Chapter 15
“What’s with the fucking flowers?”
-Cam
I blink several times. This is it. I’ve certainly had a stroke and am currently hooked up to life-saving machines. I think I’ve heard Aaron tell me that beautiful Latinx woman named Dahlia is his daughter.
She has black hair, like Aaron, but then again, so do a lot of people. I step closer to Dahlia.Holy shit. She has Aaron’s blue eyes. Not only the color but the shape of them.
“Your daughter?” I repeat like a freaking idiot.
He nods, grabs my hand, and drags me toward the house. “Camellia Saber, this is Dahlia Pearce. My daughter.”
Dahlia is about as thrilled with this meeting as I am, but good manners win out over her disgust, and she offers to shake my hand, which I do.
“Your father and I worked together a long time ago,” I offer. “We were at a wake.”
She nods at me. “Jack Salazar. Such a tragedy.”
Aaron looks between us, then motions toward the door. “Alright, if we could please take this discussion inside. I’m sure the neighbors have enough to talk about around the sewing circle by now.”
I reluctantly follow Dahlia back into the house. Instead of heading back to the kitchen, she walks into the living room, sliding onto an easy chair facing the couch. I sit on one end of the sofa. Aaron sits on the other. It feels like I’m about to face the Spanish Inquisition or one of my brother’s infamous Saberventions.
“You worked with Daddy?” Dahlia tilts her head. “I don’t remember him talking about you,Camellia.”
She says my name like it’s acid on her tongue.
I smile. “What a coincidence. He didn’t mention you either.”
Aaron holds up his hands. “Girls, please.”
It seems there is one thing Dahlia and I can agree upon.
“Girls? Daddy, please. That’s so sexist.”
“I haven’t been agirlin almost 30 years.”
Aaron is smart enough to know when he’s outnumbered. I laugh and relax on the couch.
“How old are you?” I ask.
“Twenty-two,” Dahlia answers.
I suck in a breath. Math has never been my strong suit, but even I know that means Aaron and Sabine must have gotten pregnant right when - or right after - he and I broke up.
“I have two other daughters, too,” Aaron changes the subject. “Poppy and Daisy.”
I glare at him.
He grins back. “Told you. I have a thing about flower names.”
Dahlia rolls her eyes. “Yeah.Camellia, I’m sure you don’t find that creepy at all.”
Damn it. I like her. I laugh and give her a wink. “Damn straight. And you can call me Cam.”
“Okay.Cam. You two were… co-workers?” Dahlia does her best to give me a stern look, but she’s a rookie compared to what the Saber Sisters have been through with our brother.
“We were part of the Florida Flame Jumpers,” I explain. “We responded to wildfires throughout the state. I was only with the team for a few years before I transferred to Alaska.”
