Second Chances (9 page)

Neither of them said anything as they seemed to inspect the other. He reached around her, sliding his hand across her naked back. Stacy’s skin was soft underneath his callused fingers.

He pulled her until her body was snug against his. Dustin put his nose to the spot right behind Stacy’s ear and took in her scent.

“Dustin,” Stacy whispered.

Dustin didn’t move from the spot. “Yeah, sugar?”

“Um, we have to get going.” The last part coming out as a moan when he pressed his lips to her kissing her with the softest touch.

“Okay, let’s go.”

Dustin reluctantly let go of her so she could grab her purse. Stacy followed him out of the door and handed over her keys so Dustin could make sure it was locked up. Then with his hand on the small of her back, he led her to his truck.

***

The drive to the hall was pleasant. Stacy was excited to share with him all of the plans she had for her studio when she was finally able to get it going. They talked about Chloe and the incidents the night before and then the one earlier.

Stacy knew she was babbling, but she was nervous for some reason. She didn’t know why. The man had seen her naked, for goodness sake. Maybe it was because she knew that if he asked her to start something with him she’d say yes. Yes, it scared her that he was able to break her heart, but Stacy knew Dustin would never hurt her intentionally…She hoped.

When they pulled into the parking lot and Dustin pulled into a spot, he turned to look at Stacy and smiled. “So what’re you going to be singing tonight?”

“Just a couple of my favorite songs, so you’ll have to wait and see.” She didn’t need to be secretive, but it was kind of fun to mess with him.

Stacy hopped out of the truck before he could make it around to help her. She smiled when he shook his head and returned her smile.

She grabbed his hand and led him into the hall. They didn’t do much decorating, but the hall was nicely adorned already. Her dad and uncles were up on the little stage tuning their instruments and laughing.

It was good to see her dad back to his old self. When they thought they were going to lose him last year she’d been devastated. Now he was a new man.

Stacy led Dustin further into the room when her mom came rushing towards them smiling.

“
A minha menina
you’re here.” Stacy let her mom pull her into a big hug. “Oh, baby, you look beautiful. Dustin, sweetheart, handsome as always.” She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek.

“Thanks, Renée. You look stunning,” he said, giving Stacy a wink.

“Always the charmer,” Renée teased. “You kids go mingle. Stacy, make sure you introduce him to the family he hasn’t met yet.” Then her mom was off.

“I’m just gonna apologize now, because these crazies can be a little overwhelming.” She walked with him over to a table that was next to the dance floor. Just as they were about to sit down, Stacy heard a loud cry and then felt two little arms wrap around her.

“Oh, Tay Tay, you’re here.” Stacy wrapped her arms around little Chloe and pulled her into her lap.

“Hi, baby girl. What’s the matter?” she asked when Chloe attached herself to Stacy like a leech. Dustin raised an eyebrow and looked down at Chloe.

“I-I just missed you so much.” Her little voice had gone very serious. Chloe looked over at Dustin and Stacy saw the small smile she gave him.

“Chloe, you remember my friend, Dustin, don’t you?”

Chloe nodded her head and then leaned back against Stacy.

She still managed to talk to Dustin even with Chloe attached to her. It made her have wistful thoughts of the children she wanted someday. Dustin smiled over her shoulder and when she turned and looked, her dad and Garrett were coming over.

Dustin stood up and shook hands with both men. Her dad knelt down and kissed her cheek. Garrett followed suit, but then looked concerned when he looked at his daughter.

The men all spoke for a few minutes until her dad excused himself and left Garrett with them.

“Baby, you’ve got to give Tay Tay some space, okay? You can sit with her later. Your grandma wants to see you,” Garrett said with a soft, gentle voice.

Chloe looked at Stacy, then her dad, and then at Dustin. Stacy could see the wheels turning in the little girl’s head. She slowly got off of Stacy’s lap and then walked over to Dustin. Chloe motioned to him to lean down and when Dustin did, she whispered in his ear. Dustin froze for a second and then whispered something back…Strange.

Garrett took Chloe’s hand in his and turned back to Stacy. “Your grandma wants to see you, too. So bring Dustin and go talk to her before she hunts you down.” With that he was off.

Stacy turned back to Dustin and wanted to know what that was all about. The look on his face caused her to be concerned.

