Blindsided (Indigo Love Spectrum) (33 page)

“How is he?” she asked.

“He’s doing okay. He’s a little fighter,” Wilson said.

“He’s so tiny, Daddy.” Dahlia dragged over the other
rocking chair and sat next to her father. “I know Mama
is upset with me, but you have to know I never—I never
wanted this,” she said, her voice cracking with emotion.

Wilson closed his hand around hers. “I know, Dahlia.
I know. And so does your mother. She’s upset, but she knows you would never wish your sister any harm. She’s
with Leslie now.”

“I know. I just left the ICU. I stayed in the observa
tion room. I don’t think Mama even knew I was there.”

“She’s very worried.”

“What are the doctors saying?”

“They feared she might have had a stroke, but the
tests show she didn’t. Which is good. Her body is tired. They hope maybe in a few days she’ll wake up. ”

“And if she doesn’t?”

“
We’re not claiming that. Prayer works, and God will
answer our prayers.”

Dahlia nodded. “You’re right. He will.”

“You know, times like this allow you to do a lot of
reflecting. This situation is bad, but I can’t . . .” Wilson
stopped talking and shook his head. “No.”

“What is it, Daddy?”

“I can’t help but wonder if somehow–-somehow
Leslie brought this on herself. Is that mean for me to say? I’m her father.”

“Can’t be mean if it’s true. Daddy, I want Leslie and
this precious baby to be okay, and I pray for that every
day. I have since I heard about this pregnancy. But I can’t
pretend this is easy for me, or say I didn’t think these dif
ficulties were a result of the bed she made when she got
into mine with my husband. And as angry as I am with
her, and I’m angry and disappointed, I don’t hate her, and
I don’t want her to die.”

Wilson brushed away Dahlia’s tears. “I’m sorry,
Dahlia.”

She sniffled. “Why are you apologizing?”

“Because I’ve not been very understanding of your
feelings, and neither has your mother.” Wilson squeezed
Dahlia’s hands between his. “We always tried to stay out
of personal grievances with you kids, but this thing with
Jonah—we shouldn’t have stayed quiet. And we defi
nitely shouldn’t have expected you to fall into line and
move on like it was nothing. Maybe if we had dealt with
this as a family two years ago, this wouldn’t be happening
now.”

“
No, Daddy, we can’t do what if. We can only go by
what is. Right now, we have to think about Leslie and her
baby.”

“We can think about you, too. You look tired, Dahlia.
When was the last time you had some sleep?”

“I caught a few Z’s in the waiting area,” she said, sti
fling a yawn.

“Not nearly enough of them. Go to your hotel and
rest up. I’ll call you if there’s any change.”

“Daddy, I want to . . .”

“Shhh. Don’t argue with me. I’ll call you.”

“Fine.” Dahlia smiled. She couldn’t remember the last
time she felt so daddy’s girlish, so certain her daddy would
make everything okay for everyone. “I’ll get some sleep.”

“Come here.” Wilson opened his arms, bringing
Dahlia into a tight embrace she readily returned. “I love
you, sweetheart. I don’t say it enough, but I don’t want
you to forget that.”

“I know, Daddy. I love you, too.”

He kissed her cheek. “You go on now.”

Dahlia walked out the door, smiling broadly. For the
first time in days, she didn’t feel weighed down around
her family. She drew a deep, cleansing breath.
What the 
. . .
She sniffed the air. Why did she smell Norris?

Like a trained bloodhound, she set out to find out.
Then just as quickly stopped. Even with countless mil
lions, Norris didn’t have a lockdown on cologne, just one
on her heart. She decided to call. Maybe things with
Reese had turned a corner the way they had with her and
her father.

D
ahlia reached in her purse for her cell phone as she
walked toward the elevator. Rest would come a lot easier
after she talked to Norris. She activated the speed dial
and stepped into the empty car.

Moments before the doors closed completely, she
heard a ringing phone and saw a hand and leg spread the doors apart. In the next second, Norris slipped into the
elevator, looking like a slice of heaven in a soft yellow
shirt and dark slacks. She couldn’t believe her eyes.
“Norris.”

He showed her his phone, smiling. “You rang?”

* * *

After getting an earful from Diana on how foolish she
was behaving and listening to her friend’s steadfast refusal
to bring over a burger and fries, Reese tossed her cell to
the bed and stared at the door. She couldn’t avoid Norris
forever, and he had left her alone as she’d asked. She sighed. If listening to whatever explanation he offered
meant she could get something to eat, she’d have to
listen.

Reese hopped off the bed and walked into the living
room, surprised to find her surrogate grandmother, and
not her infuriating father, on the couch poring over some
papers. “What’s up, Agnes?”

“You, finally,” Agnes said, straightening the papers on
the coffee table. “I understand you were under the
weather.”

“I’m better now. Is Norris around?”

“No, he’s not.”

Reese frowned. “You’re not babysitting, are you?”

“Aren’t you the first to remind Norris you aren’t a baby?”

“That’s the problem, Agnes. I have to keep reminding
him. Did he call you over to watch me?”

