Chapter 28

28

Well. Dylan was quieter than Dylan usually was—Dixie studied her smallest sister silently as Dylan set out the now-thawed food trays from the cooler. They would bake them in the ovens before they were ready to be put on the buffet bar.

“Okay, spill.”

“What?” Dylan turned. Her cheeks were a little red. Her eyes—had she been crying? And her lips—definitely a little swollen there. But it was the wild look in the big green eyes that stood out the most.

“Okay, tell me what’s going on. First, why have you been crying?”

Dylan’s hands went to her eyes. “Oh. Nightmare. Woke up crying.”

Believable. Dixie wasn’t stupid. Dylan had been through hell, after all. Meyra was still having nightmares from what hell that had been too. They probably always would. Dixie touched the scar at her own temple. She still had nightmares of her own from what had happened with her the Beise woman several years ago. “Okay, so, who have you been kissing?”

She waited. Dixie wasn’t stupid—she knew. She knew exactly who had reddened those lips and put that confused look in her baby sister’s green eyes.

“Okay, so Fletcher heard me crying and he came in my room and then we were talking. And then next thing I knew we were kissing. Like hot, I wanted to rip off my clothes kissing. But I don’t know if he really kissed me or if I am the one who kissed him. Or maybe we just sort of kissed each other.”

Dixie had no trouble following, even though the words came out in a crazy rush.

“Okay, then what?”

“Then…he pulled back, said he wasn’t going to take advantage of me. And then I ended up here. But—” Dylan sent her a totally confused look. “I don’t think there would be any taking advantage of anyone involved. I could see myself being with him, Dixie. Just like that. Instantly. Without thinking it through, just right there getting naked with him, no hesitation at all, and that just isn’t me . I don’t rush into a relationship with a guy like that. And how do I know I’m not just rushing into something because of proximity and because I’m trying to distract myself from…things…and what is he really wanting and…what about the whole Charlotte thing?”

Dixie wrapped her hands around Dylan’s arms—it was easy to do. This Talley was definitely on the scrawny side, unlike the far curvier Dixie. Dylan may have been their smallest, but damned if she didn’t have the most sensitive heart of them all. Dixie had realized that pretty quick. “First, Charlotte was over ten years ago when they were both practically kids. Immature and hurting, both of them. It never would have worked and they both knew that—that was one reason why Fletch called it off between them.”

Dylan’s eyes showed her surprise. “I thought it was her, so she could go to college.”

“No. It was him. They were using each other to get past their hurt—he realized that first, and realized he was keeping her from going for her dreams. I don’t see that happening between the two of you at all. He is a different man than he was then, for one thing. He knows what—who—he wants now. And sweetie, the way he looks at you—I don’t remember him ever looking at her like that. Fletcher was a boy then—he’s a man who knows what he wants now. It means more to him now, I think.”

“But…why would he want…me?” Dylan started practically pacing around the kitchen, spatulas in her hand waving around erratically. The door swung open. Darcey and Dusty were there. Dylan just kept pacing. Dixie hurt for her baby sister. Dylan was really feeling mixed up right now.

“What’s going on?” Dusty asked. “Everything okay?”

“No. Not everything is okay!” Dylan said.

“So what did Fletcher do?” Darcey asked, pointedly.

“He kissed me. He heard me having a nightmare, and then we were just…kissing. Really kissing. No guy has ever kissed me like that before.”

“You aren’t a virgin, right?” Darcey asked. Dixie winced—she didn’t think Darcey quite realized just how upset Dylan was right now. She shook her head at her older sister. Now was not the time for snark.

“No. Of course, I’m not. What does that have to do with anything?” Dylan just stared at Dusty and Darcey. “ I’m not like you three. I’m just not. I don’t know what to do with a guy like him.”

Not like them? This was deeper than Fletcher, wasn’t it?

“This is only the first time he’s kissed you?” Dusty asked. “All month? You’ve been living with him for a month and he’s just now kissed you? Wow. The guy has more restraint than I thought he did.”

Dylan just sort of started crying, right there. Dixie shot her other sisters a glare and pulled Dylan closer.

“Hell, Dyl. You’re serious, aren’t you?” Darcey said. To Dixie’s surprise, Darcey pulled Dylan away. Those two weren’t exactly gelling well yet. “Hey, look at me.”

Dylan looked up. She looked a little on the miserable side.

“How exactly did Fletcher Tyler kiss you? Because if we have to, Dixie and I will go find him and kick his ass. Dusty gets a pass, though, considering.”

“He kissed me like he meant it. And I don’t know why. I’m not like the rest of you.”

That was twice she’d said that. She wasn’t like the rest of them.

And this…was a serious case of insecurity right here. Dixie finally understood. “How are you not like us?”

“All of this is so easy for all of you Talleys. You have life figured out and I just…don’t. I ran away. I ran away from the inn because it didn’t feel right and I ran right to his house. And maybe that’s it? Maybe I’m just hiding there?”

Dixie looked at Darcey. What exactly where they supposed to tell her now? “None of us have life fully figured out, Dylan. I don’t think that’s possible.”

“But everything just seems so easy for all of you. Talleys. You know who you are, and what you want. And most of the time, I just feel like I am pretending. I’m not one of you, not really—and I know it. All of it. You all have to see it too. And I don’t know why he can’t see that at all.”

Oh, hell. Poor kid. Now Dixie was getting it.

It wasn’t just Fletcher that had her so confused. Dixie had Dylan figured out now. She wrapped her arms around her baby sister and held her while she cried.

Of course. Dylan’s whole world, her entire identity, and everything else had been upended four months ago. Very little probably did make sense for her right now.

Add in a man like complex, intense, confusing man like Fletcher Tyler? No wonder her sister looked like her entire world was imploding.

It probably felt like it was.

“You are one of us, exactly as you are,” Darcey said, wrapping her arms around Dixie and Dylan both. Dusty did the same from the other side. “No matter what.”

How were they supposed to help Dylan figure this out now?