Chapter 12
Later that evening, Parker and Dakota stood beside his blue Kia SUV in her driveway. “I had a great time tonight,” Parker
said.
Dakota jammed her hands in the front pocket of her sweatshirt and looked up at the stars twinkling in the dark sky above them.
Kayleigh and Brice had already left to relieve their babysitter, and now that Dakota was alone with Parker, she needed to
give him all her attention. From what she could tell, he was a good man—and he deserved a chance.
“So did I,” she said. She meant it too. The evening had flown by after dinner. They’d enjoyed Kayleigh’s scrumptious chocolate
chip cheesecake and cups of coffee before playing a rousing game of Scrabble, which involved a lot of laughter.
Though Dakota had enjoyed herself, she was still distracted. Hudson had disappeared from his deck before she’d returned with dessert. She kept searching for him in the house next door, but despite the lights glowing in the large colonial, she hadn’t caught another glimpse of him. And though it was a good thing he wasn’t within view, she couldn’t stop her ridiculous disappointment either.
But it was time to move on. Parker was here. He’d been more than willing to get to know Dakota, and she needed to do the same
for him.
Parker turned his attention to the large house next door. “How long is your ex staying in town?”
“Until June. He’s here for his sister’s wedding.” Dakota did her best to sound casual.
He paused as if contemplating the information. “How long were you together?”
This is about to get awkward . “We started dating in high school. Then we got engaged, but we broke up a long time ago.”
“So it’s over?”
“It has been for years.”
His features relaxed, and he smiled. “I’m glad to hear it.” He touched her cheek. “I really like you, Dakota.”
“I like you too.”
He dipped his chin, and instead of dodging his kiss this time, she allowed his lips to brush hers. Closing her eyes, she held
her breath and waited for the butterflies, but they never appeared. Instead, once again, she felt nothing. When she gently
pulled away and looked up at Parker, the heat in his eyes left her numb.
“I’ll see you soon,” he whispered, his voice sounding husky. He opened his driver’s side door and climbed in.
“Good night,” she told him before he drove away. She turned and padded up the front path, then spotted a light glowing inside
the colonial.
As she headed into her house, Dakota grappled with why her heart still craved Hudson when Parker was clearly the man she needed in her life.
She hoped her feelings for Parker would morph into something warm and special. Surely they would. She just needed more time.
***
Hudson’s body tensed as he stood at the window and watched Parker kiss Dakota in her driveway. It had been difficult enough
witnessing her talking and laughing with him during their apparent double date with Kayleigh and Brice, but he felt physically
ill seeing another man touch her.
He had gone out onto the deck to talk to Darren, but he hadn’t expected to see Dakota with her guests. He’d tried to concentrate
on what his business partner was sharing about the job opportunities they had in Los Angeles and Great Britain, but he’d been
too distracted by his ex-fiancée moving on so happily with her life.
Hudson had then gone back inside, and the more Darren talked, the better the opportunities sounded. Moving far away from Flowering
Grove was what he needed. He just had to decide which position to take after he got his sister back on the right track. Then
he could pack up and leave Dakota behind for good.
If only he could convince his heart that he needed to go.
***
Rain peppered Dakota’s windshield the following Thursday evening. She steered her car down the street toward her house and
tried to hold back the tears that had threatened her eyes all afternoon.
She’d had a bad day—a really bad day. Her favorite butter-yellow-obsessed mother of the bride had called her crying, explaining that her daughter had decided to cancel her wedding and elope to Las Vegas instead. Dakota was stunned. This wedding was supposed to make some of her problems go away. She was finally going to be able to recoup some of the money she’d lost on her ruined stock, but instead, she’d lost the entire sale.
Now she had to figure out what to do next. Selling last year’s gowns at a discount wasn’t helping her situation, and she still
hadn’t gotten anywhere with her insurance company or her landlord.
She considered calling her father and asking for help, but she couldn’t admit defeat. Instead, she’d take a cut in pay and
live on ramen noodles and macaroni and cheese until she came up with a solution.
Dakota had stayed late to work on Layla’s gown, but no matter what she touched, she messed it up. The beading was off-center,
and the sleeves were giving her fits. She had resewn them several times until she realized it was almost eight thirty, and
her stomach’s growls had nearly drowned out the music playing in her workroom.
She motored into her driveway, and her headlights swept across the front of her house. The rain beat a steady cadence on the
roof of her car, and she massaged her forehead, where a headache throbbed.
Hudson’s fancy vehicle sat in the driveway next door, and lights glowed in the downstairs of the impressive colonial. She
was grateful she’d managed to avoid him during the past week. Every day her stomach had clenched with anticipation when she
left for work and when she arrived home. Although she dreaded a run-in with him, she also missed him and wondered what was
going on in his life, and that made absolutely no sense to her at all.