“No, he called me over to let you know he had to go
out of town to take care of some unexpected business.
Since you were under a self-imposed lockdown, he didn’t
want you to wonder where he was. That’s why I’m here.
And now that you know, I’m going to go back to the
office for a while.”

Reese watched as Agnes gathered files from the coffee
table. “You’re really leaving?”

Agnes nodded. “I’m really leaving.”

“And you’re not coming back?”

“Not unless you want me to. Why?”

“Norris is leaving me alone?”

“He shouldn’t be gone too much longer. I expect he’ll
be back early evening. Eight at the latest.” Agnes pressed her hand to Reese’s cheeks. “He trusts you.”

Reese dropped to the couch, shoulders slumped.
Norris continued to confuse her.

Agnes sat beside her. “What’s going on in your head?”

“I don’t know. Norris is so hard to read. One minute
I think he’s a cool guy, and the next . . . . . .on’t know what to think.” Reese groaned. “He makes me crazy.”

Agnes laughed. “That’s what fathers do,” she said,
pushing the hair from Reese’s shoulders. “He was a little
upset when he asked me to come over. Want to talk about
it?”

“He didn’t tell you?”

“No.”

“His mother was here.”

Agnes pursed her lips. “I see.”

“I know he’s not close to his folks, and he doesn’t see
his siblings as often as he’d like, but they’re my family. My
grandmother was here, and he didn’t introduce me to her.”

“Did he tell you why?”

“I didn’t give him a chance. What could he say?”

“I’m sure he has his reasons for what he did.”

“Humph. I know he does. That’s the problem.”

“I would suggest you not read into things. Norris loves you. I can say that without hesitation. You remember that, and don’t let anything cloud what you know is true, okay?”

“You sound like everybody else.”

“Everybody?”

“The Andrews, Diana, Dahlia. Everybody.”

“There you go. We can’t all be wrong,” Agnes said
with a smile. “You need anything before I leave?”

“No. I’ll reheat the lasagna Mrs. Castanza made yes
terday. Her cooking is one of the best things about
coming over here.”

“That’s progress. It means something besides her
cooking makes being here enjoyable.”

Reese lowered her gaze.
Cold busted.

Agnes smiled. “Call me if you need anything, and you
can always reach Norris on his cell phone.”

“Thanks for coming by, Agnes.”

“No problem. You take care.”

Reese looked around the living room, taking in all the
quiet. Even after his reaction at the mall, Norris actually
trusted her alone in his place. And he’d said he loved her.
Maybe he was meeting her halfway after all.

* * *

Dahlia led Norris to her room at the hotel. “I can’t get
over you being here,” she said.

Norris grabbed her hand as she inserted the key card.
“I know we wanted a quiet place to talk, but how wise is
this?” he said, not trusting himself to be alone with her in a hotel room.

She smiled. “You want to go down to the lounge?”

“I don’t, but . . .”

“We’re just going to talk, Norris.”

His gaze swept over her. Dahlia looked absolutely
breathtaking in a tangerine-colored halter shirt and white
slacks. The vibrant orange shade contrasted beautifully
with her rich brown skin. His lips ached to kiss hers, and trail along those beautiful shoulders and so many other
places. It had been so long since he’d been with her, and
never had that reality been more obvious than at this moment.

“Talking might be the plan, but things can change.”

“Only if we both want them to.” She tilted her head,
smiling. “At present, we both want to talk, right?”
Norris nodded and smiled. “Right.” He’d been strong
so far, and he would continue. He couldn’t allow his c
arnal urges to get him off his plan.
Heart before body. Heart before body.

Dahlia opened the door. Though strengthened from
his personal pep talk, Norris sighed in relief to see she
had a suite, with the door leading to the bedroom closed.
There was no point in tempting temptation.

“It was good to see you smiling,” Norris said, sitting
on the couch. “Considering how upset and tired you
sounded yesterday, I didn’t expect a smile today.”

“I had a talk with my father. An unexpected but really
good talk.”

“I’m glad one father and daughter had a good talk
today.”

“So, a spat with Reese brought you here?”

“I was concerned about you, too.”

Dahlia gave his hand a little shake. “You don’t need to
be. I’m a lot better than I thought I would be. How are
you?”

“I . . . I’m great. Fantastic at being a failure as a father.
Reese thinks I’m Attila the Hun.”

“You know she doesn’t think that.”

“She’s probably thinking something worse. My
mother came by my place today, just as Ryan and Lara
were leaving.”

“You didn’t go to work today?”

“No. Reese wasn’t feeling well, girl stuff, so I asked
Lara to come by. Mom learned I was home when she
called the office, and decided to drop by to bend my ear
about my ‘mistake,’ ” he said making air quotes, “and
how to fix it.”

“Oh, no,” Dahlia groaned.

“Oh, yes. After Ryan and Lara left, Reese walked in,
felt the tension, and realized whom she’d walked in on. I
didn’t want to subject her to my mother. I don’t know
that I would’ve never introduced them, but I didn’t want
to today. Reese took my lack of acknowledgement to
mean I was ashamed of her. I tried to explain, but she
blasted her music and completely tuned me out. She
hates me, Dahlia.”