Color of Forgiveness (16 page)

Glancing up at Dylan, her brows furrow
slightly when she sees his panicked face, his cheeks a bright red.
He leans down and whispers in her ear. “I’m so sorry. I’m so
fucking embarrassed.”

Reaching for his hand, she entwines her
fingers with his and squeezes, looking up and giving him a
reassuring smile. “
It’s okay
,” she mouths. And it is. Other
than being mortified that they caught her assaulting their son with
her lips, she actually finds it sweet that they came all the way to
the airport just to meet her.

“Myra, I begged Dylan to bring you home so
that we could meet you, but in case you haven’t figured it out yet,
he’s a bit stubborn and hard-headed. But I just
had
to meet
you. I know this is a bit soon to throw this on you and it’s still
quite a ways away, but I wanted to see if you had any plans for
Easter yet. I’d love it if you two could come spend the weekend
with us. I’ll fix a huge Easter dinner and you could meet the rest
of the family. What do you think?” Sherri asks eagerly.

Myra looks from his mom to Dylan for some
guidance on how to answer. He’s staring straight ahead, throwing
daggers at his mother with his eyes. She can see the muscles in his
jaw clenching. He swivels his head towards her and his expression
immediately softens. There’s so much fear and concern in his eyes
that it makes her heart hurt. She’s not sure what to make of this
whole situation. Does he
not
want her to spend time with his
parents? Is there a reason he didn’t want her to meet them?

She looks back at Sherri. “Can you excuse us
for just a minute? I need to talk to Dylan.”

“Oh, absolutely,” Sherri says as she tugs on
Dennis’ arm. “We’ll just be right over there.” She points towards
the exit.

Before Myra can say anything, Dylan grabs
her hand and starts walking in the opposite direction. “Myra, I’m
so sorry. I can’t believe they showed up like this. This is a
fucking nightmare. I—”

She stops walking and places a hand on his
chest. “Dylan… stop.”

He stops talking and stares at her with his
brows furrowed.

“I know you had nothing to do with it, but I
think it’s incredibly sweet and wonderful that they drove all the
way out here just to meet me. You’re not embarrassed for me to meet
them are you?”

“Embarrassed? What the hell are you talking
about?”

“I mean, she said you didn’t want them to
meet me…”

“
No
. I
did
want you to meet
them. I just… I didn’t want to scare you off. I’m always screwing
shit up with you and I wanted to take things slow this time and do
things right. I knew meeting my parents definitely wasn’t taking
things slow. I don’t want to fuck things up this time and lose
you.”

“You’re not going to lose me. I’m not going
anywhere. How should I answer her?”

“Well, I’d be really damn proud to introduce
you to my family, but I don’t want to make you uncomfortable. If
this is too soon…”

“No, I’d love to go with you.”

Dylan gives her a half-grin. “You
would?”

“Yes, I would.”

A huge grin spreads across Dylan’s face. He
grabs Myra’s hand. “Okay. Let’s go tell them.”

They walk over to where Dennis and Sherri
are waiting. “Well?” Sherri asks, looking back and forth between
them.

Myra looks up at Dylan wanting him to
answer. He stares back down at her and with his eyes locked on hers
and says, “We’ll be there,” in a quiet voice.

Sherri squeals in delight. “This is just
wonderful. Well, we’re going to let you two get on the road. I’m
sure you’re exhausted from your flight and ready to get home,” she
says to Myra with a smile.

Sherri throws her arms around Dylan.
“Sweetheart, I’m sorry for showing up like this, but sometimes
mother’s just know what’s best for their children. And you know
that I love you dearly.” Myra’s heart melts as she watches her kiss
his cheek so lovingly. Her eyes mist up as her heart desperately
longs for her own lost family.

“I love you too, but I’m gonna hold a grudge
for a while for this little stunt you pulled,” he says to his mom
with a smirk.

Sherri laughs lightly before turning to Myra
and pulling her in for a hug. Myra melts into her, enjoying the
motherly affection that she’s been denied for so long. She smells
like freshly cut flowers. Sherri whispers in her ear, “He needs
you. Thank you for giving me my son back.”

