28. His Greatest Fear
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Dalton
His Greatest Fear
W hen Dalton heard that Brooke was taking the entire day off he felt paralyzed. He wanted to quit on the spot, find her, and hear what happened.
She never took a day off.
What could have gone wrong? Declan had been so confident that the law was on her side, but he also knew that Tyler Banks had money and influence on his side. The man didn’t have a noble bone in his body. Dalton had met Tyler during their freshman year of high school, when the Banks family moved to Sandy Point permanently and enrolled their three sons in the local high school. Tyler and Dalton both swam on the junior swim team and hung out with the same crowd. But it was clear even then that Tyler was only out for two things: himself and a good time.
After a contentious swim meet where Dalton had edged Tyler out for a place on their team that was headed to the state championship, someone trashed the swim coaches’ office. Tyler claimed that he saw Dalton leaving the office that morning, and it was Dalton’s word against the wealthy golden boy who, until then, hadn’t gotten into any trouble. The worst part was that the coaches said they didn’t know who to believe, so both boys were forced to clean up and pay for the repairs. That solidified the Hart and Banks brothers’ rivalry. Tyler continued his rampage of defiance and backstabbing for the next four years of high school.
Dalton tried calling Brooke but she didn’t answer or respond to his texts. He couldn’t leave the hospital without enough coverage so he was stuck until his shift ended. Finally, around four, he managed to convince Dr. Tommy to come in and he drove right over to Brooke’s house. Her car wasn’t outside, but then he remembered that Max had baseball practice every day after school. Dalton made his way to the park and easily spotted Brooke under her favorite tree, where she was sitting and jotting down something in a notebook with force. His stomach twisted.
“Brooke, what happened?” He sat down and pulled her into his arms, not caring who might see them. She looked up—startled for a moment—then buried her face in his chest. He tried soothing her by rubbing her back and telling her it would be okay, but the truth was that he wasn’t sure if it would be.
“Please tell me what happened,” he said, pulling her closer onto his lap.
She took a few deep breaths and then told him everything.
“I have to agree with Declan, it sounds like the judge is giving Tyler the chance to screw up having Max even one day a week. And if Max says he wants you or Miles there, then you can be sure he’s safe.” Dalton continued to hold her.
“But Tyler isn’t a dad, he doesn’t want to be, and even if he does actually spend time with Max, it’s going to become very clear to Max that his dad isn’t interested in him. And that will crush Max.”
Dalton’s chest tightened. “Unfortunately Max is getting old enough to figure that out for himself whether Tyler spends time with him or not. I know you want to protect him, but maybe it will be better for him to find out.”
“How could it be better to break his heart?” she snapped, pulling back.
Her eyes were red and puffy and her lips were swollen, and he knew she’d already been crying over this. He didn’t want to make it worse.
“I think Max believes it’s his fault his dad is disinterested, but maybe by letting him truly get to know his father he’ll realize it’s Tyler who is the one lacking, not him.”
Her eyes welled with fresh tears, and he couldn’t do anything but hold her close. In that moment he would give anything to ease her pain, but what he really wanted to do was destroy Tyler Banks. He would do anything to protect Brooke and save her from pain. And in that moment, he was struck with total clarity. There was no way he was leaving Sandy Point; he was too attached to Brooke and Max to go anywhere. He was going to have to tell Wes why he left and hope that his brothers could forgive him one day.
Brooke let him hold her while they were both lost in their thoughts, then she suddenly looked up around the park. There weren’t a lot of people, but enough could see she was sitting on Dalton’s lap.
“I think we may have just ruined your reputation in town,” she said.
“As what? The guy who fell for Brooke Garcia and took fifteen years to figure it out?”
Her mouth opened in shock and he couldn’t help but kiss her. It was a needy, emotional kiss, and she didn’t stop him.
“You’re not going to lecture me about how this is still just casual and you don’t want anyone to know about us?” Dalton asked.
“No, I’m too exhausted and emotionally drained to worry about that now.”
He kissed her again, and from the way she kissed him back he could tell she wasn’t just feeling sad anymore.
“Okay, so I was right, this is a full-on thing between you two,” they heard May’s voice call out from nearby.
Brooke broke their kiss and jumped off Dalton’s lap so fast she almost tripped May.
“What are you doing here?”
May held up a bag of cookies and two iced coffees. “Well, you wouldn’t answer my calls or texts so I had to track you down. Looks like Dr. McHottie had the same plan. Now tell me who made you cry so I can go kick their ass. And then you can tell me all the hot details about you two.” She pointed at Dalton. “I knew it, for the record.”
He couldn’t help but laugh. As much as he wanted Brooke to himself, he was glad May was there to help cheer her up. He stood and kissed Brooke’s cheek. “I’m going to go see if the coach needs any help with the kids, but maybe we can all get dinner after the game?”
Brooke’s cheeks turned bright pink but she nodded.
Once he was down at the fence line Dalton’s mind was racing. If the child support issue was settled, maybe that meant Brooke wasn’t worried about hiding their relationship. Which meant he was overdue for his confession to Wes.