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“Hey, take it easy on my baby.” He took his left hand off the wheel for a minute to rub the dashboard. “She’s never done anything to you.”
“Do you have any siblings, Leah? Carter?” Dena asked. “Because if you’re only children, I envy you both.”
Carter made a strangled groan from the back seat as Leah struggled to remain unaffected by the simple question.
Dakota’s hand tightened around hers. “Hey, what’s wrong?”
“What did I say?” Dena leaned toward Carter who had folded forward, his head on his knees. “Only children wasn’t an insult.”
Leah slid her hand from Dakota’s and waved it a little, trying to find her voice. “No, you’re fine, Dena.” She looked at Carter who peeked up at her. “It’s us. We’re the ones who are broken.”
“So broken.” Carter sat up and massaged his temples.
“Can you pull over, Dakota?” Leah asked. “We can’t move forward with this night like this? Carter and I would be… lying to you both if we didn’t tell you our story.” She rested her hand atop Dakota’s still on the console between them. “I don’t want to lie to you.”
The truck rolled to a stop on the side of the road and Dakota angled to face her. “You don’t have to tell us anything you’re not ready to, Leah. I mean that. We can just have dinner, have a nice time, no more questions.”
“Yeah,” Dena said. “I didn’t mean to make either of you uncomfortable. I’m so sorry.”
“No. It’s okay. I want to tell it, Dakota. It’s time I told it to someone.” She looked back at Carter. “It’s time webothtold someone.”
Carter nodded then looked at Dena. “If you don’t want to play the role of psychologist this evening, I understand. I mean, we just met.”
Dena gave him a reassuring smile. “Despite my brother deeming me a chatterbox, I’m actually an awesome listener.” Giving her brother a quick glance before looking back at Carter, she said, “Why don’t you and I go sit in the bed of the truck, Carter.”
“There’s a blanket under your seat,” Dakota said. “So your fancy pants don’t get dirty.”
“Because the bed of your truck is always dirty.” She reached down and pulled out the blanket. “C’mon, Carter.”
Carter stared at Leah for a moment. “Are you going to be okay?”
“Are you?” Leah asked.
He looked at Dena again. “Yeah. I think so.”
“All right then. Me too.”
Nodding, Carter got out of the truck as Dena did. They jostled the vehicle a little as they opened the tailgate, spread out the blanket, and sat. Carter raked his hands through his hair and started talking.
Leah slid her gaze to Dakota who had turned off the engine, one of his hands still firmly clamped onto the steering wheel. Once again, the darkness made her brave. She could tell him and still hide in the shadows. Not see his reactions. Not show him hers. She could do this. If she had any shot at her heart being able to beat properly again for someone, she had to do this. Dakota made her want to do this.
“I was engaged,” she began. “To Carter’s brother, Chase Bennett.”
Dakota’s hands went to his lap, as if he were trying hard not to touch her, to comfort her. “Was?”
Leah let her mind slip back to that day when she’d lost her first loves. All four of them.
“I’ll be back before you know it,” she said as Chase stretched across their bed, her suitcase nearly busting at the seams beside him.
“I know, but I’ll miss you so much.” He groaned as he tugged on her hair so she had to lean down and kiss him. “Especially now.”
“Well, it wasn’t my idea to propose right before I went away, now was it?” She straightened and rearranged her multiplication facts shoes so they didn’t stick up as much in her suitcase. This would be her first trip away from home. It was just a teaching conference in Washington, D.C., but she’d never traveled anywhere alone. She was looking forward to the adventure.
Well, she had been until Chase had proposed to her after a sunset stroll two nights ago. He’d caught her totally off guard. Sure, she’d thought they were headed in that direction, but her mind hadn’t let herself imagine being his wife yet.
Now it was all she could think about.
“I know, I know, but I couldn’t wait another moment, babe. I bought the ring and it was burning a hole in my pocket.” Grinning, he took her hand, the bedroom light catching the diamond and making it sparkle. “I had to ask you right away.”
