I was such a pig, ogling Dash on such a difficult day. Even with no utilities, this house was still comfortable with lots of natural light. At least to me. And maybe to the guy now standing nude in front of me.
Several hours later
Dash was back. My quintessential doting guy. We shared a meal, swam, relaxed, and had an overall good time. He cracked his usual silly jokes and acted as if every word I said mattered, which it didn’t. I listened as he broke down his day.
As the evening turned to night, the electricity was still out. We laid contently in bed together. We left the glass wall panels that lined the back of the house open to allow the cooler night air to filter through the bedroom.
I held Dash with my eyes closed, and as if by magic, the electricity flipped on. Music played quietly in the background, as it always did, followed by a succession of beeps from every direction. The security monitor on the wall initiated its operating system, signaling its status as it went.
“I have money,” I murmured into Dash’s hair, not ready to let the closeness go. “We also have Mom’s check for the truck. They’d be a good downpayment on a nice ride for you.”
Dash trailed his fingertips across my chest, lulling me into a trance with every swipe. “Maybe it’s time to have a joint checking and savings account. We’ve defined ourselves as a committed couple to the world.”
“I’m fine with that. I want to be a partner, not a dependent,” I said. They were words I’d uttered many times since we’d gotten back together.
“Why didn’t I know about your application to own a FedEx route?”
I had kept it quiet, not allowing myself to dwell too much. No doubt the fear of failure held my tongue. My application had a very solid chance of being denied, and what if I couldn’t handle the load of being a small business owner? I was young, almost twenty-one. Money and loans were concerns I didn’t know about. My mom had agreed to back the loan and be a co-owner if my age and lack of business experience were a problem.
If I answered honestly, I risked Dash throwing a full-fledged tantrum over how I hadn’t asked him to be my money tree.
A sudden ding on the monitor indicated the garage door was being opened. We both tilted our heads in that direction as if we might see what was happening. In seconds, Dash was out of bed, dried swim trunks pulled back on and running his fingers through his hair.
“Hang on, I’ll go with you,” I said.
“Stay in bed. Besides you and Amelia, only Chandler knows the security code to come inside. Let me go see what’s happened.” Those words were said as he left the room.
Of course I didn’t listen, dressing quickly. For the first time, I was glad for Dash’s eccentric glass walls throughout the house. As I went to join them, I watched Joy, Dash’s niece come into the living room. With Dash the last and unexpected baby of ten children, it created lots of nieces, nephews, and cousins slightly older than him. Chandler, Dash’s longtime friend, followed behind her. Joy was dressed in a one-piece Jiffy Lube coverall, her hair neatly tucked underneath a matching ball cap.
The scene seemed weird. Dread coiled in my gut based on their grim expressions.
“What’s happening?” Dash asked. Joy removed the cap, her long, straight blonde hair unwinding in a cascade down her back. It had been years since I saw her last. She had matured. Her face now featured defined angles. Yet, she continued to radiate a striking beauty, a characteristic that ran in their family.
Her blue-eyed gaze landed on me, worry clearly etched on her face. A mirror to Dash’s expression. Yet, when she saw me, her face softened.
All else faded into the background when she came to me, wrapping her arms around me. “Despite all that’s happening, I was happy and relieved to hear you’ve returned to Dash,” she said.
“Thank you,” I said, my arm easily encircling her, savoring the sincerity of her words.
“No one understood what Dash was waiting on, but I did. I saw you two together. I got it.” With the attitude that was all Joy, she flipped around to Dash. “He comes back, and you don’t tell me?”
Dash’s lips quirked up. I appreciated his ability to remain level-headed despite everything being thrown at him. “I was keeping us in a bubble. I didn’t want to share him.”
“Maybe stayin’ hidden a little longer, or like forever, would have been wiser,” I added, my grin growing broad. I felt lighter in that moment, which was a wonderful feeling since I’d been carrying the blame for every shitty thing that went down with Dash and his family.
“I knew he was back,” Chandler said, pointing a finger at me. “But he doesn’t like me at all. Notice how quickly his smile faded.”
“It’s not that he doesn’t like you,” Dash said, responding to Chandler. However, even Dash couldn’t maintain the overused lie when he turned to my stern face. Joy laughed a musical sound at the change of my expression. “When Beau first arrived, there was confusion.”
“Yeah, that was the day I got my walking papers,” Chandler quipped. “Anytime we crossed paths, I was surprised I didn’t vaporize where I stood.” No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t hold in my grin. The way he spoke the truth made me feel like I’d won. I didn’t say it aloud, but my core knew the win counted.
“So what’s going on?” Dash asked.
Chandler dropped his hands in his fancy pants pocket. Joy moved to stand in front of Dash. The room’s vibe turned serious again. “If Granddad or my parents find out I was here, I’ll be excommunicated like you.” She air-quoted the word excommunicated. “Granddad actually used that word about you. He’s so arrogant. That’s the reason I came over. He’s crazier than normal. He’s unleashing all his power on you. You’re going to be evicted from your house…”
“This is my home,” Dash stated firmly. “It was a graduation gift that I personally went down and signed the paperwork for. The title is in my name.”
Joy shook her head. “I don’t understand it all, but something about shell companies that you’ve been removed from?”
