Power (The Keatyn Chronicles Book 9) (19 page)

Although, I didn’t know it at the time.
 

I was still in shock. I couldn’t believe what my life had become. My wife had killed herself. I was broke, with two little girls to raise on my own.
 
I didn’t care about my job anymore and a had mess of financial disbelief. I couldn’t face the reality of what Whitney had done.
 

Still can’t, really.
 

But at least we’re moving in the right direction.

“Dad, it says you have to press the button if you want the gate to open,” Ava says, bringing me back to the present.

“Or you could say
Open Sesame
!” Harlow giggles from the backseat.

“Thanks, honey.” I roll down the window and hit the call button. When Vanessa’s butler answers and says, “May I ask who’s calling?” the girls giggle again.

Harlow says, “We aren’t calling, we’re visiting.”

“Dawson, Harlow, and Ava Johnson,” I reply politely as the gate opens and we drive through it. “Remember, girls, you are to be on your best behavior.”

“We will be,” they sing.
 

“Grandma told us . . .” Harlow says.

“Harlow!” Ava warns.
 

“What were you going to say, Harlow?” I ask her.

“Grandma told us not to scare Miss Vanessa away. We won’t, Daddy. We promise to be good.”

I run my hand through my hair and take a deep breath. Clearly, it’s time to have a chat with my family. I’m also praying the girls like the school we’re visiting on Monday. I need them here with me.

Part of me wants to turn around and drive off. I don’t know what I’m doing. Vanessa and I haven’t been together since I told her about wanting to spend time alone with the girls. The tabloid article was right. I was chasing after her all night trying to figure how to make it up to her.
 

I was shocked when she called this morning, told me she had fallen asleep early and didn’t get our call last night.

I’m hoping it means that she’s not still upset.
 

But I really don’t know what to expect.

As I shut off the car, the girls are already hopping out and running to Vanessa, who is waiting for us in the doorway. She’s decked out in full equestrian wear. Sleek fitted black pants that mold her body, tucked into black riding boots. I look down at the jeans and flannel shirt I’m wearing.
 

“Are you a princess?” is the first thing out of Harlow’s mouth. “Your house looks like Prince Eric’s castle. Is there an ocean in the back?”

Vanessa laughs and gives her a hug. “I’m afraid I don’t have an ocean, but I do have a pool.”

“And horses, right? Daddy said we get to ride.”

“Yes, I thought we’d start with that.”

I greet Vanessa with a kiss on the cheek and can’t help but wonder how this could ever possibly work. I feel a little like the pauper going into the princess’ house.

I get over myself and enjoy the beautiful day. We ride horses together and then the girls go for a swim. Afterwards, her chef helps them make their own pizzas.
 

“This is the best day ever,” Harlow says, her mouth full of gooey cheese.
 

“I’m glad you’re having fun,” Vanessa says. She’s gone out of her way to be nice to the girls, but she hasn’t given me any clue as to how she’s feeling about me. Part of me wonders if she’s decided we should just be friends.

“What are we gonna do next?” Ava asks.
 

“We probably need to head home pretty soon,” I tell them.

Vanessa grins at the girls. “What if we had a slumber party instead?”

“A slumber party! A slumber party!” they chant.
 

“Please, Daddy?” Harlow begs. “I swear it wasn’t just the money. We really did want to see Miss Vanessa.”

Vanessa glares at me with a raised eyebrow.
 

“I can explain,” I say to her.
 

Shit.
 

“No, I can explain!” Harlow yells, wanting to be the center of attention. “So, silly Uncle Cam told us that if Daddy didn’t use it, it was going to fall off.”

“He was talking about his heart,” Ava interrupts.

“Basically, my nosy brother paid the girls twenty dollar each to make sure that I hung out with you while they were here.”

Vanessa laughs, thank god. And for the first time all day, I feel myself relax.

“I think I need to meet your Uncle Cam,” she says to the girls.

“He’s very silly,” Harlow says. “Every time he sees me, he lifts me up in the air, turns me upside down, and shakes me to try and get the dimes to fall out of my pockets.”

“Why do you have dimes in your pockets?”

“We plan spoons for dimes when we’re all together. Harlow wins a lot,” Ava says.
 

“Your dad did invite me to meet your family for Thanksgiving. Should I bring dimes?” Vanessa asks.

“You probably better bring a lot, unless you are lucky like me,” Harlow says, pointing to her chest.

“Okay, girls, why don’t you take your plates into the kitchen and put them in the dishwasher, then we’ll get ready for bed.”

“We don’t have pajamas,” Ava points out. “We only brought our swimsuits.”

“Oh, I didn’t think of that. Maybe you could borrow one of Vanessa’s t-shirts.” I turn toward Vanessa. Hell, she probably doesn’t even own a t-shirt.

“I’m sure I can find something. Let me go look.”

Once she is safely out of earshot, I say, “Girls, I know we’re having a slumber party, but that doesn’t mean you can stay up all night. It means you get to sleep here.”

“So it’s a sleepover, not a slumber party,” Ava states. “There’s a big difference.”

“Yes, exactly. It’s getting late and we’ve had a busy day. When I say it’s time for bed, Harlow, that means you have to go to sleep, or we’ll go home.”

