Chapter Nineteen
Darla
I stare at the ceiling, trying to catch my breath. This week alone, I’ve had that dream three times. I can still smell the smoke. The screams rattle through my ears. And Theo’s last kiss before pushing me out of the house still lingers on my lips. He wasn’t going to leave until he made sure everyone was out of the house. If he hadn’t been so selfless, we would have escaped together, and everything might have worked out fine. It makes me play the “what if” game over and over in my mind. If there hadn’t been a fire, if I had given him my real name, things might have been different.
I untangle myself from the sheet and head to the bathroom. Splashing cold water on my face with my uninjured hand jolts me back to reality. Yeti spins in circles at my feet.
“All right, all right, I see you. Let’s go outside.”
When I open the door to let him out so he can take care of business, he slides right between two human legs. Yeti unceremoniously hikes a leg and pisses all over Theo’s foot and leg.
“Shit, what are you doing here?” I ask him.
He stands there, peering down at the wet spot on the frayed hem of his jeans. Then he looks back up at me and holds out a bouquet of flowers.
“Uh, Yeti, stop it.”
“Your dog’s name is Yeti? Like Bigfoot?”
I motion for him to come inside. He follows me in and stares at me. Crap. I forgot I had on a short nightgown and no robe. I instinctively cross my arms. His eyebrow shoots up into his hairline. Not so fast, buster.
“Yeah. Isaac named him.”
“Shocker.”
“Have a seat,” I say, keeping an eye out for Yeti. “I’m so sorry about your jeans. I can wash them if you want.”
“Nah, don’t worry about it. Besides, what would I wear while they were in the washer?”
“Uh, I didn’t think that far ahead. I wouldn’t want you to be standing around in your panties.” I would bet he looks every bit as yummy as he used to… or even better.
“I don’t wear panties. I wear… uh, well… you know what I wear.”
“Okay, that’s enough.” He sure knows how to make me squirm. Finally, Yeti prisses back into the house.
“Yeti, this is Theo. He is not your personal fire hydrant. Be nice.”
Yeti growls and heads for the bedroom.
“Stay put while I go get dressed.”
“I could help.”
“Would you stop it?” I scamper down the hallway, and when I get to my bedroom, I peer over my shoulder. He is standing at Stella’s bedroom door.
“What are you doing?”
He shrugs. “Killing time.”
Losing my nerve to let him know about her, I push him away from her room, and pain slices through my hurt hand.
“Darla, I know you have a baby. It’s all right.”
“No, it’s not all right. Don’t nose around in my personal life.”
He backs up against the wall, slack-jawed. Flower petals fall to the floor. “Whoa. Not my intention at all.”
He chews on the inside of his jaw, and I can only imagine that Mallory has treated him like this a time or two. If I want him to want us, I’m sucking at it.
“Sorry. It’s uh… very messy.” Gah. Tell him.
He holds out the flowers to me again.
Now I feel like a big jerk for overreacting. “These are so pretty. What’s the occasion?”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah,” I say before it hits me. It’s my birthday. Jeez, I totally forgot. “Theo, how did you know?”
“I have my ways. You don’t celebrate your birthday?”
I shrug. It’s another day on the calendar. My life started the day Stella was born, so that’s more worthy of celebrating.
“Do you want to do something this year? It’ll be fun.”
“What are we going to do?”
“It’s a surprise.”
I bite my lip. “I don’t like surprises.”
He nudges me toward my bedroom. “Go get dressed. You might want to wear those sexy yoga pants.” He wiggles his eyebrows.
I move to leave. “Let me take a shower.”
He grabs my arm. “No time. You don’t smell too bad.” He sniffs my armpit. I cannot believe he did that, and I can’t believe I let him. Something is seriously wrong with me.
“Manners.” Jeez, it’s like I’m talking to Stella.
“Go. We’re burning daylight.”
“All right, all right, Mr. Bossy. Stay put. I’m a little slow getting dressed with my gimpy hand, so be patient.”
“I promise to only snoop through your purse.” He winks at me, and I might need help moving down the hallway.
I rush back into my bedroom and try to think of something to wear. It’s not a date. It’s not a date. It’s a friendly day with a gorgeous guy, who happens to be Stella’s father. That’s all. Yoga pants implies something casual, thank goodness. I toss on a T-shirt that has “Do you want to talk to the doctor in charge or the nurse who knows what’s going on?” printed on the front.
I hop on one leg down the hallway back to the living room and slide the other shoe on my foot. Theo stares at my chest. I snap my fingers, and his gaze takes its time getting back to my face.
“Your shirt… not funny.”
I grin. “But it’s true.”
He rolls his eyes and takes me by the hand to escort me out of the house and toward his car.
“Not on call today?” I ask.
“Nope. Shocker. I’m totally free. I threatened the call center that they dare not ring me unless it’s a five-car pileup.”
He leads me to his car, which is nothing like I expected. It’s an old Subaru Outback with a dent in the fender and some rust around the edge of the hood. A plethora of bumper stickers covers his back window—everything from “Shit Happens” to a 26.2 sticker.
He opens the passenger door. Everything imaginable falls out onto my driveway and litters the seat and floorboard. “Oh, let me move some things. I’m not used to anyone sitting there.”
I pick up an empty water bottle about to roll under his car. “This could take some time. Perhaps I could go take a shower while you tidy up.”
“I got it.” He tosses used paper coffee cups, journal articles, an open bag of peppermints, and an old, worn Bible into the back. He wipes crumbs off the seat and scratches his head. “And you were afraid your house was messy. As you can tell, I practically live in my car.”
He motions for me to get in. I sit and take in all the stuff he threw in the backseat as he slides into the driver’s seat and buckles in.
“You have journal articles and a Bible in your car. Quite a range of genres you got going there.” I might need that Bible to help me confess my sins.
He laughs. “No romance novels or nudie magazines, I promise. You ready?”
I put my hand on his. “I didn’t mean to snap at you. I don’t let many people into my life.” I lean over and kiss him on the cheek.
A cute shade of pink creeps up his neck to his right ear.
“I am sorry.”
That mischievous grin that I love so much takes over his face. “I think one more kiss would help me forgive you.”
I lean over the gearshift, but my hurt hand slips and jams into the emergency break. I suck in a breath through my teeth. He takes my hand and peppers it with kisses. “To be continued.”
Absolutely. “Where are we going?”
“A place you probably haven’t been to in a long time.”
“By the looks of my chariot, I’m hoping it’s a car wash.”
“Ha. No. I’ll give you a hint. It has something to do with what you said when you were on pain meds.”
Shit. No telling what all I blabbered on about. It could be anything. If I messed this up for Stella, I’ll never forgive myself.