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Had you ever seen one of those romantic movies where the mother or the mother-in-law came out with their dress that they just couldn’t wait to see the daughter in on her special day, and the damn thing was the ugliest beast you’d ever laid eyes on?

Yeah, well, this absolutely wasn’t that.

This was a dress made for a princess. Long sleeves made with a delicate, see-through lace. A plunging neckline that would show a decent amount of cleavage. Long skirt that was poofy but pretty. The whole thing sparkled, which was what was so magical about it.

I wasn’t that girly girl who loved sparkly, pretty things, but one look at this dress, and I swear I fell in love. It looked like a damn life-sized Barbie dress.

“Do you want to try it on?” he asked, and I shook my head.

“No. I want you to put it back in the box. I’ll try it on when I’m all by myself and not on the verge of a mental breakdown… please.”

He nodded and, without a word, very carefully placed the dress back in the box. When the lid was back in place, I felt like I could finally breathe again.

I was more than ready to get out of here, but I didn’t want to tell Rain that. He might be emotionally shut down at the moment, but he’d really opened himself up to me by bringing me here. I didn’t want to say the wrong thing, hurt his feelings, and then never have him share something personal with me again.

So I kept my mouth shut and sucked it up.

He walked right up to me and plucked the picture I’d been staring at off the wall. He placed it on top of the box and tucked both of them safely under his arm. “I’ve got one more thing to show you, then we can get out of here.” At my skeptical look, he barked out a harsh laugh. “You’re going to like this one, I promise.”

I wasn’t so sure I believed him, but I followed him out of the room all the same. After one last look at what used to be my bedroom, I flicked the light switch off and closed the door. I refused to feel badly about the now empty space on the wall where the photo Rain carried used to be. This house belonged to keeping the memory of a dead woman alive, and I didn’t have to remember her to know she wouldn’t begrudge me one photo from the wall.

Thankfully Rain moved through the house and right out the front door. He made sure to turn the lights off before locking the door. I sighed in relief, knowing this meant I wouldn’t be forced to go back in there again today.

I followed Rain up the driveway and to the garage where he turned on me and held out a key ring with several keys on it. I took them from him as I arched an eyebrow in silent question. He just grinned at me as he pulled another key ring out of his pocket, and I wasn’t even surprised to see the one he’d kept for himself had the keys to my Rover on it. Not surprised but definitely annoyed.

He unlocked the garage and pushed the door open wide while talking to me over his shoulder. “You’ve got keys on that ring for both the front and back doors to the house and the garage. There are also keys to the ‘Vette on there too, and she’s all yours.”

I frowned at him in confusion. “What the heck is a ‘Vette?” I didn’t bother asking why he thought I’d need keys to the house. We weren’t going there.

He grinned at me with genuine happiness on his face, and it threatened to take my breath away. When he forgot to be scary, my dad was a really handsome guy. I wanted him to fall in love again and find true happiness. Just maybe not with Isobel. I mean, I’d even be happy if he decided to shack up with Romero, just so long as it made him happy. I wasn’t so sure how Dash would feel about it though. I had a feeling it wouldn’t go over well. Asking him was probably out of the question.

I eyeballed Rain. Maybe I should ask him about what his feelings were first when it came to Dash’s dad.

Then again, there were some things that just weren’t a daughter’s business no matter how much I knew that if the tables were turned, he’d be all up in my business.

There was a car parked in the garage covered with a tarp. Rain lifted the corner of the tarp by the front bumper and dragged it off the car.

She was sleek. She was black. And she was beautiful.

I instantly fell in love with her.

“This,” Rain said as he pointed at the car, “is a 1963 Chevrolet Corvette.”

His voice held a hushed reverence that was almost lustful. Looking at the car, I totally got it.

“She was my very first car. My dad bought her and gave her to me the day I got my license. Now she’s all yours. I’ve recently had her serviced and detailed, so I know she’s good to go.”

I blinked stupidly as I gaped at him with my mouth hanging open and everything.

He was giving me a car?

Thiscar?

The car he’d just told me his beloved father had given to him, making this all the more special?

Now I totally understood his obsession with hating Marcus for having bought me my Rover. He’d taken that shit personally, and it felt good to understand the reason behind it.

Still…