by Julia London
Dax arched one brow. “And?”
“And . . . I wonder what else I don’t know.”
Now the other brow rose to meet the first. “Are you implying I’m hiding things from you?”
“No, of course not!” she said and rubbed her forehead, trying to form her thoughts, to make sense of the confusion. “Dax . . . what if there was no Ruby?”
“What?”
“What if Ruby was fine, or I didn’t have her. Would we . . . would we get married?”
Dax folded his arms. “I’m not sure what you’re asking.”
“Would we even be dating? Would we be us?”
“We are us,” he said, his expression annoyed now.
She wasn’t making herself clear. She was apparently incapable of expressing the doubts that she harbored. “You know what I mean,” she said.
Dax considered her as he casually scratched his chin. “I don’t know.”
That wasn’t terribly reassuring. In fact, it was terribly unsettling.
“Don’t read too much into that,” he said quickly. “You have to understand, Kyra—I never thought I’d marry again, and I think if things had been . . . normal . . . it would have taken some time to get used to the idea of marriage.”
“So . . . you’re doing this just to help Ruby.”
He looked confused. “You know that.”
“It has nothing to do with me.”
Now Dax looked flabbergasted. He pushed away from the door and moved toward her. “Of course it has to do with you. I’m crazy about you—you know that, too. Look, if this hadn’t happened to Ruby, I would have seen where it was going between us before I ever thought of marriage.” He put his hands on her arms, caressing her. “It means everything accelerated with us because of her condition. It means all things being equal, I probably would have taken it slow, because that’s my nature. But please don’t doubt I offered to do this for you every bit as much as I did for Ruby.”
He still hadn’t said how he truly felt about her. Being crazy about someone is what people said when they were dating. Not when they were about to get married. “You’re making a huge sacrifice, and people don’t make that kind of sacrifice for no reason.”
He looked slightly flummoxed. “Why are we having this conversation? I love that kid,” he said.
If only Kyra could explain why. If only she understood why. All she knew was that things were happening so quickly, and she loved him, and she wanted him, but she didn’t know if he wanted her in the same way or if he was on some humanitarian mission. Those were two very different things. He could say he loved Ruby, and for that Kyra was thankful, because she loved Ruby, too. But he obviously couldn’t say the same to her, and she couldn’t keep the doubts she had about his feelings for her from swirling.
“What is it?” he asked, bending down a little to look her in the face. “This isn’t news to you.”
“No, no, I understand,” she said. “And I’m grateful—”
“I fed Otto!” Ruby shouted as she came running into the house. “He ate it superfast, and then he threw up on the floor.”
“God,” Dax sighed. He touched Kyra’s cheek. “More on this later, okay?” He took off the apron and left her cottage to take care of Otto’s disaster.
They dined on homemade pasta that evening, which they all agreed could use some work. After dinner, Dax went off to take care of some things while Kyra spent time with Ruby. She was in the middle of a story about a girl who lassoed a star and brought it to earth when she heard the faint sounds of Ruby snoring. She was curled around the baby doll Dax had given her.
She wished she hadn’t made a big deal about the doll. She wasn’t herself these days; she was twisting around in her own head.
She slowly stood up and crept out of Ruby’s room, then returned to the kitchen to clean up. She was finishing with the dishes when Dax returned. He walked up behind her, braced his hands on the kitchen sink, surrounding her, and kissed her neck.
Kyra closed her eyes and leaned back against him. No matter what her doubts, no matter how exhausting the days and no matter how high her increasing anxiety, there was something so soothing and sure about his touch.
His hands slid up her sides and he turned her around. His kiss was intoxicating, his touch almost fevered. He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her aloft, walking slowly to her room with her as he kissed her. In her bedroom, they moved without words, both of them pulling and tugging at each other’s clothing, one of them reaching for a condom. There were no words between them—the desire in them felt equal and frantic, and perhaps Kyra was reading too much into it, but she had the feeling that Dax was trying to tell her something.
