Chapter 13 #2
I shook myself out of that thought and quickly ran upstairs. Lucky was inside, as he had spent the morning at doggie daycare, and then the last couple of hours in the apartment.
“Okay, big boy, time to go for a walk, and then I’m leaving you for only a little while. I miss you already.”
He gave me a look that told me he didn’t quite believe me, but we went on his walk, while I once again ignored the pains in my chest. It was just a little too cold out, and I was overreacting about any twinges these days.
I showered quickly, fed Lucky, and then did my best to get ready as fast as possible. I was meeting the girls at the dance, and I was excited.
While Luna couldn’t make it and now Isabella wouldn’t be there, Scarlett and Ivy would be. And that meant the family I was slowly building would be together.
By the time I got ready, I still hadn’t received a text from Dorian.
He had told me he would meet me there since he had a few things to do, and I tried to ignore the disappointment.
I was a big girl. I could drive myself. Heck, I could walk there if I wanted to.
And maybe that’s just what I would do. Because then he could drive us home after.
Well, to my home since Lucky was here. Because it wasn’t like we lived together. It was far too early for that.
And his home wasn’t in Cage Lake. Now I had to stop thinking about that.
Since it was Valentine’s Day, I had gone full-on pink with a pale sheath dress that clung to my curves in just the right way.
It was modest enough that Ms. Patty wouldn’t cluck her tongue, but I still felt like a princess.
I let my hair fall in waves and pulled on a short sparkly jacket to complete the look.
I’d be warm underneath my parka for the walk, and the layers would help no matter what the temperature felt like at the dance.
I said goodbye to Lucky and promised I would see him in a couple hours. The dance would be fun, but I knew keeping Dorian there for too long would strain him. He was a people person, a party guy, but small town Valentine’s dances weren’t really his thing.
By the time I got there, the dance was already in full swing, and I searched for Dorian. I didn’t find those familiar features, and I held back my frown.
He would show soon. He had promised.
“You’re here!” Scarlett said as she moved forward. I hugged her tightly, and she winced.
“Are you okay?” I asked, alarmed.
She waved me off. “I’m fine. I worked out a little too hard yesterday, and now my muscles ache.”
“I should probably work out, but that would require lifting things and I’m not in the mood,” I teased.
“So says the woman who lifts flour and other random things all day,” Ivy added dryly. “You’re just fine, ma’am.”
I laughed and gratefully took the pink punch Ivy handed over. “It’s alcohol-free, since there is no alcohol at the Valentine’s Day dance even for adults,” she added.
“That’s just fine. The overwhelming amount of sugar will help me crash later,” I said with a laugh.
“So, well, I’m dateless by choice, but where are both of your men?” Ivy asked, her brow raised.
Scarlett shrugged. “Ronan is stuck in the city. The roads are closed. Stupid snow and stupid mountains.” Scarlett took a sip of her punch, and I reached out and squeezed her hand.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. We knew it might be an issue. But Ronan had that big meeting, and well, we celebrated Valentine’s Day last weekend. We don’t need to make it a whole week like the town does,” she added dryly.
“And where’s Dorian?” Ivy asked. “He is coming, isn’t he? Unless he decided this is too ridiculous for him? Which, I sort of understand,” she said softly.
Blushing, I shook my head. “He said he’d be here. I should probably text him now.”
“Well, if he said he’d be here, he will be,” Scarlett said, though I couldn’t quite read the look in her eyes.
Frowning, I pulled out my phone, and texted one-handed.
Me: Hey! I’m at the dance. Are you on your way?
I waited for those three little dots to tell me he was texting back, but nothing.
“He must be on the road.” I ignored Scarlet’s look and put my phone in my purse.
“What do you say we dance?” I asked, as I set my empty punch glass on the table.
“The three of us with a slow dance?” Ivy asked. “I’m totally in. Those busybodies over there are already gossiping about the fact that I didn’t come with a date, and they’re wondering where yours are.”
“You heard them all the way over here?” Scarlett asked.
“I heard them as I was walking here, so now let’s make a scene.”
I rolled my eyes even though I still kept watch for Dorian. He was late. He was usually never late. Maybe something had come up, but why wouldn’t he have texted?
I ended up slow dancing with Scarlett as Ivy danced behind me, and I ignored the way that some people tsk’ed at us. Others cheered, before suddenly the slow dancing turned into a pile of people laughing against one another, trading partners every third step.
Most of us had known each other since we were kids, and some were old enough to be my grandparents. It was just a fun time, full of happiness and joy and town pride.
And Dorian was nearly an hour late.
I ignored the disappointment until someone touched my hip. Whirling, ready to punch out, Dorian slid his hand over my fist.
“Sorry I’m late. The bridge is out,” he whispered.
There’s a small bridge at the end of his current property, one that had needed to be replaced years ago.
