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By the time they took the photo, the butterfly had flitted away, but the memory was enshrined in his heart forever.
Ashley had to pinch herself every time she looked over to her daughter chatting with the big-shouldered lug of a hockey player. Just knowing that he was being kind—and she didn’t need to hear the exact words he was using because Dex was always kind—made her heart skitter.
The way Willa looked up at him in admiration was so sweetly painful Ashley wondered if that same skittering heart might crack open any second. That Dex had gone to all this trouble to set it up still blew her mind.
“So what about this one? Cabbage white, I reckon.”
She turned to her partner in butterfly spotting, Theo Kershaw, whose little brother preferred to hang with Lauren. Theo had volunteered to take Ashley under his wing (butterfly wing? get it?) but she suspected there were ulterior motives.
And his next words confirmed it.
“Be honest, hot mama, what are your intentions towards our Dexy?”
“My intentions?”
“Yeah. You’re a woman of the world, probably on the lookout for a baby daddy for your kid. Lots of women in your position would be angling for a rich pro-athlete.”
Her mouth dropped open. Was that what people really thought?
“Dex and I are just friends,” she spluttered. “I don’t have any intentions at all.”
“Theo.” Gunnar cut in. “Don’t be so … you.”
“Listen, Dex is kind of a dummy when it comes to women,” Theo went on. “You’re obviously the smart one in this pairing. Kind of curious what you see in him.”
“He’s an awesome guy and there is no pairing. Like I said, we’re just friends, which it sounds like he needs with teammates like you.”
Theo laughed, then turned to Gunnar. “Hey, Double-O, what do you think of J-Dog and Lo? They make a cute couple, don’t ya think?” He jerked his chin toward his brother and Lauren, who were standing close together, butterflies circling above them like something out of a cartoon.
“I think if he lays a finger on her he won’t be playing hockey at camp this summer. What, with the broken legs and all.”
Theo grinned at Ashley. “No one wants to give love a chance.”
“They’re kind of young.”
“Yeah, but I like the idea. And G, it’ll make us related.”
“Christ,” Gunnar muttered. “That’s all I need.”
Theo pointed. “You thought you’d retire and never see me again? Nope. We are family!” Cue a surprisingly tuneful rendition of the Sister Sledge classic, which sent a grumbling Gunnar wandering off to more closely chaperone the youngsters. Theo turned back to Ashley. “So you know I’m kidding about you being after O’Malley’s money. You passed the test, Ash-Kicker. My way of seeing how serious you are about him because he’s pretty serious about you.”
Oh, look? A Monarch. Stifling the tremble in her hand, she marked her butterfly card with a check. “What makes you say that?”
Theo threw his hands up. “Look around you.”
“He did this for Willa.”
“Who’s an extension of you. He had to talk to the Rebel Queen herself.”
“The Rebel Queen?”
He shook his head at her ignorance. “Harper Chase, our fearless leader and CEO? She’s on the board of the Nature Museum and this was kind of short notice, so she pulled some strings. Believe me, no one wants to talk to Harpoon because she gets all up in your personal life, trying to ‘therapize’ you. O’Malley had to pay a premium to get in here tonight.”
Whoa. “That’s so kind. I knew it was before, but to go to all that trouble.”
“Sure, to impress you because he knows you’re probably hard to impress. I’m imagining heartbreak in your past because of your divorce and all. And the way to your bruised heart is through your kid.”
True. But that didn’t mean Dex was right for Ashley or her family. Because when it came down to the wire, he was a young guy with not a whole lot of responsibility, and no evidence he wanted any more.
