Blindsided (Indigo Love Spectrum) (20 page)

“That’s the one I like, too. I’m sure Reese will love it.”

Their fingers brushed when Dahlia handed over the
samples. She looked up, seeing the same longing in
Norris’s eyes that his nearness stirred in her. She trailed
her tongue against her lips, leaning forward as Norris did
the same.

Buzz! Buzz!

They both jumped at the sound of his phone
buzzing.

“Excuse me,” Norris said, picking up the handset.
“Yes, Agnes. She is?” He removed his glasses. “Please, send
her in.” He hung up the phone and smiled. “It’s Reese.”

Norris held up his hand as Dahlia started to talk.
“Don’t worry,” he said, “I won’t say anything to her. You
should know Agnes figured it out, but she won’t say any
thing, either. So, you can relax.”

She smiled. “Thank you. ”

Agnes and Reese entered the office sharing an easy
laugh.

“Hi, Reese,” Dahlia said.

“Dahlia.” Reese smiled. “What are you doing here?”

“Norris is helping me with my audit,” she answered.

“Do you know?” Reese asked, motioning to Norris.

“Yeah. Your mother mentioned it when we had lunch.”

Norris cleared his throat. “Since it appears you
already know Ms. Sinclair, I want to formally introduce
you to someone else,” he said, walking behind Agnes and
placing his hands on her shoulders. “Reese, this is Agnes
Ross, the best assistant and surrogate mother a guy could
ask for.”

“Surrogate mother, huh? I guess that makes you my
surrogate grandmother.” Reese extended her hand. “It’s
nice to formally meet you, Mrs. Ross.”

Agnes closed Reese’s hand between hers. “Please,
everyone calls me Agnes, and it’s my pleasure. I’m
looking forward to getting to know you better.”

Reese smiled. “Me, too.”

“Agnes, you can take off now,” Norris said. “I’ll see
you tomorrow.”

“Getting off a whole ten minutes early. Whatever will
I do with all that time?” Agnes quipped. “Is there any
wonder I enjoy working with him so much?” She patted
Norris’s cheek.

“Good-bye, Agnes.” Norris ushered her to the door.
“Bye-bye, Reese, Ms. Sinclair.”

“Good-bye, Agnes,” Dahlia and Reese replied.

Norris closed the door behind Agnes and turned to Reese and Dahlia with a smile. “She’s fun, isn’t she?” he
said.

“She is,” Reese answered. “I think she’s cool.”

“Cool? I’m sure she’ll be happy to hear that.”

“So, what’s this about an audit?”

Dahlia readily spoke up. “The I.R.S. wants to keep
me on my toes,” she said. “Norris is taking care of it for
me.”

“I guess it’s good you two know each other already.”

“You think so?” Norris said.

“Yeah. I mean, I’m going to be living with Dahlia, so it would be helpful for you two to be acquainted.”

Norris nodded and smiled at Dahlia, leaving her
squirming in discomfort.

“Are you okay with my decision, Norris?” Reese
asked.

“Absolutely,” Norris said. “You’ll still have a room at
my place, but if Dahlia’s is where you want to stay, that’s
fine.”

“You really are accommodating.”

“This is true, Reese. I’ve learned you can’t force
things, and you have to give in a little. Being accommo
dating goes a long way in helping one achieve desired
goals. I want us to be close, and I’m willing to do what I
must to make that happen. You understand that, don’t
you, Dahlia?”

Dahlia nodded, all too aware his words were as much for her as they were for Reese. This would be the hardest
six months of her life. “Yes, Norris, I understand per
fectly.”

* * *

The following days brought little improvement to the
relationships Norris wanted with the two most important
women in his life. Women generally bent to his will, but
not Dahlia and Reese. They were the exception to the rule.

School, extra-curricular activities, and friends kept
Reese busy. He did talk to her on the phone and had a
couple of meals with her, and in a significant move, his name had finally been added to Reese’s birth certificate, but things were nowhere close to what he wanted.

Dahlia had all but made herself incommunicado to
him. He’d call, but she’d be too busy to talk. He’d go to
her place, and she’d always be about to head out. An easy
go of this was the last thing he’d expected, but he hadn’t
thought it would be this hard. She didn’t even mention
her gifts or the catered lunches he’d provided her and her
s
taff over the past week and a half, or the huge donation
to the community center where she provided free
appointments to low-income women.

On one of the few occasions he’d managed to reach Dahlia, he invited her to ride with him to Gail and Ben’s
wedding. She turned him down, but since she’d be there,
he vowed not to let this opportunity to be in the same
place with her slip away.

The intimate wedding ceremony went off without a
hitch. Norris mingled with the Monroes during the
reception at the Denburg Inn ballroom, but Dahlia had
all his attention. In a soft yellow cocktail dress that show
cased her lovely shoulders and gorgeous legs, Dahlia looked absolutely stunning.

Apparently one of the male wedding guests thought
so, too, as he made it his business to stay in Dahlia’s orbit
as if she were the president and he was Secret Service. The
two spun around the dance floor like Ginger Rogers and
Fred Astaire, laughing and chatting like old pals.

