14 Valentine Place (27 page)

Today was no different. They came together in an incredible explosion of passion and something else he didn’t want to examine too closely.

When it was over, he held her tightly, loving the feel of her naked body next to his, needing the feeling of connection that flowed between them. The thought of not having that made him shudder.

She thought he was cold and reached for a blanket to cover them. Cocooned together, they didn’t talk, content to listen to each other’s breathing.

Finally Dylan said, “I don’t know how I’m going to leave you, Maddie.”

She kissed his naked chest. “It’s only three-thirty. Your Mom won’t be home for another hour and a half.”

“I’m not talking about now. I mean when my medical leave is up.”

“Then don’t leave. They must need concrete specialists in Minnesota.” It was said in a light tone, but he knew she wasn’t joking.

He propped himself on an elbow to look at her. “I don’t want us to end, Maddie, but I can’t stay here.”

She stared up at him with eyes full of honesty and sincerity. “I haven’t asked you to stay, have I?”

“No. That’s just it. You don’t make any demands on me at all.”

“Because we have an agreement.”

He let his head fall back against the pillow. “Why did you go to Saint Cloud?”

“Krystal had a hair show and wanted me to be a model.”

So she hadn’t wanted to get away from him. He felt incredible. “It’s so good between us, Maddie.”

“What is?” she asked a bit impatiently. “Sex? Being together? What?”

“Everything!”

She smiled then, and kissed him. “Yes, everything is good. It’s as if we have this connection. I don’t understand it, but it’s there.”

He felt it, too, but unlike her, he did understand. There could be only one explanation—she knew what it meant to have a father who’d cheated on his wife.

“I may know what it is,” he told her, looking into eyes that brightened with curiosity at his words.

“Then you have to tell me,” she ordered.

“I want to, but if I do, I’ll put you in a position that could make you uncomfortable. You’ll know something none of my brothers or my mother knows.”

She placed her hand in his. “What is it, Dylan. You look so serious.”

“It is serious.”

In her expression he saw trust and understanding. After thirteen years he felt as if he could finally let go of the burden created by the secret. As unemotionally as possible, he explained what had happened spring break of his senior year.

When he’d finished, her eyes were thoughtful. “And you’ve never told anyone else.”

He shook his head. “I couldn’t let my mother find out. You’ve heard the way she talks about my father.”

“You’re still angry at him, aren’t you?”

“Aren’t you angry at your dad for what he did to your mother?”

She sighed. “Part of me will always be sad about what he did to my mother and my family. He left us.”

“So because my dad remained with my mom I should forget what he did to her?”

“I didn’t say that. It’s just that you’re letting something your father did thirteen years ago affect your relationship with your family. Dylan, I’ve seen the tension that comes between you and your brothers whenever your father’s name is mentioned.”

“Because they always think of him as this great dad,” he said in frustration. “He wasn’t.”

“But he wasn’t a monster, either,” she said quietly.

He stiffened. She didn’t understand. How could she not when her own father had done the very thing to her mother?

He pushed aside the blanket. “I shouldn’t have told
you. This isn’t your problem.” He rolled off the bed and began to dress.

She jumped up and tried to stop him. “Dylan, I’m sorry. You have every right to feel the way you do about your father. I’m not criticizing you.”

He sank back down onto the bed, his shoulders sagging. “We had fathers who screwed up big time, didn’t we?”

“Yes, but that’s not the only reason we connect with each other. We’re good together, Dylan,” she said, rubbing her hand across his bare back.

“You think so?” he asked with a crooked smile.

“Yes, although I was starting to have my doubts this past week. You didn’t exactly seem interested in being around me.”

“There hasn’t exactly been an opportunity. Both of us have rooms in my mom’s house,” he reminded her.

“And that’s the only reason why we didn’t…”

He nodded, although he knew it wasn’t exactly true. “And believe me, it was hard to keep my hands off you.”

“I thought—” she began, and then shook her head. “Never mind what I thought.”

“Tell me.”

“I thought maybe something that was said when you talked with your brothers made you think twice about being with me,” she told him. “I’m sorry I came between you and Garret.”

