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Her explanation caused another outburst of laughter from the peanut gallery AKA his mom and sister.
“Do you see what I have to deal with?” he lamented to Ginny.
She smiled even bigger and his heart broke and swelled with love at the same time. How could he love someone that wasn’t his to love? If he knew the answer to that he’d probably be a millionaire since he did not think he was the first person to suffer from that particular affliction.
“But before that…” His mom patted his arm again. “I was telling Ginny about you. About you being the quarterback and captain of the football team and the starting pitcher on the baseball team and being all-state your junior and senior year. I was telling her about how you did all that and worked two jobs to help with bills when things were tough.” His mom began tearing up.
After they lost his dad, his pension had helped but his mom had to work. When he was a junior in high school she’d injured herself on the job and had to be put on disability. It wasn’t enough to keep up with the bills and his sister’s college tuition. So he jumped in and helped. It hadn’t been that big of a deal, but his mom always cried when she talked about it.
She sniffed before continuing, “And you still managed to graduate with honors. Then you went into the Marines and were singled out and selected for the accelerated Special Forces training program. You served your country for eight years and since you’ve been home you started a successful real estate business, you got your contractor’s license so you could work on the houses you buy yourself and you’ve opened two restaurants.”
Dax’s tone was flat as he looked across the table at Ginny. “See, you’re not the only one with a PR person.”
His mom swatted his arm in frustration. “I love you and I’m proud of you, that’s all.”
“I know, Mom. I love you, too.” He wrapped his arm around her and kissed her on the top of her head.
Heather turned to Ginny who was seated to her right. “Do you see what I have to deal with?”
Ginny laughed and put her arm around Heather and hugged her just like he’d hugged his mom. It was such a small gesture but once again he was struck with the urge to shout out, “I love you.”
Thankfully, he was spared from humiliating himself when Riley approached their table. His mom and sister had met Seth before and they knew that Riley was his brother. They were excited to meet him and commented on how he looked nothing like his sibling. They asked how many other brothers he had and if they looked like him or Seth. Riley was a sport. He told them he had four brothers and he was the second oldest. He explained that the only brother that took after Seth both physically and in personality was their youngest brother Bobby. The two of them were referred to as the brooding bookends. Then there was him, who had earned the title of the bad boy of the Sloan men thanks to his wild teenage years and was the only one that took after their late mom with the blond hair.
All three of the women were captivated by him and peppered him with follow-up questions.
After a few minutes of small talk, Riley placed his hand on his shoulder. “I don’t want to interrupt, but would it be possible to steal you for a few minutes. There’s a few things I need to go over with you and I’d love to do it while I’ve got you here.”
Dax had been feeling bad that he’d ignored the business so much, but he didn’t want to leave Ginny. They were seated at a secluded table, but this was a public place and he was concerned she’d get accosted.
Ginny must have read his mind, because she encouraged, “Go. I’ll be fine.”
Heather backed her up. “That’s right. We’ve got her back, bro. Go take care of business.”
He really didn’t want to, but this was real life and most of the time the right thing to do was the one thing that a person didn’t want to. Just like the situation with him and Ginny. The right thing to do was to let her go when she went back home, but it sure as hell wasn’t what he wanted to do.
***
Ginny watched Dax’s back retreat as he walked away with Riley. She’d known from the first time she met him that he was different than any other man she’d met. And she’d felt like she’d obtained a good sense of him during the first night they spent talking. She’d had a sense that he was hard working, honorable, talented, and trustworthy. She’d had the sense that everything he did he excelled at.
Hearing everything his mom had just said not only backed up what she’d already known, it took it one step further. Now she truly believed that there was nothing Dax couldn’t do.
“Okay, he’s gone.” Heather whispered conspiratorially as soon as her brother disappeared down the back hall. Patty and Heather shared an expectant look before she continued, “Time for some girl talk!”
Ginny hoped the smile that was on her face didn’t reveal the panic that she was feeling beneath it. She’d never had close friends that she gossiped with or had sleepovers. To her “girl talk” might as well be a foreign language she didn’t speak.
Patty scooted closer to her. “So, you and my son seem to get along well.”
“Oh, yeah. He’s great.” Ginny’s smile was still firmly in place.
“He is great and I think he thinks you’re pretty great.” Patty lifted her brows as she dipped her chin.
“How is Derek? Are you guys still…?” Heather paused and Ginny waited to see what she was going to say.
When she didn’t continue, Ginny prompted, “Are we still what?”
She had no idea if Dax had told his mom and sister about her relationship with Derek. That was the worst part about lying, it was the not knowing who knew what. When you stuck with the truth it didn’t matter who knew it because it was the truth.
“Are you still together?” Patty finished her daughter’s question.
