Page 70 of With This Ring

She held her hand up. “And that is a conversation I need to have with him. You don’t need to share that with him or get involved, okay?” When her niece agreed, Dakota narrowed her eyes. “Promise me, my little cupid.”

“I promise.” Skye crossed her heart and then stood. “Anyway, I need to go. Gunner is taking me to the rink tonight. I was looking forward to introducing him to you since you haven’t come to Nana’s in a while.”

“I’m sorry, honey. I promise I’ll meet him soon.”

Her niece crossed to the doorway. “Promise me you won’t work too late.”

“Okay. Thanks for locking up.”

Skye tapped the doorframe. “Good night, Auntie.”

Her niece left, and Dakota turned her focus back to the dress. As she fiddled with the pesky beading, she racked her brain for any solution that would save her house and her store.

***

Hudson nosed his SUV into the driveway of the colonial later that evening and peered over at Dakota’s house. Lights glowed from theinside, and Trouble, the precocious cat, lounged in the front window as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

He killed the engine but remained in the vehicle. Hudson had enjoyed his Friday night at the rink. He skated with Anissa until his legs were sore, and he spent time talking with Gavin and Brice. He even ran into some old friends from school and had a blast reconnecting with them.

Yet as much as he enjoyed the evening, he’d noticed as soon as he arrived at the rink that Dakota was missing. He had expected to see her skating with friends, but she was nowhere in sight. He considered asking Brice where she was, but he didn’t want to give the impression that he was interested in knowing. Instead he managed to eavesdrop on Kayleigh telling someone that Dakota was working late, trying to finish a gown she was altering.

Hudson climbed from his car and started toward the front door, jamming his hands into the pockets of his jeans. For some reason, he couldn’t get Dakota out of his head. He’d mulled over their conversation since last Thursday when he’d offered her a personal loan, and he wondered if she still needed assistance with her finances.

But her money problems weren’t his concern. She’d made it clear she didn’t want him in her business or her life.

Yet if that were true, why had she wrapped her arms around him and allowed him to hold her close the night she’d thought she’d lost her cat?

He yearned to knock on her front door and ask her if she still needed help.

Hudson growled out a frustrated noise and stalked toward his front door. He had to stop thinking about Dakota and her life. It was best for him not to be tied to her in any way. They weren’t meant to be together, and they never would be.

Chapter 16

Sunday evening a week later, Dakota heard a knock on the front door. She yawned and stretched her arms overhead on her way from the sofa to answer it. She had worked late at the store every evening this past week and skipped skating lessons again this weekend, telling Kayleigh she was busy catching up on work. She also had avoided another date with Parker.

She pulled the front door open and jumped back when she found her family spilling all the way from the porch to her front walk—her parents and brother and sister-in-law, along with Skye, Aubrey, Kevin, and a handsome young man she assumed was Skye’s boyfriend, Gunner. The late-April evening was warm, and the sun was bright in the cloudless blue sky.

She glanced down at her clothing—worn jeans and a faded concert t-shirt—and scrutinized her den, which hadn’t been vacuumed in about three weeks. Then she stared at her parents. “Uh... wh-what’s going on?”

“Surprise,” Mom said, holding up a grocery bag in each hand. Her dark hair was styled in a bob and looked as if she’d recently visited the salon to have her gray covered. “Since you were too busy to come over for a cookout, we brought the cookout to you.”

“What?” Dakota demanded.

Mom waved her out of the doorway, and Dakota stepped aside. “We brought burgers, buns, all of the fixings, and dessert.”

“We’ve missed you, sweetheart.” Dad, also holding two grocery bags, kissed her cheek on his way to the kitchen. She’d always thought Nick looked just like Dad, since they both were tall and shared the same dark hair and eyes.

“Hi, Auntie!” Aubrey, her fourteen-year-old niece, waved on her way to the den. Aubrey was just as pretty as her mom, Eileen, with her amber eyes and bright smile that always seemed to light up the room.

Eleven-year-old Kevin was the perfect mixture of his parents. He rushed over to Dakota and hugged her waist. “I haven’t seen you in forever, Auntie.”

“I’m sorry about that.” She touched his nose. “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too.” He grinned and faced the den.

“Let me guess,” she teased. “You want to turn on your favorite movie since you don’t have it at home.”

“Is that okay?”