“So that is it,” Keri said.

  “We are divorced,” he said. “And even if Dahlia weren’t in my life, we’ve been over for years, Keri. You know it and I know it. You didn’t even fight the divorce and pushed for it as fast as I did.”

  “I just thought you would have changed your mind,” Keri said, sniffling.

  He shook his head. “No, you didn’t. You’re alone now and that is why you’re here. No other reason, but you won’t admit it.”

  Keri was crying now. Her makeup running. She was a hot mess and no doubt hoped it would make her look vulnerable. He’d fallen for it before.

  Now, he wouldn’t. He couldn’t. He wasn’t sure why he ever did in the past.

  Dahlia was right. He shouldn’t have to be the one shouldering all the decisions and burdens.

  The fact she made her statement and let him handle this on his own told him she had every confidence in him and he had to have it in her. If the roles were reversed, Keri wouldn’t leave the room. She’d be standing there watching him to make sure he ended it.

  “So this is goodbye?” Keri asked.

  “It is,” he said. “I wish you well, Keri. I hope you can find what I found with Dahlia. I hope you find someone to give you what you need, but it wasn’t me.”

  He moved forward and hugged her because he felt like he had to. Maybe the words and the actions were the closure that he needed more than he realized. Keri squeezed him hard like she often did when she was scared but he had to let her go. It was time for them both to move on and he stepped back for her to leave.

  When Keri was gone, he turned to go back outside. Dahlia was still planting as if nothing had happened though she was digging harder and faster than normal.

  “She’s gone,” he said.

  “I feel a little inferior looking at her,” she said, sitting back on her heels. “She’s stunning.”

  “Surface beauty,” he said. “You know that. You summed it up well with your statement that the ending would have been the same.”

  “I’m sorry for that,” she said. “I shouldn’t have said it.”

  “You totally should have. Even the comment about being pregnant. I would have told her. She needed to know we were done.”

  “So she did come here to get you back?” she asked.

  “That is what she said, but I don’t believe it. I even told her. She’s alone right now. She admitted she wasn’t with the person she’d been dating. She doesn’t like to be alone. She liked the life I gave her because it’s what she saw that she wanted. She blamed my job for what changed between us.”

  “Your job didn’t have as much to do with it as you think,” she said. “You could have been a cashier at a store and you’d still have the same problems with her not letting you express yourself.”

  He laughed. Really laughed hard. “First off, if I was a cashier, she’d never give me the time of day.”

  “Then her loss,” she said.

  “Would you?” he asked. “I got the impression you liked me in my suit.”

  He was grinning. She stood up and moved closer to him. “I don’t see the surface in people like others do. It’s there but not what drives me. I will admit that my hormones now really do like the sight. But seeing you in these tight T-shirts is pretty nice too. Am I shallow for saying that?”

  He pulled her into his arms. “You can be as shallow as you want.”

  “Are you going to tell me what happened just now?” she asked.

  “Come sit down,” he said, pulling her gloves off her hands.

  He explained the whole conversation. “Did she always use tears with you?”

  “She did. I fell for it.”

  “Did you really?” she asked. “Or you just did what you thought she wanted?”

  “Isn’t it the same thing?”

  “No,” she said. “It’s not. I want to know. I need to know that you don’t make all your decisions on what you think I want. I want to know that you are doing things for you too. This goes back to what we talked about the other day.”

  Which just proved again that Dahlia understood him more than anyone else ever did. Maybe more than he understood himself.

  “I probably did it because it’s what she wanted me to do. I wanted to make her happy. I don’t think that is a bad thing for the person you love.”

  “It’s not,” she said. “And I’m sure you’re going to do it for me and I’ll do it for you. That is what people in love do. Don’t think I don’t understand that. But what I need you to know is that I don’t expect you to do those things at the expense of your own comfort, emotionally or physically. Sucking up eating tacos three nights in a row isn’t the same as not being able to tell me you’re sick because you don’t want me to worry.”

  He laughed. “I don’t mind tacos. It saved you from cooking.”

  A few weeks ago she had a serious craving for them and he picked them up for her on his way home from work. He found it sweet that she’d even asked when he knew it was hard for her to ask for anything.

  “And I appreciate you doing it. But again. Not the same thing as keeping things in that cause you to have nightmares.”

  He sighed. “I’m not sure I can control the nightmares.”

  “Maybe not, but at least know that you can talk to me about them.”

  “I can,” he said. It just occurred to him about the box. “Keri brought me something. Something she said was delivered a few weeks ago at our condo.”

  “You didn’t open it?” she asked, walking into the house with him.

  “No,” he said. “It didn’t seem important. I was more concerned about her reason for flying here without notice. I think she just used that package as an excuse.”

  He walked over to the box on the coffee table and noticed it was handwritten to him and not a printed label. That was odd.

  The return address though was what made him rip into it.

  “Who is it from?” she asked.

  “Kevin’s parents,” he said.

  “Really?” she asked. “You’ve been emailing them with no response. How did they get your address?”

