat out told you he wants to date me.”

  “Lanie, it’s dinner. Get to know him,” she tells me like a child

  I sigh, “Okay, maybe you’re right.”

  “I know I am. Now go bone him,” Julia cracks herself up.

  “Julia! There will be no boning, I promise you that,” I inform her sternly.

  “You’re no fun. Luvs,” she replies.

  “Luvs,” I say, rolling my eyes.

  Beep*Beep*Beep

  “What the heck?”

  I go running down the stairs toward the sound. I find Dexter in the kitchen flapping a sheet pan around, trying to clear the smoke away from the smoke detector. His hair is disheveled, his shirt untucked. Perfectly imperfect.

  “Lanie, thank God, open the back doors, please? I need to get this smoke out of here,” he tells me, arms flying.

  Laughing, I go running to the doors and sweep them wide open. “Dex, what happened here? I was only upstairs for twenty minutes.”

  “I guess that’s twenty minutes too long,” he mumbles.

  As the smoke begins to clear, I glance around the kitchen and he sinks down onto one of the stools. There are three bowls of thick gooey sludge, it kind of looks like pancake batter but lumpy with lots of spices. The sink is full of what I can only imagine is every utensil he owns. The counters are covered in flour, the stove is covered in batter, and what appears to be splatters of grease. Anyone walking in would think we set the twins loose in here.

  “Seriously, what were you doing?” I can see him blushing, and it makes me smile.

  “Julia said you liked chicken parmesan. I looked up a recipe and it didn’t seem too hard. News flash, it’s a fucking nightmare,” he grumbles.

  I’m belly laughing now. Not only because of the disaster he made in the kitchen, but because if he knew the reason I always got chicken parmesan, he wouldn’t have attempted it.

  “Come on, let's get this cleaned up, then I’ll let you in on a little secret,” I tell him as I move to throw the mess on the stove into the trash can. “Julia thinks chicken parmesan is my favorite because I always ordered it when I would go out to dinner with her and her parents. The truth is, it was usually the only thing on the menu I recognized. The places her parents would take us to were nicer than anywhere I had ever been to. The chicken parmesan was also usually the cheapest. I always tried to get plain pasta, but Mimi insisted I needed some protein.” I shrug, “so I picked chicken parmesan, never wanting to rock the boat or embarrass them.”

  “From my time with the McDowell’s, I don’t think they would have cared. Did you ever tell them?” Dex questions.

  “Gosh, no! Mimi would kill me. When you grow up poor the way I did, you just kind of learn how to blend in, not make a scene. I loved them so much even when I was young, I was always afraid they would stop taking me in,” I say with a shrug.

  “Can I ask you something?” He seems a little hesitant.

  “Dex, you can always ask, doesn’t mean I’ll answer.” I give him a sassy smile.

  “Why social work? I saw your grades, you’re brilliant. Something must have made you choose such an emotional profession.” His question is innocent, but I need a moment to answer.

  Turning my back to him as I wipe down the counters, I collect myself. When I speak, I know he must be struggling to hear me. He moves behind me but makes no move to touch me.

  “My mother was an alcoholic. She wasn't always abusive, but when she was, she was smart about it. Her favorite punishment was always verbal. It took a long time and a lot of coaxing from Mimi for me to even begin to understand my worth. I think I chose social work so I could do better than all the ones that couldn’t help me. Mimi always took me in, no questions asked. When my mother would be on a bender or with another new boyfriend, I could always seek refuge with the McDowell’s. I think that’s the only reason my mother never tried to move me to another town. Whenever she got tired of me, she knew Mimi and Pawpaw would take me until she needed me for something again.”

  He doesn’t say anything for a beat. A moment later, he takes my hand in his and leads me through the kitchen to the family room. The mess he created, forgotten. He sits me on the couch. “I’m going to grab us some wine and crackers since I messed up dinner. Get comfortable, I’ll be right back.”

  I settle into the couch. It doesn’t seem like Dexter. I wonder who picked it out? It’s large, leather with those brass tacks running all along the seams. It’s the only piece of furniture that doesn’t fit with the rest of the house. He did an excellent job making a massive property feel like a home. I’m running my hand along the leather when Dex returns.