“Okay, Daddy,” Harlow says. She gets up, washes her plate off and puts it in the dishwasher, showing me she means it.

“I found some T-shirts,” Vanessa says, handing the girls shirts with movie posters for one of the
Trinity
movies on the front of them.

While they run into the bathroom to change, I take Vanessa into my arms.

“Thanks for today.”

“I’m sorry I’ve been acting so crazy, Dawson. I don’t have any excuse other than this is new to me. The way I feel about you. The way I already feel about them. The other day, when I left your office so suddenly, it was because . . .”

Harlow runs out of the bathroom. Make that, zooms out, pretending to be the airplane on the front of her shirt. She zooms down the hall and then zooms through the living room, her arms spread out wide.

“Harlow, don’t run through the house, please,” I say, interrupting Vanessa. Then I turn my attention back toward her. “You were saying you left my office the other day . . .”

CRASH!
 

I look up to see Harlow crashing into a small table and sending a very expensive looking vase flying through the air.
 

I let go of Vanessa and run, trying to catch it.
 

But I’m too late. It falls to the ground and shatters.
 

“I told you not to run in the house!” I yell.

“Harlow, you klutz!” Ava screams. “You’re going to ruin
everything
! Vanessa will make us leave and Dad’s heart will dry up and he’ll die too! And then we’ll be orphans!”

I stop in my tracks.
 

My children are afraid I'm going to die?
 

I take a deep breath and speak softly, wrapping both girls in a hug. “Ava, lower your voice. I'm not going to die. I'm not a dolphin.” I turn toward Vanessa. “I'm sorry, we should probably go. We'll figure out a way to pay you for the vase.”

Vanessa hasn’t moved and I’m worried she’s going to blow. Her body is still but her eyes are moving wildly across the room.
 

Harlow walks over to her with tears in her eyes. Her bottom lip is puffed out. “I’m very sorry.”

Vanessa looks at Harlow like she just realized we’re still here.
 

Then she bends down to Harlow’s level and touches her hand. “It's okay, honey. There's a lot of breakable stuff here.”

“I shouldn’t have run in the house. I know better than that.”

Vanessa smiles at her. “You know what. I think sometimes you need to run in the house. In fact,
I
feel like running in the house.” She takes off running. “Come on!”

The girls react first, quickly following her around the kitchen islands. As they run by me, Vanessa grabs my shirt and says, “You too.”

I have no idea what Vanessa is doing, but I follow.

We run through her house and I realize we haven't even seen half of it.
 

It's huge.
 

We run down hallways filled with rooms for entertainment then around two bars, down a hall, around a pool table.
 

Through a smoking lounge, den, and poker room.
 

A movie theater.
 

A dance floor.
 

Another lounge.
 

Then we run up a flight of stairs to a long hallway covered in deep plush carpet.
 

Down another long hall. Through bedrooms of different colors.
 

Then Vanessa stops in front of a door at the end of a hall.
 

She's breathing hard.
 

And just staring at the door.
 

She reaches out and touches the door’s handle, almost like she's afraid of it.
 

She finally turns the handle and throws open the door to a giant playroom—filled with a multitude of toys and huge stuffed animals.
 

“Whoa!” the girl say at the same time, their eyes big as they run, skip, and jump from one thing to the next.
 

Vanessa still hasn’t entered the room. She’s just staring into it.
 

And I get the feeling that opening this door was like opening her heart.
 

I can’t help but wonder if this room has something to do with the baby she lost.
 

“This is an amazing room.”

She turns to me.
 

And I know by the look on her face and the tears in her eyes, that I'm right.
 

It's amazing the pain another person can cause you.
 

Vanessa is tough. She's a strong business woman. Smart, beautiful, but she's as broken as I am.
 

And she just needs someone to love her.
 

To have the same hopes and dreams as her.
 

I think.

No, I’m going with my gut on this.
 

And I know I’m right.

I pull her into my arms and kiss her right in front of the girls.
 

“You want me to let go of the guilt, but you haven't, have you?”

She brushes away a tear, like she's mad it even dared to fall.
 

I move her hand away from her face, by pulling it to my lips and kissing it.

Then I look into her eyes and know that time doesn’t matter.
 

It doesn’t matter that we’ve only been together for a short time.
 

When you know it, you know it.

“I love you,” I say.
 

“Now you're really going to make me cry,” she says, smiling through her tears. “I love you too.”

“I love you three! Harlow yells, running over and hugging both our legs.
 

“And I love you four,” Ava adds, wrapping her arms around Vanessa.

Vanessa hugs her back tightly, tears now freely streaming down her face.

I usually hate to see tears.
 

With Whitney, tears were a bad thing.
 

The start of another bout of depression.
 

But these tears seem cleansing.
 

Freeing.
 

After we tuck the girls into bed, I take Vanessa's hand and lead her out to the pool.
 

I stand in front of her. “Take your clothes off.”

She looks surprised by this.
 

And normally, I’d want to undress her, but not now.
 

She needs this.
 

“Um,” she says, looking puzzled.
 

“I’m taking my clothes off,” I say as I strip them off and throw them into a chaise. “Get naked with me.”

Her eyes trail hungrily down my body. I love the desire I see in them, but that's not what this is about.