Chapter 32

Chapter

Thirty-Two

KEIR

Dash wasquiet as we drove I-680 to I-101S on our way to Monterey. Soft Christmas music was playing in the background, but I’d rather talk to him than anything, so I turned it down.

“So, do you need to do any more Christmas shopping? We can get up early on Saturday and head to a mall.” I had my shopping done, and I’d already sent Dash’s gifts to Mom’s house, save one.

That gift was currently at Clegg Cycles waiting for my man. Since he could now see—more than he ever could—I’d bought a motorcycle chassis similar to the one Dash had given to Fish, his father’s Harley. The guys were assessing it and gathering the parts for Dash to work on it in his own time. I hoped I hadn’t made a mistake.

“Uh, yeah. I thought maybe, since Ariana will be here for Christmas, maybe instead of just giving her a gift card, we could take her shopping and see what she likes, then one of us could sneak back to the mall on Saturday evening and get it for her? Maybe Lindsey’s just worried we won’t accept her and her daughter, and then we can show her that’s not the case?”

I turned to look at his handsome Norwegian and Irish profile. The slight bump on a noble nose. The chiseled jaw. The elegant neck. It was all stunningly gorgeous. Top it off with sumptuous lips and a quick wit, and I had the total package.

I reached out to place my hand on his shoulder, gliding the back of my fingers along his neck until I saw that stunning grin split his lips. “You want me to pull over so you can blow me?”

I laughed out loud. That was how I could tell he was uncomfortable with my admiration. Well, that was tough shit. I couldn’t wait to watch Dashiell Clegg, soon to be Dearly, grow old with me.

“You get caught up in your own hype, Mr. Clegg.” I laughed and turned up the music again. This time, I sang along to every song.

One thing Dash was yet to witness from Lucy Dearly was her love of all things Christmas. The previous year, he’d had limited time with us at Christmas, and Mom was on her best behavior because Dash and I weren’t a thing yet. Now, he was crossing into dangerous territory, twice over—a Christmas wedding.

Part of me wanted to protect him from the mere force of my mother on a mission, but if Dash was marrying me, he needed to learn to love her—even the bossy part of her when she was under stress. He’d never seen it before, but he was about to be on the front line.

At the gate of Monterey Shores, Dash put in Mom’s code. The guard came out of the shack, and I didn’t recognize him. The pompous ass made the old-fashioned signal for Dash to roll down the window. He appeared to be about seventy-five and had a bitter expression.

He walked up to the SUV and put his hand on what must have been a Taser as he walked to the driver’s side. “What’s your business?”

Dash smirked and moved his seat back so the guard could see me. “I’m Lucy Dearly’s son, Keir. I’m here to see my mother for Christmas.”

“For Christmas? Is that all?” The fucker didn’t appear as though he was going to let us in, and I was starting to get pissed.

“I’m here for⁠—”

Dash snapped, and the guy stood still. He turned to me and smirked. “It only works on non-others, but do you know what the fuck this is about?”

“What do you mean it only works on non-others?”

Dash sighed. “It’s just a thing I know.”

“Well, this is bullshit. Release him.” I wasn’t putting up with the guy’s obnoxious behavior.

“Let’s not piss him off. Maybe there’s something we don’t know? Let’s talk to him, okay?”

“Okay.”

Dash snapped his fingers, which I was coming to see he loved being able to do, and the world started moving again.

“So, uh, here’s my driver’s license. Lucy Dearly is my mom.” I handed over my driver’s license to the jerk, and watched as he held it up toward the sun as if it were fake. Hell, I hadn’t had a fake driver’s license since I was in high school, and I never used it back then.

The man, who was half-fucking-blind, stared at the picture before he stuck his head into the SUV and studied me. “Sorry, Mr. Dearly. I just didn’t realize it was you. There have been some oddballs trying to get in, which is why we’ve tightened security. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas, and I’ll see you at the wedding.”

Dash started to pull away when he stopped in the middle of the gate. “What do you mean oddballs are trying to get in?”

The guard leaned into the window again. “Someone boxed Mr. Burrows because of one of his clients, and people wanted to protest outside his house. We’re a private community, so we don’t let the nuts in, but they keep coming.”

Dash looked at me for an explanation.

“Doxed. They gave out Lenny’s information, which sort of fits with how poor Wilson Warren Williams found him. Lenny might have a traitor in his midst.”

I wanted to bang my head against the dashboard, but we needed to get to Lucy’s house. “What’s your name, sir?”

“I’m Arnold Ray Moyer.”

“Mr. Moyer, sir, we’d appreciate it if you’d continue to keep watch. If you need anything, call Lucy’s house, and I’ll ensure you get as much assistance as you need.” It was a promise I wouldn’t go back on.

“Thank you, Mr. Dearly. Your mother is one in a million. She has lunch delivered to the guard shack, or she brings us sweets. Mr. Burrows is a lucky man.”

Dash puffed up a little. “She’s going to be my mother-in-law. Anything you need, Mr. Moyer.”

