Page 35 of Anything for You
“She wasn’t. Apparently, she tried to get my mom to leave and one time when my mom and I went to visit her when I was about seven, she’d actually tried to get us out but…” I shook my head.
How Nan had wept when she’d told me about it, ugh. Even the memory of her retelling the events was brutal. I couldn’t imagine what it’d been like for her to see her only daughter dragged back to a world where she was mistreated and her children set on a course to face the same.
“I’m sorry, Dove.”
I’d noticed Dorian’s voice before, but today, something about it was sending a low-level hum through me every time he spoke. Saying my name?
Cue the urge to curl up and roll around in it.
“Thanks. I’m mostly a fully functioning human being. I’ve figured out how to have friends and live in a normal community. I even went to college and have had a good life, overall. But there are some things I missed, and I just don’t know if I’ll ever catch up.”
“Like what?” he asked, squeezing my hand once and releasing me, then picking up the teapot, waiting for my wordless reply.
Once I nodded, he poured more tea into my tiny beehive cup, and I sipped a drink, nerves rioting in my belly at the thought of telling him.
Like dating. Like falling in love. Like understanding men. Like sex.
No. I could not possibly say those things. Not like that, anyway.
“Well, I’ve never really dated. I think seeing how relationships went in my early teen years kind of messed me up, not to mention losing my parents.” I didn’t want to talk about how. “Feels like I have some broken pieces and I’m not sure how they fit back together.”
He seemed to sense I didn’t want to be more specific, holding up his cup until I joined him. His gaze, a weighty, almost palpably heavy thing, settled on mine.
“To your broken pieces. Every bit of you is beautiful and worthy of love.”
He dipped his head and took a sip while I sat frozen, utterly skewered by the toast. After a second, feeling the deluge coming, I sniffled. Who had ever so plainly and fully accepted me? Who had ever been so completely lovely and thoughtful? My friends did, I knew this, but it’d happened bit by bit. It felt like this man had appeared in my life and made it his job to show me what love looked like. Not that he loved me, but just that he knew so clearly how to express the right thing.
I cleared my throat, and guzzled down the still-hot tea, eyes slipping around the room to avoid landing back on his, even though that was where they ended up.
Brow furrowed, he watched me. My lips contorted, pressing together and tucking between my teeth like this had a hope of stopping the tears already lining my eyes. Shaking my head, I closed my eyes, sending tears down my cheeks before I opened again.
“Thank you.” It was only a whisper, but I meant it with my whole heart.
Slowly, so, so slowly, he reached out and slipped his roughened palm against my cheek. His thumb arced across my skin, wiping away the tears and their tracks, so much tenderness in his gaze as he did, it almost made me start crying again.
What is happening to me?
I startled when a gust of breath warmed my arm at my elbow, then melted at the sight of Bear at my side, worry scribbled across his brows. Dorian’s hand withdrew, and I swiped at my other cheek, then indulged in wrapping my arms around Bear’s regal shoulders as he sat next to my legs.
“I think this boy may be the sweetest I’ve ever met,” I said, sliding a hand along his back.
Somehow, he smelled lemony and clean. I wondered how often Dorian bathed him considering he was a farm dog who ran around with his owner in the day-to-day business of the place.
“He’s a lover, that’s for sure. He’s actually my ESA,” he said, expression soft as he watched me stroke my fingers over his dog’s head.
“Emotional support animal? That’s amazing.” I pet along the sides of Bear’s face. “What a good boy to be so sweet and a helper. You’re such a good boy.” I’d devolved into mytalks to animalsvoice, and Bear’s feathery tail waggled with pleasure.
After a big inhale, I dropped a kiss to Bear’s head and stood. “Mind if I wash my hands?”
Dorian hustled over, guiding me to the kitchen sink. I admired the tiles and backsplash, the painted cabinets and the overall quaint yet polished feel. We returned to the living room and talked about lighter fare—his favorite things to bake, my favorite book club reads so far this year, and as we piled plates and platters back into the kitchen despitehis protests against me helping, what I liked best about Silverton.
“That’s easy. First, the people, then the mountains. And these last few years, I’m very grateful to a few strapping lads who decided to open up a new security company and bring in so many amazing people.” Good grief, I was a cheeseball, but it was true.
Wilder Saint and Bruce Camden’s choice to settle here in Silverton meant they came here, but so did Tristan, who brought Winnie. So did Adam, who’d found Jo and given her another reason to stay. It brought both Jude and Jess, who’d reconnected and had given me an honorary nephew. It brought delightful Kenny Carmichael and his swagger, then helped lock in Elizabeth. It brought Luc, who’d proved to be a wonderful partner to Elise. Heck, in a roundabout way, it’d even brought in Eddie James-Williamson, who towed gorgeous Bri Williamson along with her.
And maybe best of all, it brought this man standing at the sink with rubber gloves and the pinch of a smile at his lips.
He settled a few dishes into the dishwasher and shucked the gloves.
