A WARM FRONT moved in, and by Saturday morning blue skies smiled down on them. Derek, Talia, and Jonah made breakfast together, as had become their morning routine. His father was having a particularly good day. He’d even remembered how to make his favorite omelets, a delicious concoction of three different cheeses and a mix of vegetables and meats. The recipe had been handed down from his great-grandmother, and Jonah had been cooking it from the time he was able to use the stove. Derek was glad for those ingrained memories and hoped his father would have them forever.
Shortly after Talia left to go shopping with the girls for Bridgette’s wedding dress, Ben and Dan arrived with Louie in tow. Bodhi was off on a training mission for the week, leaving Grandpa Dan on babysitting duty.
“Thanks so much for coming out,” Derek said as he hung up their coats. “I’ve set up everything in the dining room.” He knelt before Louie and said, “How’s it going, buddy? I’m glad you came to help these guys check things out.”
“Mom said we needed guy time,” Louie said as he pulled his Yankees cap down low on his forehead. “She said she needed to pry some stuff out of Auntie Talia. I hope they don’t hurt her.” He took Dan’s hand, blinking wide eyes up at him. “Do you think they will, Grandpa Dan?”
Dan laughed. “Not the way you think they will, buddy.” He winked at Derek and said, “It’s been a long time since my girl’s been this happy, and her sisters will want to get all the details.”
“Like Mom won’t?” Ben scoffed, and then a tease rose in his eyes. “They’ll drive her crazy. Just make sure you’re not standing in the driveway when she comes home.”
They all chuckled.
“Tallie can handle it,” Derek said, remembering how frazzled she’d been the morning she’d almost run him over. Something told him she was no longer someone her sisters could rattle. She’d come out of her shell, wearing sexier outfits that showed off her gorgeous figure, owning her sexuality, and doing things she said she’d avoided for a long time.
“Yes, Tallie can,” Ben said with a smile. “The fact that she lets you call her that says everything. Ever since we were little, she’d correct us if we tried to call her anything but Talia or Tal.”
“Can I watch television?” Louie asked.
“Sure, buddy.” As Derek got Louie set up in the living room, he told Ben and Dan not to worry if his father called him Archie or some other name from his past. He explained that their presence might throw him off and that he tended to get confused around strangers.
“Sometimes Grandma Roxie gets confused,” Louie said. “She calls my mom Talia-Piper-Willow-Whatever-the-Heck-Your-Name-Is.”
They all laughed. “I’d imagine with five kids it’s easy to get confused. You know, Louie, my father might even call you Derek. He might think you’re me when I was younger.”
Louie’s face scrunched up in concentration. “What should I do if he does?”
Could he be any sweeter? “You don’t have to do anything special. But it would really help if you didn’t try to convince him he was wrong, because sometimes he has a hard time understanding that.”
“I won’t.” Louie shook his head. “I hate it when people tell me I’m wrong. What’s your father’s name?”
“Jonah. You can call him Jonah.”
“I like that name.” Louie climbed onto the couch and settled in.
“Derek, whatever you need from us, just let us know. If we agitate your father, we’ll leave and do this some other time,” Dan assured him. “But I’d really like to meet him and tell him how fine a man he’s raised.”
Derek’s chest tightened. “Thank you.”
“Get used to it,” Ben said. “You’re one of us now. Like it or not, the girls will find a way to weasel themselves into Jonah’s life. He’ll have more people caring for him than he ever wanted. You’ve got to be strong enough to tell them to back off.”
“I can’t imagine wanting your family to back off. But it’s been just me and my dad, with Maria’s help, for so long, I think we’ll be lucky if he doesn’t scare them away.”
“Daltons don’t scare easy,” Ben said as they made their way into the dining room.
Thinking of Talia’s acceptance of his father and their situation, he had to agree.
As they entered the dining room, Jonah looked up from the picture he was drawing, and a warm smile lifted his lips. His baseball cap was firmly in place, and as his eyes moved between the three men, Derek hoped the introduction would go smoothly.
