Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
WADE
“Hey!” Lucas called as Rylie came flying across the room and flung herself at him.
Lucas caught his daughter easily, lifting her high and setting her on his hip. Their matching dark hair glinted under the lights above.
Lucas said something to her, and Rylie nodded before looking toward Jackson and me. “Hi,” she said with a bright smile.
“Hey, Rylie girl,” I drawled. “Looks like you might’ve lost a tooth.”
Rylie’s smile widened. “I sure did, and the tooth fairy only gave me a dollar.” Rylie’s eyes angled back up to her father. “And Daddy is terrible at pretending like he’s not the tooth fairy.”
Jackson lost the battle at holding back his laugh.
“Do tell,” I said as I looked from Rylie to Lucas.
Lucas smiled sheepishly. “I don’t know, but I guess I’m considered cheap.”
Rylie giggled, bumping her elbow into Lucas’s ribs.
“My friend got two dollars. I only got one. So, I told Daddy the tooth fairy didn’t like me as much.
Then, I caught him sneaking in to give me more money the next night.
” Rylie tsk-tsked her father. “So, then he had to explain the tooth fairy isn’t real.
” Rylie added an elaborate eye roll to this.
I laughed, leaning my elbow on the counter that surrounded the reception desk at the vet clinic. “Well, did you get more money out of it?”
Rylie nodded vigorously. “Sure did. I got two whole dollars.”
Shay came walking down the hallway, her eyes lighting up when she saw Rylie and Lucas. “Hey you!” She hurried over and lifted Rylie from Lucas’s arms. As soon as she did, she groaned. “Honey, you’re almost too big for me to pick up.”
“I’m six,” Rylie chirped, as if that explained everything when Shay lowered her feet to the floor. Rylie dashed down the hallway. “Valentine!”
Lucas chuckled. “I don’t think she’s ever going to stop calling her Valentine.”
“Who cares?” I countered.
“I sure don’t,” Lucas replied. “I’m gonna follow her down there.” With a quick grin, he turned and jogged to catch up to his daughter.
Shay walked behind the reception counter, glancing over to Jackson and me. “You boys want some coffee?”
Jackson nodded. “Yes, please. Been a long day.”
“I’ll always take a coffee,” I added when Shay flicked her gaze toward me.
“Coming right up then.”
While Shay started prepping the coffee, Jackson ran a hand through his shaggy brown curls, looking toward me. “So, how was the winter hike?”
“Fucking cold.”
Jackson chuckled, his blue eyes crinkling at the corners. “Yeah, I don’t mind the cold so much. But, I don’t really understand people fucking paying us to lead them on eight-mile hikes when the weather’s like that,” he said, nudging his chin toward the window where an icy rain was falling outside.
“Same here,” I replied. Looking down, I idly noted the mud on my boots and considered that a hot shower after an eight-mile hike and cold damp weather was a special kind of heaven.
At that moment, Boone came walking through the front doors. “Hey, y’all,” he said as he crossed the room to us.
Shay turned as the soft drip of the coffee pot began and cast Boone a smile. “I wouldn’t do it,” she said as she rested her elbows on the counter opposite from Jackson.
“Wouldn’t do what?” Boone asked when he stopped beside me.
“Pay someone to take me on a hike in the winter.”
Boone chuckled and shrugged. “Do I get some of that coffee?”
“Of course. You don’t even have to ask,” Shay replied.
Jackson smiled at her and reached over to lightly tug on her long blonde ponytail. Her cheeks pinkened slightly before she leaned over and pressed a kiss to his cheek.
“That’s all I get?” he teased when she pulled back.
She grinned. “Yes. We have an audience and you have one more appointment this afternoon,” she said, then turned away to check on the coffee pot.
Between Lucas and Valentina’s fresh love, in addition to Jackson and Shay’s and Dawson and Evie’s, the rest of us working around the lodge were getting accustomed to the PDA. Most of the time, I shrugged it off.
Ever since the other night, I wished I could have that kind of easy affection with Dani. I only hoped she hadn’t battened down the hatches again and reinforced her walls in the days I’d been gone.
At that moment, Rylie came dashing back down the hallway and skidded around the corner of the reception desk. Reflexively, I turned and caught her in my arms, lifting her high. She squealed as I set her down, laughing when I ruffled her hair.