After grabbing her umbrella, she wrenched open the driver’s side door. Then she sloshed through the puddles in her black heels
to collect her mail from the mailbox and dash to the front door. She yanked the door open, expecting to find Trouble there
yammering about how he should have been served his supper hours ago. But the cat was nowhere in sight.
“Trouble,” she sang on her way to the kitchen. “Trouble, I’m home.”
Dakota dropped the stack of mail, and a letter from her mortgage company caught her eye. She opened it, and her heart sank
when she found that due to the increase of taxes, her payment was going to jump more than 20 percent in two months.
“No, no, no,” she groaned as a shaky, sick feeling doused her. The increase in her mortgage coupled with her business woes
could possibly cause her to lose her store and her home.
Her phone buzzed, and Dakota pulled it from the pocket of her raincoat. She had three unread texts from Parker:
Been thinking about you.
How was your Thursday?
Any chance I can stop by real quick?
Her shoulders drooped as she set down her phone and the letter. After the day she’d had, it was best she didn’t talk to Parker.
She didn’t want to burden him with her problems. Although he was sweet and seemed like a good listener, she wasn’t ready to
open up to him. She’d wait until tomorrow to text him back. Maybe by then she’d have a solution to her problems.
Looking down, she realized she hadn’t felt any soft fur rubbing against her legs. She scanned the kitchen for her feline friend.
“Trouble?”
She rested her hand on her hip. He had to be hiding somewhere. Or maybe he was punishing her for working late every night
this week.
She filled his bowl with a smelly chicken and tuna dinner. Surely the aroma would jostle the kitty from his bad mood or his
hiding spot.
“Trouble! Trubs!” she called. “Dinner is served!”
Dakota waited, but no cat emerged. “Kitty, where are you?” She searched the den, peeking behind the sofa and tables before padding down the hallway. “This isn’t funny, Trouble.”
After failing to find the cat in her office, she headed into her bedroom, where she checked the cat’s usual hiding spots—under
her bed, behind her nightstand, and even beneath her dresser, which always astounded her. How did cats manage to flatten themselves
like pancakes? But the feline wasn’t lurking in any of those spots.
Had Trouble followed her into her closet this morning when she ran back in for her shoes? She opened the door and flipped
on the light. “Trouble? Baby, this isn’t funny. If you’re here, then come out. I’m not in the mood for this. I’ve had a really
rotten day.”
When she came up empty, she racked her brain. Where else would that silly cat hide?
She recalled how he used to sleep behind the dryer when she’d first moved into the house. Maybe he’d rediscovered that spot
and decided to spend the rainy day there.
She peered around the washer and dryer. “Trouble,” she sang. “Come out, come out, wherever you are.”
She held her breath, hoping to hear the cat’s meow, but the house was silent except for the pattering of rain on the roof.
“Trouble, please come out.” Her voice shook. “This isn’t funny anymore.” She whimpered. “I’m sorry for working late, but I’m
home now, and your supper is waiting for you. Please, kitty.”
The food! Maybe he’d evaded her and snuck back to the kitchen to chow down while she was looking for him like a fool.
Dakota retuned to the kitchen, hoping to find the cat scarfing up his meal, but the bowl remained untouched.
She spun, surveying the kitchen and den, but there was still no sign of her beloved orange cat. A sinking feeling overcame
Dakota. What if he got out? And what if he ran away or—worse—what if he got hit by a car and was suffering by the side of
the road somewhere?
No, no, no.
Holding back the sting of tears, she grabbed a flashlight from the utility room and made for the back door. Rain soaked her
hair as she pointed the beam around the yard.
“Trouble!” she yelled. “Trouble, are you out here?” Her heart pounded in her ears. “Kitty, where are you?”
She continued to call his name and plod around the muddy yard, searching overgrown bushes for any sign of her precious companion.
“Trouble!” she called. “Please come here, kitty. Please!” she pleaded with the animal.
The whoosh of a sliding glass door sounded behind her, but she kept searching, trying to see over her neighbor’s fence at
the edge of her yard.
“What’s wrong?” a voice called, but she ignored it.
She called the cat again.
“Koti, answer me. What’s going on?”
Dakota’s entire body went rigid. She hadn’t heard that nickname in years—seven, to be exact. Only Hudson Garrity had called
her by that name.
She spun toward the other side of her backyard. He stood inside her fence while rain soaked his dark hair, blue t-shirt, and
jeans.
“H-have you seen my cat?” she managed to ask him. Her voice sounded thin and reedy.
He shook his head. “He’s missing?”
She nodded, unable to speak.
