Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 89674 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89674 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
“I don’t need Scott. I’ll drive by myself,” I said. There were several points of contention between him and I regarding this move, and we ran smack into one of them right now. He was so damned hard-headed. “Drivin’s what I do for a livin’.”
“I don’t like the idea of you driving alone. Anything could happen. I’d be more comfortable if he were there with you.”
How was I only now seeing the old man who resided inside Dash? Everything we did was through the perspective of a risk manager.
“Sit down,” I said, nodding to the seat beside me. “Let’s call my mom. I haven’t told her anything. So, we’ll catch her up, but only hit the high points. Otherwise, she’ll worry.”
“We don’t have to tell her,” Dash offered. “She doesn’t need more stress. It’s turning out good for us.”
Yeah, right. My mom never let anything go. “She’s like a bloodhound. She’ll sniff out the truth. Just follow my lead,” I said. “Don’t offer anything extra.”
“Got it,” Dash said.
I placed the phone in the middle of the table and found my mom’s contact information. After another follow-my-lead stare, I pushed call while Dash grinned. Based on his smile, maybe my look didn’t convey what I wanted. Dash often gave that same expression during our sexy time.
“You like that phone, don’t you?” he asked. Adding a dramatic flair, I rolled my eyes. Of course, I liked the phone—who wouldn’t. I lifted a finger, silencing him.
“Hey, babe. I didn’t expect your call,” she said as if we ever had a plan to talk, and as if we didn’t say something to each other every day.
“Mom, it’s me and Dash, listen, we need to catch you up on what’s goin’ on now with us. He’s here with me.” Like a good boy, he stayed silent, listening until I gave him permission to speak.
“Hey, Dash. How’re you this evening?” she asked. My chin nodded, encouraging him to answer.
“Hi, Linda. Beau hasn’t given me permission to say anything more.” The way his eyebrows waggled had me upping my conversational game and my irritation.
“What?” she asked. Dash had garnered her full attention. The bloodhound began sniffing. “Dash, why can’t you speak?” The way my palm shot out, halting any response he had to give, caught us both off guard.
“I’m gonna bullet point what’s happened over the last week, then I’ll tell you the solutions we’ve found. You can ask questions after that,” I explained.
“Dash, does he do this to you all the time? Is my boy a control freak now?” Her tone held humor, and Dash grinned again. He and I both knew who the true control freak was, which was why I was handling the call. Otherwise, we’d be here until tomorrow, lists left undone. I shook my head. My mom and Dash liked each other so much.
“Here we go, Mom. Pay attention,” I said and had to look down to my hands to keep from losing focus. “We finally told Dash’s parents about us. Apparently, Dash’s dad worked with my father to break us up. Probably the reason for all the money he had.”
The interruption was immediate. “Beau, no. Are you certain?”
“He’s very certain,” Dash said. “My parents explained their actions in front of both of us.”
“Hang on. Stay focused,” I said, taking back control of this conversation. “The result of that discussion is that Dash has been cut off from his family. His father’s done a complete job of removin’ him from their lives, takin’ his car, canceling the utilities, turnin’ off his cell phone, just on and on.”
“Because he’s with you? They’d do all this to Dash because you returned?” she asked incredulously.
“Yeah,” Dash answered. “It was shocking to me. They watched the way I mourned for my guy…” Dash’s hand came across the table to cover mine.
“Mom, there’s more. His father had Dash removed from his law school. The employment contract he’d secured for after graduation was terminated too.”
“You’ve got to be kidding. What kind of parent…”
“Save it, Mom. Long story short, through Dash’s professor, he found a person willin’ to help him, but we have to move to Chicago for him to attend classes.” I ticked off the list inside my head, feeling like I was covering the basics. “Dash starts class on Monday. He’s flyin’ to Chicago in the morning.”
“Are you selling your house, Dash?” she asked.
“No. I’ve arranged for Amelia to stay here until I know better what our future holds. My father fired her to get back at me,” Dash said, squeezing my hand tighter. His stated devotion from moments ago was forgotten. This grip held frustration.
The way she gave a deep intake of breath, made me do the same. It was a lot. For a woman who’d lost everything fighting for me, this had to be hard to hear.