Chapter 24
CHAPTER 24
HAYES
I woke up feeling off. Not off but it was like a strange sadness. It was our last day in the Maldives. It was a bittersweet ending to what had been a week straight out of a fantasy.
There was no way I would have enjoyed this trip as much as I did if Dixie wasn’t here. Yes, it was paradise, but the setting was only half the equation. It was her that made it amazing. Her company. Her conversation. Just her presence in general.
Today, we were all planning to take it easy and just hang out on the beach. No boat tours, no golfing, just being beach bums.
I looked at the women who were sprawled across lounge chairs in an array of brightly colored swimsuits, their laughter carrying over the gentle sound of the waves. Kathy was in the center of them all, holding court like the matriarch she was. She gestured animatedly to Dixie and the others.
Even from a distance, Dixie took my breath away. She was wearing a black bikini, simple yet stunning, with a wide-brimmed hat perched on her head. Her skin glowed from the week in the sun, and the curve of her smile as she spoke to the other women was enough to send a pang through my chest.
I shook my head, forcing myself to focus.
The men were gathered farther down the beach, tossing a football back and forth. Jack’s oldest son, who couldn’t have been older than seven, sprinted past us, giggling uncontrollably as he tried to intercept the ball. Grayson laughed as he faked a throw in one direction and lobbed the ball gently toward the kid.
The beach sand kicked up as one of the kids dove for the ball. Dad, despite his age, moved with surprising agility, intercepting a throw meant for Mason and chuckling as he tossed it back.
“Getting slow, boys?” Dad teased, his laugh lines deepening.
Isaac dove dramatically into the sand, missing the ball by inches. “I’m not slow, just dramatic,” he proclaimed, brushing sand off his chest.
Jack’s son ran between their legs, squealing with delight as the men carefully maneuvered around him. The game had become less about football and more about keeping the energetic kids entertained.
“Careful, little man,” Grayson called, tossing the ball gently toward him. The boy caught it and immediately started running in the opposite direction of any potential tackle.
After tossing around the ball, we sat down on the beach with the kids. One of them asked me to help build a sandcastle.
“You’re all so damn boring,” Isaac announced. “What happened to us, huh? We used to party until sunrise. Now all you talk about is diapers, bedtimes, and this horrible thing called a binky.”
“They’re pacifiers,” James corrected, crouching to scoop up a handful of sand and let it sift through his fingers.
Isaac looked at him like he’d just sprouted a second head. “What the hell is a pacifier? From where I’m standing, nothing pacifies these little heathens.”
Grayson narrowed his eyes but smirked. “Watch yourself, Isaac. Those heathens are ours.”
“Okay, alpha daddy,” Isaac teased, holding his hands up in surrender.
I couldn’t help but laugh. Isaac was relentless, the kind of guy who would needle you just because he could, but it was part of his charm.
“So, Hayes,” Mason said. “You’ve been quiet. Let’s talk about you and Dixie.”
“Why?”
“Why not?” he retorted.
“What about us?”
Mason grinned. “Oh, don’t play coy. It’s obvious. She’s the one for you. Why haven’t you locked it down yet?”
I rolled my eyes. “Maybe because it’s been, what, a couple of weeks? We’re not even exclusive yet. Don’t you think that’s a bit fast?”
Adelaide, who was within earshot as she built a sandcastle with one of the kids, chimed in. “Fast? Please. When you know, you know. And trust me, Hayes, we all know.”
“Seriously,” James said, his tone teasing but kind. “What are you waiting for? No time is guaranteed, man. You should lock it down. We all did.”
“I like where we are,” I admitted. “We’re figuring things out, taking it slow. I want to enjoy it. There’s no rush.”
“No rush,” Isaac said with a scoff. “Yeah, that’s how it starts. Then suddenly, boom—kids everywhere. Diapers. Binkies—pacifiers, whatever. It’s chaos.”
Jack, who had been silent up to this point, shook his head. “Shut up, Isaac. Nobody asked you.”
The group erupted in laughter. I just shrugged, amused by the whole thing. I’d be lying if I said the thought of forever with Dixie hadn’t crossed my mind. But I didn’t want to rush it.
“How did you guys know?” I asked.
Grayson was the first to speak. He watched his son carefully building a sandcastle, his voice soft but serious. “With Hannah, it wasn’t about a specific moment. It was the quiet ones. The times when we’d be sitting in silence, and I’d look over and just know. She made everything easier. Even the hard stuff.”
Mason chuckled. “For me, it was when Adelaide called me out on my bullshit. She saw through all my games. First woman who ever did that.”
“I knew I loved Natasha from the time we were kids,” Jack said. “It just took a while for us to figure it out. Kind of like Mom and Armand.”
“And nearly getting killed in the process,” Grayson said.
“Sounds dramatic,” I said.
“Love is dramatic,” James said. “Rory and I had it pretty easy.”