  “I’d sent Kevin a few things early on. From me personally. Just stuff that I thought would help him. Things my counselor said would help me when we talked. I’d asked her opinion, she suggested I do that.”

  It was just arts and crafts. Things that are often suggested that children do to express what they are feeling if they don’t feel as if they can talk.

  Since Kevin couldn’t talk well or write, he was hoping coloring books and crayons, sketch pads and other things might be useful at some point.

  Kevin’s parents didn’t have a lot. They were hard-working people that didn’t have the resources to push to get their child found years ago like other families might. He’d tried to help as much as he could back then.

  “I find that very sweet,” she said. “And so you.”

  Inside the box were a few craft projects. Things that a child younger than Kevin might make, but he was so touched that what he’d sent was getting used.

  He opened a big envelope and saw lots of sheets of paper with drawings and pictures. Even cut-out pictures from magazines glued together. He’d check them out more after, but the letter from Kevin’s parents was on top.

  It explained that Kevin was working hard and getting there. He was way behind for his age but that wasn’t what anyone was pushing. It was more about getting him comfortable and trusting. That they’d had computer issues and hadn’t been able to replace the one they had and didn’t have his email address handy. But they’d found a box with the supplies in it and a note with his address and hoped it was okay to send this.

  Dahlia was standing next to him. “They left their phone number. Are you going to call them?”

  “I don’t know,” he said. “I have to think about it. I don’t want to set Kevin back.”

  “Talking to his parents isn’t going to do that,” she said. “It’s not like you are asking to talk to him.”

  She had a point. There was some more information there on Kevin’s progress and then he started to look at the pictures. They started out dark and then seemed brighter. Lighter. Maybe how he might have changed over the past year if he had to put his feelings into colors or art.

  “He seems like he’s doing well.”

  “He does,” she said. She took the papers out of his hands and put them down, then pulled him into a hug. “Do you feel better? Do you feel as if some of this circle is closing up? Not for closure but more like an infinity loop that will keep running and changing courses?”

  “Yeah,” he said. “I do. If he can get there, then so can I.”

  “That’s what I want to hear,” she said. “That and maybe we can have tacos for dinner?”

  “Anything you want,” he said, picking her up and kissing her.

  “You got some dirt on your cheek from me,” she said when he put her down.

  “Guess we’ll have to shower and clean up when you’re done. Why don’t I help you finish?”

  “You can,” she said. Earlier she’d told him she wanted to do the planting alone, that it felt like nesting and he let her go.

  The fact she was letting him help just proved they both were letting the other in more.

  38

  WHO SHE WAS

  Two weeks later, Dahlia turned and looked at herself in the little black dress and heeled sandals she’d slipped on.

  She didn’t want to go buy a new dress that she figured she’d never wear again but caved and did it.

  She didn’t have a lot of fancy clothes and she already wore her one nice dress to Violet and Trace’s wedding months ago. Ivy told her she couldn’t wear the same one twice. She didn’t think anyone would notice, but when she put it on, it was too tight in the chest and hips.

  She hadn’t gained more than three pounds so she couldn’t believe it was that tight.

  Good thing she tried it on last week and not last minute and had to worry. So she did the one thing that she knew her sisters would love. She asked them to go shopping and they helped her find a dress.

  The three of them had a great girls’ day, talked about the men in their lives and laughed like silly fools the way they did as kids when they talked about wishing they could do American things.

  “Are you going to let me see you?” Hugh asked through the closed bathroom door.

  “Yes,” she said, turning to open the door. “It takes time to look like this. It’s why I don’t do much with my hair and makeup. And it’s the first you’ve seen me fancy. I guess I wanted to make you proud.”

  Dahlia wasn’t often this insecure about the way she looked.

  She knew she wasn’t the flashy sister. The fashionable one either.

  In the past she was good with it. It’s who she was.

  But after seeing Hugh’s ex a few weeks ago and the person he’d been in love with and married to...yeah, talk about the inferior feelings just as she’d told him.

  In her heart she knew it was silly, but her hormones were on the edge of her skin and telling her to do what she could to turn the man she loved on.

  When she did a little spin, he whistled. “Proud enough to unzip you, mess you up and let you get ready again?”

  “Yes,” she said but moved back. “You’re not doing it now. You can do it later. We match too. Black and black.”

  He laughed at her. He didn’t have to worry about what he was going to wear since he wore suits daily.

  “Not hard to do,” he said. “You’ve got curves in that dress.”

  “I’m not used to it. I hope I don’t break an ankle in these heels either.”

  They weren’t that thin and she felt pretty sturdy on them. She was surprised she’d let Ivy talk her into new shoes when she had black pumps.

  As Ivy had pointed out, those were accountant heels, these were get your man naked heels.

  Jasmine had agreed and she picked the box up and brought them to check out.

  “I’ll be there to keep you steady,” he said. “Can I give you a kiss?”

  “You can,” she said. “And then we’ve got to leave. Sorry for taking so long. I don’t normally spend so much time getting ready.”