“I’ll help you find him.”
“Th-thanks,” she managed, the word scratching its way out of her dry throat.
Hudson peeked over the neighbor’s fence and then climbed into the bushes lining the back of her house. Dakota moved to the
side of her yard, all the while calling her cat’s name.
“Trouble!” she yelled. “Trouble, come on, baby.”
Hudson appeared at her side. “I don’t think he’s out here.” He shoveled his fingers through his thick, wet hair. “And you’ve
looked everywhere inside?”
“Yeah.”
He hesitated. “Can I take a look?”
“Sure.” She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand despite the rain pouring down on her.
His blue eyes seemed to assess her. “You’re soaked. You should come inside too.”
“No.” She shook her head. “Not until I find my cat.”
His expression softened. “I’ll give your house a quick look and then come back out.”
While Hudson jogged toward her back door, Dakota started around her yard again, shining the flashlight toward each shrub and
searching behind her air-conditioning unit.
Several moments ticked by, and her hope began to deflate even more. Trouble was surely gone, and her heart began to break.
“Koti!”
She spun toward the back door, where Hudson stood holding Trouble. The cat’s eyes were half-opened, and he yawned before struggling
to get free of Hudson’s grasp.
With a gasp, Dakota took off running toward her ex-fiancé and her cat. “Where was he?” she demanded.
Hudson grinned down at the offending feline. “This little scoundrel was asleep in the bottom of your closet. He was tucked
away behind a few shoe boxes. He seemed pretty annoyed when I picked him up.”
“Oh, Trouble.” She took the cat into her arms, and as she held him close, the dam inside her crumbled, letting all of the
stress she’d carried around go pouring out of her.
The cat wriggled and she released him. He hopped down to the utility room floor, then scampered toward the kitchen and his stinky supper.
Dakota covered her face with her hands and tried in vain to stop her sobs. Her body shook and embarrassment welled up inside
her while she continued to cry.
“Hey, Koti?” Hudson’s husky voice was next to her ear, sending goose bumps chasing each other down her back. “It’s okay. We
found him.”
Instinctively, she took a step forward to be engulfed by Hudson’s muscular arms. She froze as his hands rested on her lower
back. Then her body relaxed, and she wrapped her arms around his neck and basked in his familiar scent. Although his shirt
was wet from the rain, his taut chest was warm, and her tensed-up muscles began to ease. She rested her head against him and
listened to the rhythmic cadence of his heartbeat. She felt safe and protected in his strong embrace.
He moved his fingers up and down her back. “It’s okay now. The cat is fine. He just needed a good nap on this rainy day.”
“It’s not that,” she whispered.
“What do you mean?”
She looked up at Hudson, and the urge to tell him everything grabbed her by the throat. She wanted to unload all of her burdens
and ask for his advice.
Then warning bells sounded in her head.
Don’t trust him!
His gaze roved over her features, and when they lingered on her lips, a thousand butterflies danced in her stomach. Then his
focus returned to her eyes. “Go ahead,” Hudson prodded. “Tell me.”
“It’s just...”
“Dakota?” a voice asked behind her.
Hudson’s arms dropped to his sides, and his warm expression faded.
She spun toward Parker, who was standing in the doorway. He was holding a bouquet of red roses and looking confused.
Dakota sniffed and wiped her eyes. “Parker. What are you doing here?”
“Sorry for just walking in, but I was knocking, and the door was open...” Parker divided a look between Dakota and Hudson,
and his brow crinkled. “Uh, well... And since you never answered any of my texts today, I was worried about you. But I
should go—”
“Don’t.” Hudson held his hand out to Parker. “Hudson Garrity.”
Parker paused before shaking his hand. “Parker Bryant.”
“Nice to meet you. I was just helping Kot—uh— Dakota find her cat.” He gave her a curt nod. “Glad we found Trouble. Good night.” He slipped past Parker, and his footfalls sounded
until the storm door opened and shut with a click.
Parker studied her, and an awkward silence expanded between them.
Dakota pointed to the flowers. “Are those for me?” She hoped her voice sounded more cheerful than she felt.
“Yeah.” He held them out to her, and she took them.
“Thank you so much.” She breathed in their sweet fragrance. “They’re lovely. What’s the occasion?”
“Skye mentioned you’ve been working long hours on a special wedding gown, and I thought you could use a pick-me-up.”
“Th-that’s so thoughtful of you.” Shame pummeled her. She’d been caught in her ex’s arms and had been planning to open up
to him, all while this thoughtful man was worrying about her. “I’d better get these in water.” She found a vase in the kitchen
and arranged the pretty roses before setting them on the kitchen table. “Want a drink?”
“Sure.”
