My jaw locked tightly, and I took a swig of my whiskey to chase the burn of the memory. “It’s not a night many of us want to remember. What happened on your birthday?”
Delilah rested her free hand on my chest and rubbed her thumb back and forth. I felt the coolness of her hands through my shirt, but even as cold as they were, it warmed my skin.
“Well, it depends if you ask Makenna or me. If you ask me, Makenna tricked me into drinking so much. It wasn’t my fault that the fire department had to be called because she was stuck in a tree, and it was definitely her fault that I made brownies and then tried to get them out without an oven mitt. That’s what the scar is from.”
A loud, surprised laugh rumbled in my chest. “Makenna was stuck in a tree?”
“Yes. I have a picture of Mak up there. It’s great. But again, it wasn’t my fault.”
She pointed at me and made her eyes really round, and my laugh continued to grow. “Would she say that it was your fault?”
“You know what I want?” Delilah leaned forward, trying to distract me with the pretty and mischievous smile on her face.
“What?”
“To dance.”
I rose from the barstool with her hand still in mine and led her to the dance floor. An upbeat, fast-paced country song was playing. Mom had taught me how to dance at a young age. It was something I’d never told anyone about until I got older and knew it would impress the girls.
I took her to the edge of the dance floor, and we watched the couples two-step past us until I found a break in the floor and spun her out and then back in. She landed against my chest with a thud and wide, surprised eyes.
“You can dance,” she said as I swept us across the floor.
I held her a little tighter with every song change, and every laugh that bubbled from her lips brought my mouth closer to hers. She was pressed against my body so tightly, there wasn’t a chance even a piece of paper could be wedged between us. I never looked anywhere but at her eyes. Her hand around my neck coasted up and down my skin.
When the song slowed down, I moved us to the edge of the floor and swayed with her in my arms. Then I slowly lowered my head to meet hers. Her fingers tightened in my hair as our lips met. My hand fisted in the back of her shirt as I licked the seam of her lips asking for entry. She opened her mouth and our tongues clashed together.
It was loud with the music and other patrons, but I could hear her soft moan as if it were on blast in my ears. The kiss sped everything up at the same time as it slowed everything down. It was entirely too much, setting my need for her on fire, and not nearly enough, as I wanted so much more.
I’d mostly chalked up my mom’s romantic stories about my dad to her missing him, and I’d rolled my eyes when she told me one day a kiss would change everything.
Fuck. She was right. I wasn’t ready to admit it to myself, but some deep, dark part of me knew Delilah had changed everything.
Chapter 20
Delilah
I didn’t speed through the property the next morning as I drove my golf cart to my parents’ house. It was as if I was out on a leisurely stroll with a silly smile on my face. I leaned out the side and tilted my face toward the sun, soaking in the rays and the goodness of the day. My lips still tingled from last night.
I pulled my red convertible in next to Mom’s pink Hummer. I slipped my sunglasses on top of my head and floated along the stone path to the front door. Whatever chaos was happening inside could be heard as soon as I got to the steps leading up to the front porch. I smiled and was grateful I’d listened to Mom and let Tuck have his fun last night.
I rolled my shoulders back, releasing the last of the tension from the Shayla situation. We hadn’t heard from her since the arcade, and for all I knew, she could’ve packed her bags and hit the road again. It was time though, no matter what, to find out how I could make sure nothing like this ever happened again.
I opened the front door and walked into the house, following the noise to the kitchen. Mixing bowls and measuring cups were everywhere. Bowls of gummy worms, whipped cream, and M&M’s were spread out over the counter. Tuck and Calvin were sitting at the kitchen table with plates towering with waffles sitting in front of them. The waffles were topped with the candy, and each boy was practically vibrating in his seat with excess energy.
Colt sat at the table with his own stack of waffles, sans gummy worms, with a cup of coffee and the Hawk Valley Gazette open in front of him.
“No gummy worms for you, Colt?” I asked by way of a greeting.
“Not on my waffles, I’m a grown man,” he said while snagging a gummy worm off Tuck’s plate and tearing off a bite. He grinned at me and raised his mug in greeting. I walked toward Tuck and kissed the top of his head.
“Have fun, bud?”
He nodded frantically and Calvin joined in. I looked over my shoulder and found Mom in the kitchen, humming as she did the dishes. The butterfly apron she was wearing was spotted with batter and chocolate. I’m sure that was Tuck and Calvin’s doing, because she could wear the nicest couture in the world while making the messiest dish, and she’d still come away spotless.
My dad came into the kitchen and kissed my cheek as he shuffled over to the coffee pot. He looked like he’d gone through the wringer last night. I chuckled, debating whether I should ask what the boys had gotten up to. I walked over to Mom and wrapped my arms around her shoulders. I glanced back at Tuck and Calvin, sitting at the kitchen table, and they were slurping up the gummy worms from their plates and throwing M&M’s at each other.
“Think you gave them enough sugar, Mom?”
“None of that tone out of you, missy. That’s what good grandmas do. It’s in the handbook. Spoil the children and give them all the sugar before they go home. Calvin’s mom asked if she could pick him up later this afternoon, and I told her that you would be delighted to watch him.”
My jaw dropped. I looked at the kids again. “You did this on purpose?”
She shrugged. “Think of it as payback for the dent in the side of the garage when you were a kid. I know it was you and Colt, not the squirrel family that you tried to lie about.”
Colt sputtered and spit out his coffee. “I told you they didn’t buy it,” he yelled.
I shrugged, mimicking Mom’s nonchalance. “I thought the pack of rabid squirrels living in and damaging the garage was perfectly believable!”
Mom snorted. “Right. Well, this is just a little justice for what you and your brother put your father and me through.”
I kissed her cheek. Even though I was going to have to do something to take the energy out of these boys, I was grateful that she spoiled Tuck.
I clapped my hands. “Okay, boys. Pack up and put on your tennis shoes. We’re going hiking.”
The boys picked up their plates and raced to take them to the sink before scrambling out of the room to change from their pajamas into normal clothes. I sat at the table across from Colt. “What are you doing here so early?”
He put down the paper and his mug of coffee before scrubbing his face. “It’s been busy at the station. I’m also…” He paused and glanced to the side. “I’m also following any lead I get about Shayla. I’m going to find her, and I’m going to do it before she finds you again. So with all that, I haven’t been leaving the station until late, when the store’s already closed. Unless I wanted some ketchup and beer for breakfast, to Mom’s house I go.”