Page 113 of Dreaming of Dawson

“Absolutely.”

“I’m gonna keep this a secret from Zara,” he whispers, and I nod my head.

“Is everything okay?” Macy asks, looking up at me.

“Everything’s just fine. I was apologizing to Tanner for the way I’ve been behaving since Stevie left.” I give her a surreptitious wink as I’m speaking and she smiles up at me, clearly understanding the need to keep quiet.

Zara doesn’t seem any the wiser, and simply gazes up at her new husband, clearly just happy to be married. And who can blame her for that?

The afternoon goes quickly, and I have to say that, although the wedding was quiet, it was also the nicest I think I’ve ever attended… including my own.

Macy spent about an hour talking with her aunt, and I left them to it, because although Macy’s been over there to visit a couple of times, they haven’t been able to spend very long together. That doesn’t mean I didn’t watch her the entire time,though, or return her smiles every time she looked up and caught me doing so.

At the end of the day, after saying their goodbyes, Tanner sweeps a very confused Zara away to the hotel, ignoring her questions, while Macy and I take Zara’s mom, her Aunt Charlotte and Nash back to the house.

Nash may be exhausted after such an exciting day – most of which he spent with Billie – but he’s full of questions. Sylvia deals with answering him, thank goodness, while I focus on driving. I haven’t been able to spend much time with Aunt Charlotte until now, and I’m struck by how much older she looks than Sylvia. Tanner led me to believe there wasn’t much of an age gap between them, but it doesn’t look that way and I wonder if Charlotte’s accident took more out of her than I’d expected. She looks at least twenty years older than her sister and seems to rely on her heavily for everything from communicating to walking.

“Are you sure you can cope?” I ask Sylvia as I help her from the car. “I hadn’t realized Charlotte was this bad.”

“I’ll be fine. It’s just for one night, and Nash is a good boy. He won’t be any trouble.” I notice she doesn’t deny Charlotte’s poor health, and tell her to call me if she needs anything.

“You’re a good friend to Tanner,” she says, resting her hand on my arm for a moment.

“I haven’t been for quite some time, but I’m back now,” I say and she smiles.

I go in with her and help them get settled, writing my cell number on a notepad in the kitchen, before I return to Macy in the car.

“Are they gonna be okay?” she asks as I sit behind the wheel.

“Sylvia says they will, but I’ve told her to call if there are any problems.” She nods her head, deflating slightly. “Are you tired?”

“I am. I’m more tired than I thought I would be.”

“Let’s get you home.”

I start the car, making quick work of the drive back to the bar. It’s in darkness, but I let us in and don’t bother with the lights, guiding Macy to the door at the back, and up the stairs into the apartment before I bother with any illumination. Not that it stays on for long, because Macy makes straight for the bedroom, and I follow her there, switching off the living room lights again as we go. There’s no need to turn on the lights in the bedroom. It’s a full moon, and we can see well enough to undress… although there’s something I need to do first, and I grab Macy’s hand, pulling her close to me.

“I know you’re tired, babe, but can we talk for a minute?”

“Can’t we get into bed first?”

“No. I’ll be too easily distracted… especially as I’ve got no intention of letting you take off those stockings, or that garter belt.”

“You don’t?” she says, and I can see the sparkle in her eyes, even in this dim light.

“No. Not for a while.”

“Okay,” she says, moving closer. “What did you wanna talk about?”

I love her impatience, and I smile down at her. “Do you remember, before the ceremony, we were talking about having kids?”

She leans back slightly. “Don’t tell me you’ve changed your mind already?”

“Not at all. It’s just that, being there, at Tanner’s wedding, talking about things like that and seeing how happy he and Zara are together, it got me thinking.”

“What about?”

“About making things more permanent between us.”

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