  “It doesn’t fit here, does it?” He asks, watching my hand caress the leather.

  “How did you know what I was thinking?” I try hard not to laugh.

  “I think that every time I walk in here.” He hands me a glass of wine and takes a seat next to me. “I bought it after Anna left. She would have hated it, which made me love it even more.” He laughs, but there’s no humor in it. He scrubs a hand over his face and leans back into the couch.

  “Short version of where Anna went?” I ask before suddenly feeling bad. “Dex, you don’t have to, I shouldn’t have asked,” I tell him.

  He stares straight ahead, not acknowledging my comment. “About a month after we found out she was pregnant with the girls, my dad was in an accident. It was a drunk driver—they say he never felt a thing.” He swallows, once, twice, three times before continuing. “I had him on life support, but after two weeks with no brain activity, the doctors said I was only delaying the inevitable. All the guys were with me when I had to pull the plug. Until that moment, that was the worst day of my life. If I had only known it was going to get so much worse.” He takes a long drink of wine, encouraging me to eat a few crackers and some cheese before he continues.

  “I got home that afternoon, Trevor wanted to come with me, but Anna never liked any of my friends. I got home as a man was walking out. I didn’t really think much of it at the time. I went to her, needing some comfort, but she was more distant than normal, even for her. She said she was sorry about my dad at the same time she handed me divorce papers. She left that day with the man waiting on the road. I only saw her the day she gave birth after that. I gave her a check; she gave me all parental rights. End of story. I’m not sure why she showed up here after a year, but I am sorry for what she did to you. I’ll fix that, I promise.”

  I’m numb. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but that definitely wasn’t it. Setting my wine on the coffee table, I slide in next to him and rest my head on his shoulder.

  “I’m so sorry about your dad.” He wraps his arm around me and I melt into him. “Were you close to him?”

  “I was. It was always just dad and me. My mom left when I was 5. I’ve never seen her again. It’s probably why I was so angry at Anna, we met in high school. She knew all about my mom, and she did the same thing to Tate. I can never forgive her for that.”

  “I don’t blame you. I can’t imagine having such a fantastic child and walking away. How can she take that for granted when people like me will never have the chance?”

  Dex

  Chapter 23

  Lanie immediately tenses and tries to slide away from me. I hold her tighter. “Lanie, please. Don’t pull away. You don’t have to talk, but please don�
�t pull away.”

  She is frozen for a few minutes before she melts back into my side. We stay like this until our wine is gone. We sit in silence, both so deep in our own heads, I almost don’t hear her when she speaks. “I’ve told you I’m damaged. I-I…” she starts and stops multiple times. “Dexter, I was attacked.” She cries silently in my arms.

  “Lanie, shhh, baby. Don’t cry. I know.” I swallow thickly as my own tears fall, I’m not sure if she will be relieved that she doesn’t have to say it out loud or pissed that I went behind her back. Either way, I owe her the truth, the kindness of not making her re-live such a despicable act.

  “I know about your attack. I know all about your injuries. I know how strong you are. I know you protected Max by enduring every abuse imaginable. I know that you have come out of it even more beautiful than you were before,” I tell her, meaning it with my whole heart.

  She hit her breaking point. Lanie’s sobs are deep, painful, full-bodied ones. It makes me wonder if she has ever allowed herself this. It makes me realize, no matter where this goes, I will be here to hold her for as long as she lets me.

  The sun breaks through the drapes. I’ve angled Lanie so she is laying across me, hoping she will be more comfortable that way.

  She explained how her attacker thought she was his wife, who was pregnant with another man's baby because he was so high and drunk he couldn’t see straight. Once he knocked her unconscious, he tried to cut the non-existent baby out of her. After explaining she would never be able to carry a child, Lanie cried herself to sleep.

  I’ve spent the entire night holding her, not taking my eyes off her. I know this is not how she wanted to tell me, hell, she probably thought she would never tell anyone. I’m not sure how today is going to go, so I spend the last moments holding on to her before she inevitably tries to shut down again. Just before six, she stirs.