Summer Kisses (38 page)

Dawnie shivered and wrapped herself around Lucky. “I’m scared.”

“I know, baby.” Lucky patted her back. “You’re going to be fine.”

Lucky turned to Lorna. “You’re fired.”

“And who the hell are you?” Lorna had the nerve to look shocked. “You can’t fire me.”

“I just did. Now get your skinny ass out of here.”

“But you owe me for today.” Lorna turned indignant. “Mr. Brodie is the only one who can fire me.”

Lucky turned mean eyes on Lorna. “Lady, this is my house, and I can do whatever I want. You’re lucky I don’t call the cops. You have two seconds to leave before I throw you out.” When Lucky used her calm, even, I’m-gonna-rip-you-apart tone, people listened.

“Fine.” Lorna stomped toward the house.

“Girls.” She glanced at Reyleigh, Morgan, and Kylie. “Go with her and make sure she doesn’t take anything that doesn’t belong to her and that she actually leaves.”

“Done.” Reyleigh and the girls followed Lorna into the house.

Sirens wailed in the distance.

“Help is on the way.” Lucky continued to pat Dawnie.

“Don’t leave me.” Dawnie turned her huge, frightened blue eyes—Ricky’s eyes—on Lucky. “Promise.”

It was another stab to the heart. She and Ricky had wanted three little girls. They were going to name them Amanda, Vivian, and Dawn … but he’d had them with someone else. “I promise. Not leaving you.”

Still holding Dawnie, she sat down on the closest chaise lounge. “How do you feel?”

Lucky inspected her from head to toe. Please, God, let her be okay. The urge to hug her tightly and never let go was so strong, but this wasn’t her child and would never be hers.

“I’m cold, and my head hurts.” Dawnie studied Lucky. “You’re my daddy’s wife.”

Not really sure what to say, Lucky went with a nod.

“He’s dead…. Did you know that?” Dawnie was all childhood innocence.

That tore at her heart.

“Yes.” More warm tears streamed down Lucky’s cheeks.

Dawnie reached up and wiped them away. “Don’t cry. He’s in heaven. Uncle Will says that he’s watching us from the clouds all of the time.”

Lucky didn’t know how to explain that she wasn’t sad, just happy this precious little girl was okay.

They both looked up at the cloudless sky.

“I bet he’s still watching even though it’s a clear day.” Lucky wanted it to be true for Dawnie’s sake. The sirens got closer. “Sounds like help is on the way.”

Thinking of Ricky as a father was uncharted territory. It seemed both perfectly normal and hard to believe.

“My mom died too.” Dawnie continued to stare at the sky. “Think she can see me too?”

She
was dead? That kinda took the fun out of wanting to kill her. How had Will kept her death out of the press? Or maybe he hadn’t. Lucky went out of her way to avoid news, especially the gossipy kind. These days, all of her gossip came in the form of emails from her friends, Charlie and Betts. They certainly wouldn’t have mentioned it.

Lucky bit her lip. This poor child had lost a mother and a father and nearly her own life, and Lucky was being petty and selfish. She hugged her closer. Hatred for a dead woman warred with sympathy over the loss. Her own mother had died when Lucky was ten. “Yes, I’m sure she’s looking out for you right now.”

A part of her wanted to shoot the finger heavenward, just in case
she
was watching, but she didn’t. Besides, chances were that she’d need to point that finger down instead of up.

Dawnie slid her arms around Lucky’s neck. “I don’t like shots. Am I getting a shot?”

Best not to dwell on the dead parents.

“I won’t let them.” She wasn’t sure of the medical procedure following a near drowning, but she hoped it didn’t include needles.

Two paramedics from the Bee Cave Fire Department, both carrying neon orange duffle bags, came running from the side of the house. “We got a call about a drowning? Where is the patient?”

“Here.” Lucky waved. “I heard her yelling for help, and by the time I got here, she was unconscious. I started CPR, and she spit out lots of water.”

One paramedic pulled out an iPad while the other pulled out a penlight.

Mr. Penlight flashed it in Dawnie’s eyes. “My name is Jack, and the guy with the iPad is Earl. Can you follow the light with your eyes?”

Dawnie followed the light.

Jack spoke over his left shoulder to Earl. “Pupils are normal.”

Earl typed.

Jack looked up her nose, down her throat, and took her vitals. “Normal.” He un-looped the stethoscope from around his neck, tucked the ends into his ears, and listened to Dawnie breathe. “No fluid in the lungs.”