Dax put Kyra on the bed and shifted on top of her. He stroked her face, then shifted, his fingers brushing against her breast. “You captivated me from the moment I saw you moving boxes into this cottage, do you know that?”
Kyra didn’t know if she believed him, but she kissed him and slid her hands down his chest, over his nipples, to his abdomen. She nuzzled his neck, pressed her breasts against him.
“I wouldn’t have offered to marry you if I didn’t care about you,” he said and slid his hand between her thighs.
Kyra closed her eyes and surrendered to his touch. Her desire for him was potent, and as his hands and his mouth caressed her, she felt herself beyond caring what any of it meant. She just wanted to be with him, wanted to feel him slide into her and to cover him with kisses of adoration.
He began to move in her, driving her to the brink, his strokes growing urgent. Kyra plummeted with her release, Dax right behind her. As their skin began to cool, she clung to him, unwilling to let go. If she let go, reality would seep back into this room. If she held him, she could pretend that this was what was supposed to happen between them.
But eventually Dax dislodged himself from her and rolled onto his back. He groped around for her hand, then tangled his fingers in hers. “I’m going to deliver that damn table tomorrow, then go and see Jonathan,” he said and sat up. “What do you have planned?”
Kyra yawned, drowsy and sated. “Study,” she said sleepily.
He kissed her, then moved off the bed. “I’ll see you tomorrow evening?” he asked as he pulled on his jeans and zipped them up.
“I’ll be right here,” she said. She curled around a pillow and watched him dress. He leaned over her one last time to stroke her hair. “Are we good, babe?”
“We’re good,” she assured him. In that moment, she was good. This man was everything she could ever want, and she was too sleepy now to think about how he said he cared for her, and how that sounded like a line from a movie, spoken by a player who wasn’t ready to commit.
Only in this movie, the player was committing a noble sacrifice to save a child. He was, truly, a hero.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Dax drove Kyra and Ruby to Black Springs for Ruby’s second MRI. On the way home, he pulled into McDonald’s, because Ruby said that’s what they always did when she went to see a doctor.
This Friday, Dax and Kyra would be married on the lakeshore by a lay preacher whose wife would witness the ceremony. On Monday, Ruby would start first grade. On Wednesday, Kyra would take her real estate exam. On the following Monday, Ruby would have her surgery.
Dax was feeling optimistic about things in spite of the looming surgery. His adoration of Ruby had only grown. And even though things had been a little tense from time to time, he thought he and Kyra were good. Solid. He believed they’d come to a mutual understanding of how their relationship was unfolding. Whenever he felt a distance from her, it would magically disappear when they were in bed.
Yessir, their sex life was magic as far as Dax was concerned—they’d had some mind-bending experiences together, and every one of them had felt important or huge.
Yeah, he was feeling pretty damn good about the whole thing. Once they got past the surgery, he thought it would be smooth sailing. His idea—one that he’d not discussed yet
with Kyra—was that the three of them would move to Teaneck to be closer to his son. He’d haul his furniture to East Beach from there.
This particular morning, Dax borrowed Mr. McCauley’s trailer. With Mr. McCauley’s help, he’d loaded the table he’d made for Wallace to deliver to the client’s home on the other end of the lake. Mr. McCauley had offered to ride along and help unload the table at the other end. “I got nothing better to do this morning,” the retiree said.
On the way to the south end of Lake Haven, Mr. McCauley chatted about how he was starting to winterize the empty cottages. “By the way, seems you and Ms. Kokinos are getting a little cozy,” he said and winked.
Dax smiled. “You could say so. I’ll let you in on a secret—we’re getting married Friday.”
Mr. McCauley’s mouth gaped open. “The devil you say!” he said and slapped the seat beside him. “That was fast.”
“It was,” Dax agreed. “But when you know, you know.” He didn’t know why he said that, exactly, but he wasn’t going to say anything about the necessity of the marriage for Ruby’s sake. She didn’t need her business all over town. They’d agreed to keep their arrangement quiet. Not a secret, exactly, but as Kyra put it, “without fanfare,” at least until after Ruby had come through her crisis. “She deserves her privacy,” she said.
