Thank goodness he had strong hands to hold up his head because without them Dave feared his noggin would otherwise roll off. He’d been sipping on coffee for the past half hour after downing a few pills. His stomach wasn’t feeling that hot either—as if it had been lined with hot lead that was slowly melting into his intestines. Yeah, he was going to be real sick but first he wanted to make sure he was good and sober for it; this way he could yell at himself for being such a dumb schmuck. Dave shook his head. He could have gotten himself into some serious trouble by going to the Triple X, and then where would he be? Not only would he not have Kathy but he’d have let his family and himself down. Dave had worked too hard for too long to flush it all away.
When Dave’s body lunged forward in a massive heave, he ran to the bathroom to purge the night’s mistakes away. As he rested his head on the seat of the bowl he found a little humor in the situation. It had been a long time since he had drunk himself sick and now he remembered why he swore to never do it again.
Rising from the porcelain throne, Dave headed to his office for the toothbrush and paste he always kept in there.
Toothbrush in mouth and brushing vigorously, Dave stepped out into the bar area and came to a halt. There stood his brother holding Dave’s coffee cup, Sophie telling him to calm down, Kathy who was staring at him with tears streaming down her face.
“Oh my God,” she whispered. “You’re okay.”
Jake and Sophie turned toward him—shock, surprise, relief on their faces. Running to him, Jake picked Dave up in a bear hug, and spoke, “You son of a bitch! Do you know how worried you had Sophie? She’s been beside herself, and Kathy…” He put his brother down and glared at him. “The girl won’t stop crying and I can’t take much more of this. I don’t know what the hell happened but you two need to make this right,” Jake demanded.
“I was only looking for a little time for myself. I really don’t see why everyone’s so freaked out.” Dave defended himself. “Geez.”
“Don’t know why?”
Sophie put a hand on her man’s arm. “Jake, relax.”
“Relax? I’m going to kick his ass. First he runs off and doesn’t answer his phone. Then he leaves his truck at the Triple X without an explanation—”
“My phone died and I didn’t have a charger with me. I had been drinking at the X but didn’t want to drive.” Dave shrugged. “So I took a cab here for some quiet.” No, he didn’t want to look at Kathy. She’d been kissing another man after she had promised to spend her life with him. Yet looking at her now, seeing the dark lines of worry streaked across her face, his heart told him there truly was more to the story than what he saw.
“Dave.” Kathy stepped to him. “You’re okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Well, except my heart.” It might have been a crappy thing to say but Dave couldn’t help telling her the truth. He only felt half a man without her.
As they stared at each other, Jake cleared his throat. “I’m going to call Mom and Dad—”
“Really, guys?” Dave’s shoulders dropped. “This wasn’t that big of a deal.”
“Well, it felt that way.” Sophie tapped Dave’s cheek with her hand. “And if you ever do this again. I’ll be the one to kick your butt.”
“I don’t know why everyone is so mad at me. I’m not the one who was kissing someone else.” The words blurted out before he could stop them and he instantly regretted them.
“That’s not what happened.”
Dave shot a bland look her way. “Then you’ve got a lot of explaining to do.”
“Tell me about it,” Jake griped.
“Well I’m first.” Dave nodded his head toward the back office.
Kathy’s agreement was quiet. “Okay.”
He followed Kathy’s shuffling feet to the back room. “Could you hurry up, please? I’d like to get this over with.” He heard her give a slight whimper and checked his temper at the office door. There was no need to make her suffer when her own conscious was doing it for him.
“Dave, you have to believe me I never meant for anything like this to happen.”
“I hope not because this is a pretty messed-up situation. I thought you wanted to spend the rest of your life with me.”
“I do. I just… well, you see there’s this whole thing with Todd—”
“Obviously.” Standing before her was excruciating. Every inch of him wanted to take her in his arms. He didn’t know he could love someone so deep that forgiving this type of betrayal was bittersweet; being able to hold and love her but never trust her.
“You don’t understand. Detective Owen wasn’t coming around to look for you, Dave, he was watching me.”
“What?” Never in a million years would he have come up with the idea that it was her the cops were after. She didn’t have a criminal past and she sure wasn’t hiding anything he knew about.
“My parents showing up and the stream of robberies isn’t a coincidence. Detective Owen figured it was only a matter of time until they came to find me.”
“But why? And that still doesn’t explain why you were kissing your ex. Your parents have nothing to do with this.” Dave crossed his arms in defiance.
Kathy sat on the office couch and buried her head in her hands. “Dave, Detective Owen asked if I’d help him trap Todd. He’s wanted in multiple states. He’s a pedophile.”
“Excuse me?”
“That’s not the worst of it.” She looked at him then, sad and defeated. With no choice of his own, Dave went and sat next to her.
“Tell me,” he said while putting an arm around her shoulders and pulling her in close to where he wanted her to be for the rest of his life—in his arms.
“Todd also is the primary suspect in my aunt’s murder. I didn’t know she passed away a few weeks ago and left me her entire estate.”
