“She’s right. I really have to go, Dakota.” Putting off the inevitable wasn’t going to solve anything for either of them.
“I know you do.” Her voice hitched and she stepped out of his arms.
“I’ll see you later then.” He didn’t want to leave her, not like this.
“Good luck, Adam. I’m sure things will be fine.” Her blue eyes swam with tears and he hated to say goodbye. They were both torn and he wondered if it was for the same reason.
“Hoping for the best but ready for the worst.” He held her hands up to his chest. “Listen, I know I asked you to the gala but how about we meet here? I may get held up getting back and I’d hate for you to be late with so much going on.”
Her eyes closed and he mentally kicked himself. He didn’t want to let her down by not showing up but he had to be practical. Anything could happen and he might not get back. Adam didn’t know how things would go at the doctors and if he would even want to come back home if the news was bad. He couldn’t bear the thought of returning to tell her there was no chance for them because he would be reliant on drugs to stay alive. Not that he thought for one minute she would let that stop them. It would be too hard to walk away from Dakota when she’d become to mean so much to him.
“If you think that would be best.” It was clear she didn’t believe he would turn up.
“Save me the first dance, okay? You and me, together under the stars.” The thought of having her in his arms had kept him going as the tension grew and he took his leave.
“Okay.”
“I have to go.”
*
“You’re stuck on him, aren’t you?” Mari stood watching as Adam strode out the back door leaving her little sister fighting tears.
Dakota sniffed, wiped her fingers under her eyes and sighed. “Yeah, very much so.”
“Do you think that’s wise, considering what he’s potentially facing?”
“Probably not but I don’t think it makes any difference. We love who we love and nothing can change that.” She jammed her hands in her jeans pockets and looked at Mari. “You fell in love with Rake. Would you have married him, had Noah if you knew what was wrong with him?”
Mari dropped the box of holly on the ground, pulled out a strand and started to weave it around the balustrade as she chose her words. “I ask myself that when I’m alone in bed at night. I wonder how things would have turned out if he hadn’t died. Would I be back in Cherry Lake and the answer is probably not. He refused to come home and see his parents after what they did to him.” She tied off the end and reached for another strand.
“I firmly believe that everything happens for a reason. I can’t help it, it’s the way I am.” Dakota stepped closer, leaned on the balustrade and watched her sister stringing the decorations.
“Me too. Karma and all that. Even the stuff I found hard to deal with when I was younger, you know about my drug addicted mother and Dad. The whole messy breakup and fallout. I know that happened how it should have. I mean, how else would I have you girls for sisters if she hadn’t gone off the rails and walked out on him? He never would have met your mother, never had you girls.”
“So none of that worries you, having a stepmother? Mom and Dad are kind of treading around the subject lightly, not sure if you’ll blow up over it. You did have a pretty crap life you know, compared to ours.”
“Sure but it wasn’t your fault nor the parents either. It was my mother’s fault, let’s be clear about that. She was the one with the addiction, the one who ruined her own life. Not anyone else. It is what it is and it helped shape me to the woman I am today and you know, I like what I see when I look in the mirror or do a little soul searching.” She unraveled more greenery, flicked it out straight and started threading it up the stairs.
“You’ve done well. Mom and Dad are so proud of you. I know they’d like to spend more time with Noah too but they’re a bit scared to overstep the boundaries.”
“Perhaps it’s time we sat down and had a chat about it because I hold no grudges with them. It was my mother who was the loose cannon and I hold her responsible, nobody else.”
“I’m sure they’d like that,” Dakota paused. “You may get that chance a little sooner than either of us anticipated. Mom surprised me with a phone call this morning. They want to stop by for a couple of days to check on me, see the cottage and hopefully you and Noah before they head out on a cruise. Maybe if we can show them that we’re all fine they can ease up on their guilt and their worry. Stop them being so over protective all the time.”
Mari paused, looked at Dakota and groaned. “Do you think that’s why they’re like that, because of me?”
Dakota shrugged her shoulders.
“Sorry. I didn’t think about that. Maybe if I’d turned to them for help earlier, they might have been happier but I couldn’t. I felt sick about the way I treated them but at the time I blamed Dad as well. Not realizing that it was Mom that had the bad habits. Rake was the one that made me see things as they were.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’m all good now and