It was the most adorable thing to see him proud to be related to my mom. I knew he loved her, but seeing how much Moyer’s comments meant to him made my heart glow.

“Yes, sir.”

Moyer saluted us as we pulled away, which was odd, but then, there were so many fucking things in my life that were strange. I had to wonder if there would ever be anything normal again.

“That was⁠—”

“Fucking crazy, but I’m afraid that’s just the beginning.” Dash’s voice was low, which had me wondering, once again, what was wrong.

When we drove up to Mom and Lenny’s place, there was a spot on the street for us. An SUV was in the driveway already, so we parked and got out.

I touched Dash’s arm and stopped him. “Let’s wait to bring in the bags.”

Something didn’t seem right, so it was best to wait.

We walked up the sidewalk to my mother’s duplex, and I rang the bell, not reaching for my key. The door opened, and a cute little girl with blonde hair and big blue eyes opened the door.

Dash stepped in front of me and knelt to her level. “You don’t open the door without asking who’s there, Ariana.”

Her eyes grew at least three times their normal size. “How do you know me?”

“You’re Lenny’s granddaughter, right? You look just like him—well, except for the beard.”

Ariana giggled as she offered her hand for Dash to shake. She then turned to me. “Who are you?”

“I’m Keir, Lucy’s son. It’s very nice to meet you, Miss Forrester.”

A man I’d never met arrived at the door, so I assumed he had to be Josh, Lindsey’s husband. “You don’t open the door without an adult.” He was scolding her, but he wasn’t harsh.

“Keir, hi. I’m Josh. Please, come in.” He stepped aside, seeming awkward at having answered my mother’s door.

“Josh, it’s a pleasure.” I extended my hand to shake. “This is my fiancé, Dash.”

Josh didn’t flinch as though he didn’t approve, which was a relief. “Dash, we’ve heard a lot about you from Lucy. It’s nice to meet you.”

They shook, and Ariana took Dash’s hand and dragged him inside, me following behind. Josh closed and locked the door behind us.

We walked into the kitchen to find Mom making cookies as Ariana took a spot at the counter and picked up a paintbrush from a bowl of colored liquid, painting over the sugar cookies already on the baking sheet.

“Oh, boys! I’m so glad you’re here.” Mom stopped what she was doing and quickly washed her hands before she hugged me. She pulled away and embraced Dash, who hugged her tightly, bringing a giggle from her.

“Where’s Lenny?” Dash held her by her shoulders, studying her expression.

Mom glanced at Ariana and then turned her eyes to Josh. “He’s at his place with Lindsey. They’re going through Melanie’s things that Lenny thought she might like before his place sells. Josh, Lindsey, and Ariana will stay there, and you boys will stay here. Lenny’s going to stay at his place with them.”

Dash chuckled. “Oh, to honor the tradition of the bride and groom not seeing each other on the wedding day? That’s fine, but it’s only Thursday.”

Mom’s face turned grim in an instant, so I stepped closer and hugged her. “Go to your room. I’ll get Dash baking with Ariana, and then I’ll be right there.”

Tears began to fall before Mom hurried away. I turned to Dash. “Hey, get off your duff and help Ariana bake these cookies. They’re not going to bake themselves.”

Immediately, he focused on me. I tilted my head toward Mom’s escape, and he nodded in understanding. He stepped behind the counter and washed his hands before he accepted the towel I offered.

Dash then turned to Ariana. “So, we’re just painting these?”

The girl looked at him and pointed to the designs on the cooling rack that Mom had already made. “We gotta do the same thing, only different colors. These are the paints we can use, and see the dots that Lucy put on the cookies? Stay inside the lines.”

It sounded like Ariana was a drill sergeant, and Dash was her subordinate. I laughed and walked down the hallway to where Mom had disappeared. I knocked on the bedroom door and heard a muffled, “Come in.”

I opened the door to see Mom sitting on the bed. “Hi, sweetheart.”

I stepped into the room and sat beside her on the bed, putting my arm around her. “Mom, what’s wrong?”

Mom reached for a tissue from the box by the bed and plucked out two. She touched her eyes before she turned to me.

“Lenny and I had an argument this morning about Lindsey. I’ve accepted that she doesn’t want to be my matron of honor, and I’m more than happy to have Dash instead, but I didn’t know why she wouldn’t let Ariana be a flower girl or junior bridesmaid or whatever you wanna call it. Ariana was so excited about getting a pretty dress. She and I get along well. Josh agreed with me, and Lindsey pitched a fit and left.”

I sighed. “Mom, I’m sorry. What can I do?”

She turned to me. “Maybe we should postpone? Give her a little more time to warm up to me? I mean, you and Dash could get married in our place. All the arrangements are finalized, so you could just use our wedding as your own. Do the ceremony now and have the civil ceremony in a few days.”

