Chapter 24
Relief permeated Dakota later that afternoon as she drove down Main Street. Not only had she and her father been approved
for her loan, but she’d also received good news from the plumbing company. They were going to fix the leak for free and reimburse her for the work she’d already paid for.
Things were looking up. She had a plan for getting her business back on track—but first she needed to talk to her niece. Skye
had been on her mind since their argument on Tuesday afternoon. A pit expanded in her stomach. Dakota’s texts and calls to
Skye had gone unanswered, and now she needed to make things right with her precious niece.
After parking in her brother’s driveway, Dakota knocked on the front door. She looked out over the front yard and breathed
in the scent of freshly cut grass and flowers. Nearby, the engine of a lawn mower whirred.
The door opened, and Aubrey appeared on the other side. “Auntie.” She hugged her and then turned and yelled, “Auntie’s here!”
Eileen poked her head out from the kitchen. “Hi, Dakota. What’s up?”
“Sorry for just showing up, but I was wondering if Skye was around.”
“She’s on the deck studying for a final.”
“Thanks.” Dakota slipped past her younger niece and headed toward the back door.
As she peered out toward the deck, she bit her lower lip. In her store that afternoon, so many emotions had swirled inside
as she worked. Remorse over her fight with Skye, worry for Layla now that the wedding was canceled... and then there was
her conversation with Hudson. She was still trying to figure out a lot of things, including how she ought to feel about him
and whether she should let him go.
But right now it was time for her to apologize and beg for her niece’s forgiveness. She knocked on the sliding glass door
before pulling it open. Skye sat at a table with a pile of books surrounding her. The large deck looked out over the spacious,
lush green backyard. When Skye met her gaze, Dakota slid the door open.
Her niece’s eyes narrowed. “What do you want?”
“To apologize,” Dakota said, her voice stricken. “I’ve been too controlling, and it ruined my precious relationship with you.
I want to make things right.”
Skye lifted her chin. “Keep going.”
“You were right.” Dakota held up her hands. “I’m too stubborn for my own good. I should have asked for help a long time ago,
and I finally did.”
Skye’s eyes rounded. “What do you mean?”
“I talked to my parents, and my dad cosigned on a loan for me.” Dakota sat down beside her. “I met Grandpa at the bank today. I also called the plumber, and he came by and started fixing the leak this afternoon. He’s going to finish up tomorrow and reimburse me for some of the gowns I lost, in addition to the damage the first leak caused.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Nope, I’m not.” Dakota beamed. “Now I can order more gowns and possibly start a marketing campaign. I’ll talk to your dad
about that since he’s the expert.” She touched Skye’s shoulder. “And I want to talk to you about instituting online sales
and special orders—if you’ll still work for me. Correction—work with me.”
“And...?”
“I’d like to put you in charge of my online sales. You can design the webpages and help me figure out the best way to promote
them. You can even be the dress model if you want.”
Her niece studied her. “And will you finally trust me to help measure the customers for tuxes and gown fittings?”
“Yes, I will. In fact, I can teach you how to tailor the tuxes and eventually move on to the gowns if you’re interested.”
She held her breath, and a moment ticked by.
“Hmm.” Skye twisted her lips. “I’m not sure...”
“Skye, tell me what else you want.”
Her niece fiddled with her pencil.
The anticipation was killing Dakota. “Well, what do you think?”
Skye tapped her chin. “I’ll do it, but only for a raise.”
Dakota pulled her in for a hug as relief washed over her. “You got it.”
“How about a partnership?”
“Now you’re pushing it,” she said, and they both laughed. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“You’d be very bored, and your store wouldn’t be nearly as cool.”
“That’s true.”
Skye tilted her head. “I heard my folks talking about the night Hudson had supper with us at your house. My dad made it sound
like you and Hudson might get back together. Is that why you broke up with Mr. Bryant?”
Dakota shook her head. “No, I broke up with him because I really only liked him as a friend.”
“Oh.” Skye seemed to consider that. “Are you dating Hudson now?”
“That’s over.”
Skye tapped her chin. “Well, I guess I need to find you a new boyfriend.”
“Let’s worry about getting the store in order first.”
Skye folded her hands. “I can’t wait.”
***
Hudson sat in the driver’s seat of his car and studied his aunt’s house. After putting the spare tire on his SUV, he had headed
straight to Barton Automotive. While he waited for Carter Donovan to fix his tire, he remained in the showroom and flipped
through the family album again, contemplating his conversation with Dakota.
As the happy memories he’d carefully avoided for so long stared up at him from the album, he could no longer pretend his aunt
and Dakota hadn’t been right. He had been running away. He’d been trying to escape his childhood grief for his entire life, and for more than seven years, he’d
tried to live without Dakota. And when he’d come back to town for Layla, the one person he couldn’t bear to lose, his controlling
ways had led to just that. He had lost her.
