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That feeling in his soul of the rightness of this moment was what convinced him that he wasn’t going to abandon DJ or Cari again. And that scared him because he still hadn’t figured out a way to save her job. But for tonight he didn’t care about games or a generations-old feud. Tonight he wanted to simply enjoy the fact that for the first time in his life he felt like he was home.
It didn’t matter that technically this was Cari’s house or that he’d never even been here before. He had that feeling inside that he’d always been searching for and never truly experienced. That emptiness that had been a part of him all of his life no longer felt so cold and barren.
He sat DJ up and looked at the outfit he’d decided on. He had eschewed the romper that Cari had laid out in favor of a pair of elastic-waist khaki shorts and a little button-down shirt that matched his. He wanted Cari to see that he was a part of their lives now. It was important to him that he build as much of a connection between them before the board meeting tomorrow.
He lifted DJ off the changing table and the boy squirmed to get down. Since Cari lived in a one-story Mexican-style hacienda, there were no stairs to be a danger to him. He put him down and followed his son as he crawled through the house to the kitchen.
He thought of Allan and Kell and how his cousins were still untethered to anything but their jobs, and realized that he’d changed. He knew he was going to have to make a hard decision regarding Infinity and Playtone. He also knew that he might have to make a choice.
A choice that would have seemed so simple only six weeks ago, but no longer was.
As DJ crawled into the kitchen and Cari bent over to scoop up their son and then kiss him on the head, the decision seemed to make itself.
“Oh, I like your choice in outfit, sweetie,” she said to DJ. “You and Daddy match.” She looked over at him with so much caring in her gaze that he felt scared.
She’d turned on her iPod while he was gone and the speaker system on the countertop played “California Gurls” by Katy Perry.
He turned away and rubbed his hands together. She’d looked so vulnerable and probably wasn’t aware of it. The burden of not hurting her again felt heavy on his shoulders. “I brought some wine and it’s out in the car. I’ll be right back.”
He turned on his heel and hurried out of her house. As soon as he was outside, he stopped halfway between the house and his car. He was torn as he looked at the Maserati parked at the curb. A part of him wanted to get in there and drive away from this entire situation.
If he left, Kell would find a way to have his revenge and Cari would eventually find a way to move on with her life. And he wouldn’t have to choose between his cousin and a lifetime goal—the very thing that had defined his past—and Cari and DJ, who he knew could be his future. But he knew he wasn’t going to run off. He was no coward. It was hard for him to believe he’d left Cari in a hotel room all those months ago.
A slight breeze blew down the street in the older neighborhood where Cari lived. There were hibiscus plants growing in the front yard and large palms on either side of her driveway.
He had changed, he thought. Really changed, and it was almost as if he didn’t want to accept it. The change was scary because he had something he didn’t want to lose. Cari and DJ. He’d never thought he’d be as vulnerable as that, but the truth was there for him to see.
He grabbed the bottle of wine and headed back into the house. He found Cari in the kitchen dancing with DJ to Olly Murs’s “Dance With Me Tonight.” She glanced up at him and froze mid-gyration. Something moved between them and he knew that no matter what tomorrow held he’d cherish this night forever.
“Dance with me?” she asked.
He put the bottle of wine on the countertop and took both his woman and his son in his arms and danced them around the kitchen while the catchy pop ballad played in the background. DJ giggled and Cari hummed along a little out of tune.
Just like that, everything seemed so simple. They should be together. Though it was the solution he knew he’d been steering toward all afternoon, he was very glad to have his smart little son who saw things so clearly.
He didn’t know how he was going to do it, but when the dust settled at the board meeting tomorrow he was walking out of there a Montrose with the respect of his cousins, but he was also leaving with Cari.
* * *
There hadn’t been much chance to talk about anything serious over dinner what with DJ there and Dec in a contemplative mood. But once she put DJ to bed and went to find Dec sitting on one of the wooden loungers in her backyard, staring up at the night sky, Cari knew the time to talk was now.