He sighed. “It’s resolved. Not that there won’t be something else that’ll come between us.”

“Is that why you choose to live thousands of miles away from your family?”

He got up again, aware of the direction the conversation was going. “I like living in Saint Martin.”

She scrambled off the bed and came to stand beside him. “Why?”

He stood with only his pants on. “I can’t stay here, Maddie. Don’t ask me to.”

“You just said we’re good together, Dylan,” she reminded him. As if she sensed what he was going to say, she turned her back to him. “Just forget it. You don’t need to explain.”

He turned her around to face him. “Yes, I do.” But he didn’t know what the explanation was. “I didn’t say I didn’t want to see you again.”

“You want to have a long-distance relationship?” He could see the idea didn’t exactly thrill her.

“Would that be so bad? You could come visit me. I could come visit you. Other people manage to do it.” He was trying to convince himself as much as he was her.

She thought about it for a minute, then said, “I don’t like the idea of not being able to see you every day. I’ve gotten used to you living downstairs from me.”

He’d gotten used to it, too. “I don’t think I can go cold turkey and just stop seeing you altogether. Weekends are better than not at all, aren’t they?”

Her face brightened. “You mean that?”

He answered her with a kiss, leaving her in no doubt that what he said was true.

“Wouldn’t you like to come visit Saint Martin?” he asked, nibbling on her ear.

“If you’re there, yes.”

“Then you’ll come.”

“It’ll get expensive,” she warned him.

“Don’t worry. I have lots of frequent flyer miles. I’ll take care of everything. I promise.”

And he would. He’d be in control, as usual.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Dear Leonie: I’m in love with a wonderful man who says he loves me. The problem? He carries around the burden of being the only one who knows that his father cheated on his mother. It’s a secret he’s kept from his mother and the rest of his family. Now I’m afraid this destructive secret has destroyed our love.

Signed: Sad in Saint Paul

D
YLAN’S MEDICAL LEAVE
was not extended. The doctor was so impressed with his recovery from the injury that he was told he could return to work ahead of schedule if he wanted. Dylan hadn’t wanted to do that, which was a first for him, since work had always been the passion in his life.

That was before he’d met Maddie. Although he suspected that once he was back on the island life would return to normal. Work first, women second.

But until then, he wanted to make the most of his time in Minnesota, which was why he intended to make sure their last night together was one she’d never forget. As he reached for the phone to make sure all of the arrangements were in place, he thought ahead to what was in store for the two of them.

He’d wanted to spend the entire day with her, but
she’d had classes to teach at the dance studio and then there was his mother’s appearance on the Rob Lerner show. Instead of airing the segment on Valentine’s Day, as had originally been planned, the network had moved the show forward.

In honor of the occasion, Shane and Jennifer had invited the family over to their house to watch the program. As everyone waited for the program to begin, Maddie said to Dylan, “Isn’t this exciting?”

He had to agree. “Mom looks nervous.”

“Anyone would.” She squeezed his arm. “Oh look! Tom and Judy are here with their new baby!” She dropped his arm and went hurrying toward the unknown couple.

“Who are this Tom and Judy?” Dylan asked Shane.

“Judy used to live with Mom. She was one of the first boarders,” he answered, handing his brother a beer.

Dylan watched as his mother, too, fussed over the couple, but it was Maddie who held his attention. She had the baby in her arms and was gazing down at the infant with a look on her face that made Dylan’s throat go dry.

Shane, noticing the direction of his gaze, said close to his ear. “Looks like Maddie found something that makes her smile.”

Dylan wasn’t sure what comment to make, so he made none. Shane drifted away and Dylan stood still, watching Maddie cuddle the baby. It was a sight that disturbed him so much he finally left the room. He went into the kitchen where he found his sister-in-law chopping away at a block of ice.

“Need some help?” he asked.

“This bag was supposed to have cubes, but they must have thawed and refrozen because they’re all stuck together,” she answered as she jabbed away at the ice.

He extended his hand. “Let me.” It felt good to hack away at the frozen cubes, as if he were chipping away at the doubts that were racing through his head.

