Dance Like Nobody's Watching (Summer Lake 3) (23 page)

“You know I dislike Olivia, but I'm grateful
to her. I think she's done you a huge favor in a roundabout way.”

“I do too. It's like all her manipulating
finally pushed me over the edge and I woke up to the fact that I've
been sleep-walking through a life I don't want with a woman I don't
even like. Now I get to come up here and a live the kind of life I
really want, with the woman I love.”

Jack grinned. “It's a great feeling, isn't
it?”

Dan nodded. “And I even get to do new and
challenging work that I'm looking forward to.”

“What's that then?”

“Do you remember Ryan from Berkeley?”

Jack nodded, “Yeah, he's a good guy. Where
is he these days?”

Dan told him about Ryan's visit and job offer.

“Wow, that's pretty cool. When do you
start?”

Dan frowned. He was still waiting to hear back
from Ryan. “Whenever they get done with the whole security
vetting process. Ryan said it should only take a couple of weeks.”

“So, soon you'll have a new job, a new
house, and a new son. I have to ask, is Missy going to be your new
wife?”

“I hope so. It's just that the whole getting
married thing had never occurred to me before.” He looked at
Jack. “Should I have asked her to marry me first? I didn't
think. I just want to be with her. Have us all move in here.”

Jack smiled. “I don't think it makes any
difference which way ’round you do it. You're made for each
other. When I think of the two of you as individuals, you don't make
any sense as a couple. When I see you together it's so obvious,
you're perfect for each other.”

Dan grinned. “That's something I've had to
learn since I met Missy. Logic and reason don't take intangibles into
account. Just because things don't make sense, it doesn't mean they
don't make sense.”

Jack laughed. “That is so true. But I never
thought I'd hear you admit it.”

“Me neither. But that little lady is making
me realize a lot of things I would never have believed before.”

“I'm glad. Missy is good people.”

“The best,” agreed Dan. “And I
want to give her the best, of everything.”

“Well, you're making a good start with the
best damned house in town!”

“You like it then?”

“I love it! Em's place is special. It's
growing on me, and I do love being up at North Cove, but this place
is something else. And for you, it couldn't be better, being right
here in town and on the lake as well.”

“I know. Miss has lived in town all her
life. And can you believe this has been her favorite house since she
was a kid? She knew the family and used to come to play with their
niece.”

“Wow! That makes it even more perfect....
And here she comes.”

Dan looked up the driveway to where Missy was
parking her minivan behind the RV.

“I'm going to get out of here, leave you
guys to it,” said Jack.

Dan nodded. It had been great to spend this time
with Jack, but they'd be able to do that whenever they wanted and
right now he wanted to show Scot their new home. Get a feel for what
he thought about the whole idea.

“Thanks Jack. I'll call you.”

“Sure bro. You can have us over for dinner
when you're all settled in.”

Dan smiled. Just like Missy had said, and he liked
the idea.

“Hey Uncle Jack!” called Scot as he
ran past Jack and flung himself at Dan.

Dan wrapped his arms around the kid. “Hey,
champ.”

“Dan, Dan, Dan! Mom says we can come stay
with you here for a while!”

Stay here? For a while? Dan was thinking of it as
live here. For good. He looked up at Missy who had been saying
goodbye to Jack. She smiled as she came to join them.

“So you two are going to stay here for a
while?” he asked pointedly. He relaxed when he saw her smile.

“Yeah. I told Scotty it's like when you and
me were testing out hugs before we decided to go out with each
other.”

Dan understood. She needed to be cautious for
Scotty's sake. Scot grinned up at him, still hugging his waist. “And
we know how well the hugging turned out, huh, Dan? So, you gonna show
me round our new house?”

Dan laughed as he led them through the front door.
He had the feeling this was going to turn out really well.

***

Missy slid the tray of sweet potatoes into the
oven with a smile. It still tickled her that Jack had told her his
secret to making the best sweet potato fries she'd ever tasted. Emma
had tried and tried to wheedle it out of her, but Jack had sworn her
to secrecy. Emma prided herself on being the best cook of all of
them, but she couldn't match Jack's fries. He claimed he kept his
secret because she wouldn't need him anymore once she knew it. Missy
knew how ridiculous that was. Despite a rocky start in learning to
trust him, Emma was completely besotted with Jack and seemed to
become more so with every week that passed since they'd gotten
married.

