23. Dash #2
"Miranda Everett, don't even think about it. Cecil will have us drawn and quartered before dawn. I'm surprised he doesn't have those under lock and key."
"He'll never know unless you tell him," she assured him. "Now then, the sisters?"
Dash didn't say anything, concentrating instead on the amber liquid in his glass for a moment. Though he trusted Miranda with his life, at times confiding in her even more than Colt, a certain sense of shame gripped him. Saying it out loud would make it real.
"Kate's sister, Natalie, and I were involved when we were living in London," he confessed.
"You were seeing someone in London? You never told me."
"Saw. I saw someone in London. Natalie and I had a one-night stand. We didn't even give each other our real names at her insistence. I had no idea they were sisters until yesterday."
Dash pressed rewind on his memory, detailing his night with Natalie.
Meeting at the pub. Dancing at a jazz club.
Falling for her inside his Chelsea apartment.
He then hit fast-forward, covering his time with Kate.
The art gallery. Their first date. The sleepover.
The birthday party that brought him full circle, back to the woman who constantly invaded his thoughts.
Finally, he shared the private meeting behind Natalie’s bedroom door.
"I was hoping to talk to her one more time.” He ran a hand through his hair. “To say what, I’m not sure. But she was gone before sunrise. She left a note for her father and Kate. I wasn’t mentioned."
"Does Kate know you snuck into Natalie's room after sending a text with her phone?"
"If she does, she hasn't said a word, and I made sure to delete the whole exchange. We haven't really talked much today, what with travel and all. She flies back later tonight."
Miranda fell silent for several moments. Dash watched her eyes as she processed his tale.
"So, let me see if I have this straight. You left Chicago, still not a hundred percent in terms of health, flew to Nashville, met Kate's family and friends, let on as if everything was sunny, then iced her?"
"I haven't iced her!"
"Raise your argument, Dash, not your voice," she cautioned.
He inhaled deeply and let it out slowly, grumbling a few unintelligible words. "She and Natalie are close, but we agreed not to tell her about what happened in London.”
"It's not up to Natalie to be the truth-teller where Kate is concerned." Miranda's eyes narrowed. "That's your job, regardless if you agreed to keep your lips sealed."
Conversation ceased for a good five minutes.
Again, Dash reviewed the series of events that led him to Natalie twice now, with nothing to show for it.
Of course, Miranda only wanted the best for him; thus the reason for her being such a hardass.
His mind tumbled back to the exchange he and Miranda had shared days before, one sentiment spiraling on repeat.
The universe kept pushing Cecil and me back together. And when the universe deems it to be so…
Was the universe doing the same for him and Natalie?
"Are you in love with Kate?" Miranda asked.
He shook his head, a single word trailing behind. "No."
"Have you sampled her merchandise?" Miranda raised an eyebrow.
"No."
"Do you have any desire whatsoever to continue a romantic relationship with her?"
“I want romance with someone—long term. Marriage. Kids. Dressing up in khaki shorts and white shirts for family pics in the bluebonnets. I just don’t know if that someone is Kate.”
“But Kate’s got you thinking about those things, which is great.”
“Only because Natalie pulled me out of my years-long hiatus.”
“You and I both know, some people come into our lives for a season and nothing more.”
“The thing is … I promised myself I’d be settled or close to it by the time I turn forty.”
Miranda rolled her eyes. “Oh, I didn’t realize you were on the clock.”
“Are you mocking me?” he asked, his tone firm.
“Hell yes, I’m mocking you. That’s about the most asinine thing I’ve ever heard you say. You think you can just schedule love? Life is not some reality dating show.”
He raised his voice again. “I’m trying to be completely transparent here. Why are you being such a hardass?”
Miranda looked down and fiddled with the hem of her blouse long enough to let the frustration in Dash’s comment dissipate.
“You’ve clearly got feelings for two women who, unfortunately, happen to be sisters. You have to decide which feelings to act on.”
"I care about Kate, we have a great time together, but it's not the same as what I felt with Natalie. Kate and I don't have the same electricity. Sure, we've kissed, but even those have been … chaste.”
“So, no tonsil hockey or anything?”
Dash rolled his eyes. “Good God, Miranda.”
She raised a hand in a sign of surrender. “Okay, okay. Strike that question from the record.”
Dash shook his head. “The intensity I had with Natalie isn't there with Kate. Believe me, I’ve tried. Kate and I hold hands. We kiss. We spoon. But there's no true spark. We’ve rubbed up against each other like two dry sticks at a campfire and nothing—not even a puff of smoke. I’ve done everything in my power to find a lasting connection with Kate.
Why wouldn’t I, when she appears to be the whole package? ”
Miranda took a sip of whisky. “Sounds like Kate is comfortable and Natalie is chemistry. There’s nothing wrong with comfortable, Dash. Shoes should be comfortable. Your mattress should be comfortable. But when it comes to love, comfort alone isn't enough."
"I don't want to hurt Kate."
"Of course you don't. You're not that kind of guy. If Kate is half the woman you've said she is, she'll understand. Then maybe you can try to work things out with Natalie guilt-free, knowing that you've been honest with Kate about everything."
“And when it wrecks her relationship with Natalie? What then?”
“Can’t worry about wreckage of the future. You can only take care of the here and now.”
Dash stood and walked back to the pool table. He took hold of the eight ball and rolled it back and forth, thinking.
"It doesn't matter. None of this matters. Natalie doesn't want me. She's seeing someone else—this author who happens to be married. The guy’s a first-class tool, too. No idea what she sees in him.”
“Did you get this information straight from her mouth?”
Dash shook his head. “No. Kate told me. All Natalie said to me was that she’s moved on.”
“And you believe her?”
“Well, that’s what she said.”
Miranda sighed. "I'm sure Natalie is a lovely woman, but methinks Natalie lies. I mean, it’s right there in her name, honey—the last three letters."
“Why would she lie?”
“Isn’t it obvious? She’s protecting Kate. Sisters before Misters, as it were—with Margot and I being the exception to that rule.”
Dash mulled this over, the billiard ball still rolling between his hands.
Miranda finished off her drink and joined him at the pool table. With a hand on his shoulder, she spoke to him in the most supportive, motherly tone possible. “I know you’ll make the right choice, Dash. I have complete faith in you.”
Just then, Dash’s phone buzzed with a text. He fished it out of his pocket, his bottom lip jutting out as he read her message.
“That’s quite the face. What’s wrong?” she asked.
“It’s Kate. Her plane just landed and she wants to stop by and see me on her way home. She must have taken an earlier flight because she wasn’t scheduled to land until midnight.”
“It’s a sign. You need to come clean with Kate, hon, and you need to do it as soon as possible.”
She’s right. A storm’s a-brewing. And it’s best to get ahead of it.