Page 75 of Snapshot

“I agree.” But I know we’re talking about two different things. Denny trusts paperwork. Grandma wanted me to trust my heart.

Denny’s driver returns, slowly pulling up in front of the house.

“Denny, she’s everything to me.Everything.So can you please play nice?” I point to the car over her shoulder. “Or are we about to say goodbye?”

I swear she glares at me before adjusting her expression. She pats my cheek, which should feel like an affectionate gesture from a maternal figure. Instead, it feels condescending. “If you’re happy, I’m happy.”

“You sure?”

She nods. “I’m just scared, Dex. What you have now, the world wants to take it away. And they will attack the moment you let your guard down. You need to be surrounded by people you can trust. That’s all.”

“Don’t be scared.” Gently placing my hand on her back, I guide her into the warm house. “Come inside and meet my wife.”

20

Lennox

Ididn’t sleep well last night. I’ve been up for hours. I’m outside, curled up on Dex’s patio furniture, sipping on my third cup of coffee alone. My honeymoon is apparently over.

Dex keeps telling me it wasn’t a real one and he’ll make it up to me. He thinks a honeymoon is a luxurious vacation overseas where I’m wined and dined and treated like a princess. But I didn’t need all of that. I already got everything I wanted. We spent full days naked, exploring each other. After sex, he’d take his time holding me, whispering sweet nothings in my ear. I fell asleep to pillow talk where we confessed to each other over and over again that we were feeling all the same emotions for three years. I’ve never felt less alone knowing every painful stab of missed opportunities were at least shared. Maybe we wasted time, but we didn’t let it completely get away. Maybe there’s something even sweeter about a second chance.

For the past three days, I’ve been walking around his house like I’ve always belonged here. It’s just a house to Dex, but it’s magic to me. This house is where my best friends, Finn and Avery, found each other and fell in love. In fact, this house iswhereIfell in love. It’s full of magic and memories, and for a few blissful days, I was in heaven…

Then Denny showed up.

I’m trying to keep an open mind. This is as close to a mother-in-law as I’ll have with Dex. So, yesterday after she barged in on me and Dex, I hugged her, trying to force a genuine smile and shake off the embarrassment of her catching me and Dex in the act. I’m ignoring her intrusive nature and how uncomfortable it is that this woman has the key code to Dex’s house.

When the glass patio doors slide open, I turn my head, expecting to see my husband, but instead, it’s Denny. Her blond hair is pulled back into a low, neat ponytail. Even though she’s wearing a robe over her silk pajamas, her makeup is fresh and she’s wearing diamond studs in her ears. An odd contradiction. She looks like she’s getting ready to pose for a magazine shoot.

Holding up a mug of coffee, she says, “I hope you don’t mind. I finished the pot.”

“Not at all. I can make some more.” Uncrossing my legs, I move to sit up, but Denny tuts her tongue.

“Nonsense, this is plenty. I didn’t mean for you to get up. In fact, may I join you?”

I look to my left, but there is no one and nothing to save me. Not an excuse in sight. “Of course. Is Dex still sleeping?”

“I wouldn’t know.” Although there are three wicker sofas surrounding the coffee table, Denny opts to sit right next to me. “He’s not my husband,” she adds with a wink.

“Right. Dex is normally an early bird. I’m surprised he’s sleeping in.”

“He’s been that way his whole life,” Denny adds. “Melody liked to sleep in until eleven and stay up until three in the morning. Dex whipped that right out of her. From infancy, he wanted the bottle and his toys by five a.m.” She chuckles fondly.

I nod, taking a little sip from my cooled-off coffee. “You and Melody were close?”

Denny’s eyes drop to her lap. “You want the truth?”

“Only if you don’t mind sharing…”

“I never told Dex this because I dare not speak ill of his mother.” Her eyes open wide. “And I’m not.Melody was amazing. Beautiful, smart, funny, and so full of life. Wealth aside, all the boys wanted her. I envied her since childhood. I was too skinny, awkward, and clumsy. I would follow Melody around like a lost puppy, just hoping to soak up some of the magic.”

I’m afraid to ask, but I do anyway. “She didn’t like you?”

“Melody was always kind to me, but I know spending time with me was a chore her mother mandated. You see, my own mother was a supermodel when that term meant everything. I’m talking about the era of Cindy Crawford and Claudia Schiffer. I was nothing but an inconvenience to her. To this day, I think she’s still angry she risked stretchmarks to bring me to term.” She scoffs. “Anyway, my mother and Dottie met at a mother’s group, and soon playdates for Melody and I turned into Dottie babysitting. That then turned into my mother dropping me on their doorstep for days at a time while she went on a bender. She treated cocaine like a vitamin—took it faithfully every single day.”

Denny hadn’t exactly been warm and welcoming during our first introduction, but I can forgive her, especially because she’s grieving as well. From the sound of it, Dottie wasn’t just a friend and employer…she was more of a mother to Denny than her own. “That’s awful you didn’t get that time with your mom,” I say in a hush. “I’m so sorry.”

“I’m not. It was better to spend my childhood and adolescence at The Hessler Estate than my own empty home as my mom got passed around like a baton in European sex clubs.”She chuckles bitterly before taking a sip from her mug. “You make really good coffee.”

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