“Dustin, what did she say?”

She watched Dustin run his hand through his hair and then sighed. “She told me to keep you safe.”

Well, if that didn’t floor Stacy. None of her family knew what Mark had done to her. Sure, most of them probably knew that she found out he was married, but she didn’t want them to know that he had hurt her.

Maybe the little girl could sense Stacy’s stress. For whatever reason, she was just going to have to talk to Chloe and find out why she felt the need to tell Dustin that and reassure the little girl that she was fine.

“They still don’t know what happened, do they?” Dustin asked her. She didn’t have to answer him because the look she gave him was his answer. He wasn’t judging her, but he wasn’t happy about it, either.

“What’s the point, Dustin? All it’s gonna do is cause them unnecessary worry. I haven’t talked to him in almost a week. I think he’s got the picture now. He’s not going to bother me anymore.”

Before they could talk about it anymore, Bellamy, Luke, and his parents came walking over. Stacy stood up along with Dustin to give everyone hugs.

Bellamy pulled Stacy close. “What did we walk up on? You guys looked a little serious.”

“It’s nothing. Just a difference of opinions,” Stacy murmured.

“Stacy, honey, you look beautiful,” Ruth, Bellamy and Dustin’s mom said.

“Thank you. Can I get y’all anything to drink?” Stacy asked as she stepped back.

“We’re good, honey, but thanks,” Ruth said as they all settled into seats around the table.

Stacy excused herself to go say hi to her grandma before she did, in fact, hunt her down. She was surprised to see Dustin get up and follow her, but enjoyed the comfort of his hand at the small of her back.

Her grandma was sitting at a table with her mom and dad, but at the moment she was surrounded by her grandchildren. She looked up with a smile as Stacy made her way over to her.

Grandma Hutchins didn’t look at all like a 67 year old woman who had given birth to four large men. She was tall and slender and wore her hair in a short, flattering cut. For as long as Stacy could remember, she never saw her without makeup or her hair styled.

She rose gracefully from her chair and enveloped Stacy in a tight hug. The scent of her grandma’s perfume made her smile. Her grandma had worn White Diamonds since Stacy was little.

“My beautiful girl, I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too, Grandma. You look fantastic.” Stacy gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Grandma, you remember Dustin Carmichael, don’t you?”

Her grandma looked at Dustin, flashing him a dazzling smile. “Of course I do. Your sister is my baby’s best friend.”

Dustin stepped forward and clasped Grandma Hutchins’ hand in both of his. “It’s good to see you again, Mrs. Hutchins.”

She kissed his cheek. “Please, call me Frances.” Frances patted his cheek and then looked at Stacy. “He’s a handsome one, isn’t he?”

Stacy laughed and shook her head. They talked to her for a few more minutes and then made the rounds talking to everyone.

She was worried Dustin would feel overwhelmed by all of the introductions, but he was charming as always. They wound their way back to their table as her dad grabbed the microphone.

“Hi, everyone. First of all I want to thank you all for coming. I know the Hutchins brood can be a little overwhelming, but you’re all here because you’re people we care about. Last year I thought my life was over. My father died from a heart attack when he was just 45, so when I had mine, I was sure I was going to meet my maker, but my beautiful wife and daughter stayed by my side day and night until I finally started to get better.

“I just want to thank my family for helping my girls while I recovered and thank all of our friends who helped us out, too. I wouldn’t be here today without the love and support of all of you. So consider this my thank you to each and every one of you.”

Stacy jumped out of her seat and walked out to her dad and mom. As they hugged her, tears fell from Stacy’s eyes, but they were happy tears.

“I love you, baby girl,” her dad whispered in her ear.

“I love you too, Daddy.”

The rest of their family made their way up to her dad. After hugs, kisses and tears, Garrett walked to the microphone.

“Are we ready to get this party started?” he shouted. With the answering hoots and hollers, the men all got their instruments together.

***

Dustin talked with his dad and brother-in-law as they ordered drinks at the bar for everybody at their table. His mind kept going back to little Chloe. Why was she so worried about Stacy? Was the girl just intuitive? He didn’t know, but he damn sure wanted to find out.

“So what’s going on with you and Stacy?” Luke said as he interrupted Dustin’s thoughts.