Silence. What words could he find to comfort this latest blow from her parents? They deceived her on so many different levels. And yet she had seen through them right from the start and had never given in to their words of love and guilt. Shame on her parents for not caring about what they’d done to their only daughter by defending a wanted pedophile.
“What happened with Todd tonight?” Dave finally asked.
“I was going to meet up with everyone after I had a meeting with Detective Owen. He asked if I’d be willing to set my parents and Todd up.” She took a deep breath. “Despite everything they’ve done to me, it was still hard, Dave. They are my parents; not very good ones but they’re the only ones I’ve got.”
“I’m so sorry, Kathy.” Dave wrapped her in his arms and kissed the top of her head. “What you did tonight was very brave.”
“It wasn’t supposed to happen like that. I didn’t know Todd had followed me there. And when he grabbed me and tried kissing me I thought, ‘This isn’t happening. Where is Owen to get this freak away from me?’ Then I saw you.” She looked up and into his eyes. Dave saw not only her fears and worries but the burning question: “Did I ruin everything between us tonight?”
The question was a sock to the gut. All the air in his lungs rushed out of him, leaving a dizzy feeling in its place. She wanted to know if she ruined everything between them? Hell, it wasn’t her who almost did that, it was him by running away and not demanding an answer right away. “Forgive me, Kathy.”
“What? You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I didn’t fight for you when I should have. I should have walked over to that jerk and laid him out on the pavement.”
“It’s okay. I did that after you sped off.” There was a little glint in her eyes showing how proud she was of how she’d handled her ex.
“That’s my girl.” Unable to put off the yearning any longer, Dave cupped her chin in his hand and kissed her. “I love you so much.”
“Oh God, Dave. I love you too. I thought I lost you and—”
He broke her train of thought with another kiss. Words weren’t needed to heal what happened because there was nothing to forgive.
Kathy’s body melted into his as the kiss went deeper. Everything he was, everything he’d been working for, all led up to this moment. And now that he had her, Dave was never going to let go. “Let’s run away and get married.”
“What?” Kathy blinked at him.
Dave cupped Kathy’s face in his hands. “This weekend, let’s take off to Vegas and get married.”
“I… um. What about your parents and Jake and Sophie. And—”
“Thank goodness you’re okay.” Renee came bursting into the office. “We were worried to death!”
“Honey Bunny, can’t you see they’re making up?” George asked his wife.
“Yes, yes. But I needed to see that my boy was okay.”
“I’m fine, Mom.” Dave got off the couch and went to hug his mother. “It was all a misunderstanding.”
“Thank God,” George stated. “Because we really like her.”
Dave smirked. His parents were the most awesome people he knew. How could he not love them?
Renee smiled at Kathy. “Why don’t you two come out? Detective Owen will be coming by.”
“Can you just give us one more minute?” Kathy asked.
“Sure, honey.”
Dave’s parent’s left while muttering at each other.
“I told you they were making up and not to go in there,” George told his bride.
“And I told you I didn’t care,” Renee replied.
Kathy turned to Dave with a smile. “They’re the best.”
“Sure are.”
He was so cute standing there with his hair a mess, his shirttail only half tucked in, and the look of love in his eyes. “I can’t believe you’d even consider not inviting them to our Vegas wedding. They would totally make it fun.”
Dave pressed his lips together in an attempt to not smile. “You don’t think I can make Vegas fun?”
With her hands on her hips, Kathy cocked her head. “Hmm. I don’t know, what else did you have planned besides nuptials?”
“How about a class hotel with a large bed and room service?”
“So.” Kathy walked to Dave and looped her arms around his neck. “You only want to keep me in bed the whole time.”
Dave snickered. “Well, yeah! The thought of becoming an uncle really has me thinking about children and I was thinking we should get a lot of practice in before we try for real.”
Nibbling on his ear, Kathy asked, “I like how you think, Mr. Sanders. But what about sightseeing and the casino?”
“Whatever you want,” he told her on a winded breath. “And don’t you think being married to me is gamble enough?”
Kathy threw her head back in laughter. “We’re such messed-up people. I’m so glad we found each other. Don’t ever let me go, Dave. Promise me.”
“I promise to love you and never let you go, Kathy.” With a hand to the small of her back, Dave pulled her close. “Let’s sneak out the back door.”
“Let’s get out front so everyone doesn’t think we have.”
Kissing her on the nose Dave said, “See! I need you to make sure I don’t do things I should do. Or is it that you having me thinking about doing things I shouldn’t be?” He gave her a considering look.
“HA. Speak for yourself. You’re the one who just talked me into a Vegas wedding.”
She kissed him and poured every part of her soul into it. This man was going to love her forever and it was a healthy, real, and solid relationship. Kids, a house, and maybe a dog; she couldn’t wait.
“Hey!” The banging at the door broke their kiss but not their bond. “You guys coming out here or what?” Jake asked.