It had taken two months for Kenna to convince everybody that she was all right.  Austin was the last hold-out.  It turned out that he had watched too damned much of that fucking video to be placated with anything but the truth.  Kenna sat on the picnic table at Moonlight Beach and watched her son up on his feet on the surfboard and thought about that conversation they’d had last week. 

It’d been after a wrestling match where Austin had been called for unnecessary roughness, something that had never happened before.  She could tell he was horrified because afterwards, he immediately let himself get pinned.  On the ride home, she couldn’t get him to open up.  When they got home, he went straight to his room. 

It was one of the few times that Dex wasn’t spending the night, and Kenna was wound tight.  She had trouble sleeping when he wasn’t there, so that night she was up watching a movie when Austin came downstairs.

“Mom, we need to talk.”  He didn’t sit down beside her on the couch.  Instead, he chose the recliner, and he sat forward, hands clasped in front of him.  Kenna sat up.

“What is it?”

“I’ve heard you crying.”

Oh fuck.

He continued.  “You’ve never come clean about that day.”

“Austin, I told you most of it,” she said slowly.

He looked up at her, his gaze solemn.  “Dex is helping you with it.  I know he is.  You’re starting to heal.  But I want to be there for you too.”

A sob bubbled up before she could contain it.  Austin was out of his chair and beside her on the couch in an instant. 

“Tell me.”

She was never going to tell her child everything that happened.  But Christ on a cracker, could she have a better child?

“I’m not going to tell you everything.  I’m just not, Austin.”

“You have to.”

She smiled through the wet and put her forehead against his.  “Honey, it’s like Dex said, there are going to be enough scars on your soul eventually.  What I will tell you, is that it was the thought of you that got me through that hell.  I didn’t give up because of you.”

He put his big hands on her shoulders.  “I thank God Dex was there to save you that day.  I’m glad you’re going to have him when I leave one day, but you can’t shut me out.”

Her eyes got wide.  “That’s not what I’m doing.”

“Aren’t you?”

Shit.  Did she raise the Dali Lama?

“You’re something else,” she whispered.

“Since you can’t sleep, and you won’t talk, want me to make some popcorn?”

“Bullshit, I want chocolate pudding, with condensed milk poured on top,” Kenna said.

“Score!” Austin said as he bounded off the couch.

***

Dex watched Kenna sleep.  She was restless, and he hated that.  He pulled her closer and feathered a kiss against her temple.

“Shhh, Baby, I’ve got you.  You’re safe.”  Somewhere deep in her subconscious, she must have heard him because she settled.  He brushed his fingers over her neck.  If he lived to be a hundred, he would never forget that frantic minute it took to get that fucking collar off her.  Then seeing the bruises and blisters had made him want to kill Gale all over again, only more slowly, more painfully.

Kenna absolutely amazed him.  That day, she could barely move, and her only thought was to help Buddy.  Hunter was still talking about it, and Hunter hardly talked.

Seven days out of the hospital and Kenna was taking things on full tilt.  She informed him she was seeing a psychologist twice a week to ‘get that fucking whackjob out of my head.’  It helped that Penny was a strong shoulder for her daughter to lean on, but Dex knew even without her, Kenna would have been able to cope.  That was who she was. 

She said something in her sleep.

“What, Baby?”

“Dex?”

“I’m here.”

“Good.  Go to sleep, Honey.”  She tugged him closer, and he smiled.  He watched as her eyes drifted shut and she fell back asleep.

She even worried about him.  There was the serious conversation she tried to have where she wanted to talk about how shooting Lyle might have adversely affected him.  It was the first time he’d really laughed since she’d gone missing that day. 

“Poppy,” he remembered saying.  “Killing Lyle Gale wasn’t even a blip on my radar.  All that mattered was getting to you, and he was in the way.” 

“But he―”

Dex interrupted.  “After I really got a chance to see the house of horrors, and realize that there were two bodies in there, my level of satisfaction quadrupled.  Are you going to tell me you wouldn’t have wanted to pull that trigger?”

Her face had hardened.

“I would have aimed for his dick and let him bleed out.”

He loved his vicious woman, and he told her so. 

She cried. “I hate crying,” she said into his shirt.

“I love that you’re here to cry.  Let it out, Baby.”