Missy took a seat at the huge island in the
kitchen. Was this really her life now? Would she and Dan get married,
like Emma predicted? She hugged herself as she sat on the stool—she
sure hoped so! She loved seeing how happy and in love Emma and Jack
were. She was starting to believe that she and Dan could have that
too. Right now, while she was making dinner, Dan and Scot were
upstairs, supposedly coding, but from the occasional bang and yell,
she guessed they were probably playing a video game instead. She'd
always battled with Scotty about homework being done before games.
Dan had explained to her that when he was a kid, he'd needed to give
his mind a break from boring school stuff and play or code for a
while before going back to it for homework. She hadn't been sure at
first, but the two of them had played a video game while she'd made
dinner on Monday night. After they'd eaten, Scotty had brought his
books to the table and buckled down without being asked. It seemed
that was becoming their routine. She liked it.

Her cell phone rang and she scooped it up,
thrilled to see Chance's name on the display.

“Hey, big bruv!” She answered,.
“What's going on?”

“That's what I was going to ask you!”

Missy's heart sank. She'd told her dad she and
Scot were going to stay with Dan for a couple of weeks. He'd met Dan
a few times now, and seemed to like him. Her dad never gave much
away, but he'd teased Dan about being so smart. He'd ever tease
someone if he didn't like them. She'd known she'd have to tell Chance
too, but she'd wanted him to meet Dan first, so he'd understand.

“What do you mean?”

“Don't give me that shit, Miss!”

She gulped, he sounded mad!

“Who is he?”

“Chance, he's the guy I've been telling you
about for months. The one who's been helping Scotty.” She
couldn't believe Chance would be too hard on a man who was helping
Scot out.

“I thought that was some geek who was
working with my nephew—not working on my little sister!”

She laughed. “Your little sister is a grown
woman, Chance. A grown woman who is capable of choosing a good man.”

“Hmph!”

“Oh, stop playing the badass! This is me
you're talking to, remember.” She was glad to hear him laugh.
He rarely did these days. “I know it's all happening a bit
fast, but he's a good man. He's good to Scot and he's good to me.”

“We'll see.”

“Yes, you will. I want you to meet him. Can
you still come for my birthday?”

“I said I'd come, didn't I?”

“You did, but I know things can change.”
She loved her brother dearly, but she'd learned better than to expect
him to come back to Summer Lake. It was too painful for him. She
understood that.

“Well, they have changed.”

Missy bit back the disappointment. She'd so wanted
him to be there for her birthday, to meet Dan, spend time with Scot.
She let out a sigh. “Maybe you can come sometime soon then?”

“I can. This change means I want to come
this weekend...and stay for your birthday...and maybe a while
longer.”

“Really?” she squealed.

His deep laugh rumbled down the phone. “Really.
I've got some stuff of my own going on, Miss. Before I can move
forward in life, I think it's time I come back. Make peace with the
past.”

Missy didn't know what to say, Chance rarely
mentioned the past. “Are you okay?”

“I'm fine, honey. And I think I'm starting
to get better too.”

“Oh, Chancey, I hope so. You can come stay
here if you want?” She couldn't imagine him staying with their
dad. He'd have to be a long way over the past before that happened.

“Thanks, but no thanks. How about you let me
rent your place from you since you're staying with the geek-boy?”

“He's a man, not a boy!”

Chance laughed. “We'll see. And you're not
arguing about the geek part?”

She pursed her lips. “Do you really think
this is the best way to ask me a favor?”

It was good to hear him laugh so much. “I'm
trying to do you a favor. Pay you some rent on your house.”

“Yeah, right Chance. Whatever you say. Of
course you can stay at my place and no you cannot pay me rent. How
long do you think you might be here?”

There was a long silence before he answered.
“We'll see.”

That was his standard answer. He wasn't big on
committing to anything. “At least tell me when you're coming?”

“This weekend. I'll be there when I get
there. I've still got a key.”

“Good, but Chancey, please let me know when
you're arriving? I can't wait to see you. I can't wait for you to
meet Dan. Promise me you'll go easy on him?”

“You know I don't do promises, Miss.”

Damn! That had been a stupid thing to say. “Sorry.
I'm just excited. Are you really going to stay ’til my
birthday?”

