Chapter29
The Silence
Dash’s POV
When Zinnie woke up, she came into the living room, headed straight for Melitta, and I handed our little girl to her.
“She’s getting fussy, so she’s ready to eat,” I said. “We’ve been talking for the last few minutes about how nice it would be if she could give her mommy just a few more minutes of sleep.”
“My little bee seems to like feeding every three to four hours. But that was a nice stretch of sleep. I was out cold.”
“You need it after what your body’s been through.” And what I put you through. “I want you to sleep as much as you can for the next two weeks —”
“Thank you, doctor.”
“That’s not me talking as a doctor, Zin. That’s me talking as your husband.”
“Easier said than done. I’m going back to the cottage in two days. I refuse to keep depending on Aggie and Branch.”
“I want you to let me help you,” I told her. “I’ll sleep on the couch, or, if you don’t want me there overnight, I’ll leave for six or seven hours and handle everything else except for feedings so you can rest, recuperate and regain your strength.”
“I won’t keep you from her, but I don’t know if I want you there overnight.”
“It’s up to you, Zin. Think about it, think about the help I can provide around the clock.”
“I will. I’m just so angry with you it’s hard to get past that.”
I nodded my understanding.
“Aggie’s out with the animals, so while you feed My Little, I’ll make you avocado toast and over easy eggs. A neighbor dropped off strawberries for you this morning, so I’ll cut up some of those, too.”
She smiled at my play on Melitta’s name, and then nodded. “Thank you.”
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As I walked off to make Zinnie her breakfast, she stopped me.
“Dash, Aggie said you dropped a bomb on my family about paternity and told my dad he should ask my mother why Iris and I had different fathers.”
“I did advise him to do that.”
“You really think we have different fathers?”
Now I had to admit to what I’d done.
“Honestly, no. I’ve spent a lot of time wondering why your mother treated you and Iris so differently. One of my pet theories is you had different fathers. Or your dad stepped out on your mom, got another woman pregnant and for whatever reason, he and your mother raised you as both of theirs. But I really don’t believe it because you’re both a mix of your parents. I just lobbed it out there to stir up shit. Make your parents go a little crazy, have your dad doubt your mother and your mother try to prove he’s the father of both of you. He’s going to demand a paternity test, guaranteed, and that’s going to piss her off unbelievably.”
“I can’t believe you did that.”
She sounded amused rather than angry.
“I figured after they got out of jail, they needed to focus on something other than you, and a question about paternity should be a good distraction.”
“You thought about why I was treated differently?”
“I did.”
“I could have told you,” Zinnie said. “I know why.”
“Will you tell me?”
“It’s just not very complimentary.”
“I’d still like to know, Zin.”
She sighed.
“So, the night before my tenth birthday, Iris was out with her friends and my parents thought I was up in my room. I heard them arguing, so I sat on the top of the stairs because I’d heard my
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name. My dad was saying mom should have planned a party for me like she’d done for Iris’s tenth birthday. Mom said she never wanted to celebrate the birthday of the child she never even wanted. She said they’d agreed on only one child before they even got married and it wasn’t her fault that the birth control failed.”
Zinnie ran her finger over Melitta’s knuckles and kept her focus on that tight fist.
“Then Dad said it was too bad she figured out she was pregnant too late to have an abortion. Mom said no one was sorrier than her about that, and if he thought I should have a party, he could plan it himself, and he said that was her job. They kept bickering back and forth about me and other things, and it finally made sense to me why I never had a birthday party.”
I wanted to grab her to me. “Zinnie, I’m so sorry you heard your parents saying that shit. They’re the worst, and I wish I’d known that.”
“It’s embarrassing. I never told anyone. I just tried to never make waves after that, thinking they might start to love me or want me in their lives like they loved and wanted Iris.”
The birth of the path of least resistance. And the very reason Zinnie might never forgive me for what I said, making it seem like I wanted Iris.
“Zinnie, I love you,” I said to her, feeling as if these were the most important words I’d ever said in my life, and yet the most ineffective because she had no way of knowing just how true they were. “You need to know that I want you in my life more than anything, and I’m sorry for what I said at the gender reveal that made you think I didn’t. I’m sorry for what I said, period.”
“I need to feed Melitta,” she said.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A couple of days later, while Zinnie was napping, I walked outside with Melitta in her stroller and came in at the tail end of Aggie’s phone conversation. She turned and smiled at me, then pointed to the ten new miniature sheep grazing placidly while the four babies jumped around like
maniacs.
“I know, Case. I know you’re almost at maximum capacity. But it’s just one mama sheep and her tiny little lamb. They’ve been here four months already, and no one wants them, and I absolutely don’t have any room for them. So I thought I’d try you before the vet comes out tomorrow to…to…to put them down.”
She sniffled loudly several times as she grinned at the lambs‘ antics.
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“Really?” she brightened up. “That’s wonderful news, Case. You won’t regret it, I promise, and there might be fourteen sheep between the mothers and the lambs. Bye!”
“They arrived yesterday morning,” I said to her.
“pfft. I’m an old lady and get confused easily. Time is very fluid when you get to be my age. Have a lot of trouble with numbers, too.”
I shook my head at her, unable to keep from grinning. “You’re a con artist, Aggie. You actually get away with that?”
“All the time. But Case is special because I’m really doing him a favor. His daughters love the animals, but he has yet to thank me for all the animals I’ve allowed him to adopt.”
I smiled faintly as I looked out into the distance.
“I’ve lost patients before, but I’ve never taken a life, Aggie.”
Her eyes showed understanding.
“You saved Tomás. You also saved your own life, and that’s always the choice you make when it
comes to you or them.”
“I know that logically.”
“Alex said he had a gun out, Dash. You had a pitchfork. That’s not a fair fight, but you kept your cool and did what you needed to. It could have easily gone the other way if you hadn’t acted so quickly. Remember that.”
I’d try, but for now, I focused on the peace I could find in the silence and enjoyed the walk with Melitta. We walked half a mile away to a little spot Aggie had told me about when I’d asked her about my idea. It was time to bring it up with Zinnie.
It was time to give her what she wanted.
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.