And that her mother had never been part of the picture, but once she was born, she’d become Beck’s entire world.
I knew the feeling.
“I’ll only ever be in love once,” I told him. “That’s my plan.”
Diggin’ the dancing queen
The song ended on a scratch, and Beck’s smile turned contemplative. “Until you have children. That love is….” He trailed off again, losing the end of his sentence, his gaze going distant once more.
“Mr. Beck?”
He blinked, then looked at me. “What?”
“How would you want the person who was in love with your daughter to propose?”
He smiled faintly as he returned to his work, his strokes softer. “With everything they had.”
I nodded slowly, letting the idea sink in. “Thank you. I hope Ireland is everything you dreamed it would be.”
The night before the gala, I went straight to the Zinnia House gym after my shift. As eager as I was to go straight to Ireland and watch her dance through the tiny sliver of window—one that she didn’t keep covered anymore— in the dance studio door like I did every day after work, I didn’t.
I had things I needed to work through first. Decisions to think over, like the call I’d made to my boss this morning.
My old boss, now. Previous. In the town I’d worked and lived in for a decade, in the only state I’d ever called home. The station would be busy tonight, the emergency calls constant, and my stomach tightened at the thought of not being there with them.
But I wouldn’t be back—not unless things went horribly wrong on multiple fronts.
My attempt at gaining Beck’s blessing yesterday—the sixth—had been… decent.
He’d given me a simple shrug before tearing into the extra slice of red, white, and blue cake I’d slid in front of him that the cafeteria had made all week for the Fourth of July holiday today.
I hadn’t talked to Live Oak yet about extending my work here. I was saving that for after Ireland’s answer.
Just as I lifted the first weight, Delly eased into the gym, dressed in workout gear, a confused frown on her face as she glanced around the room. I’d texted her on the way, asking if she’d meet me here, but hadn’t told her why.
“You summoned me, big brother?”
I tried to smile for her, but based on the way she stopped in her tracks, it was a failure.
“Addy,” she said, hurrying to me and sitting on the machine across from me. “What’s wrong?”
We were the only people here, but the room still pressed in on me as I looked at my little sister, wondering how to say it. Taking a deep breath, I slotted my weight back onto the rack and gave her my full attention.
“I’m not going back to Georgia,” I said quietly, and she sucked in a breath. “Delly…,” I continued, stomach dropping. “I’m sorry.”
I’d never been more than an hour’s drive from her. Never. But if she asked me to go back to Georgia with her, I had no plan for what I’d do.
Except cry, probably.
Despite the glistening in her eyes, laughter burst from her, loud and unrestrained. “For Ireland?”
I nodded. “And Pops too.”
“And why do you sound so miserable about it?”
I opened my mouth to respond, but then closed it.
This was a trap.
