Chapter42
“I’m glad you were here to stitch up Aggie,” I told him.
“She was pissed, but I told her it was either me or a trip to the emergency room, and then Branch chimed in that he’d carry her there himself if she didn’t cooperate with me.”
“Bet that made her happy,” I laughed.
“Fortunately, she’d had her tetanus shot two weeks ago, so all I had to do was the stitches. Fifteen of them, so she really did a number on herself.”
“When I took her the cookies, she told me you were extremely bossy,” I laughed, and when I turned my head toward Dash, I saw he was watching me with a tender look on his face.
“I love how happy you are here, Zinnie. I love how you’ve started carving out a place for yourself
at Serenity, and how people already love you.”
“I don’t know what it is about this place,” I said, trying to put it into words. “It’s the people who accept you no matter how woo–woo you are. It’s nature, being closer to it, being a part of it. Here I feel like I’ve come home to a place I didn’t even know I’d been yearning for all of my life. I feel as if
I can finally be who I always should have been, and maybe that’s why the pull to the commune
was so strong.”
“I’ve been learning about bees, Zinnie, and one of the things
“Really?” I interrupted, wondering when he had time to research bees.
“Yeah. They’re important to you, and I want to understand when you talk about them.”
“You have no idea how much that means to me, Dash.”
He took my hand in his.
“One of the things I learned is that bees have a magnetic compass, basically an internal navigation system, that helps them get around even in new territory. Bees can hunt for food more than three miles away and still return to their home their hive with no problem. So maybe you’re like the bees, Zinnie, and your internal compass led you home, where you were always supposed to be.”
——
“I like that idea,” I said softly. “Maybe it’s the memories of visiting here with my grandmother that called me back. Maybe this was always lurking in the back of my brain as a peaceful place, but
Chapter42
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I love the rhythm of Serenity. It’s slower, more in tune with the earth and the seasons, set apart. I think about what we left, and I don’t miss it at all.”
“You mean you don’t miss the big houses, the expensive cars, the name brands, the neighbors trying to outdo one another in every possible way?” Dash asked drolly.
“Not one bit. And for only the second time in my life, I’m saying this is what I want so I’m not going to let anyone talk me out of it.”
“What was the first time, Zin?” he asked.
I laughed a bit self–consciously and wouldn’t look up from my lap.
“When I agreed to start dating you and my family harassed me for that. I didn’t let them talk me
out of it. I recognized you in the hospital, of course, but I didn’t know you. Or at least I hoped I
didn’t. I hoped you’d changed in the twelve years since I’d last seen you. You weren’t ever mean to
me when you dated Iris, but you didn’t say much besides hello when you saw me.”
“You were twelve when I started dating her, Zinnie, and it didn’t register in my
seventeen–year–old brain that there was more going on. I figured you staying away was
age–related, like it was with my little brothers. They hung out in their rooms most of the time so
to me that was normal.”
“I know, Dash. Neither of us knew the other, and we’d both changed from the children we were. I
saw your compassion, your care, the interest you took in your patients and other people. You brought those same qualities to our relationship. You asked me about myself and you listened, and you were always gentle with me, sweet and thoughtful. You made me feel seen for the first
time in my life, and I liked that, so there was no way I was giving that up.”
“And then I didn’t,” he said, and if regret was a mammal, his would have been a blue whale. (Thank you to Melitta’s board book about the biggest creatures on earth for that factoid.)
“I feel seen now,” I told him.
*~*~
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The next morning, Dash had Melitta on the floor when Juniper Berries came over with her father. Dash jumped up and introduced himself to River and shook his hand.
Just like the previous day, River didn’t smile and left.
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Dash went back down to the floor with my little bee, and Juniper started chattering. There was another knock and Juniper ran to answer the door.
“It’s Dad,” she said confidently. “He forgot to say when he was picking me up.”
Juniper opened the door and said, “Oh.”
“What the fuck?” Dash looked at the door and leapt to his feet. “Get the hell out of here.”
My family and his were walking into my house.
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.