Page 45 of Silver-Tongued Devil
She did finish Blake’s office that day. She didn’t wrap it up until after five, but he didn’t come back. Which was definitely for the best. She pulled off all the tape she could, then got her ladder and carefully hung his eagle exactly in the center of those bay windows. She hoped he’d see it before his trip, but if he didn’t, he’d see it afterwards. When she asked him where he wanted to hang the flower. And her shell.
The flutter she felt low in her belly was for the shell. It had to be. She’d make it be. Or if it wasn’t—well, a person didn’t have to act on every feeling they had. Good thing, or she’d be in big trouble by now.
And then she went home for dinner and Evan came by with Gracie, which made her life just a little bit more complicated. She couldn’t talk about Blake’s offer with Evan there. It would get too… awkward.
As it turned out, she didn’t have to. Russell brought it up himself.
“Orbison came to see me today,” he said. “Had a proposition for me.”
Evan froze, and then his eyes went to Dakota, and she dropped her gaze. And Evan was the one who asked, “Yeah?”
“Said he’s going to send me to some back doctor down in LA,” Russell said. “See if they can fix me. Surgery, maybe.”
“Why?” Evan said.
“Well,” Russell said slowly, “that’s kind of what I was wondering.”
They were both looking at Dakota now. “He told me about it,” she said. “He came out to the house today to talk to me.” She met both men’s gazes with what she hoped was steadiness. “He said that what happened to you was his responsibility, Dad, and that it was up to him to make it right. Isn’t that what he told you?”
“Of course it’s what he told me. What do you expect him to say? He wasn’t going to tell me any other part of it. That’s not what any dad wants to hear. You might not know how I feel about you, but you can bet he does. He’s not stupid.”
“Wait,” Evan said. And thenhewaited, clearly marshaling his thoughts before he said, “If he’s going to get your back fixed, Russell—well, that’s good, obviously. But what’s been happening out there at Orbison’s house? I knew I should be painting it instead.”
“You know,” Dakota said, “I’m turning thirty in a few months here. Last I checked, I was officially an adult.”
“Nobody’s saying you’re not,” Russell said. “We’re saying you don’t always know what’s in some guys’ heads. We do.”
“We sure know what’s in his,” Evan muttered. “Pretty obvious.”
“And he needs to spend, what? A hundred thousand dollars? Two hundred thousand? To buyme?”Dakota said in exasperation. “Sorry, guys, that’s stupid. He went out with a supermodel. He can get any woman he wants, and a whole lot cheaper than that.”
“Can’t get you,” Evan said.
“Thankyou,” Dakota answered. “Because that’s exactly my point. I’m not for sale, and he’s a decent guy.”
“Since when?” Evan asked.
“Since now. Since he’s done this. Since I’ve gotten to know him better.”
“He hasn’tdonea single thing,” Evan said. “He’ssaidhe’ll do something. Promising’s cheap. Guy like that, he’s all about promising. All about that sweet talk.”
“Silver-tongued devil,” Russell said. “That’s what I thought at first, too. But I got to say, Evan—I’m not so sure. I wouldn’t have said he’d go back on his word. Not from what I saw. Sounded like he had good folks and all that. A man who’s got good folks, who tells you what his mom says—you don’t bring up your mom like that and then, bam, do the wrong thing. Not unless you’re an all-the-way bad guy, and he’s not that. Anyway, so what? If it doesn’t happen, I haven’t lost anything.”
“Just hope,” Dakota said.
“No,” Russ answered. “That’d be you. I just wait and see. Most things you hope for don’t happen, and most things you worry about don’t, either. Usually, life just bites you in the butt or hands you something better than you deserve with no warning at all. It’d be nice to think you get what you deserve, sure it would. Only problem is, it’s not true. Either way. I’ll wait and see which one this is, but I won’t sit back and wait and see about you.”
She sighed. “I’m fine, all right? I’mfine.”Smart enough to resist her impulses, for sure. Hadn’t she done just that today, and Monday, and… every time she’d been in Blake’s vicinity? “This isn’t some novel, and I’m not selling my virginity to Blake Orbison because my beloved grandmother needs surgery. I appreciate your protective impulses. You know I do. But I don’t need them this time.”
“You sure?” Evan asked. “I think you could get stupid. And Orbison isn’t looking to marry you.”
“How do you know?” Her pride was stung now, even though she’d told herself the same thing.
“Maybe because he was out with Beth Schaefer?” Evan suggested. “He met you. He went swimming with you all right. But who did he take out?”
Gracie started to fuss in her seat at Evan’s feet. “See,” Dakota said, “now you’ve upset both us girls. I get it, Evan. I always got it.”
He reached down, picked up his daughter, and cradled her in his arm. “Just so you do. Just so you remember it.”