She poured each of them a glass of water, and they sat at her table.
Parker pointed to Trouble, who was taking a bath in the doorway after licking his bowl clean. “What happened to your cat?”
“I couldn’t find him,” she said. When Parker nodded slowly, she figured she’d better explain herself. “I had a bad day, and
when I came home, I couldn’t find Trouble. I thought he’d gotten out. Hud heard me calling for him in the backyard, and he
came over and looked for him.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
She squinted at him. “We already found the cat.”
“I know.” Parker smiled. “You said you had a bad day. Can I help?”
She felt a wash of warmth for this kind man. “No, but thank you.” She told him about the bride who’d canceled on her and how
it would affect her bottom line. She left out the bigger issues with her store and her mortgage, not ready to share that level
of detail about her life with him just yet.
“I’m sorry you lost that sale. I know that was a big one.” Parker reached across the table and took her hands in his. “But
I’m sure there’s another bride with an even bigger wedding party who will come to your store and buy all of your yellow dresses.”
She smiled. “I hope so.”
“I shouldn’t have just shown up here, but when Skye told me you were pulling some long hours, I thought you wouldn’t mind
some cheering up.”
She admired her roses. “The flowers are beautiful, and they’re just what I needed.”
He gave her hands a gentle squeeze. She wished she felt a sizzle at his touch, but instead, it just felt... nice.
“I’m sorry I didn’t respond to your texts,” she said. “I was just so stuck in my own head. I didn’t mean to take you for granted. I hope you can forgive me.”
“Of course I can.” He glanced at the clock on the microwave. “But it’s getting late. I should let you rest.”
“I’ll walk you out.” Dakota set the vase of roses on top of her china cabinet so the cat wouldn’t eat them or try to knock
them over.
The rain outside had stopped, and the cool evening air smelled clean and fresh.
“Thank you for stopping by to check on me.”
Parker closed the distance between them and traced a finger down her cheek. “I think about you a lot, Dakota.” His brown eyes
were intense in the light shining down from her garage. “I care about you.”
He leaned down and brushed his lips over hers, and she closed her eyes, waiting for the fireworks to start. Instead, her thoughts
carried her back to when she was in Hudson’s arms. When she imagined Hudson’s lips massaging hers, heat moved up her neck
to her cheeks.
When Parker broke the kiss, he smiled. “I’ll text you soon.”
“Good night,” she whispered.
Dakota cradled her arms to her middle while Parker backed out of her driveway. After his taillights disappeared into the night,
she spun to face the colonial next door, where golden lights glowed from the second floor.
It scared her how easily she had fallen into Hudson’s arms and under his spell. She needed to let him go once and for all.
Parker was a good man who deserved her full attention.
Hudson was her past, and Parker was her future. She just needed to find a way to convince her heart.
***
Hudson had hoped that a long, cold shower would stop his entire body from thrumming with yearning and confusion—but it hadn’t
helped a bit. He paced the master bedroom, trying to calm his thoughts.
When he’d heard someone yelling outside, he’d been out the door in a flash. As soon as he realized it was Dakota, he recognized
the anguish in her voice. He couldn’t stand seeing her so upset, and it just seemed natural to call her by the nickname he’d
given her when they were sixteen.
He’d been determined to find her cat. The pain and anguish in her sobs had torn his heart in two, and he couldn’t help but
console her. He’d held her close, soaking in her warmth, and having her in his arms again felt like a dream. He didn’t want
to let her go. In fact, he’d longed to hold her all night.
And when she’d lifted her eyes to his, he couldn’t take his focus off her lips. For a moment, he imagined resting his mouth
against hers and drinking in her taste. The thought made his lips burn with desire. He’d almost kissed her until he realized
she was going to talk to him— actually talk to him for the first time since he’d returned to Flowering Grove. He’d hoped she might even tell him why she’d broken
up with him seven years ago.
But just as she was about to open up, that guy showed up with a dozen red roses. Hudson was disappointed and furious until he realized he had no business even dreaming
about having Dakota back in his life. That ship had sailed a long time ago, and she was with another man now—which was why
he’d tried his best to smooth over the awkward situation and hotfoot it out of there.
He dropped onto the corner of the bed, which creaked under his weight. He was having a difficult time calming down his heart. As much as he wanted to deny it, he still had feelings for Dakota—deep feelings—but that didn’t matter. It was best for him to focus on his future.
He glanced at his phone and saw that once again his texts to Layla had gone unanswered. He touched a spot on his collarbone.
He needed to figure out how to repair things with his sister, make sure her life was on the right track, and then get out
of town.
Hudson needed to finish his business in Flowering Grove and then move on with his life. Now if only he could figure out a
way to forget about Dakota.