Chapter 24

Jeni

“You’re really not angry I’m pregnant?” I asked Dash again.

He seemed so changed from the man I first met on the mountain. As we lay in bed holding one another, I felt as if I’d known him my whole life, but this was a big step we were taking. Another life would be brought into the world and he and I barely knew each other. He was holed up here alone and even though he had plenty of money, I just couldn’t see how this was going to work out.

“I’m not angry, just a little shocked is all,” he gave me a big squeeze and kissed me on the cheek. “I’m sad though. I’ll have another child in the world who may never get a chance to know their father.” His face fell, and it was like a heavy weight dropped out of the sky and landed on top of us.

“You can’t hide up here forever, Dash. It wasn’t your fault your wife died, you didn’t do anything wrong. You’ve been working your whole life to help really sick kids. That’s noble and right, no one should be allowed to take your life away from you. If you stay up here, you’ve already let them win. It’s time you come out of hiding and fight back.” I didn’t know if I had a right to be saying those things to him, but someone had to inspire him to embrace his life and face it head-on.

He was needed and while he could work while he was here, he couldn’t live, and he deserved to have a life. Suddenly, I had a crazy idea and I knew exactly how totally insane it was. I popped up and propped myself on my elbow and looked him in the eye, trying to communicate straight from my heart.

“I have an idea and I want you to hear me out before you say no.” He looked at me with a suspicious glance, but I didn’t care, I was going to make this work if it killed me.

“Okay…” his voice was tense and wary.

“I want to hear you say you’ll promise to consider my idea.” I flashed him a big smile, hoping he’d consider what I was going to offer.

“I promise, I’ll listen to what you have to say.” He took a deep breath and I knew he was worried I’d drag him out of the cabin.

“Okay, here goes. My grandpa and his caregiver/companion person live just on the other side of this mountain. Lydia is the best cook on the planet and I know she’s preparing one of her amazing pot roasts for dinner this evening. She always makes way too much, and my grandpa eats like a bird. Sadly, he isn’t fairing so well these days and we may not have him around much longer. I want you to come to dinner tonight. It’s a bit of a shlep on foot, but I could get an Uber down the mountain, then get my car, then…”

“Imogen…” he interrupted me, and I felt so angry I could slap him.

“NO, Dash. You promised you’d listen until I was done.” I was starting to boil, he had to get out of this cabin, he needed to live his life.

“I was going to say, I have a car.” A sexy smile broke across his face and I threw myself into his arms.

“You mean you’ll do it? You’ll go to dinner with us… me?” I looked down at my stomach and realized what I was saying. “I mean us.”

He held me in his embrace and nuzzled me in tighter. “Yes, I’ll do it, but I have to take a shower first,” he said as he kissed me and rolled off the bed.

“I’ll join you,” I added as I scampered after him.

We showered together and made love again while slathering each other with soap. It was so good to be near him again. I missed his body and his scent and the strong quiet way he handled life. I was sure Gramps and Lydia would love him.

After our shower, I gave his beard and hair a trim, and when I was done he looked like a completely different man. His eyes still held their soulful gaze, but he was a hundred times sexier with a little sprucing up. He was dressed and ready by two o’clock which was perfect because I promised Gramps and Lydia I’d be back from my client by three.

“Are you sure your car still runs? It’s been a while since you’ve driven it.” I assumed his car had been locked away as long as he had.

A devilish smile crossed his face as his lip curled into a smirk.

“I get it out every once in a while. It’ll be just fine.” He took my hand and escorted me out the back door of the cabin. A door I forgot he had because he never used it.

We walked to what looked like a locked closet. He unlocked it and opened the door which lead to a staircase to a lower level. Once we were at the bottom, Dash flipped on the light to reveal a silver Tesla X, shiny and new.

“She loves these mountain roads,” he said with pride.

“I bet,” I drooled.

“I’ll just go get my things and we can be off to your folks’ place.”

I couldn’t believe he was actually doing this.

Everything felt like a dream. He came back a few minutes later with my purse and a rather large bag. He handed me my purse and coat and put the bag in the back of the Tesla.

“It’s just dinner, Dash. Not a trip to Mexico,” I teased.

He just gave me a wink and clicked a button on the remote and the doors of the car automatically lifted skyward.

“Get in.” His face was bright with excitement.

“Okay,” I got in and he turned on the car, immediately I felt the seats warm. “It must be nice to have so much money,” I teased him.

“It has its advantages,” he said as the doors came down on us. He clicked another button and the door to the garage lifted, as clumps of snow fell to the ground.

“Do we need to go shovel that?” I asked innocently.

“Nope.” He revved the engine and we blasted right over the snow.

“Helluva car!” I was in awe.

It took us about twenty minutes to get to Gramps and Lydia’s house and as soon as we pulled up in the driveway, I saw Lydia peeking through the flowered curtains. I really wasn’t sure what I was doing bringing a billionaire who’d locked himself away on the mountain home to Lydia and Gramps. I was clearly insane. I planned to blame it on the hormones one day.

“I have to tell you before we go in there, my Gramps is an asshole.” I felt it best to warn him.

“Imogen!” he protested playfully.

“No really, he’s a total and complete jerk, but he’s nice deep down inside. You have to really dig, but it’s there. Just giving you a heads up.” I winked and scooted out of the car as soon as the doors lifted.