Jealousy boiled in Norris’s belly as he watched the scene unfold. When an attractive Asian woman, who
introduced herself as Mai Lee, asked him to dance,
Norris agreed without hesitation. Dancing with beautiful
women wasn’t foreign to him, but this dancing felt
strange, because spite fueled it, and not some preamble to
seduction as it used to be.
Love.
The things it led him to
do.

An hour or so later, after the customary reception rit
uals, more dances with Mai, and a gentle rebuff of her
invitation to go out for a drink, Norris rejoined the
Monroes at their table. He watched intently as Dahlia engaged in animated conversation with Reese and Diana at a corner table. Dahlia’s dance partner, as well as the
other two dozen guests, left soon after Gail and Ben
addressed the assembled friends and relatives and
thanked them for sharing in their special day. Now
Norris wanted to address Dahlia and ask what the heck was going on between her and Mr. Twinkle Toes.

“This was a lovely day, wasn’t it? Norris?”

A hand on his shoulder shook Norris from his trance.
“I’m sorry, Celeste, were you saying something?” he
asked.

“I was commenting on how lovely the wedding was.
Much like your daughter. I see Reese has all of your
attention.”

“My attention?”

“Yes. That table has you rapt.”

“I guess I am a little sidetracked.”

“Reese is a delightful girl.” Celeste chuckled. “She
definitely doesn’t lack self-esteem.”

Norris smiled. “She is something else, isn’t she? When
I look at her and realize she’s mine, it’s overwhelming.”

“Go over and talk to her,” Dan said. “You didn’t have
a chance earlier with the picture-taking and reception line keeping her occupied. Go on and catch up. The
reception is over, and I’m sure Dahlia and Diana won’t
mind.”

Maybe Diana wouldn’t mind, but he had a feeling
Dahlia would. But she wouldn’t make a scene, not here.
“I think I’ll do that, Dan. You guys excuse me.”

T
he chatter at the table stopped when Norris arrived.
Diana smiled. “Hi, Mr. Converse,” she said.

“Hello. If I haven’t said so already, you three ladies are
looking quite fetching today.”

“Fetching?” said Reese. “What is that, one of those
eighties terms? You have got to get with the program, Norris. ‘Fetching’ sounds like what you do for bonding
time with you obedient dog.” They all laughed. “Did you
need something?”

“No, I just came over to talk.” He grabbed a chair
from the next table and sat beside Dahlia. “You all
seemed to be having a very enjoyable conversation
before. What’s the topic?”

“Guys,” Diana answered without hesitation. “The
good and the bad of them.”

“I see.” He smiled at Dahlia before turning to the girls. “As the lone representative of my species at this
table, I hope the good has been outweighing the bad.”

“Mostly, I guess,” Reese answered. “We’re waiting to
see what Dahlia thinks.”

“Hmm.” Norris turned his chair toward Dahlia and
folded his arms. He’d arrived just in time. “So, what do
you think?”

Reese stood and pointed before Dahlia could answer.
“There’s Mom and Ben,” she said. “Come on, Diana.
They’ll be leaving soon.” The girls left the table to greet
the newlyweds, who had changed into their ‘getaway’
clothes.

Norris returned his attention to Dahlia. “Aren’t you
going to answer the question?” he asked.

“No.”

“Okay. Answer mine. Who was that guy you were so
caught up with during the reception?”

“None of your business.” She crossed her arms. A
shadow of annoyance darkened her pretty face. “I find it
amazing you could notice my goings-on with your hands
full of Ms. Mai.”

Norris smiled. The animosity in her voice like music
to his ears. “You do care,” he said. “I always knew it.”
Dahlia scoffed. “I have a question for you, Norris.

What are you doing?”

“What do you mean?”

“What do I mean? The donation to the community
center, the extravagant catered lunches for everyone in
my salon for a week, the roses on Wednesday, candy on
Thursday, and the sapphire earrings on Friday. That’s
what.”

“So, you did get all of that. You’ve been avoiding me
so much, I thought maybe there was some other Dahlia
Sinclair in Denburg who got all those things.”

“I want you to stop it.”

“I know. Did you like it? The gifts and the food?”
She sighed. “What does it matter?”

“It matters to me.” He smiled. “You did like it. I can
tell in your eyes.”

“You seem to see a lot in my eyes.”

“They talk to me when you won’t. Emily Dickinson
calls eyes the windows to the soul. I see your soul, Dahlia.
I see you.”

“
What you see is what you want to see.” She rubbed
her forehead and expelled a sharp breath. “I’m tired of
talking about this. I’m leaving.”

He grabbed her hand, feeling that familiar spark pass
between them. Their eyes met and held, the attraction between them palpable. Dahlia snatched her hand away
and stormed off. Norris followed. He wouldn’t let her get
away that easily.

They hadn’t gotten very far before being stopped by the happy couple and Reese.

“I’m glad I caught you two together,” said Gail,
sliding her hand into that of her new husband. Norris
liked Ben. He showed himself to be a stand-up guy who
clearly loved Gail and Reese a great deal. “We’re about to
leave, but we wanted to stop and talk for a minute.”

“You don’t have to worry about Reese, Gail, she’ll be in good hands,” Dahlia assured her.