“Sure am, honey.”

“Thanks. You have no idea....”

“I've gotta go. Tell Shorty I'll see him
next week, and tell geek-boy he'd better be good to you both. Love
ya.”

“I love you, Chancey, bye.”

He'd already hung up. She couldn't imagine what
was going on with him, that he was coming a week early for her
birthday. She'd known he'd want to meet Dan—and scare him off
if he could. But it sounded like it was about so much more than that.
She slid down from the stool and went to check on the grill.

The house was so well laid out. A door from the
kitchen opened out to a little deck where the grill stood. From there
a path led down to an herb garden, then on to the vegetable garden.
She could happily get used to living like this. Once the grill was
hot enough, she went back to the kitchen to fetch the burgers. She
looked at her phone sitting on the counter. She sure hoped, for
Chance's sake, that he was ready to make peace with his past. She
also hoped, for her own sake, that he would like Dan, the man who was
starting to look like her and Scot's future.

***

Dan pushed his plate away. “That was
wonderful. Thanks, Miss. I'm not going to tell Jack, but you make
those fries better than he does.”

Missy smiled, pleased that so far Dan had loved
everything she'd cooked.

“Yeah, Mom. That was awesome, thanks.”
Scot wiped the ketchup off his face with his sleeve. She didn't have
the heart to pull him up over it. He looked so happy.

Dan gave her a little smile that said he knew that
her instinct had been to do just that and he was proud of her for
holding back. To think she'd been a mom for almost half of her life,
and he'd never had or wanted kids, yet Dan was teaching her a lot
about what worked best with Scotty. Probably because he remembered
all too well what it felt like to be in Scot's shoes.

“Come on, champ. Help me with the dishes so
your mom can put her feet up?”

“Okay. Then who's up for a movie?”

“What about homework?”

“All done!” They both said at the same
time. Dan held his hand up and Scot high-fived him with a grin.

“So. Movie?”

“Actually,” said Dan. “I was
wondering if you'd come for a walk into town with me?”

Scot looked at him. “Walk? Why?”

Dan laughed. “Because you've got to walk
before you can run and I'm going to have you out running with me
before Christmas.”

Missy smiled to herself. She'd been surprised that
Dan had managed to fit in his run every morning. He'd been walking
with Scot to the bus stop, then running for an hour. She'd been
leaving for work by the time he came back. She wasn't sure he'd ever
be able to get Scotty to join him though.

“And I can't ask your mom to come with me
because it's about a surprise for her.” Dan's eyes twinkled and
she wondered what he might have in store now. Yesterday morning he'd
returned from his run with chocolate croissants from the bakery.
Apparently when he'd learned that she loved them, he'd talked to Ben
who had added them to the menu. The twinkle faded though, as he said,
“And besides, it doesn't seem fair to ask your mom to walk
anywhere since she works so hard all day.”

She frowned. He'd been trying to persuade her to
at least cut back on her cleaning schedule. He may be right that she
worked too hard, but she didn't know how to do anything else. “I'm
not too tired. I'll come for a walk with you.”

“Sorry, but I do have a surprise in store
for you, so you can't.”

He looked so pleased with himself, she couldn't
even feel upset. And she was still tired, though nowhere near as bad
as last week. “Okay. Maybe I can figure out how to set up the
movie for when you get back.”

Dan and Scot exchanged a look.

“Don't worry about it, Mom,” said Scot
with a laugh.

“Err, yeah.” Dan smiled. “Maybe
you should have a go at the computer in your office instead?”

He'd tried to convince her that they did need six
bedrooms, by setting them each up with an office. His own was the
biggest, and looked to her like something out of a SciFi movie with
huge monitors and server racks sitting around. Scot's was almost as
bad, and apparently was going to get even more so over the weekend
when they got rid of all the bedroom furniture and brought in more
desks and equipment. Her own 'office' was beautiful. It looked out
over the lake and had its own fireplace and little balcony. The
computer in there was a big, scary thing though. She had yet to get
the hang of it. Dan wanted her to cut back on the cleaning, not just
to get some rest, but also so that she could start taking classes
online and working towards her degree. It'd take a while though,
before she trusted that all this was real, that it would last, before
she would loosen her grip on her only source of income.