Dax couldn’t disagree with that.
After the surgery was behind them and Ruby was on the mend—she would be on the mend, Dax was sure of it—they would either host a celebration or go their separate ways. But Dax never thought about going separate ways. He thought about the sort of celebration he’d like to have. And he didn’t consider telling a few close friends outside the bounds. Kyra’s friend Deenie knew.
“Sue is going to have a cow, she damn sure is,” Mr. McCauley said jovially. “She’s pretty attached to that little girl.”
“So am I,” Dax said. “She has a way of getting under a person’s skin and setting up house there.”
“She has a way of getting in the plant beds. She’s worse than your dog,” Mr. McCauley scoffed and laughed. “Well, good for you, Dax, good for you. Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.”
Dax didn’t know about that, but Mr. McCauley’s encouragement spurred him to make the same announcement later when he swung by John Beverly’s to collect his check for the table.
“Just the hunk I wanted to see,” Wallace said when Dax sauntered in. “The Lake Haven resort is renovating their lobby. They’re looking for some unusual coffee tables. Are you interested?”
“Of course I’m interested,” Dax said. If business kept building as it had, he was going to have to get a larger workspace.
“I have some photos to show you,” Wallace said. “Wait here, and I’ll be back with them and a check.”
Dax waited. He glanced to the cash register counter and noticed Janet sitting behind it, her head in a magazine. This was the first time he’d ever entered the shop and Janet wasn’t in his face. He moved closer, but she wouldn’t look up from her magazine.
“Are you never going to speak to me again?” Dax asked. “Asking for a friend.”
“What do you think?” Janet asked curtly.
“I think you need to give up on matchmaking and stick with interior design.”
That remark caused Janet to throw down her magazine and stand up. She yanked down on her short skirt and said, “Why didn’t you like her?”
“I like her,” Dax said sincerely. “She’s nice. But she’s a little intense, Janet, I’m not going to lie. And . . . the truth is, I’ve had something else going on.”
Janet snorted. “Don’t tell me the waitress next door.”
Why should he not tell her that? “As a matter of fact,” he said.
“What’s this?” Wallace asked, poking his head out of the office as he waved the check around. “You and that little dish next door? Really, Janet, you can’t be surprised. He’s practically adopted that little girl.”
“Actually,” Dax said, “you may as well know . . . we’re getting married Friday.”
Unlike Mr. McCauley, Wallace and Janet did not grin and slap the car seat. They stared at him in stunned silence. “What did you just say?” Wallace asked.
“I’m pretty sure you heard me, judging by how white you both are,” Dax said and gingerly reached for the check before Wallace wadded it up in a fit of shock.
“Are you crazy? I think you’re crazy!” Wallace exclaimed.
Dax thought about it a moment. “Don’t think so,” he said. “It’s complicated, but there is a method in our madness.”
“Dax!” Janet cried. She’d come out from around the counter. “You can’t marry someone you just met.”
“I didn’t just meet her. I met her earlier this summer and we’ve been dating for a while now.”
“No, you haven’t! One summer is hardly long enough to know if you’re ready to marry,” Wallace said, going all superior on him. “What is the matter with you?”
“I like her.” Dax said it without thinking and didn’t fully realize what he’d said until Wallace and Janet exchanged a look of terror.
“What about love?” Janet demanded. “Don’t you want to love the woman you’re going to marry? Doesn’t like seem a little like a few dollars short of a hundred-dollar bill?”
“I do love her,” he said, flustered now. He felt a little weird about saying it to these two and never having said it to Kyra. He hadn’t said it because he wasn’t entirely certain what his feelings were. He was just supremely confident he would love her. He wasn’t the kind to let doubts ruin a good thing, and he knew from the way they’d made love just last night that the basis for a good relationship, a good marriage, was there. He and Kyra just needed to relax and let it unfold.