As he took in the happy family photos, he knew deep down he didn’t want to go back to his lonely life in Manhattan or build an even lonelier life in Bahrain. Why hadn’t he been willing to acknowledge how lonely he’d been? He had earned the money that enabled him to take care of his family, so working nonstop was no longer his purpose. He needed a new reason to live. What if it could be to find his own happiness for himself?
It also dawned on him that his pursuit of money had led him to lose his family and Dakota. Even if he didn’t love money, his pursuit of it sure looked like love. And that was
why he had to make things right. He had to heal the rift between him and his sister before he lost her forever.
He jogged up the front steps of his aunt’s house and knocked on the storm door.
Aunt Trudy appeared and gasped. “Hudson. You’re back.”
“You were right about everything.” He held his hands up as if in surrender. “I have been too focused on money and success,
and I have been running away from my grief for a long time. But I’m not running anymore.”
“I’m glad to hear you say that.” His aunt opened the door wider and pulled him in for a tight hug.
“I also need to trust Layla to make her own decisions, and I’m here to do that. I’m going to apologize and tell her that I
support her in everything she does. Please let me try to repair things with her.” His throat burned. “I can’t lose my family.
You and Layla mean everything to me.”
“I know you’ll fix this. I have faith in you.”
***
Hudson knocked on Layla’s bedroom door. His heart thumped, and his palms began to sweat.
“Who is it?”
He placed a hand on the cold wooden door. “It’s me.”
“Go away.”
He grimaced. “Please, Layla. Let me talk to you.”
“No,” she exclaimed. Something that sounded like a pillow hit the door with a soft thunk .
“Okay then,” he said. “I’ll talk here.”
“You can talk, but I’m not listening.”
“Fine.” Hudson took one long, slow cycle of breath to steel himself. “Layla, I remember every detail of the day Mom and Dad
brought you home from the hospital. It was late September, but it was as hot as the Fourth of July. Mom and Dad were so overjoyed,
and I remember one of the neighbors telling Mom, ‘Daphne, you finally have a girl you can dress in pink and buy dolls for.’”
A vision of that day filled his mind’s eye, and he heard someone sniff. Turning toward the end of the hallway, he found Aunt
Trudy wiping her eyes with a tissue.
“You’ve asked me about Mom before. Earlier today I was going through a photo album, and I remembered something you’d want
to know. She had an amazing voice,” he said. “And she loved ’80s music. I remember hearing her in your room singing Cyndi
Lauper’s ‘Time After Time’ to you every night. Actually, she’d sing it to you whenever you’d cry. If I ever flip to the ’80s
station and hear that song, it always takes me back.” He rubbed his eyes. “She had this infectious laugh. No matter how silly
her joke was, you couldn’t help but laugh along with her.”
A little sob sounded from inside Layla’s room, and he imagined her wiping away tears.
“From the day you were born, I’ve felt responsible for you, Layla, but it wasn’t a burden,” he continued. “It was a job I
wanted. I was determined to be there for you and guide you as best I could. And when Mom and Dad died, I was confused, devastated,
and lost, but the one thing I knew for sure was that I wanted to take care of you.” He paused for a moment and swiped his
fingers over his wet eyes.
“I thought it was my calling to make sure you had everything you needed—a safe and secure home, clothes, a good education, a reliable car—but I never stopped to think about what you needed emotionally. It never entered my mind that I was hurting you by not talking about Mom and Dad and sharing my grief with you until you brought that to my attention yesterday. I’ve always thought that talking about it would make me seem weak.
“Or maybe I thought that if I let that grief seep out of the depths of my heart, somehow I’d drown in it. And that’s why I’ve
been running away from it for so long. I lost Mom and Dad, and then I lost Dakota. For seven years, I’ve been trying to avoid
that grief too. I thought that if I kept moving forward, I would outrun it—but instead, I just let it fester. And I pushed
away the people I love most.”
A rustling sound came from the other side of the door.
“All I know is that I never meant to hurt you, Layla.” He leaned his forearm on the doorframe. “And I’ve realized that my
goal of always taking care of you and Aunt Trudy was to my detriment. I was so focused on being successful and providing for
you that I lost sight of those most important to me—you... and Dakota too.”
Hudson squeezed his eyes shut as the truth came to the surface. “But the worst thing I did was trying to sabotage your wedding
because I thought I knew what was best for you.” He glanced down at the toes of his shoes. “Only you know what’s best for
you, and I’m sorry. The truth is, I was afraid of losing you, and that’s exactly what happened anyway.”
Another sob sounded from the other side of the door, and his heart wrenched.
The door opened with a whoosh, and Layla threw her arms around his neck.
His tight muscles began to unwind as he hugged her.
“You’re such a moron,” she said into his chest. “A really big, dumb moron.”