I was a bit stunned at her comment. “Mom, you and Lenny have been planning this for months. You’ve got your dress. Lenny’s got his tux. You’ve found a beautiful space, and you’ve planned the party. It’s in four days. There’s no need to postpone the wedding.”

“But she’s never going to like me, and she won’t visit her father regularly because she doesn’t want to see me, so Lenny will come to resent me, Keir. There’s already some crap going around about Lenny defending a man who molested children. He never had the man as a client, Keir, but someone put it out there that he was the attorney-of-record. Now, Lenny’s private information is on the internet, and crazy people are trying to get into the community to harm him.” I could easily see how upset she was. I hated hearing it.

“Take a deep breath, Mom. Dash and I will walk up the road and talk to Lenny. When we get back, we’ll finish making the cookies with Ariana, okay? Don’t get upset. Your face will get all splotchy.” I was trying to lighten the mood, but of course, I’d only made her cry harder.

I eased her back onto the bed to rest, covered her with a thin blanket from the end of her bed and left her there. I needed to talk to Dash, ASAP, so I stuck my head in the kitchen and waved at him. When he looked up, I mocked snapping my fingers.

Josh and Ariana were busy with the cookies, so they didn’t look up, but when Dash snapped, it occurred to me that I hadn’t been frozen when Dash had snapped his fingers at Mr. Moyer earlier.

Quickly, Dash snapped his fingers, and Ariana and Josh both froze. “What’s up?”

“We need to do something about this. Mom’s about to call off the wedding. Come with me to the store. I need to get a Ouija board to contact Melanie Burrows. If she can’t get through to her daughter, nobody can.”

“Wouldn’t it just be easier for me to call Lilith? Can’t she get through faster for us?”

I didn’t know why that hadn’t occurred to me. I had to believe my brains were scrambled, so I nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. Go ahead. Oh, release them first. Oh—why don’t I freeze?”

Dash shrugged. “I’ll ask her. She’s the one who gave me the power.”

Snapping his fingers for them to resume their cookie-making, Dash left the room, and I picked up a cookie, taking a bite. Mom’s cookies always took me back to my childhood. At times like these, I missed those days more than ever.

We stoodoutside Lenny’s house waiting. Dash had called Lilith, and she told him to give her fifteen minutes. Mom was napping, and we had no idea what was happening inside Lenny’s place, but I had seen a few spirits milling around the neighborhood.

When I mentioned it to Dash... “Remind me to tell you about a nightmare I had recently.” I asked him to elaborate, but he waved me off.

“I shoulda known you two couldn’t get along without me.” We both turned to see Scotty Locke standing behind us in all his dazzling angelic glory. And not surprisingly, Jay Frick was next to him.

I rushed to the two of them, hugging them both as they laughed. Dash surprised me by hugging the three of us before we all laughed.

“What are you guys doing here?” It was incredible to see them. I was under the impression they couldn’t leave Limbo for a while.

Jay cleared his throat. “We heard Lucy is getting married, and we wanted to⁠—”

Scotty rolled his eyes. “Lilith contacted me about the issue with Lenny’s daughter. I’m here to help you until Dash learns how— Ah, Mrs. Burrows.”

Scotty turned and held out his hand, taking the right one of a beautiful spirit and leading her forward. “Keir, Dash. This is Melanie Burrows. Mrs. Burrows, this is Dash Clegg, a friend, and Keir, Lucy and David’s son. He’s very much cut from the same cloth as his father.”

“Oh, Mr. Dearly, David is such a wonderful man. He took me along when Lenny and Lucy became engaged. It was so wonderful to see that Lenny isn’t alone and has someone who can love him and enjoy life with him. What’s going on with Lindsey?”

“You, uh, you don’t know?” I was a little confused.

Scotty winked at me. “Melanie crossed over after she saw that her family was okay. We had to get permission from the Celestial Council for her to come back one time. She doesn’t exactly know what’s going on in the human realm.”

I nodded, sort of understanding, but before I could open my mouth to speak, Dash took over—in a way only Dash could.

“She’s being a bitch about this.” I grabbed Dash and tried to stop him, but he pulled away. “Lucy is the sweetest woman in the world, but Lindsey came up with this bullshit about Lenny not being faithful to you if he marries Lucy, and she won’t be the matron of honor. And she won’t let Ariana be in the wedding either.”

“Uh, Mrs. Burrows, what my fiancé means is that Lindsey’s not happy that Lenny is remarrying my mother. Mom’s thinking of calling off the wedding.”

Everyone was silent. “I’m not kidding. She’s so upset that she’s ready to call it off. She was trying to get Dash and me to get married in their place, so the party didn’t go to waste.”

“What did you say?” Dash stared at me before he took my hand.

I turned and took both of his hands in mine. “I thanked her and said I appreciated the offer, but I want us to be married the way we want—in our garden with our friends and family.” I turned to Scotty and Jay. “If you’re available, we’d love you to come. New Year’s Eve afternoon.”

“We wouldn’t miss it for anything.” Scotty then hugged me again. I had missed my friend.