“I don’t know why,” Josie said sarcastically. “As long as Alec and Trent don’t get into a fist fight, and Mom doesn’t complain about the lack of grandchildren…”
“And Rick doesn’t make one of his famous toasts.”
Josie threw her hands up. “I forgot about Rick’s toasts. They’re the worst. But as far as stepdads go, it could be worse. Mom could have married the professional golfer.”
“Or the professional gambler.”
“Oh, I forgot about that one.”
Dillon toed his foot into a gopher hole. The buggers were relentless. “There was no replacing Dad. It wasn’t likely Mom would pick someone like him again.”
Josie smiled. “You turned out a lot like Dad, you know.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“You should.” The tractor came around again, and Josie ran over and flagged it down before climbing up to sit next to Alec inside. Josie was the type to never stay in one place, or one conversation, for long. Dillon was surprised she’d come back to help with the family business, though who knew how long that would last. She was a good bookkeeper, but she didn’t have a passion for it. If she announced she was moving to Bangladesh tomorrow, it wouldn’t surprise him at all.
His phone dinged with a text message, and he absentmindedly pulled it out and read, temporarily confused at the words until he saw it was from Lina.
I thought of a question.
Ok. Shoot.
Were there other pretend girlfriends you were considering? This is not a jealous question, merely curious.
Wow, that was a message fraught with potential minefields. Was she hoping he had someone else to ask, or did she want to know how sad his dating life was? If he had other options, he definitely wouldn’t have asked a woman he barely knew. He had no backups. His last girlfriend, Cammie, had broken up with him through text, just saying:I’m sorry. This isn’t working out.That was a low moment. The entire time they’d been together, she constantly wanted to ‘improve’ their relationship, to mold him into what she needed, but in the end she cut all ties and ran.
He took a break from relationships after that. The few female friends he had were married or related to him. These depressing tidbits of his life were too much to convey through text, so he did what his brother, Alec, would do. He used humor as a shield.
Just you, dear.
***
Dillon looked up and gifted Lina with a shy smile when she walked into their apartment gym the next morning. She dropped her bag in her usual spot in the corner and ruffled his hair on her way to the elliptical machine.
“Good morning, sunshine,” she said.
“Morning, Lina.” He picked up a ten pound weight and rolled his shoulders before starting in on a series of curls. So focused, that one.
Despite Ashley’s dire warning, Lina had every intention of going through with this Thanksgiving date. She often went with her gut, and her gut told her she had nothing to fear from Dillon. However, it also told her that Dillon had a lot of anxiety when it came to his family. The task now was to find out why before she just showed up with him.
She glanced over again. “So, three brothers and one sister, right? What are your parents like?”
Dillon switched arms before looking up at her. “That’s two questions.”
She rolled her eyes and turned back to the little TV hanging on the wall, silently showing the local morning news with captions running along the bottom. The clank of a weight being set down was followed by Dillon’s footsteps coming up behind her. She slowed down to a stop, feeling bad that she’d caused the worried, repentant look on his face. If there was one thing she didn’t do, it was play games with men. She didn’t pretend to be offended to get attention or manipulate. However, if he really wanted her to be his date, he’d have to give up his precious silent space and answer some questions outside of their silly game of one question per day.
He dipped his head. “That was my poor attempt at humor this morning. I have a hard time hearing you when you’re on the elliptical and I’m over there. Maybe we could talk while we do something else. Sit-ups, maybe?”
“Sure. Hold my ankles and don’t laugh at me. I hate ab work.” Lina followed Dillon to the side of the room that held the free weights. She stretched out on the workout bench, adjusting her back so it was neither flat nor arched. The warm pressure of Dillon’s hands holding her feet to the bench had her nerves kicking up into a flutter. She ignored the intensity of his gaze and started a slow set of sit-ups.
Dillon let out a long breath that warmed her knee. “You asked what my parents are like. My dad died of cancer three years ago, and my mom remarried a year later. My stepdad is a retired pilot and independently wealthy. Which means he has no interest, financially or otherwise, in the family business, and whatever happens, he’ll take care of my mom. Beyond that, I don’t know that they were the best match. He still likes to fly. He has a small plane and takes a lot of weekend golf trips. My mom is afraid of flying, especially in small aircraft. She stays home and worries. And she calls me a lot. She calls Kip a lot too.”
“Which one is Kip?” Lina’s muscles were screaming, and she stayed on her back, breathing deeply and taking in the details that were obviously hard for Dillon to share. He was right. This was not a discussion meant to be shouted over the whooshing sound of an elliptical machine.
“Kip is the baby of the family, the one who’s bringing his girlfriend. Mom’s favorite, though she’d never admit it. He lives in Seattle. The rest of us live here, so she likes to catch him up on everything going on. They talk on the phone almost every day. I guess his girlfriend is worried about that. She was engaged before to someone whose mother didn’t like her and went out of her way to sabotage the relationship. She’s afraid of taking on another potentially pushy mother-in-law.”
“And your mother is pushy?” Lina asked, reluctantly starting another set of sit ups.
