No Love Allowed (Dodge Cove Trilogy #1) (20 page)

The doors slid shut before the woman could argue against him stepping off.

He glanced left, then right. When he spotted the nurses’ station, he approached on wobbly legs. He wouldn’t have been surprised if Didi never wanted to see him again.

Stomach in knots, he vowed to make things right with her. If he had to grovel, beg, crawl—whatever—he would.

“Excuse me,” he said weakly to the woman seated across from him. When she looked up, he continued. “Which room is Didi . . . ah, Diana Alexander in?”

Her fingers flew over the keyboard of the computer she sat in front of. The frown that crossed her features as she squinted at the screen stopped his heart. Then her words chilled the blood in
his veins.

“She seems to be in the psych ward at the end of the hall.” The woman looked up at him again. “Only immediate family can see her.”

“Why would Didi be in the psych ward?” The question slipped out without Caleb being conscious of it. He retreated into his thoughts. What the hell had his father done putting her in
there? Was this his way of keeping them apart?

“I’m sorry,” another voice said from behind him. “Did I just hear you inquire about my daughter?”

Stiffly he turned around to face a woman who looked like an older version of Didi, except a mix of age lines and worry lines gave her a tired appearance. She wore a pink uniform of some sort
with her brown hair in a ponytail. In both her hands were white plastic bags.

“You’re Didi’s mom,” he said, his voice coming out hollow. He still couldn’t wrap his mind around the girl he loved being in a psych ward.

She nodded. “You must be—”

“Caleb Parker. I’m her boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend?” The confusion in her face spurred him to explain.

“Didi and I have been seeing each other for a couple of months now. If my father has anything to do with this—”

“Mr. Parker isn’t to blame. He’s been very generous to us.”

“But . . .” His father? Being generous? More like JJ wanted to avoid a lawsuit.

“She’s told me about you,” she said. “But she said you were friends. From what you’re saying it seems like you two are actually together?”

Caleb noticed the purple splotches beneath her eyes and the fatigue in the slump of her shoulders. “I can guarantee that I wasn’t drunk when we got into the accident. You can even
ask the doctor. My blood-alcohol level was below the legal limit. I swerved to avoid hitting an animal or whatever it was that jumped out in front of us. But that’s no excuse. Please believe
me when I say I didn’t mean your daughter any harm. If I could take last night back, I would. I promise to make it up to her any way I can.”

Didi’s mother’s eyes shone bright with unshed tears. “Caleb, you seem like a nice guy, but after the accident and what your father told me . . . There’s something you
need to know.”

“What is it?”

She transferred one of the bags to her other hand and took his. “Didi has bipolar disorder.”

He pulled his hand out of hers. Of all the things she could have said, this wasn’t remotely close to what he had expected. “What?”

“Didi told me this was only supposed to last until the end of summer, right? That you’re leaving?”

“That was the original plan.”

“Temporary isn’t good for Didi. You’ve already had a bigger impact than you know. I don’t know when she stopped taking her meds, but the number of paintings in her art
room tells me it’s been a couple of weeks at least. This wouldn’t have happened if she’d stayed on them. The only reason why she would go off the rails that I can think of has to
do with you. I’m sorry, Caleb, but you changed her life in such a big way that she thought it would be all right if she stopped taking her meds. That there wouldn’t be consequences.
Surely you would have noticed her mood swings. One moment she’s as happy as can be, then she’s irritable the next.”

He nodded vaguely.

When she frowned, her entire face reflected her sadness. “Whatever you think you had with her during this time wasn’t real. You fed her mania.”

“I don’t understand,” came out as a whisper.

“Right now she’s heavily sedated. When paramedics found her at the crash site, she was practically suicidal, blaming herself for asking you to drive faster.”

“But it wasn’t her fault.” He spoke, but the words sounded wooden to his ears. All the moisture in his mouth had moved to his hands. He rubbed his palms against his thighs to
dry them.

“She’s physically fine, but . . .” She shook her head. “Caleb, I don’t think you know what kind of commitment being with someone who has bipolar disorder is. The
medication alone she needs to take . . .”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. Best if you just disappear from her life as planned.”

