Page 9 of Love and Other Trials
“No, of course not.” Her hand tensed in his grasp. “I’dwant to know. But you should know… Oh, never mind.”
She pulled her hand free and rubbed her face, as if the lateness of the hour had finally hit her.
“Know what?”
“Nothing.” She picked up her glass and drank deeply before setting it down with a clack. “So you’ll talk to Rob? When? Tomorrow? Because it’s Friday?—”
“Saturday actually,” he countered, holding up his watch showing 2:11 a.m. “Early hours.”
“Right.” She rubbed her face again. “Oh God! What a mess. If he wants to cancel the wedding, maybe I can get back deposits. You’ll tell me right away, right?”
“Of course.” Dax reached for her hand and leaned forward, searching her tired eyes. “Hey! I’m sorry I’m stressing you out. I know there’s a lot on the line here. But we’ll figure things out. Together. Think of me as your wingman. Your sister said Lisa wasn’t working?—”
“Wasn’t working?”Her mouth gaped as their waitress put their plates down and left quietly, her sensible shoes squeaking. “But Lisa— I’m sorry. I think I just left my body. She got rid of Lisa? How could she? Lisa is my wedding assistant. Oh God! This is awful.”
“Maybe the wedding being called off wouldn’t be such a bad thing for you?” he joked before wincing. “God, that was an awful thing to say. Chalk it up to me trying to see a silver lining where there probably isn’t one.”
She tipped her head back to the ceiling. “My sisters aren’t called the Three Tornadoes for nothing. I’ve always thought my family should come with tornado warnings. Seems like the sirens are screaming already.”
He studied her, his thumb finally giving in to the urge to caress the back of her hand. “I just got it. You went into disaster recovery because of your family. Jeez, I’m slow.”
“You’re far from slow, Dax.” She gave him a smile that caught him right in the center of his chest. “And you’re right. I’m compelled to bring order to chaos. Since I was a child, I’ve come in after my sisters wrecked things and put them back together. My mother too, although she’s tempered some. I should thank them really. I found my life's purpose because of them, and I’m damn good at it. We’ll get through this.”
She sounded convincing, and for a moment, the Joan of Arc comparison seemed more than apt. He stroked her hand, trying to assure her he was with her. All the way. “Then we have nothing to worry about.”
She didn’t say anything, and who could blame her?
Ejecting from a burning aircraft would be easier than stopping this train wreck.
THREE
Ariel couldn’t believe it.
Her grandma’s house might as well have slid into the ocean. All hope of fulfilling her part of her bargain with her sister had blown away, like dandelion seeds in the wind.
How could Tiffany have done this?
Her sisters liked to be the center of attention, sure, but flirting was one thing, and grabbing the best man’s butt was another.
“How come you’re so normal?” Dax asked as they drove back to the wedding venue—Charleston Estates Resort. “If that’s not a rude question? Is it because they’re your half sisters?”
Sherlock gave a low howl, as if he understood the kind of agony this line of questioning gave her.
“Maybe. My mom will tell you she and their father ran pretty wild when they first met, and they were still going when she had Tricia and Terry, who are fraternal twins, after Tiffany. Then their relationship crashed and burned. Grandma had two other daughters besides my mother, you should know, and she named them the Hurricanes when they were little because of how crazy they could get. Said she got what she deserved for calling her first child, my mother, Stormy, and her second daughter Gail—although the term gale is spelled differently—and then giving Brianne the nickname Breezy. So you see, wild blood runs in the family. Although I’ve found a way to channel mine into my job and overcome the rest. I like to say I have a louder good angel on my shoulder than a bad one.”
“Interesting.”
The word was loaded with meaning, but she wasn’t going to analyze it. “Mom didn’t like being without a man, and with three girls, she wanted stability. Dad’s a financial planner—very logical, patient, and steady. She made him a little wild, and he made her a little calmer. They balanced each other out until my mother wanted more. I was thirteen when they divorced.”
The worst year of her life. Suddenly she was the only person who didn’t fit in, except when she spent time with her dad and Jeffrey two nights a week.
With one hand resting on the steering wheel, Dax used the other to give Sherlock a good rubdown, making the dog’s soulful eyes nearly roll back in his head, which made her smile. She could always tell something about people by how they treated Sherlock and how he reacted. Dax clearly loved dogs. More, he longed for one himself.
“So you’re more like your dad.”
“Yes. He’s good with his clients and manages risk for a living, which I inherited from him. Except I was an accident. On some wild night my parents had in Vegas. Feel free to laugh. It’s cliché.”
He bit his lip, clearly trying to keep a straight face. “I won’t. But you have a half brother, right?”
