Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 58253 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 291(@200wpm)___ 233(@250wpm)___ 194(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58253 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 291(@200wpm)___ 233(@250wpm)___ 194(@300wpm)
“I hope you don’t mind that I pulled you in here. I want Dex to have time to talk to Alex about overdoing things,” Lizzie said.
Samantha shook her head. “Of course not. Dex told me he needed to have a word with his dad.”
“I don’t know if Dex mentioned it, but his father had a mild heart attack almost one year ago and the doctors warned Alex about his diet and activity. He’s supposed to do mild walking and exercise but he doesn’t understand the word mild. He’s been going to work most days and staying late. The man’s going to give me a heart attack if he doesn’t relax,” Lizzie said with a chuckle but Samantha sensed the seriousness behind the words.
“Can I get you something to drink?” Lizzie asked.
“No, thanks. I’m fine for now.”
Lizzie rose to her feet. “Well, I could use a glass of ice water. I’m thirsty.” She walked to a cabinet and took out a glass, then filled it with water at the Sub-Zero fridge. “Dex tells me you’re from a large family, too?”
“Oh, yes. I grew up with five siblings. Three brothers and two sisters.” She debated going further then decided, why not? “I also have three half-siblings.”
“Well, then. The size of this table isn’t a shock for you.”
She laughed. “Not at all.”
Lizzie grew silent and Samantha assumed she was worrying about what Dex was saying to his dad.
* * *
Dex followed his father through the house and out the back door to the pool deck in the backyard. Alex sat down on his favorite recliner and Dex pulled up a chair next to him, looking out over the hedges separating their property from the neighbors’.
“Right through that hedge is the path where I used to sneak through to come over.” His parents would be arguing and nobody would realize a five-year-old was missing until Gloria called and let them know.
His father laughed. “Gloria always set an extra seat for you.”
Dex leaned forward, hands clasped together. “You have no idea how much I appreciated it.”
“I think I do.” His father met his gaze, a serious look in his eyes.
This was his chance. “You’ve always been there for me and I’m grateful.”
His father slapped his knee. “Because you’re as much my son as Remy, Aiden, or Jared.”
“And we love you and don’t want to lose you before it’s time because you’re too stubborn to listen to your doctor.” He swiped his sunglasses off his head and placed them over his eyes.
Alex was a good-looking, strong, and solidly built man, who didn’t look at all like he’d had a heart attack last year. Which was probably why he found it difficult to listen to the cardiologist and relax more. Despite his health scare.
“Lizzie and your sister worry too much.”
“It’s not just the women, Dad. We’re all worried about you. We saw you in the hospital bed and you were weak, and it scared us. You have control of your future. Just listen to the doctors, dammit.” Dex braced his hands on the arms of the chair and rose, shoving the seat back.
He paced the patio, sweating beneath the sun, trying to decide whether or not his father deserved for him to pull out the emotional big guns. So to speak.
“Son, do you have any idea what it’s like to be monitored? To feel like a child being told what I can and cannot do because I’m getting older?”
Dex drew a deep breath. “Not exactly. But I know what it’s like to have to retire when my body can’t keep up with the younger players and I know what it’s like to lose my parents. Then my second mother. And I do not want to lose you just because you’re being stubborn or feeling like a child. Nobody can handle that loss, Dad. Not when it’s preventable!” The words exploded from him and he couldn’t bring himself to regret them.
Alex sucked in a shocked breath, then pushed himself to his feet. “Dex.”
Turning, he faced the man who’d raised him, was the role model he’d needed since he was a young boy, and most of all, who loved him. “I should have been nicer about how I said that. But you know it’s true.”
Alex walked over and put an arm around his shoulders. “Point made. I’ll watch myself.”
Dex nodded, his shoulders sagging in relief. “While we’re putting truths out there, I have a question. Something I’ve been wondering since my parents’ accident.”
“What is it?”
He ran a hand over his face. “I heard the police talking that night. About the witness who said my mother was reaching for the steering wheel?”
“Damn.”
“I ran before I could hear more and drew my own conclusions. Were they arguing? Is that what the witness saw?” Maybe if he asked, he could avoid those nightmares in the future.