Page 55 of Stowaway Whirlwind
“Had filthy hot makeup sex in the woods?” Wyatt lets loose a startling, booming laugh that, thankfully, cuts into the tense atmosphere. “Been there, done that.”
Dolly smacks his chest with the back of her hand and says, “You have to stop saying stuff like that when our moms can hear you!” Though she’s sucking in her cheeks, trying not to laugh, her eyes are pinched with worry for her mom.
Color blooms high in Ms. Judy’s pale cheeks. She slowly drops her hands, which continue to tremble, and steps back toward Dolly. She asks me, “You’re sure you’re ok?”
“Yes. I promise I’m ok.”Better than ok.
When I think she finally believes me, she turns and tugs Dolly into a rib-crushing hug, crying harder than before. “I’m sorry, baby, I’m so sorry.” I only catch snippets of her apologizing for…not stepping in when she should have?
I’m not entirely sure what that’s about, but Dolly has tears in her eyes now, too, having wrapped her arms low around her mom’s back, saying, “I know,” and, “It’s in the past.” I’m hit with a heavy wave of my own sad understanding when Dolly says, “He can’t hurt us anymore.”
Ms. Ellie joins their sides, hugging the both of them. Once they all pull apart, Ms. Ellie smiles faintly and says, “I think it’s time we call it a night now that we know Goldie is ok.” She darts her eyes to my left hand that I’ve placed on top of Davis’s to press it harder against my belly so I can absorb more of his heat. She steps forward and pats my cheek, then Davis’s, offering her congratulations.
Ms. Judy is next, tearfully apologizing to Davis for thinking the worst and slapping him. She seems embarrassed when Davis softly tells her that he understands why she did it and that she has nothing to apologize for. She asks if she can hug me, rubbing her hand up and down my back when I allow it. Then she kisses Davis’s red cheeks, apologizes once more, and leaves with Ms. Ellie after they say goodnight to Dolly and Wyatt.
Dolly beams at me when she lifts my hand and gazes at the gold band and marquise-cut diamond with a halo of smaller diamonds. I had thought Davis’s proposal was spur of the moment, but he’d come prepared with his mother’s gorgeous engagement ring. It’s the prettiest piece of jewelry I’ve ever seen, and I almost don’t feel worthy enough to wear it. When I started crying big, uncontrollable sobs after he slipped it onto my finger, he rushed to tell me he’d replace it if I wanted something more modern. He thought I was crying because I didn’t like it, but no other ring could ever be more special than this one.
Wyatt slaps Davis’s back, and unexpectedly, Dolly starts to cry all over again when we hug. When she pulls away, she fans her face and says, “Dang hormones. I cry at everything these days.” She breaks into another brilliant smile as she picks a fewtwigs from my wild hair. “I’m just so happy for y’all. Are you happy?”
I tell her honestly, “My body isn’t, but my heart is.”
She snorts. “I know how that goes. Always a fun time in the moment, but the aftermath can be brutal.” She drops her hand to mine, then leans in and whispers in a way that isn’t actually a whisper by most people’s standards, “Just be careful. Giant men lead to giant, vagina-breaking babies. Ask me how I know.”
Wyatt laughs so long and loud that William comes toddling into the kitchen in blue long-sleeve Hot Wheels pajamas, rubbing his sleepy eyes. He doesn’t seem too happy about being woken up by all the noise, and he gives his Pops the kind of look that’ll make grown men shrink back when he’s older and as big as Wyatt.
I laugh, too, which is a bad idea since it makes my stomach and core spasm.
Davis pulls me back into his hold to rub circles over my belly and kisses my temple. “Think it’s about time we grabbed Lily and got you home and into the bath.”
Once Davis has transferred a sleeping Lily from the crib to the car seat in the Ford, he wraps an arm around my back and faces Wyatt, who has Dolly curled under his arm, and a hush falls. “I don’t want to drop more on your plate than you already have, Dolly, but I was hoping you could—”
Dolly interrupts. “Get the girls together and help plan the wedding?”
Davis chuckles. “Yeah. And maybe—”
“Take Goldie wedding dress shopping?” She grins when he nods. “When’s the wedding?”
He drops a bomb on me when he answers, “Thursday.”
My jaw goes slack. “Thursday?”
“Gotta wait three days after getting a marriage license in Texas to get married,” Davis says with another nod. He clicks his tongue. “Wish we didn’t have to wait so long.”
“So long?” I mutter under my breath, “Jesus, you really are crazy.”
He tips my chin up, and we lock eyes, his swimming with sincerity. “Three minutes is too long without you wearing my last name, honey, let alone three days.”
Shocked to the tips of my toes at how much has changed in the space of a few hours, I can’t do much more than blink up at Dolly after we exchange phone numbers and she informs me she’ll introduce me to Granny’s Girls tomorrow to get started on planning the wedding.
Dolly pulls me in foryet anotherhug. I’ve missed this kind of feminine affection since Aunt Lydia passed, and Dolly, Ms. Judy, and Ms. Ellie have given me so much in such a short amount of time that my heart is bursting with it.
She leans back and says, “You’ll get used to it.”
“Used to what?”
“The whirlwind,” she says, giving me a wink that reminds me of her husband. “Speaking from experience, fate moves fast.”
“Fate.” I whisper the word.