“Pop, this is Dan Dalton and his son, Ben.” He went to his father’s side and put a protective hand on his shoulder. He always felt the need to make sure his father never felt it was him against the world. Team Grant. “Do you remember Talia? She made breakfast with us this morning? Dan is her father, and Ben is her brother.”
“Hello,” Jonah said kindly, though Derek could tell he didn’t remember Talia or their morning. “Why are you here?”
Not for the first time, Derek counted himself lucky. He knew of families whose loved ones had become violent or nasty as dementia stole more of their faculties. His father had not yet taken that turn, and he prayed he never would. But he’d also accepted the reality that it was a possibility he should be ready for.
“They’re going to take a look at the house,” Derek explained.
Dan offered a hand and a friendly smile. “Hello, Jonah.”
Jonah looked at his hand as though he wasn’t sure what to do with it and said, “Hello.”
“You have a fine son,” Dan said.
“You’ve met Derek?” Jonah asked. “I don’t know where that boy ran off to. He’s somewhere around here. Eva, too.”
Ben glanced at Derek. Derek lowered his voice and said, “My mother.”
Jonah turned back to his drawing.
“Why don’t we go over the renovations.” Derek showed them the sketches he’d drawn. “I’d like to extend the rear living space to accommodate entertaining up to fifteen people comfortably and add two additional smaller rooms for activities. It’s really important that it feels like a home, not a facility.” He told them about his friends who would be taking part in the endeavor, and then he gave them each a copy of his business plan.
“Ben’s a shrewd businessman. You won’t need my opinion,” Dan said.
It hadn’t taken much research to see just how successful Dan’s and Ben’s businesses were or to realize that Dan was being modest. He’d achieved many accolades in his academic career before retiring and was noted as one of the leading contractors in their area. But there was an even more important reason why Derek wanted his help.
“I know Ben’s an expert on all things finance related, but I think a man who raised five business-minded, successful adults has a lot to offer as well. If you wouldn’t mind, I’d love your opinion on my business plan, not just the renovations.”
“All right, then,” Dan said. “It’d be my pleasure.”
Derek gave them a tour of the house, and he realized he’d never taken Talia upstairs. As they reached the third floor, a pang of longing moved through him.
“Whoa, dude,” Ben said as he stepped into the finished attic, which ran the length of the house. It was long and a bit narrow, with two nice-sized nooks and a walkout on the back that led to a small veranda. “This is incredible.”
“We haven’t used it much in years. My mother used the nook overlooking the backyard for her office, and my father used to use the other one when he was drawing. This area here”—he waved to the main area—“used to have a couch and chairs. I played up here as a kid. When I first moved back in with my father, I thought I’d renovate it and use it as my living space, but I really need to be downstairs, closer to him.”
“That makes sense, but why not freshen it up for the future?” Dan suggested. “This is a touchy subject, but one day your father may need more care than you can provide, and at that point, if you still want to live here and run the day-care facility, then you might want more privacy. It would certainly be more cost-effective to finish this space as an apartment now, rather than later.”
Derek walked over to the doors that led to the deck, thinking of Talia and wondering what she would want in the future. It was easy to imagine her on the deck grading papers, warmed by the sun. Unexpected lightness flowed through him at the thought of no longer being confined to the first floor, of having the freedom to make love to her without worrying about the noise. Those fantasies were pushed aside by a wave of guilt and reality.
“I estimated the renovations would run around four hundred thousand dollars,” he explained. “That didn’t include this area, and I might have severely underestimated the costs. That figure is based on the information I found online of one hundred and seventy-five dollars per square foot. I’ve got almost half of that saved, and I think I can get a loan for the rest, but it’s a stretch.”
“Wait a sec,” Ben said. “You’re financing this whole thing yourself? Shelling out that kind of cash, and taking on a loan on top of it, is not a small undertaking.”
“No. The friends I mentioned earlier are pitching in, but between the three of them, they have just under sixty thousand, which we’ll need for furniture, supplies, and equipment. I know it’s unusual and probably sounds like a pipe dream,” Derek said. “But I’ve done my research, and businesses have to start somewhere. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to get this off the ground.”