My eyes widened. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I had to take the long way around though, and there’s no service on the north side of the lake thanks to the lovely storm coming in.
I’m sorry I’m late, baby. I didn’t mean to be late.
” We stood in the center of the dance floor as couples rolled around us, and I wrapped my arms around his shoulders.
“I was going to have to come find you and kick your ass.”
“I’ll let you do that anytime you want.” Then his lips were on mine, his arms around my waist, and I sighed into him.
“This is a public place, Harper Wellesley!” one of Ms. Patty’s friends called out, and I ignored her.
“Well, looks like I’m going to have to really show them what we can do in public,” he said, his voice low.
I shivered, pressing my thighs together. “Do you really want us to get arrested?”
“I’m a Cage. It’s my town. Why not?”
I threw my head back and laughed and then let him twirl me around the dance floor. The music flowed, the tempo increasing as everybody enjoyed themselves, laughing and dancing, and I ignored the odd looks they gave the two of us.
Yes, there was an age gap. Yes, this was new. But why was everyone acting like Dorian was a creeper, like a lecher?
But Dorian didn’t look like it was bothering him so I wouldn’t let it bother me.
We took a step off the dance floor, my chest heaving from that final two-step.
“Are you okay? You’re all flushed.” Dorian put his hand to my cheek and frowned.
“But your skin’s ice cold.”
“I’m fine,” I rasped as dark circles began to flutter over my eyes. “I just need some water.” At least I tried to say that, but the words wouldn’t come out. Instead dizziness took over, and my lungs seized.
I clutched at my chest, trying to breathe, and Dorian reached for me, calling my name.
I tried to say something, anything, but there was nothing, only an aching of breath, and Dorian holding me, and darkness.
* * *
“Pneumonia? I was fine. I didn’t even have a cough.”
“You know you have issues with your lungs, and apparently your lovely bout of walking pneumonia was literal this time,” Dorian growled out.
I had only passed out for maybe a second, but the fear on Dorian’s face had nearly sent me over the edge.
The music had ground to a halt, and Dorian had picked me up in one swoop and rushed me to his truck.
The girls had followed me in their car, and I knew Ms. Patty was already calling ahead to make sure that the clinic was ready for me.
We didn’t have a large hospital in Cage Lake, but the clinic was big enough to handle emergencies. Any surgeries though, had to be medevacked out.
I was hooked up to oxygen, and an IV, and would be staying overnight until my levels were back to where they needed to be.
“This isn’t the first time it’s happened, and it won’t be the last.” I looked down at my fingers and forced myself to untangle them. “It’s because of getting sick when I was younger. Sometimes I don’t notice when I’ve overdone it.”
“I should have noticed though,” Dorian growled. “You could have been hurt far worse.”
I shifted onto the bed and patted beside me. “Will you sit here?”
“I’ll crush you,” he said softly.
“You won’t. I just want to cuddle. Please?” I was pleading, and he narrowed his gaze at me, but he lowered the railing and settled in. I sank into his warmth, finally breathing for the first time.
“You passing out like that nearly took ten years off my life. Probably more.” He kissed the top of my head, and I nestled into his side.
Thankfully, it was on his non-burned side, but I had a feeling even if it wasn’t, Dorian wouldn’t have cared.
I would have though. I would do anything not to hurt him.
“I always try to take care of myself, but I guess I hadn’t really paid attention to exactly how many times I’d had to catch my breath.”
“Wellesley,” he growled out.
“I know. I know. I’ll do better. I just sometimes forget.”
“Does anyone else know that you deal with this sometimes?” he asked softly.
I shook my head. “No. I don’t want people to think I’m weak.” There, I said it out loud.
“I don’t think anybody who knows you would ever think that, Harper Wellesley. But you should tell your friends. So they can be on the lookout. Because we both know that you don’t take care of yourself the way you should.”
I pinched his hip softly. “You don’t do the same.”
“I’m learning. Because you’re making me.”
I looked up at him then and kissed his chin. “Then I guess you’ll have to make me.”
“You don’t have to keep what happened to you as a child a secret from your best friends. Or at least you don’t have to keep the consequences of that a secret. Okay? I don’t want you to ever feel like you have to hide things from me. And I want others to keep an eye out on you too.”
There was so much to unpack from that, so I just leaned into him a little more and let out a breath. “Sometimes I feel like I tell you all my secrets, but I don’t know any of yours.”
It must have been the meds making me say that, because I shouldn’t have said that aloud. We were just finding our equilibrium, and I wasn’t owed any of his.
But Dorian’s arms tightened around me, and he let out a breath. “I can tell you one. One that nobody else knows.”
I froze, my hold tightening once more. “You can trust me,” I whispered.
“I trust you with everything, Wellesley.”
And then he let out a breath and told me exactly why he was avoiding his family.
And everything changed.