Page 51 of Sunsets & Slow Dances

“What is it? You know you can tell me anything.”

She licked her lips, and I had to work really hard not to getreally hard. That would be a lot easier if my literal wet dream wasn’t standing in front of me, dripping wet in nothing but a piece of terrycloth.

“It’s about Chloe.”

“Oh.” That did the trick. There was no better mood killer than bringing up my sister. “Issheokay? Did something happen? What did--”

“No, I mean, yes!” She cut me off. “She’s fine. Chloe is fine. It’s just…Chloe wants to know about her dad…about your dad.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I guess Danielle never talked about him, and she never asked around town because, you know, it was awkward for her. She was embarrassed. So she doesn’t really know anything about him. She’s looked up some things on YouTube from town hall meetings, and the arts festival, and some speeches he’s made, but she wants to know about him, about who he was.”

“Fuck.” I ran my hands through my hair. “I never thought about that. About what it would be like for her.”

“I know. I didn’t either. I think it was just because she was so young. I thought it would be like me growing up without a dad, but it’s not the same.”

“No, it’s not.” I sighed as guilt over not reaching out to her crept in. I’d thought about it over the years, but I really didn’t know what my place was with her. I didn’t want to overstep any boundaries, and most of all, I didn’t want to hurt my mom. Or hurt my mom worse than she already was. “What did she say?”

“That’s it, basically. The day we went to pizza, she asked me about him.”

“What did you tell her?”

“I think I said he was really tall, he did a lot of work for the community, and he had a commanding presence.”

I couldn’t help but laugh a little at that description.

“What? I didn’t want to lie. I didn’t know what else to say. I also told her she could talk to you and that she could talk to your mom. But, then last Friday, the last day I was at A.H. before I got sick, she asked me about him again, so it made me think she still hasn’t asked you or your mom.”

“She hasn’t asked me, but I haven’t really seen her. I don’t know if she’s asked Mom.”

“Well, it seems like it’s bothering her, so I just wanted to let you know.”

An alarm on Nadia’s phone went off, and she jumped a little. The motion caused the towel to slip, but she quickly managed to recover without a wardrobe malfunction.

“Crap.” She grabbed her phone. “I’m late. I gotta go.”

“Nadia.” I grabbed her wrist as she hurried past me to the stairs.

She stopped and looked over her shoulder.

“Thank you.”

Her brow furrowed. “For what?”

“For Chloe and…everything.” Despite wanting to hold her wrist forever, I released my hold.

“It’s nothing.” She sucked in a shaky breath as a shiver rushed through her. She shook her head dismissively and rushed up the stairs.

She didn’t think I had any reason to thank her, but she had no idea the gift she’d given me was just seeing her, spending time with her, and talking to her again. She will never understand the gift that just her existence and being in her presence was to everyone, but especially me.

17

NADIA

My entire bodywas shaking like a leaf as I pulled up in front of Blush Bridal for Zoe’s final dress fitting. I didn’t know if it was adrenaline or arousal; all I knew was that I was still recovering from Callum’s unexpected arrival. Why did my body have to be so responsive to Callum after all these years? We weren’t teenagers anymore, but my hormones apparently thought we were. One touch from him, and I was under the bleachers after the football game, or in the cabana shack where they stored the cushions, or in the caves camping under the stars where he Star Trekked me. He boldly went where no man had gone before and ruined the rest of the male population for me.

That was the problem, I think. Because I was a virgin, I thought every encounter would be like it was with Callum. After we broke up, I quickly discovered that wasnotthe case. Well, not quickly. Fourteen months later, I was with someone other than Callum, and, oh boy, that was a very rude awakening. It took another six months to try again. My second attempt to get back up on the horse was even more of a disappointing disaster than the one before.

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