“What is your relationship to the patient?” Earl finally spoke.

Lucky looked down at Dawn, and she looked up at Lucky. “Stepmom.” The word stuck in her throat like day-old bread.

Earl and Jack exchanged a look. It was all Lucky could do not to sigh.

“The answers are yes, I am; no, I didn’t; and yep, he’s really dead.” Her life had become a look acquaintances shared—a spark of recognition that she was the unfortunate wife of a bastard.

“Yes, ma’am.” Earl nodded. “We know—”

“We can’t discuss it.” Jack straightened and turned to his partner. “HIPPA.”

“Yes, sir.” It sounded a lot like “screw you,” and Earl went back to typing.

“What?” HIPPA? What did Dawnie have to do with HIPPA?

“Nothing, ma’am.” Jack continued to listen to Dawnie’s breathing. “Are you the legal guardian?”

“No, I’m a… Well, her babysitter is no longer with us.”

“What in the holy hell happened?” Will sprinted from the side of the house. “The paramedics…”

He saw Dawnie. “Oh my God.” He snatched her up and hugged her to him. “Are you okay?” He turned to Jack. “Is she okay? What happened?”

This was more emotion than she’d ever seen from Will.

“I fell in the pool, and Lorna didn’t help me.”

“I jumped in after her.” Lucky shivered. “Lorna is no longer employed here.”

“I see.” Will’s eyes narrowed. “Does Dawnie need to go to the hospital?”

“No!” Dawnie shook her head violently from side to side. “No! No! No!”

“Okay.” Will patted her back. “Okay, baby. No hospital.”

Tears misted his eyes. She’d never seen Will cry … ever. He loved Dawnie. More than the anger she’d convinced herself she was entitled to, she wanted to see Will’s parenting style. Apparently around the girls, or at least Dawnie, he was a different man.

“Normally, we would insist on taking her in for evaluation, but she doesn’t seem to have been under long. All her vitals are normal, and she appears to be alert. Are you the legal guardian?” Earl glanced at Jack, who looked a little peeved.

“Yes.” Will nodded.

“You’ll need to sign a Refusal of Treatment form. Not taking her to the hospital is against policy, but if you sign the form, there’s nothing we can do.” Jack didn’t sound happy.

Earl handed Will the iPad, and he used his finger to sign.

Jack collected his equipment and packed it back into his duffle. “I guess we will be going.”

Earl tucked the iPad back into his duffle. “Ms. Strickland, it was an honor to meet you, and I’m sorry for your loss. Your husband was a great musician.” He held out his hand.

She took it in her cold and wet one and shook it. “Thank you.”

He held her hand a little too long for it to be casual. “My name is Earl Roberts.”

“Thank you, Mr. Roberts.” She extracted her hand from his. “Pleasure to meet you.”

“Call me Earl.” He smiled and stared.

“Call me Lucky.” She smiled back.

He held her gaze a little too long.

Will, with Dawnie wrapped around him, stepped between Earl and Lucky. “Thank you very much. We will be more careful from now on.”

Earl stepped around him to get to Lucky. “Ma’am, call if you need anything.” He held out a business card. “My number is on the back. Call anytime.”

“Thanks, Earl.” She nodded and took the card. “I’ve got your number—9-1-1.”

Will moved to stand behind Lucky and put a possessive hand on her shoulder. It was strange…. Will, possessive of her?

“We’ll call if we need you.” There was iron in his voice, and his face was missing the boyish smile he used on strangers. Unemotional Will had developed some anger issues. Okay, the situation with Dawnie had clearly rattled him, but rudeness, it wasn’t like Will.

To counter his abrupt manner, she said, “I’ll walk you out.” She made to get up, but Will put pressure on her shoulder, holding her down.

“There’s no need. I’m sure these gentlemen can find their way. They probably have another call. We don’t want to hold them up.” Will’s tone was more than harsh.

With a wave over his shoulder, Earl followed Jack around the side of the house.

“Wanna play Barbies?” Dawnie smiled hopefully at Lucky. Clearly, near death couldn’t compete with Barbies.

“I … um…” She looked across the pool to the glittering lights of the house. Unless the Barbies were outside, they would have to go inside to play. Inside the house that she’d shared with a man who hadn’t loved her … inside the house that symbolized the mockery of her marriage … inside the house she hadn’t spent more than twenty minutes at a time in because the memories were too painful. “I don’t think so.”

