Page 44 of Love at First Flight

“Oh, uh, sure.” She wasn’t a kid, but she looked very young. He had enough trouble connecting to people in his own generation, let alone a younger one.

Her gaze dropped, one hand fidgeting with the hem of her sleeve. “I’m really sorry if I hurt you or made you angry with the, um, video I posted on Loop.”

“Oh. Okay.” Her apology was unexpected, and Dex wasn’t sure how to respond. He hadn’t seen the video in question. Truthfully, he forgot about social media most of the time, unless one of his fellow rangers roped him into recording something ridiculous for the park. He was curious, though, because both Hailey and Selah had brought it up, each one prepared for him to blow up in anger as a result of its existence. Except he’d had much better things to occupy his life with than to worry about it. It certainly couldn’t be any worse than the interview he and Selah did for KTVZ.

“I hope I didn’t get you into trouble with your job. And I really was just trying to help. I’m just not very good at it and, as usual, I screwed it all up.” Hailey hung her head, continuing to fidget, looking miserable about the whole thing.

“Hey, it’s okay.” Dex felt bad if she was beating herself up over something this silly. “I’m fine. And it did help. The park actually got a lot of donations, and I think most of it was thanks to you.”

She snuck a look at him, possibly checking his sincerity, before smiling brightly. “Really? Oh, I’m so glad to hear that. If you ever need another shout-out or something for your crow, I’m happy to do it. This time I’ll do something much better. And Selah really does like you. She sometimes fights to prove otherwise on how she really feels about things, but it’s not always true. That’s just how Selah’s been lately.”

“How have I been?” Selah asked, coming into the room with a large pack of paper towels under her arm. Dex stood, thinking he should take the load from her arms, but before he could act, Boone followed into the house behind her and took the paper towels himself.

“Hey,” Selah said in greeting him, having no qualms about pulling him into a quick hug which he gladly took. “How was your day?”

They’d been chatting off and on throughout the week so there wasn’t anything new to share, but he liked that she asked him, as if things were so comfortable between them they could talk about mundane things such as how their day was. When she ended the hug, he kept his hand on her back, lightly rubbing it along her spine. “Better now. I’ve been looking forward to this all week. How was your day?”

“Good, I think. Were you guys talking about me?”

Hailey appeared somewhat stricken, her gaze darting away and her body posture pulling into herself. There seemed to be some tension between the two sisters. He didn’t think Hailey’s words would upset Selah, but it felt as though the younger sister was confiding in him and he didn’t want to ruin it. He simply pulled Selah into his side. “She was just telling me that you liked me. I think someone found your diary and my name was covered in hearts or something.”

“Oh,” she replied, easing into him. “I guess I should do a better job at hiding it then. Are you hungry?” She led him to the dining room, but he caught Hailey giving him a grateful smile.

As expected, dinner was delicious. Even better, he’d found a family as welcoming and lively as he remembered Lincoln’s home being. Despite the weird vibe between Selah and Hailey, the rest of the family had an easy camaraderie, although they did like to tease each other. The daughters found great delight in riling up their mom and getting her to say things like “Mijas, no. I raised you better than that.” But it was clear everything was done in love and Dex enjoyed being a part of it.

Even Boone wasn’t as bad as Dex assumed. Perhaps jealousy had colored his initial opinion. The guy was easygoing and seemed to love charming Elena. Even better, there wasn’t anything romantic between Boone and Selah. In fact, Boone focused more on annoying Naomi and did so easily.

“Do you want some more, Dexter?” Elena asked him. “There’s plenty of food.”

“Oh, no, thank you, ma’am. I’m full. It was the best thing I’ve eaten all week.” He draped an arm across the back of Selah’s chair, feeling satisfied and needing to give his body some space after eating too much. Selah’s mom was an excellent cook and he hoped to score future invitations. The plate of rosemary roast, garlic buttery potatoes, and grilled leeks was something he only ever expected to eat in restaurants. Dex rarely went to those kinds of places after Ava departed from his life, and this situation was more enjoyable.

“Dexter. What did I tell you at the door?” her mother asked quite seriously.

“Uh...” He wasn’t sure, glancing at Selah for a hint to this pop quiz. She gave him a light shrug and smile because, of course, she hadn’t been there. He was on his own.

“I told you to call me Elena.”

“Oh, sorry, ma—Elena.”

“God, Ma, it’s so unfair,” Hailey said, jumping into the conversation. “All this time you keep telling us you want us to behave better, to have good manners, that you raised us better. And yet, Dex and Boone get in trouble for having too many manners. Make up your mind.”

“They’re not in trouble. I just want them to feel comfortable, and they’re our special guests. We should treat them as such.”

“Did you hear that?” Boone said, leaning a bent elbow on the table and resting his head against his hand, his attention again on Naomi. “You should treat me like your special guest.”

“Gross,” she replied with an eye roll. “You’re Mom’s special guest, not mine.”

“You be nice to Boone,” Elena said, admonishing her daughter. “He’s been a great help with the business.” She stood and started gathering the dirty dishes.

“Here, let me help you,” Dex said, pulling his dishes together.

“Dexter, no, stop it.”

“I got it,” Hailey said, taking his and Selah’s plate. “You are our special guest, Dex. I’ll do cleanup and dishes tonight.”

He thanked her and she smiled in return. He noticed Selah raising her brow, but she didn’t say anything.

“Ah, thank you, mija!” Elena was pleased by her daughter clearing away the table, but couldn’t stop herself from helping as well.

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