He chuckled. “Yes, yes, I am, but morons can fix things and change too.”
“You can’t fix it.” She stepped out of his embrace and wiped her puffy red eyes. “Shane has made up his mind about the wedding.
Aunt Trudy said she’d start calling the wedding guests to let them know it’s canceled.”
Hudson shook his head. “Don’t give up yet. I’ll talk to Shane and convince him that I’m not going to interfere anymore.”
“It won’t help.” She returned to her room and sank down on the edge of her bed.
“Where’s he working today?”
“I don’t know.” She picked up a purple throw pillow and hugged it to her middle. “He started a new job today, but he didn’t
tell me where.”
“Can you call him?”
She held up her phone. “I’ve tried, but he doesn’t answer.”
“I’ll be back,” Hudson said as a plan took shape in his mind.
“Where are you going?” Layla called after him.
“Just trust me.” He hugged his aunt, gave her a peck on the cheek, and then hurried to his SUV.
***
Hudson parked beside Shane’s pickup truck and switched off the ignition. His plan of calling the main number for the landscaping
business and imploring the receptionist to share Shane’s location had somehow worked. He was grateful she believed him when
he said he needed to discuss a serious family matter with Shane.
His shoes crunched along the rock path that led from the front of the large home to the back, where Shane and another man were planting shrubs in the hot late-May sun. Bees buzzed past him, and a couple of frogs croaked in the large pond at the center of the lush green yard.
The man working with Shane said something to him, and when Shane turned around, he cast a baleful look in Hudson’s direction.
I deserve that .
Shane jumped up to his feet and pointed toward the road. “I have nothing to say to you.”
“Hold on.” Hudson held his hands up. “Please give me five minutes.”
“No.” Shane turned his back on him and picked up his shovel, his movements jerky and deliberate.
Hudson continued forward, determined to have his apology heard.
Irritation flickered over Shane’s face. “Just leave, man. I’m begging you.”
“Please, Shane,” Hudson began, “listen to me.”
Shane continued to work, his back to Hudson.
“Fine. You plant, and I’ll talk.” Hudson slipped his hands into his pockets. “I’m here to apologize.”
Shane continued digging a hole, his jaw set in stone.
“I was completely out of line, and I’m sorry. I never should have butted into your plans with my sister. I had no right to
treat you as if you weren’t good enough for Layla. Your work is important. There’s so much to be said for working hard all
day and seeing the fruits of your labor.”
“Is that right?” Shane tented his hand over his forehead and glared at Hudson. “You believe that working outside all day has
as much merit as sitting in a cushy office ordering your employees around?” His tone was acid-laced.
“Yes, I do.”
Shane stood his shovel upright and propped an elbow on its handle. “And how did you come to that conclusion, Mr. Manhattan?”
“I worked for my friend’s construction company. He helped me remember that manual labor, building something tangible, is rewarding.”
Shane shook his head. “You’re some piece of work.”
“What do you mean?”
“You only came out here to tell me what you think I want to hear in order to clear the air with your sister.” Shane pointed
to the road again, and rage flared in his eyes. “Do us both a favor and get out of here.”
“I’m not done, please.” Hudson hedged to gather his thoughts. “My sister loves you, and she’s crushed that you canceled the
wedding. I’m here to grovel and beg for your forgiveness—and if you can’t forgive me, at least forgive Layla.”
Shane glared at him. “Why should I listen to you?” He ground out the words.
“Look, Shane. You and Layla belong together, and I need to stop running her life.” Hudson explained how he’d always felt responsible
for Layla after their parents died, but he took his responsibility too far. “I was afraid to trust Layla to make her own decisions,
and now I see how wrong I was. She’s a mature young woman who’s ready to live her life, and she wants a life with you.” He
cleared his throat. “I messed up, and I’m here to ask you to please forgive me.”
Shane lifted his ball cap, wiped his hand over his forehead, and set the hat back on his head. “It’s not that simple.”
“It is that simple,” Hudson insisted. “I promise I’ll stay out of your lives. I won’t give you my opinion or advice unless you ask
for it. And I promise I’ll stop trying to pay for everything. I understand now how thoughtless and arrogant I’ve been.”
Shane kicked a stone with the toe of his shoe. “I don’t think she’ll take me back after everything I said.”
“Shane,” Hudson began, “my sister loves you and wants you back. Please just return her calls. Don’t let me stand in the way.”
He turned and started across the grass toward his SUV.
“Hey, Hudson!”
Hudson pivoted to face him.
“Thanks, man,” Shane said.
He waved and climbed back into the driver’s seat. While he drove back toward the Airbnb, his thoughts turned to Dakota. Though
the two of them had likely missed their chance, he wanted to make things right with her anyway.
Maybe there was no path forward.
And yet his soul craved her.
A seed of hope took root in his heart.
But first he had to get his life in order.