When she pulls away, Myra can see the tears
pooling in Sherri’s eyes. She’s not quite sure how to interpret her
words because she can’t think of a single thing that she’s done
that could bring him closer to his family. But Sherri’s eyes are so
full of warmth and sincerity that she decides to just accept it.
She smiles and nods at her.

As Myra watches Dennis and Sherri leave the
airport hand in hand, she realizes that not only does she love
Dylan, but she has fallen in love at first sight with his parents
as well.

* * *

Dylan shuts Myra’s trunk and turns towards
her. “Are you hungry? Do you want to get something to eat before we
head out?”

“Yeah, that would be great.”

“I know this little diner not too far from
here where we could get a sandwich. You want to follow me
there?”

“Sure.”

Dylan leads the way the short distance from
the airport to the diner. Once he gets parked, he grimaces as he
gets out of his truck. He twists back and forth trying to stretch
his back out.

“Are you okay?” Myra asks as she comes up
behind him. “Is it your back?”

“Yeah, that flight yesterday just about
fucking killed me. As soon as we get back to Nyssa, I’ve got to get
my back adjusted.”

“Do you need some painkillers? I’ve got some
Ibuprofen in my purse.”

“Nah, I can tough it out,” he says as he
grabs her hand and entwines his fingers with hers.

After they’ve been seated and placed their
orders, Dylan looks up at Myra. He’s got something he wants to ask
her, but his mouth suddenly goes dry. He grabs his Coke and takes a
quick drink.

He clears his throat. “I wanted to ask you
something.”

“Anything,” she says quietly with a hint of
a smile on her lips.

“Well, I was thinking that—” he says before
getting interrupted by his phone ringing.

“Jesus Christ. Hang on,” he grumbles as he
digs his phone out of his shirt pocket.

“Goddamn it,” he says as he stares down at
the caller ID.

“You okay?” Myra asks. He looks up at her
and knows exactly what he has to do.

“Yeah… it’s Sabrina. I don’t have any more
secrets. I’m going to answer this and put it on speaker, all
right?”

“You don’t have to…”

“Yes, I do.”

“Okay,” she says with a nod.

He hits the button and puts it on speaker.
“Yeah?”

“Dylan, I’m so glad I caught you. What are
you doing?” Sabrina’s voice purrs through the phone.

“I’m with Myra right now,” he says with no
hesitation in his voice, his eyes glued to Myra’s face.

“Oh.”

“What do you want, Sabrina?”

“Well, I wanted to see if you were going to
be home this weekend. I wanted to stop by.”

“Why?”

“Just to talk… and I wanted to see if you
got the bill for the tombstone yet so I can pay my half.”

“That’s not necessary. I’m taking care of
it.”

“Oh no, I want to pay my share.”

“Fine, give me your address and I’ll mail
you the bill.”

“Well, I’d really like to do this in person
instead.”

“That’s not gonna work because I plan on
being with Myra this weekend.” Myra flashes him a shy smile. “Look,
I don’t want any misunderstandings between us. I’m with Myra now
and I think she’d be pretty fucking pissed if she knew I was
spending time with you no matter how innocent it was.” Myra nods
her head at him in agreement.

“But I—”

Dylan cuts her off. “Is there anything else
you needed?”

The phone remains quiet for a long moment
before Sabrina sighs loudly. “I guess not.”

“All right… well, I gotta go.”

Dylan ends the call and looks up at Myra. “I
want to make this clear. I don’t have any feelings for Sabrina any
more. What we had… it ended a long time ago. I don’t know why the
hell she’s choosing now to suddenly try to get back into my life
when I haven’t heard from her in so long but I need you to
understand that.”

“I understand. You can’t help it if she
calls you. You saw what a hard time I had getting away from
Trent.”

Dylan’s eyes narrow a bit as a wave of
completely irrational jealousy floods him simply from hearing her
say that asshole’s name. Thankfully, their food arrives.

“Dylan?”

“Hmm?” he mumbles around a mouthful of
cheeseburger.

“What were you going to ask me before
Sabrina called?”

He holds up a finger to let her know he
needs to finish chewing his bite. Picking up his Coke, he takes a
big gulp then clears his throat. “Well, I… I thought since we were
going to try to start over again and shit, well, I wanted to know
if you’d… Will you go on a date with me?”

“A date?” she repeats, her face lighting
up.

“Yeah...”

“I’d love to.”