“I feel like I have it pretty easy so far with Dixie,” I said.
James smiled, a soft look crossing his face. “We met, and it just clicked. No drama, no games. Just us. Mostly.”
“Must be nice,” Isaac muttered.
“So what about you, Hayes?” Mason pressed. “What was it with Dixie?”
I thought about it for a moment. “It wasn’t one thing. It was everything. The way she looks at the world. Her horrible driving. How she can find beauty in something most people would throw away. Her laugh. The way she makes me feel like I can just be me.”
“Sounds like love to me,” Jack said quietly.
I didn’t argue. Because maybe it was.
The conversation drifted, punctuated by the sounds of children’s laughter and waves crashing against the shore. I watched my cousins, saw the way their eyes would occasionally drift to their wives and children, a mixture of love and protectiveness in their gaze.
I looked over at Dixie once again. Isaac, true to form, announced he was heading to the beach bar for a shot and left the rest of us to fend for ourselves.
“For what it’s worth, you’d be a great dad,” Grayson said. “Sensible, loyal, good.”
I laughed. “Now we’re really getting ahead of ourselves. I’m still trying to figure out if this thing with Dixie will last three months. Doesn’t it take a little longer than that for a kid to incubate?”
Jack laughed. “Usually.”
“You’ve got a lot to give,” Grayson said. “Unlike Isaac, who has nothing to give but bullshit.”
I laughed, shaking my head. “Thanks for the vote of confidence. I’m not sure I’m ready for all that yet.”
“You don’t have to be ready,” Grayson said with a shrug. “You just have to be willing. The rest comes naturally. Mostly.”
“Mostly?”
“Well, nobody warns you about the sleepless nights,” Jack said. “Or the sheer volume of diapers. But it’s worth it.”
“Diaper blowouts,” Grayson said suddenly, breaking a momentary silence. “Nobody tells you about those.”
Jack burst out laughing. “Oh god, the first time it happened to me, I thought we were going to need a hazmat team.”
“My kid once had a blowout so epic, it went up his back, into his hair,” Grayson said with his lips curled in disgust. “We had to basically hose him down outside. I wanted to die. I’ve never seen anything so nasty.”
The guys were in stitches, sharing increasingly ridiculous stories about parenting mishaps. I listened, partly amused, partly terrified.
“Remember when my child projectile vomited all over Natasha’s favorite white silk blouse?” Jack asked, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes. “We were at one of our family dinners and it was like Mount Vesuvius.”
The stories continued, each more outrageous than the last—tales of midnight feedings, unexpected messes, and the kind of chaos that only children could bring.
Did I want to be a father? I did, but I never really imagined it as a reality. But that was different now that I’d spent so much time with my brothers and cousins. I could actually see me with a couple of kids.
We made our way back to the women. Dixie looked up at me, her smile radiant as she patted the spot beside her. I sank into the chair, my body immediately relaxing.
“Did your team win?” she asked.
“I’m not sure there were teams,” I said. “Or points. I think it was more about running around.”
She laughed. “Sounds like you had fun then.”
“I think I learned more about diaper catastrophes than I ever wanted to know.”
Dixie raised an eyebrow, amusement flickering across her face. “Scary stuff?”
“Terrifying,” I affirmed. “But apparently, it’s all worth it.”
“Do you think you’ll ever want that? Kids, diapers, the whole chaos?”
I hesitated, searching for honesty within myself. “I think… maybe, yeah. Someday.”
“Someday,” she repeated softly, a thoughtful look crossing her features.
The rest of the afternoon passed in a haze of easy conversation, cold drinks, and a lot of laughter. Watching the kids play was better than any movie. Their nonstop chatter and blunt questions had everyone rolling.
I found myself watching Dixie more than I probably should have. She was effortlessly charming, her laugh infectious as she bantered with Kathy and the others. It was like she had been a part of our lives for years instead of days.
When it was time to head back to the villa, Dixie slipped her hand into mine. We walked up the path together, the sand cool beneath our feet.
“I’m going to miss this place,” she said, her voice wistful.
“Yeah,” I agreed, squeezing her hand. “Me too.”
Inside the villa, she started packing, folding her clothes and tucking them all in. I watched her, a sense of contentment settling over me.
“Do you ever think about what’s next?” she asked, glancing at me.
“All the time,” I admitted.
She paused, looking at me with an expression I couldn’t quite place. “And what do you see?”
“You,” I said without hesitation. “I see you.”
She smiled, a soft, almost shy smile that made my heart ache in the best way.
“What do you want to do for dinner?” I asked her.
“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “Maybe just something here in the villa. We can hang out in the pool and look at the stars.”
“I think that sounds like the perfect way to end our vacation. Just us, the stars, and the sound of the sea.”
We spent the rest of the evening just like that, floating in the villa’s pool while enjoying champagne and an assortment of finger foods. In the back of my mind, I couldn’t help but think about more nights like this. With her at my side.