Lucas and Valentina were right behind her, following at a more sedate pace. Valentina smiled over at me. “You’re so good with kids.”
“Yeah, that’s why Wade’s in charge of all the school trips here,” Jackson offered with a wry chuckle.
I shrugged. “I don’t mind a bit. Y’all know my mom ran a daycare, so I was surrounded by kids.”
All true, and I did love kids. Just then, my mind spun back to the little bomb about what Dani had told me.
A shaft of pain struck me, my heart giving an achy thump.
With so many missing pieces of the puzzle finally falling into place, in some ways, I felt better.
Understanding was a comfort. And yet, I also felt worse.
I hated what she went through. Part of me was relieved her father was dead.
Otherwise, I’d have been hard-pressed not to give him hell.
I felt helpless to repair what had happened.
As much as Dani had let go with me the other night, I knew I had run a risk.
Even without knowing the complicated history of pain she carried around, I didn’t know why she felt forced to cut me out of her life and the frightening experience of having a miscarriage like that.
But then, Dani had always had a prickly side.
She loved hard and was fiercely loyal, but she didn’t let people in easily.
Perhaps it was because her father had always been emotionally distant.
Hell, I had no clue just how emotionally distant he’d been.
I wanted to shake him and tell him I’d been half in love with his daughter at the time.
I had literally been counting the days for when she would come back home that summer.
I wished I hadn’t fallen into my own place tinged with bitterness.
When I came back to Stolen Hearts Valley and Jackson offered me a job here, it was a natural fit with my position on the first responder crew.
The only rub had been I knew Dani would be pissed.
Yet, all that time, I thought her secret was something about another guy.
Or that she just didn’t like me as much as I’d liked her.
Or, or, or. I hadn’t let myself dwell on it, not after that last year of high school.
Of all the possibilities, I hadn’t counted on what the story actually was. I wanted my second chance with Dani.
Just as I was zoning out, Shay nudged my elbow from across the reception counter. “Coffee,” she said. I looked down to see her passing over a mug of black coffee. “You don’t like anything in it, right?”
“No, this is perfect.” I lifted the mug and took a hearty swallow.
The front entrance to the vet clinic opened and a family came in with a very wiggly puppy bounding on a long lead. Right behind the puppy and family was Dani, her arms laden with boxes of Christmas lights spilling out every which way.
Grace was walking with Dani. I felt the tension pick up. Fortunately, most eyes went to the puppy happily bounding about the waiting area after he slipped the grip on his lead.
“Oh, awesome!” Shay exclaimed as she came around from behind the reception area, setting her coffee on the counter and hurrying over to fetch a box of lights from Dani.
Jackson approached and snagged the puppy’s lead. He said something to the little girl before greeting the mother.
Grace quickly looked away from Boone when he glanced in her direction as he took a swallow of his coffee. She walked over to a row of chairs against the wall and set down the box of lights in her arms while Shay and Dani followed her.
Shay glanced over to Boone and me, commenting, “Please tell me you’ll stay and help for a little bit. We could use the height.”
For just a second, I considered whether Dani would want that, but I quickly decided it didn’t matter. I would help, and maybe, just maybe, I would get a chance to talk to Dani afterwards.
“Of course I’ll help,” I replied, letting my gaze travel to Dani when she turned at the sound of Jackson calling Shay’s name.
While Shay hurried to check on something with the vet appointment, Dani’s cheeks flushed pink when she met my eyes. She didn’t look away, lifting her chin slightly, a stubborn tilt to it. “We can always use the help, so thanks.”
“My pleasure,” I replied, letting my lips kick up in a smile.
“Boone’s helping too,” Shay said as she returned.
Jackson disappeared down the hallway with the puppy bouncing at his side and the family following along.
If I thought there was tension between me and Dani, Grace and Boone might have one-upped us on that account. Grace eyed him suspiciously, her gaze quickly sliding away. She immediately set herself to paying diligent attention as she carefully untangled the Christmas lights in one of the boxes.
Boone offered to do whatever Shay needed. If Shay picked up on the tension, she clearly decided she was going to ignore it. I sensed she had ulterior motives here.
We all knew Grace and Boone dated once upon a time. I didn’t know the details, but my recollection was the breakup was icy. In a bid to snap through the tension, I glanced to Boone. “Shall we go grab some ladders?”
Relief passed across his face as he nodded with alacrity. “Sure thing.”