  He looked at his watch. “We’ve got ten minutes before you said we had to leave. We’re good.”

  “I’m excited for you to meet the rest of my coworkers. It’s a good spot to do it, I guess. We’ll be sitting with Ivy and Jasmine and you know Brooks and Wesley well. But you’ll meet the rest.”

  Heather and Luke were getting married today. They were marrying at Mona’s against Heather’s mother’s wishes that they marry in a church.

  Luke had no family that would be attending. Just a few men he was close to in the service that were able to make it. Daisy was Heather’s maid of honor, Zane the best man. No other wedding party.

  The weather was beautiful and she knew her sister had outdone herself with the flowers and Mona with the setup outside and under tents with a dance floor on the patio.

  She grabbed her purse, just a colorful floral clutch that Ivy let her borrow. One from the Blossoms line, but she’d never be frivolous enough to own something like that.

  When they arrived at Mona’s shortly after, she found her name tag and table inside. The wall of glass doors was open, so sitting inside let everyone see out to the covered patio where the nuptials would be, and then removed for them to dance.

  Dinner would be served inside, but there were more tables and chairs set outside for the wedding guests to mingle and see the dance floor from multiple locations.

  “Look at you in that dress,” Poppy said, rushing over. “And you’ve got to be the sexy baby Daddy.”

  Dahlia laughed. “Hugh Crosby, this is Poppy and Reese McGill.”

  Everyone shook hands. “You’ll be meeting a lot of people today,” Poppy said. “Everyone is excited.”

  Reese laughed. “Ignore my wife. She gets excited about these things. It’s the romantic in her.”

  “It’s not the romance,” Poppy said. “It’s the sex. Everyone comes to me for my superpowers. Or if they don’t, I seek them out.”

  “We are out of here,” Reese said, pulling Poppy away with them both laughing.

  “Ignore my sister,” Rose said. “I’m Rose and you know Thomas.”

  “Good to see you again,” Thomas said. “Under better circumstances.”

  Dahlia was just glad everything seemed to be behind her right now.

  She walked Hugh around introducing him to as many as she could before they all had to be in their seats. In her mind it was better to get it over with now.

  “Sorry about that,” she said.

  “Don’t worry. I expected it,” he said. “You met a lot of my coworkers already.”

  She still talked to Stephanie once a week at least. Normally via a text, but they did have plans to get lunch soon on a weekend. Maybe dinner. Stephanie had just found out Dahlia was pregnant. It’s not something she’d been vocal about with many.

  Finally being out of the first trimester and feeling pretty good, she was fine with more employees knowing at work, but it’s not like she’d made an official announcement to everyone. That wasn’t her style.

  When the music started to play, Zane got into place in the front next to Luke, Heather’s mother was walked down the aisle by both her sons and they took a seat. Daisy was next, then Heather on her father’s arm.

  She’d never thought she was an emotional person when it came to weddings, but she found her eyes getting a little glossy over the way Luke looked at Heather.

  Didn’t every woman want to be looked at like that on their wedding day?

  That was the romance in her mind that she’d never thought of before.

  She’d never had dreams of a big wedding. Not like Ivy was planning. She was more like Jasmine. Just do it and get it done.

  Maybe if the time came, she and Hugh would do that. He’d been married already, as Wesley had been. She didn’t care all that much for a formal ceremony or white dress.

  The nuptials were short and sweet. The newly married couple kissed and then walked back down between the tables to go outside and get some pictures of the wedding party while everyone else could relax and talk while they waited.

  Servers came out and placed a tray of appetizers on each table. Now this was what she wanted. She didn’t even need to get up and pick at food.

  “Did you tell Dahlia who came into the flower shop asking about her?” Ivy asked Jasmine.

  “No,” Jasmine said. “I wasn’t going to say anything. Not sure why you brought it up.”

  “Who?” she asked, looking back and forth between her sisters.

  “It’s not a big deal,” Jasmine said.

  “Who?” she asked again, this time looking at Ivy.

  “It was Gretchen,” Ivy said, ignoring Jasmine’s frown.

  “Who’s Gretchen?” Hugh asked.

  “A nosy shop owner across the street,” Ivy said. “She is always starting rumors and talking gossip to people.”

  “Which is why Dahlia wouldn’t care,” Jasmine said. “She doesn’t get involved in all of that.”

  Her sisters knew about Keri’s visit. She’d never in her life shared as much as she did now, but she was glad that she had.

  They both told her they were proud of her.

  Ivy would have stayed in the room to watch Brooks deal with it. Jasmine admitted she might have too but not said a word, whereas Ivy would have kept interrupting.

  Dahlia handled it her way.

  “What did she say?” she found herself asking.

  “Just that she’d heard you were dating someone and wanted to know who it was,” Jasmine said. “She came in looking for sale flowers. You know how she is.”

  “She tried to hit me up on sale soaps in the shop a few days prior, but I had to walk away from her for a call,” Ivy said. “You know me, I would have dragged her all over the store for hours getting her to try to buy something before I gave her no information.”