CALEB CAME HOME
in a daze. The painkillers kept his bruised ribs in check but did nothing for the ache in his chest. He
didn’t know what to do. To give in to Didi’s mother’s wishes seemed like what he
should
do. But to do so would deny the feelings he knew he already had. Either way, pain
was the consequence. So in an attempt to clear his muddled thoughts, he spent hours walking around the estate with no real purpose to his wanderings. No trace of the grand party remained. The
ballroom lay as empty as it always did on regular days.

The words of Didi’s mother replayed over and over again in his mind. Had it really been his fault that she’d landed in the psych ward? Had he really fed her mania? Whatever that
meant. The only thing he knew about bipolar disorder was the mood swings. He suspected that was what everyone knew about it. He had never met anyone who suffered from it before. And Didi had seemed
so . . .

Normal.

He hated himself for thinking of the word, but it was already there before he could censor himself. Her mother had said it would be for the best if he disappeared from Didi’s life. But
would it, though? Was it what Didi wanted? They had agreed they would part ways after the summer. Just thinking about never seeing her again . . .

He had been so careful. At the first glimmer of love from the girls he had dated, he had cut ties. He had convinced himself that all he wanted was no-strings-attached fun. And of course, the
first time he had allowed himself to entertain the notion of falling, this had happened.

Eventually he wandered into the living room. An entire section of the massive space was covered with brightly wrapped gifts—stacked many boxes high. He had forgotten. The party seemed so
long ago. Seeing Didi in that dress . . .

A rectangular shape wrapped in simple brown paper and string stood out among the colorful packaging. From its size he recognized one of the canvases he had purchased at the art store with her.
His feet couldn’t move fast enough. He picked up the gift and tore into it like a child on Christmas morning.

As the string and paper fell to the floor, he held out the painting. Unable to appreciate the picture properly, he brought it to a wall where several still lifes hung. He took one down and
replaced it with Didi’s work, then stepped back. His heart squeezed like a fist had closed around it.

It was their first kiss. Fourth of July fireworks exploded above them, glittering gold in the night sky of dark indigo and blue. The lake glimmered, reflecting the light show above. It seemed as
if the water actually moved. They stood, a little off to the side, in each other’s arms. Didi’s red, blue, and white dress was a pop of color in the twilight surrounding them. Her face
was tilted up toward his, and his hand was on her cheek. He could almost recall the softness of her lips and the sweetness of her taste just by looking at her creation. The brushstrokes were so
fine the painting came alive. She had captured the moment perfectly. It showed so much love and emotion.

His eyes welled as he crossed his arms and rubbed his lips. She had given him this. For his birthday. The magical moment they had shared when he finally realized he had let love in. After seeing
this, he couldn’t just disappear from her life. Not now.

Caleb got into his Mustang and drove straight to her house. This situation between them would get settled once and for all. He had a few things he wanted to say to the girl he
loved.

Parking at the curb, he didn’t bother locking the car when he stepped out. He strode to her front door and rang the bell. No one answered. Surely her mother wouldn’t have left her
alone already? He had checked with the hospital. They had gone home. But maybe she’d needed to work. Maybe she’d had no other choice than to leave Didi alone. His heart ached for them.
All their money must have been going to filling prescriptions.

No wonder Didi didn’t bother thinking about college. And, for the first time, he thanked his father for paying her medical bills after the accident. He wasn’t sure if they had
insurance. Probably not, considering her mother juggled multiple jobs.

He tried the knob. When it didn’t budge, he felt around the sill for the spare key. Didi had forgotten her keys once and mentioned something about a Hide-a-Key. At the right-side corner,
his fingers skimmed over a rectangular box. Triumph washed over him. When he slid the container open . . .

No key.

Cursing, he returned the Hide-a-Key to the sill and backed away from the front door.

There must be another way in
, he thought as he skirted around the house.