Dawnie coughed and turned huge, pitiful eyes on Lucky. “Please?”

Will patted Dawnie’s back. “That’s my little drama queen.”

Dawnie coughed again. “I almost drownded.” Her eyes were bottomless pits of despair that only Barbies could cure.

There wasn’t a woman alive who could withstand this kind of torture.

“Learned the art of manipulation from her father.” It was out before Lucky had time to think. “Wow, I didn’t mean to say that.”

“You and Lucky need to get cleaned up first.” Will held out his hand to help Lucky up from the chair. “Then we’ll talk Barbies.”

Lucky took Will’s warm, strong hand and stood. Will continued to hold her hand as they walked to the back of the house.

Braving the house was like facing down Ricky and his lies. She stiffened her shoulders. Will was right, she was no coward. Four hours ago, if anyone had told her she’d be walking into her old house to play Barbies with Ricky’s youngest daughter, she’d have laughed her ass off. Now, it didn’t seem all that outrageous.

Will couldn’t believe Lucky was actually here. He dropped her two duffle bags on the floor of the master suite. Lucky hadn’t batted an eye when he’d asked which room she’d be taking. It must hurt her terribly to be in the room she’d shared so many years with the man she’d loved. But she’d just walked in like it was any other day, slogged into the bathroom, and turned on the shower.

The shower … with both heads streaming hot water down her luscious body and all nine of the body sprays raining down delicious warmth on all those curves. And those mile-long legs. Years ago, he’d taken to calling her “Legs” in his head. The nickname had come to him about two seconds after he’d first laid eyes on her.

He leaned against the massive marble four-poster bed. Soapy, sudsy Lucky. Tunneling his fingers through his hair, he concentrated on lowering his blood pressure. Everything he’d ever wanted stood on the other side of that door, blissfully unaware of him.

Well, she was here, and that was something.

Step one—get her here—was complete. He’d revel in that small victory later, because step two—admitting the truth—weighed heavily on him.

She needed to know everything about her financial state. With any luck, that would keep her here until she fell in love with the children, hopefully with him, and they all lived happily ever after.

It was a fairy tale on crack.

He was anything but a king, Lucky would kill him for even thinking of her as a queen, but they did have three little princesses desperately in need of a happy ending.

The shower stopped, and the glass shower doors clicked open. She’d be stepping out onto the white bath mat right now, water dripping from her body. He stumbled to the sitting area where white leather sofas were positioned in front of the white marble fireplace and sat down.

Everything in this room was white per Ricky’s instructions. He’d needed the “creative energy” of the rainbow, so every room was a different color. When Lucky had explained that white wasn’t actually a color in the rainbow, he’d insisted. Since it had been pointless to argue with him, both white and black were added to the color spectrum. At least the master wasn’t the black room, because that room was depression with four walls and a ceiling.

Will took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Next she would walk out in nothing but a towel, looking for some dry clothes. He should leave. It was the right thing to do. Not so much as a muscle twitched.

The bathroom door opened, and he promised himself he would keep his eyes on the white carpet.

“Good, my bags.” Her feet sank into the rich, thick carpet.

“There were only the two bags in the trunk, along with Ricky’s missing bronze hand.” He smiled to himself. “I knew it was you.”

She was a fighter. He loved that about her.

“I was going for the head, but it didn’t wish to be parted from his body.” She stood right in front of him. “Where’s my car?”

“The garage with all of your other cars.” He shrugged. “Only way to get you here. Your timing couldn’t have been better.”

If she hadn’t gotten here in time and saved Dawnie. He rubbed his eyes. He didn’t even want to think about it.

“Why am I here? Why have you gone to so much trouble to force me to come here?”

He opened his mouth to tell her it was because he loved her … had always loved her … and that he’d brought her here so that she could finally see him for the man he was and not just her brother-in-law, but the words in his heart didn’t make it to the surface. “The night of your wedding, I promised Ricky that if something ever happened to him, I’d take care of you.”

Earlier she’d told him to look in the mirror if he wanted to see a coward—she’d been right. Every day he faced down greedy record labels, tore through contracts, and strong-armed recording studio execs, but all it took was one troubling case of unrequited love for a six-foot-tall, hazel-eyed beauty with a chip on her shoulder and a bad attitude and he was a whipped puppy. If he could discreetly punch himself, he would.