“Nothing yet. We’ve just been hanging out and talking a lot.” Dustin wanted so much more, though. He knew she’d let him know when she was ready.

Dustin turned at the sound of Stacy’s laugh. She was surrounded by her cousins; all except for her and Chloe were male. He knew Stacy was the oldest and the youngest, besides the two little ones, was only fourteen, but the kid—Sebastian—was huge. He was taller than Stacy, who was pretty tall already.

They all looked alike, too. Stacy resembled her cousins, but the dark hair, skin and eyes set her apart from the others. Dustin smiled when he saw Chloe run towards Stacy and was scooped up into her arms. The little girl snuggled close to Stacy as the men were all tuning their instruments.

Dustin helped Luke and his dad carry the drinks back to their table, trying hard to watch where he was going but failing because his eyes kept drifting towards Stacy. She was glowing and looked so damn happy. Maybe she was right and Mark had taken the hint and dropped off the face of the earth.

He handed his mom her glass of wine and kissed her cheek.

“You look beautiful, Mom.” She smiled at him and grabbed his hand, giving it a squeeze.

“Thank you, baby. You look good and…happy.” Dustin knew she thought she was slick, but he saw her cast a quick glance at Stacy.

“I am.” He wasn’t going to say anymore for fear she’d make a big deal about it.

“She’s grown into such a beautiful woman.” Ruth gave him that sly smile that he knew all too well.

“Yes. Oh look, they’re gonna start playing.” Dustin moved to stand over by Bellamy and Luke.

His mom wagged her finger at him and laughed. Dustin watched as his dad wrapped an arm around her waist and whispered in her ear, causing his mom to blush. Dustin looked at his sister as they both shook their heads.

Garrett went up to the microphone to get things started. Dustin smiled as Stacy made her way back over to him. He was caught by surprise when she slipped her hand in his. She gave him a squeeze and then turned back to the band.

“As you all know, we’re Everything but the Kitchen Sink.” Several people laughed. “Yeah, I know: terrible name for a band, but it seemed to fit since we love all types of music and play just about everything. We’re only gonna play for a little bit, that way we’ll be able to enjoy this party as well.” Garrett turned back to the band and then faced the crowd. “Let’s hit it!”

Dustin was shocked as hell. They were damn good. Garrett and Stacy’s dad played guitar like they were born with them in their hands. They started playing The Black Keys’ “Gold on the Ceiling
.
”

He watched Stacy grab Bellamy’s hand as they were the first to start dancing. Dustin watched her shake her hips and twirl around without a care in the world. Stacy was singing along and would grab Bellamy so they could twirl each other around.

Song after song, more and more people were joining the girls on the dance floor. Even Dustin’s mom and dad went out there to cut a rug. Dustin liked to dance, but he and Luke were having fun watching the girls.

“So your parents have Care Bear tonight?”

“Yeah, Bell was a wreck when we dropped her off. This is her first all-nighter away from us, and of course she’s oblivious to it, but I practically had to drag your sister out of their house. I’m just looking for a little quality time with my wife and not having to worry about waking the baby.” Luke made a sheepish face, obviously realizing that Dustin didn’t want to hear about his sister’s sex life. “Sorry, dude.”

Dustin started to laugh. “Don’t worry about it.” It was probably hard for Luke sometimes being married to his best friends’ little sister, but Dustin knew Luke and Bell loved each other very much.

Dustin felt arms slide around his waist and smiled when he saw Chloe beaming up at him. “Hi, sweetheart, are you having fun?”

“Yep, I am. My daddy is a good singer.”

“Yes, he is. Where’s your papa?” Dustin didn’t want her to get lost in the crowd so he picked her up.

“He’s dancing with Grandma and Carter is dancing with Auntie Mara. Will you dance with me, Dustin?” Her big blue eyes were wide and hopeful as she stared at him, waiting for his answer.

“Sure, sweetheart. Can Luke come, too?” Chloe looked around him and then back at Dustin.

“That’s Care Bear’s daddy?” His poor niece was going to develop a complex. No one was taking responsibility for the nickname, but it fit Carrington to a tea.

“Yep, that’s her daddy, Luke. He’s married to my sister.”

She seemed satisfied with his answer. “Okay, he can come, too.” Dustin set Chloe back down on her feet she grabbed his hand and then he watched her reach out and grab Luke’s.