She did that day.  But those were the early weeks.  Now, she smiled and only sometimes had a nightmare.  His woman was phenomenal. 

***

She watched as Dex walked down the beach from the parking lot.  He was bringing the blanket from his jeep, along with a thermos of hot chocolate.  She saw a pink box of donuts too.  Hopefully, there were some chocolate ones with sprinkles.  She liked being pampered with chocolate.  Hell, she just liked being pampered.  Who knew that could ever happen for her?

“He’s doing good.  I saw him catch a wave,” he commented as he settled the blanket around her shoulders. 

“That’s my boy.”

“You’ve raised a wonderful son.”  Dex kissed her temple.  Tears threatened, but she held them back.  Hell, was there a better compliment?

“Yeah well, you should try going on a drive with him, then you wouldn’t think he was all that fired wonderful,” she muttered.

“He’s a great driver.”

She slid Dex a side-long glance.  “Oh yeah, you went driving with him on the range,” she remembered.

“Huh?”

“He told me how you two were going to the driving range.”

“Yeah.  He came out to the driving range with Gramps and me while you were at Rosalie’s.  I thought he told you.”  He paused and looked at her, then started laughing.  “You do know that the driving range is where you go to hit practice golf balls, don’t you?”

“Oh shit.  For real?”

“Yep.”  He was still chuckling, the bastard.  She loved it when he laughed.  Dex Evans was a handsome man, but when he laughed, he was devastating.  He must have seen her staring because he cupped the side of her face and dipped in for a kiss.

Kenna’s tummy melted as his tongue traced her lower lip, then pressed inside.  A kiss on the beach at dawn.  He continued to give her the best memories imaginable.  He lifted his head and rubbed his nose against hers.

“I love you, Kenna.  The luckiest day of my life was when I read your snarky e-mail.”

Her cheeks heated.  He mentioned that e-mail a lot.  She’d gone back and read it.  She’d actually talked about her panties getting damp.  If it weren’t for the fact it snagged her a reply, she’d find herself a hole and start covering herself with dirt.

“You’re blushing.  Are your panties damp?” he teased.

“Kiss me again.”  She arched up and met his lips.  After long moments, long, lush moments, yes, her panties were damp.  Not that she would admit it.  His eyes sparkled as he looked down at her.

“Are you ready for tonight?” he asked.

“A barbeque with the entire Evans clan.  Including your parents?  I’m not sure.  But they better be nice.  If they aren’t, I’m going to kick some ass.”

“I’m over that, Baby.  But it’s a nice thought.”

She paused and looked at him. “Are you sure you’re ready?”

“I’m positive.  I have you by my side.  You’re such a mama bear.  If I were ever lucky enough to have a child, I would want you to be their mother.”

He hadn’t said that, had he?

“Dex?”

He took her hand in his and laced their fingers together.  Then he brought their hands to press them to his heart.  “A while ago, I asked you to trust me with a little piece of your heart.  Now I’m asking you to trust me with so much more.”

“I would love to have children with you, but you’ve got it wrong.  You’re the one who’s going to be the amazing parent.”

She watched as he opened the pink box.

“Are we sealing the deal with donuts?  If so, I want chocolate.”

He pulled out a small black box.  It was covered in powdered sugar.  Even better.  Her hand trembled in his.  He held on tighter.

“I promise you’ll be safe with me, Kenna.  I’ll never betray your trust.  I’ll cherish your feelings and listen to what you have to say.  I love your son.  I will attempt to bring beauty into every day of your life going forward.  Will you marry me?”

He flipped open the latch on the box, and she saw the perfect ring.  The marquis diamond was set in yellow gold to match the gold four leaf clover charm her dad had given her.  He waited.  Dex knew her.  He understood that she was having trouble catching her breath. 

“Yes,” she said.  “Nobody deserves to be loved as much as you do, except our children.  The only reason they’ll get more love Dex is because it will be two of us giving it to them.” 

She untangled her hands from his and held out her left hand.  “Put it on.”  He slid the beautiful ring on her finger, and it was like a place that had been shut down for too long finally was seeing the light.  She threw her arms around his neck.

“I love you, Kenna.”

“I love you back.  Expect to have love rained down on your ass every day of your life, SailorBoy.”

He threw back his head and laughed.  “You’re such a romantic.”

The End