Seeing the way Maddie had reacted to the baby made him realize she would make a great mother someday. It was there in her eyes, in her smile, in her gentle manner. But he wasn’t ever going to be a great father. He chopped at the ice with a vengeance, sending pieces flying in every direction.

“Whoa! I think you have it,” Jennifer said with a giggle.

Someone hollered from the other room. “It’s show time!”

Dylan followed Jennifer into the family room, where everyone gathered around the TV. He noticed that Maddie still had the baby. She patted the seat cushion next to her, indicating he should come sit beside her. Before he could get there, however, another person took the spot. He shrugged, indicating it didn’t matter, and leaned up against the wall.

The dull murmur changed to silence when Rob Lerner introduced the segment called, “Fourteen Ways to Show Your Sweetheart You Love Her This Valentine’s Day.” Everybody cheered upon seeing Leonie, then quieted to hear what she had to say.

When asked what made love last a lifetime, his mother spoke easily and with a confidence that gave
credibility to what she said. Dylan listened carefully, but it wasn’t until the last point she made that he realized everything she said applied to him and Maddie.
Everything
except the last statement.

“You need to have the same goals, to want the same things from a relationship.”

Again he sought Maddie’s face in the crowd, and she looked at him and smiled. He smiled back, unsure whether she was pleased because his mother had done so well on TV or if she was trying to send him the message that they did share the same goals.

When the program was over and everyone was once again talking, she got up and came toward him. “This is Benjamin. Isn’t he cute?” she said, looking up at him with a glow on her face. “Want to hold him?”

“No, that’s okay,” He tempered his refusal with a smile, but she saw through it.

“You look as if you’d rather walk across hot coals. Don’t you like kids?”

“Sure, if they’re somebody else’s.”

That had her frowning. “You don’t ever want to be a father someday?”

“It’s not something I’ve given much thought,” he lied.

“Have you met Tom and Judy?” she asked, gently rocking Benjamin to and fro.

“Not yet.”

“Come on. I’ll introduce you. They’re a really nice couple. You’re going to like them.” She led him over to the man and woman who appeared to be in their late twenties.

Dylan made all the appropriate comments, listening
as Maddie encouraged them to tell the funny story of how they’d met. Then they launched into new-parent anecdotes. As they stood talking, all Dylan could think about was that he and Maddie could be Tom and Judy, married, new parents who spent all of their time at a party talking about how they met and how wonderful it was to be parents.

He loosened the button on his collar, feeling as if in the past half hour it had shrunk. Never was he more grateful for his mother’s appearance than he was at that moment.

She came up to him and said, “Thank you for coming tonight. I know you and Maddie had plans.” She kissed him on the cheek.

It was the perfect opportunity for him to give Maddie the look that said it was time to leave. To his relief, she didn’t protest, but gave the baby back to Judy, then pushed her arm through his and allowed him to take her to get her coat.

The rest of the evening went just as he’d planned. They ate a late dinner in the hotel’s elegant dining room, danced to the small jazz ensemble playing in the lounge, then went back to the suite where red roses and heart-shaped balloons made it feel like Valentine’s Day.

Only something wasn’t right. Maddie noticed it, too. As he struggled to uncork the champagne that room service had sent, she asked, “What’s wrong, Dylan?”

“What makes you think anything’s wrong?”

She wore a shimmering red dress with tiny straps that emphasized her perfectly shaped figure. On any other night, his hands would have been working the
dress free of her body instead of wrestling with the cork on the champagne bottle. But this wasn’t any other night.

He kept thinking about what his mother had said about sharing the same goals. Maddie had told him she was content to have the same kind of relationship he wanted. She’d never mentioned a marriage or babies or even a commitment, yet in that little bit of time at Shane’s her body language had said more than words had ever told him.

“Dylan, something’s wrong,” she repeated. “After everything we’ve shared these past four weeks, I think I know when something’s not right between us.” She didn’t step any closer to him, but stood several feet away, as still as a store mannequin. “You’re only going through the motions. Even when we danced I noticed it.”