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Chapter 4
Dax was still trying to come to terms with his new house guest as he drove the streets he now knew like the back of his hand. It was still unbelievable to him that not only had Ginny showed up on his doorstep, she was staying with him. At his house.
He had no idea how long she would be there. He assumed that it was going to be for at least a few days. She’d had a bag, so he doubted that it would just be overnight. It was killing him that he had to leave her. She’d been all he’d been able to think about for months and now she was at his house and he wasn’t.
His phone buzzed and his pulse raced thinking that it might be her. It wasn’t. It was his sister.
“Hey, squirt.” Heather was two years older than Dax, but he’d called her squirt since the summer he turned twelve and hit his growth spurt, shooting past her by a good four inches in the span of a couple months. She didn’t appreciate it.
“Hey, twinkle toes.” She used the nickname that she’d given him when he was four and imitated a ballroom dance routine that she’d been watching on TV. He equally did not appreciate it, but he did still consider himself a good dancer. “Did you get mom’s email?”
“No.”
With a sigh that made her frustration with his lack of knowledge clear she said, “She sent you our itinerary yesterday.”
“Itinerary? For what?”
“That’s not even funny.”
He wasn’t kidding. He had no idea what his sister was talking about. He remained silent as he tried to recall any information that would give him a clue about what she was referring to.
After several moments of his silence, she let out a frustrated, “Seriously?!”
“What?” he asked rhetorically, knowing exactly where her frustration stemmed from. His mom and sister always gave him a hard time about not paying attention to them when they talked. In fairness to him, they liked to talk. A lot. And usually it wasn’t about things that interested him very much.
“Do you ever listen to me?”
Always one to opt for honesty, he answered, “Sometimes.”
“I told you when you were here for Christmas that we were going to be coming to Illinois to visit on our way to California.”
“Oh, right.” A vague memory of the conversation surfaced. His sister, who worked in marketing, had been promoted and was heading to San Diego to head up the sports division at her firm. They’d mentioned that they’d be staying with him, but he thought it was in the spring.
“You have no idea what I’m talking about, do you?”
Dax never felt the need to defend himself to anyone. He lived his life unapologetically. But somehow, his sister always brought out his defensive side and he wanted to prove that he did actually know, even if he didn’t really. “Yes, I do. You got promoted and you’re moving to San Diego and Mom’s going out there to help you get settled. I just thought you said that it wasn’t until spring.”
“Oh.” She sounded surprised and he felt a small sense of satisfaction. “Well, my start date had been moved up to mid-February so we’re going to be heading out at the beginning of next month.”
“Okay.” He hoped he sounded indifferent instead of relieved.
He loved his mom and sister more than life itself, but he did not want them coming to visit now. Not only did he want all the alone time he could get with Ginny, he also didn’t want them to embarrass him. They were huge Virginia Valentine fans. When they’d found out that she’d been in Harper’s Crossing, performing at his bar, they’d flipped out. It was all they’d talked about when he went to see them over the holidays. That, and his sister’s new job. And Gilmore Girls. And Ryan Gosling. It wasn’t a mystery why he tuned them out on a regular basis.
“What’s wrong?” The concern in Heather’s voice was apparent. “Is everything all right? You seem distracted.”
He was. Distracted by a country singer that had shown up at his door this morning and turned his world upside down and inside out. He may always lean towards the side of honesty but there was no way he was going to share that nugget of truth with his big sister.
“I’m fine, just got to the office.”
“Okay, well answer mom back, you know how she gets.”
“I will. Love you, squirt.”
“Love you, twinkle toes.”
As he pulled into the parking space he made a mental note to respond to his mom as soon as he got out of the meeting. When he opened the car door, the cold January day hit him square in the face. He’d grown up in Florida and was used to humidity and bugs but not cold. The crisp air surrounded him as he stepped out of the truck. He had just reached the door when he felt the vibrating alert of a text. He expected a message from his sister, most likely about something she forgot to bring up in their conversation. But when he looked down he saw that it was a number he didn’t recognize and there was a picture attached to it. He tapped on it and saw Capone on the bed in the guest room next to an empty suitcase. There was text below it that read:
Made myself at home. Capone helped me unpack.