“Okay, then.” Dylan stares at her, smiling
goofily, and she at him, as they finish their meal. When they’re
done, they walk out to their cars and he opens her door and stares
down at her for a moment.

“I wish we were riding together,” he says,
knowing he sounds like a pussy but not really caring.

“Me too.”

“At least it’s only an hour drive.”

“Yeah.”

His eyes lower to her lips. Moving a little
closer, he swallows. “I’m going to kiss you again,” he whispers.
“Is that okay?”

She nods and wraps her arms around his neck.
“It’s always okay,” she whispers. “You don’t ever have to ask.” He
leans down and touches her lips with his own. He kisses her softly,
gently several times loving how soft and perfect her lips feel
against his. But before he knows it, the kiss escalates and his
hands are in her hair and he’s pushing closer and closer to her,
groaning into her open mouth. He can’t do this shit right here in a
goddamn parking lot. Pulling his lips away from hers, he leans his
forehead against hers for a moment to catch his breath.

“Sorry about that,” he says in an
out-of-breath voice. “You are really fucking irresistible.”

She giggles and hugs his neck, causing him
to chuckle. When she gets in the car, he closes the door and
follows her out of the parking lot. Just as they’re about to get on
the highway, his phone rings.

Frowning, he digs it out of his pocket. He
rolls his eyes when he sees the caller ID. This cannot be good.
“What?” he answers angrily.

“
So
… how old are you, bro? I can’t
believe you got caught making out with your baby girl right in the
middle of the fucking airport by the old parental units. Damn, bro.
You got it bad,” Chad says before cackling loudly. Dylan bristles
as this confirms exactly why he didn’t want his family to know
about Myra in the first place. But then, without realizing it, he
cracks a smile. Chad’s definitely an asshole for teasing him… but
the reason for the teasing had
definitely
been very
worthwhile.

CHAPTER 6

Pulling into her driveway, Myra frowns as
she stares up at her house. She can’t believe how spooky it looks
against the moonlit sky like it just came straight out of a horror
film. She’s never been one to believe in ghosts, but there is
something unexplainable going on in that house. It wasn’t there
when Grampie was alive nor can she recall ever noticing anything
unusual or feeling scared when she used to stay there. In fact… the
strangeness only started after Grampie died.

“Nonsense,” she mutters under her breath,
shaking her head for letting her imagination get the best of her.
No matter how frightening or intimidating the old house may appear,
it
is
her home now and she’s excited to see it after being
gone for so long, ghosts and all.

She smiles when she hears the deep rumble of
Dylan’s truck pull into the driveway behind her. She still can’t
believe that he met her at the airport and followed her home. What
really got to her was when he didn’t hesitate to let her listen to
his and Sabrina’s conversation. That proved to her right there he
meant what he said about not keeping things hidden from her
anymore. It also helped to solidify his words that his past with
Sabrina is exactly that, the past.

Closing the car door, she walks around to
the trunk and smiles as Dylan steps up to her. “Happy to be home?”
he asks before pushing a stray lock of hair that has blown across
her cheek behind her ear.

“Yes. Very.”

He rubs his thumb against her cheek before
turning to pull her suitcases out of her trunk.

“Thanks. I’ll just go unlock the—” she says
before stopping in her tracks and gasping. “Oh my god…” She blinks
several times to make sure her eyes aren’t playing tricks on
her.

She whirls around. “Did you… Did you do
this?” she asks, waving her hand toward the new sidewalk.

He watches her carefully. “Yeah… you’re not
mad, are you?”

“Mad? Of course not, it looks amazing.”
Bending down, she touches the new concrete. Why would he do this?
Didn’t he have other jobs he needed to work on while she was in
Philly?

She stands up. “I’ll pay you for this,
I—”

“No,” Dylan says forcefully, shaking his
head. He sets the suitcases down and closes the distance between
them. “When you were gone, I wanted to be here in case you showed
up. I couldn’t do any work inside so I decided to work on the
sidewalk. That way I could hang around and still get some shit
done. I thought of it as kind of like… I don’t know… a gift?” He
groans, running a hand through his hair. “
Fuck.
That sounded
stupid. Who replaces a sidewalk as a gift? I’m a dumbass,” he
mumbles, looking away from her and rubbing the back of his
neck.