“This is crazy,” Janet said, throwing her hands up. “I always thought you were a smart guy, Dax, but after this, I have to say, I’m glad you dumped Heather.”
“I didn’t dump her—”
“Because I would hate to see her mixed up with crazy.”
“Okay, all right, as usual, your comments on my love life are unwelcome and just flat-out wrong,” Dax said. “Where are the pictures, Wallace? I need to get going.”
Wallace was still staring at him like he’d suddenly sprouted an extra head. “I think you’ve finally lost your mind,” he said, nodding. “We’ve lost you.” He shoved a binder toward Dax.
Dax quickly reviewed the pictures of the decor and the sort of tables they wanted and got out of there as soon as he could. He didn’t like the daggers Janet was staring at him or the way Wallace kept looking at him like he was some kind of mutant.
From there, he drove to Teaneck and was lucky enough to arrive just as Jonathan was waking from his nap. Ashley was in the living room with him. Stephanie was at work. Dax had memorized her work rotation so he knew how to avoid her.
“He’s huge,” Ashley said, beaming. “I can’t feed him enough.”
“He’s going to be strong,” Dax said and took the baby from Ashley. He couldn’t help the idiot grin he got every time he looked at his son.
“You’re so happy with him,” Ashley said and curled her feet up under her on the chair. “I know how badly you’ve wanted children, and I’m so glad I was able to give you at least one child. In spite of the way it came about.” She smiled sheepishly.
Dax didn’t want to be reminded of what had happened between them. “Looks like I’m going to have another,” he said to Jonathan.
“What?”
“I mean Ruby,” he said and looked at Ashley. “Her mother and I are getting married.”
Ashley’s eyes widened. “Dax, that’s wonderful! Oh my God, I am so surprised. When?”
“Friday.”
“Friday! What are you talking about? Why so fast?”
He shrugged and looked at Jonathan again. “It’s the right thing to do,” he said vaguely.
Ashley uncurled herself, leaned across the space between them, and kissed Dax’s forehead. “Congrat
ulations,” she said. “I hope you are happier than you ever thought possible.”
Dax looked at his ex-wife. He believed she wished that for him. He didn’t know if he could be that happy, but once again he was filled with confidence that if he could be driven to such heights, it would be with Kyra.
It was half past six when Dax pulled into the drive at Number Two and noticed the strange car in front of Kyra’s house. He got out of his truck and took a closer look. It was a rental. Whoever it was, he hoped they were on their way sooner rather than later—he’d bought an expensive bottle of wine today that he wanted to share with Kyra.
As he started toward the house, Kyra’s door opened and a couple walked out ahead of her.
He waved; Kyra pointed to him and said something to her guests, then all three started moving in his direction.
As they drew closer, Dax’s belly did a funny little flip. His instincts told him who that man was. He had red hair. Not as red as Ruby’s, more of a strawberry blond, but red all the same. And as they reached him, he saw that the man had Ruby’s blue eyes.
“Hey,” Kyra said to Dax. She was nervous. “Dax, this is, ah . . . this is Josh Burton, and his wife, Liz.”
Dax stared at Josh Burton, debating whether or not to put a fist through his face, for many reasons, but foremost for Ruby.
“Good to meet you,” Josh Burton said, clearly not reading the signs. He offered his hand.
Dax shifted the wine bottle he was carrying to his left hand and forced himself to shake the bastard’s hand.
“Josh and Liz are staying at the Lake Haven resort for a few days,” Kyra said. She had her hands shoved in the pockets of her jeans.
“Why?” Dax asked bluntly, and ignored the way Kyra’s eyes rounded with alarm.
“It’s a fair question,” Josh said breezily. “We’re checking in on Ruby.”
Checking in? Like she was a pet at a zoo?
“Anyhoo,” Josh said, and Dax hated him even more for saying anyhoo, “Kyra, we’ll pick you up tomorrow at nine?”