The back door to the kitchen was locked too when he tried it. Why had Didi and her mother chosen that day to be responsible by locking all their doors? He shook his head and continued his search
for access into the house. This was his first attempt at breaking and entering, and as much as possible he wanted to minimize the
breaking
part of the entering. The Alexanders might not
appreciate the extra expense of repairing a window.

When he reached the glass wall of Didi’s painting room, he paused. He remembered the sliding door. Why hadn’t he thought of it earlier?

He approached, hunching like some sort of burglar. He sent up a silent prayer that their neighbors weren’t watching. He certainly looked like the suspicious sort at the moment.

At the door, he curled his fingers into the slot and pushed. The glass slid open effortlessly. The soft
whoosh
seemed so loud. He half expected an alarm to go off. His eyes flicked to
the heavens.
Thank you, Didi, for not locking this thing.

Easing the door open just a little more, he slipped inside, then slid it shut carefully behind him. When he turned around, his eyes widened. He swallowed, unable to believe what he was looking
at.

Every available space in her painting room was filled with painted canvases.

There must have been at least fifty leaning against the walls, stacked five deep. The easel had a canvas too. And the floors. Everywhere. Canvases upon canvases. From the looks of things, she
must have burned through the two grand’s worth of art supplies they had bought with his bet winnings. It blew his mind. Didi mustn’t have been sleeping at all to amass this much art in
such a short time.

What kept him from moving farther into the house were the subjects of the paintings. His eyes darted from each one in quick succession, trying to make sense of it all. Some he even had to move
aside just so he could see the treasures hidden underneath. The more he saw, the more his feelings for her solidified in his chest.

There were a couple portraits of him. One while he rested on his elbows on the dock as she walked away. There was one from the garden party while he leaned against a tree with her in his arms.
The yellow dress stood out among all the green. Another one was of the Summer Swing. The moment when they were on the dance floor. Didi’s first slow dance. Then there was one of their picnic
blanket laden with an abundance of food. Several from the Fourth of July party. There were even paintings of his friends. The one of Nathan and Preston smiling at each other was particularly
enthralling. She’d even captured Natasha sitting in front of her vanity leaning forward while she carefully applied eye makeup. So much talent. So much creativity in such a short span.

“What are you doing here?”

CALEB STOOD FROM
his crouched position by a painting, spine ramrod straight. His heart beat in his throat. Slowly, like a
burglar caught, he turned to face the woman who had spoken. At the back of his mind he wondered if he should have his hands up in surrender.

Didi’s mother stood by the door of the painting room in a peach uniform, fists on her hips and a scowl on her pretty-yet-fatigued face. The years of taking care of Didi were catching up
with her.

“Mrs. Alexander,” he said, stammering the name slightly. She could kick him out. It was her right, since he had essentially broken into her home. Cops might even be called if she
wanted.

His obvious fear softened her slightly, although her shoulders remained tense when she said, “Call me Angela. Mrs. Alexander makes me sound so old.”

He let out a sigh of relief. “Angela.”

“So,” she said. “What are you doing here?”

Like a criminal confessing, the words fell out of his mouth. “I rang the bell, but no one answered. I figured you were at work and that maybe Didi was asleep.”

“If you thought she was asleep, then why force your way in anyway?”

“Please,” he begged. “I need to see her.”

She rubbed her forehead, shoulders slumping forward, losing all their earlier tension. “What about disappearing from her life don’t you understand? You’re clearly unhealthy for
her. She hasn’t gotten out of bed since we got back from the hospital. The only reason I’m leaving this house is I can’t miss any more work.” The last part seemed like she
was saying it more to herself than to Caleb.

“Please, Mrs. . . . I mean, Angela.” He took a step forward. “I love her.”

The words came out smoothly. No hesitation. And it tasted right. Felt right. He
loved
her. He would have wanted to tell Didi first. That time in the car hadn’t counted since
he’d almost killed the both of them. But he knew Didi’s mother needed to hear it just as much as her daughter did. He saw that more and more the longer he stayed in Angela’s
presence. She would do anything to protect her daughter. He wanted her to understand that he felt the same way.