“I know better than to knock pipe dreams,” Ben said. “Some of the most profitable companies started as pipe dreams. Are you open to an investor kicking in some capital?”
“I’m honestly not sure I want to give up that much control or run the business by someone else’s standards. I’m not doing this to become rich. I’m doing it because I want to help others who are in the same situation I am.”
“I get that, and it’s honorable. I’d never want to hinder your vision,” Ben said. “But this type of business can go belly-up if not positioned correctly so your services are reimbursable by insurance.”
“Yes, I’m aware of the reimbursement guidelines. I’m open to hearing what you have to say, and I’d really like your advice and input. But above all else, it’s important to me to provide the best care in a home setting. I’m not looking to have a two-hundred-resident day-care center, and I don’t want the people who are taken care of, or their families, feeling like they’re nothing but a number or a dollar figure.”
“I understand,” Ben said as his father checked out the space. “But it also might be nice for you not to have to use all your savings. I assume you’ll give up working at the bar to run the facility, and you’ll want to earn enough to make a living, of course.”
“Yes, I’d give up bartending, but I don’t need to earn a big living,” Derek said. “Just enough to live comfortably and make sure my father has everything he needs.” He was prepared to continue dancing for another few years in order to get the renovations paid off quickly.
“Let me read over your business plan, and I’ll get back to you with my thoughts,” Ben said as they headed back downstairs.
“I’ll run the numbers for doing the build-out and renovations at cost,” Dan said when they reached the first floor. “That should save you a bundle.”
“I appreciate your offer more than you know, but I don’t want to take advantage of my relationship with Talia. Please bid whatever you feel is a fair price.”
Dan put a hand on Derek’s shoulder and said, “Maybe you should have thought about that before going out with a Dalton. Now, I’ve got a date to take my grandson to the aquarium, so we’d better find him.”
As if on cue, Louie’s giggle floated out from the dining room. Derek rushed in and found Louie sitting on Jonah’s lap. One of Jonah’s notebooks from the other room lay open before them. Louie wore Jonah’s baseball cap, and his own child-sized cap sat high on Jonah’s head.
“This was before you were born,” Jonah said to Louie. “When your mama and I first bought this house, we slept on mattresses on the floor. We barely had enough money to buy groceries, but that didn’t matter, because we had each other. And we knew soon we’d have you.”
“And then I was born?” Louie looked over at Derek and whispered, “He’s confused, so I’m pretending.”
Suddenly everything else in the room fell away, and Derek stood on unfamiliar, weak legs. Could gratitude do that to a person?
“Can Jonah come with us to the aquarium? Please, Grandpa?” Louie pleaded. “He loves the aquarium. He told me so.”
“We don’t need to impose—”
Dan silenced Derek with a firm hand on his shoulder. “If Talia’s behavior this morning when she came flitting into our house like a woman in love is any indication, you and Jonah, and I assume this woman Maria she raves about, will be part of our lives for a very long time. I know you worry about your father, but you’re not alone in that, son. We’ll be there to help if things get difficult. And we’ll bring two cars, in case you need to leave early. But it seems Louie and Jonah have connected, and I’d say that’s a very good thing. We’d love to have you both join us if you can manage it.”
“One, two . . .” Talia, her sisters, and Aurelia counted in unison from behind their dressing room curtains. After hours of shopping for a bridal gown and bridesmaids dresses, they’d nearly given up and were trying on the silliest dresses they could find, except Bridgette, who was trying on her millionth wedding gown.
“Three!” they hollered and burst through the curtains, arms flailing in a ta-da fashion.
Roxie gasped. “Oh my Lordy! I can’t even . . .” She doubled over in laughter, while also trying to take pictures with her phone.
“What?” Piper wiggled her hips, sending the bells and chimes of her black tutu-style skirt into a cacophony of jingles and clanks, making everyone laugh.
“I think mine is definitely the perfect choice for Bridgette’s wedding,” Aurelia said as she strutted and twirled in an old-fashioned bright yellow floral gown that reached the floor, with a hoop skirt and matching bonnet.
“Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn if you think you should wear that. The answer is no,” Bridgette said in her best Southern voice.
Willow wiggled her shoulders in a bright pink dress that clung to her curves like a second skin and was accented with white feathers around her hips and breasts. “What do you think, ladies?” She fluffed her hair dramatically and thrust one long leg out, bent at the waist, and ran her fingertips up the length of it. “Do I look like the perfect slut-bunny bridesmaid or what?”
Roxie circled them, taking a video, capturing every snarky look and hysterical laugh.
“You should be kissed by someone who knows how to kiss,” Aurelia said as she straightened her bonnet.
“I think Zane’s got that covered,” Roxie said as she ended the video. “Oh, Willow . . . Those feathers!”
Talia turned toward the mirror as her sisters teased each other and checked herself out. She’d chosen the skintight, strapless royal-blue minidress with a cleavage-baring neckline and black lace trim solely to make her sisters laugh, and she thought she’d be too embarrassed to be seen in it. But as it turned out, she wasn’t the least bit embarrassed. She felt sexy in the awful dress, and that was one hundred percent because of her man, who had given her the confidence to show a more feminine, sexy side.
“I need someone who knows how to kiss,” Piper said. “Aurelia, you and I are hitting Dutch’s Pub tonight.”
“I’m in!” Aurelia said with an exaggerated wink. “I need to find a man who acts like a gentleman in public and who’s willing to do very ungentlemanly things to me in private.”
I have one of those was on the tip of Talia’s tongue, but she wasn’t that into sharing.
“Benny might have issues with that,” Piper said. Then she spun around and patted Talia’s butt. “What has Mr. Hot as Hell done to our most prim-and-proper sister?”
Talia put her hand on her hip, jutted it out like a rebellious teenager, and brushed her fingers through her hair. “I’m thinking about pairing it with thigh-high stockings, blood-red heels, and a feather boa.” Actually, thigh-high stockings might come in handy for our office interludes.
“Oh goodness,” Roxie said with a laugh. “I think Derek has brought out a side of you that has been hiding for a very long time, and I like it!”
“Maybe we should start planning the sinful bartender and the sexy professor’s wedding,” Willow said. “I bet they have dresses for that!”
Talia’s stomach fluttered at the idea of marrying Derek.
“Oh! Another picture from your father.” Roxie held out her phone, showing them a picture of Louie standing in front of a big fish tank, holding Jonah’s hand.
There was a collective “Aw” from the girls.
Their father had been sending pictures of Louie and Jonah all afternoon, and it warmed Talia knowing they’d embraced Derek’s father just as they’d embraced Derek.
“Derek and Jonah fit right in,” Bridgette said. “You know, once Louie accepts a man, there’s no turning back.”
There’s no turning back anyway. I love them both.
Piper smoothed her hands down the black lace bodice of her dress. “That man could serve me up—”
Talia shut her down with a glare. “You really need to stop lusting over my man. I would never do that to your guy.”
“I was kidding!” Piper insisted. “Besides, I don’t plan on having a guy, as in singular. I’m not the marrying type.”
“Yes you are. You just haven’t met your match yet,” Roxie said as she poked her head into each of the dressing areas. “Where’s Bridgette?”
They traipsed through the store in their ridiculous dresses and found Bridgette standing on a platform in front of a three-way-mirror, admiring the stunning cream-colored wedding gown she wore. She looked so beautiful, she took Talia’s breath away.
Bridgette ran her hand down the skirt of her A-line, princess-cut, off-the-shoulder chiffon dress and said, “What do you think?”
“Bridge, that dress . . .” Talia said. “It’s perfect.”
Bridgette looked down at her gown, and then at the others as they fawned over her. “I do love it. It’s simple and elegant. But . . .” Tears welled in her eyes.
“What’s wrong, baby girl?” Roxie asked.
Bridgette fanned her eyes, blinking repeatedly to dry her tears. “I just . . . I can’t keep this a secret anymore.” A smile lifted her lips, and she said, “It might not fit for the wedding. I’m pregnant!”
They all spoke at once, converging on Bridgette in a group hug.
“Oh, my sweet girl!” Roxie hugged her.
“Another baby!” Willow squealed. “I can’t wait to see a little broody Bodhi or a frilly little Bridgette!”
“We’ll be aunties again!” Talia exclaimed. “Bodhi must be over the moon! Does Louie know?”
“Bodhi is, of course, but Louie doesn’t know. We were going to wait until I was twelve weeks, but I couldn’t hold it in any longer! I’m only six weeks along.” Bridgette wiped a tear from her bright, happy eyes. “It’s been so hard not to tell you guys. I’m so excited, and I know Louie won’t be able to stop talking about it once we tell him. We’ll tell Louie when Bodhi gets back next Friday night, since our family sucks at keeping secrets.”
If you only knew . . . A pang of guilt moved through Talia. Who knew she was the best secret keeper of them all?
“We have to celebrate! Let’s have brunch at my house next Sunday after Bodhi’s home,” Willow suggested. “Talia, be sure to bring Derek and Jonah. And Maria. You said she’s like a mom to Derek. I’d love to meet her.”
“Oh yes,” Roxie said. “We should definitely invite her.”
“Thanks. I will. You’ll love her.” Talia knew she’d fit right in. Maria had gone with them when they’d met India, Eli, and Phyllis and their parents at Nightingale’s, and they’d had a wonderful evening. Which reminded her to prepare her family for meeting Jonah.
“You guys, Derek’s dad gets overwhelmed sometimes,” she said. “We’ll have to warn everyone to tone it down when he’s there, but I really want you to meet him. He’s the nicest man, even facing that horrible disease. He still remembers how to cook some of his old recipes, and we’ve been cooking together in the mornings. He’s the one who taught Derek to draw, too, and how to play the guitar, to cook . . .” How to love . . . “Maybe he’ll want to make a dish together to bring to brunch.”
“I can’t wait to meet him,” her mother said. “It’s obvious how special he must be to have raised Derek.”
“I still can’t believe Derek’s got you cooking,” Bridgette chimed in. “That must be love, because Microwave Girl was perfectly happy with her three-minute dinners before Mr. Blue Eyes entered the picture.”
“A family of cooks,” Piper said. “I need to get me one of those.”
“You have one,” Talia and Willow said in unison.
Piper rolled her eyes. “I meant a hot-guy family.”
“Paws off mine, chickadee.” Talia swatted Piper’s jingly butt. “Besides, I know of another hot bartender who has the hots for you.”
“Please.” Piper admired herself in the mirror, turning from side to side. “Harley Dutch does not have the hots for me. He just wants everyone to think he does so he can cock block me. That’s how he gets his jollies.”
Roxie put an arm around Piper and said, “You’re missing the plumbing for that, darlin’.”
“You know what I mean, Mom,” Piper said. “I definitely need a guy who can cook. Remember when I tried to stuff the roaster chicken and couldn’t get the stuffing in because I left the neck and all that gross stuff inside it?”
“She called me and said, ‘I can’t get it all in!’” Willow reminded them. “And I said—”
“‘That’s what he said!’” they all yelled in unison.
Talia couldn’t remember the last time she’d had so much fun with her sisters. She waved at Piper’s dress and said, “I think if you dress like that, you can pick up just about any man you want and they’d stuff your chicken for you. You could get a chef, a fireman, or maybe even a cock-blocking bartender.”
Everyone cracked up.
“Okay, girls. Enough with that language, please. I’ve heard enough about c-blocking to last me a lifetime,” their mother said as she pulled her phone from her pocket. “Oh! Another picture! Look at these gorgeous men.” She held up her phone, showing them the selfie their father had taken of the five of them. Louie was looking up at Jonah, who was looking down at him with the happiest expression. Derek and Ben were making silly faces, and their father was giving Ben bunny ears.
“Oh my God. I know that guy,” Aurelia said. “Wait. That’s Derek? Talia’s dating a stripper?”
Five sets of surprised eyes turned on Talia.