Page 14 of Finding the One (River Rain #7)

Awesome

Dair

D air’s hair was damp, and he was still rolling up the sleeve of his shirt as he walked down the hall to his mother’s room.

That morning, once they’d secured their car, Blake had rushed off, saying something about her urgent need to get to the grocery store.

He’d dropped Davi off at the square so she could find their mum, and he’d gone into the hotel and changed clothes, then met Judge for a five-mile hike.

Ned had been correct.

This country was beautiful.

After their hike, he and Judge shared a beer at Judge’s house, and Dair again got to spend time with their wee bonny son JT, who Chloe referred to solely as Jimmy, although no one else did.

He’d kicked it home when Blake texted her address (along with three scrolls’ worth of directions, something that made him chuckle). After she did, he’d Googled it and realized he didn’t have a lot of time to get back, shower, change, collect his mum and sister, and get to Ned and Blake’s.

As he walked down that hall, according to Google directions, they’d needed to leave two minutes ago.

And he was keen to get there, for more reasons than just the promise of steak.

His head had been a fucking mess all day.

Shitty thoughts of his father, mother and Helena mingling with much better thoughts of Blake.

Her hair. Her clothes. Her shite all over his bathroom.

Even the way her nails were done, in short almond shapes with a sheer pink over white tips.

They were feminine, but not garish. Classy. Stylish.

Blake.

And she could dig in and hold on with those nails.

On this thought and a quirk of his lips, he knocked on his mother’s door.

“Come in!” she called.

He came in and immediately flipped back the latch that kept it open. He understood why she did that knowing he was on his way, but if he was otherwise engaged, like away or in the shower, he didn’t like it.

His mum was rushing around.

Davina was sitting in an armchair and her attention came right to him.

“I’m almost ready,” his mum said as she disappeared into the bathroom.

He lifted his brows to his sister.

She shook her head.

Fuck.

He went to the open door of the bathroom to see his mother bent over the basin, looking in the mirror and putting on lipstick.

“Good day?” he asked.

She popped her lips together twice then turned to him. “This is a lovely town.” He got out of her way as she bustled out of the bathroom. “Many fine restaurants. Bonny shops, lovely jewelry, fantastic art. And Chloe’s store is fabulous. I waited for Davi to join me, and we had fun there.”

She said all of this and didn’t look at him once.

She was shoving her lipstick in her purse when he called, “Mum.”

She clicked her purse shut. “There. Done. We can go.”

“Mum,” he repeated.

She finally looked to him.

Jesus.

He went to her and pulled her in his arms.

She began to push away but he only held her closer.

She relaxed into him, circled him with her arms and shoved her face in his shoulder.

“Ye dinnae have to go,” he said into the side of her hair.

She tipped her head back and caught his gaze. “I’m fine.”

“We can get room service here and spend time together. We dinnae get to do that much,” he offered. When she was about to reply, he tacked on, “Blake will understand. Ye ken she will. So will Ned.”

Her chin grew stubborn, she pulled firmly out of his hold, and she declared, “I’ll not lose another moment of my life pining over my own husband.”

Dair glanced at Davina.

She shrugged.

His mother drew him back when she spoke.

“I appreciate ye both looking after me, and I will not lie and say my heart isn’t broken. It is. But it has been for years. I’ve wasted enough time and emotion on your father. If I can, I’ll waste no more.”

Dair sighed.

“Your choice, Mum,” he said.

“So we should go,” his mother replied.

He nodded.

His sister got up, grabbed her bag, and they left.

They were in the car and on their way when his mum brought it up.

“What’s going on between ye and Blake?”

“Not certain yet,” he lied.

Davina made a pfft sound in the backseat.

Dair smiled.

“I hope ye ken what you’re getting into, son,” his mother said.

“And what’s that, in your estimation?” he asked curiously.

“She’s a beautiful girl, always was. Then again, so is her mother.”

Bloody hell.

“But Helena did a number on her two daughters,” she continued.

“Alex escaped as fast as she could. Even when she was young, Alex was only there physically and only that when she had to be. Blake bore the brunt of it. Perhaps because she was firstborn, and more was expected of her. She got crushed under it and had to act out to assert herself in some manner.”

“She’s not the woman she used to be, Mum,” Davi piped up from the back seat.

“No, I ken. That’s clear enough.” He felt her eyes on him when she said, “But damage was done.”

“Like what Dad did to us?” Davi asked angrily.

He shot his sister a look in the rearview mirror telling her to shut her gob.

Davi returned a mutinous expression and carried on, “Boys and their dads are a thing. Dinnae think ye missed how ragin Dair got with him.”

Dair knew his mother was addressing the side window when she said, “It pains me to know ye three all saw them, and how ye did.”

Enough of this shite.

“I suggest none of us take on Dad’s fuckups,” he stated. “It isn’t on any of us. Dinnae worry, I dinnae think I’ll turn into him because I spent most of my life not respecting the man and understanding I didnae want to be like him.”

His mother made a noise, and the sound of it wounded him, but this had to be said.

“Doesn’t mean he wasn’t a good father. He was tough on me, but I never doubted his love, like Blake had to do with Helena.

I’m angry at Dad. We all are. He deserves it.

We’ll get through it, though. No clue what’s on the other side, but we’ll get through it.

And Mum, you aren’t missing anything. There’s something between Blake and me.

We’ll be exploring it. I ken she’s been through it.

I’ll have a mind. But we’re both adults.

Ye have enough to worry about, dinnae worry about that. ”

“Ye make a bonny couple, love,” his mother said. “And I like the way she is with ye. Seems settled in her skin when she’s with ye.”

Fuck, he liked that.

“You’re like an old married couple already,” Davi added. “It’s hilarious.”

“You have years of history,” Mum said quietly. “I like that. It’s a good foundation.”

Left unsaid, nothing like what he had with Signe, who his mother had detested. She’d seen beyond the hair, makeup and love bombing, whereas Dair had been thinking with his cock, something Signe was very good at sucking.

It ended up being beneficial that Blake sent copious directions even if they had GPS on their phones. He noticed landmarks she mentioned on the winding road way up in the mountains, and because of Blake, he didn’t miss the almost hidden turn off to the steep descent of a drive to the house.

But he caught it, and they wound down an attractive lane that had two sides of natural pine and boulders until they hit the house.

And…

Bloody hell.

“Ned Sharp always had good taste,” his mum said when the big structure nestled in the woods became visible before them.

She was right.

The modern, flat-roofed home made of stone and glass was all right angles with fantastic lighting. Even with that ultra-contemporary design, it seemed innate in its surroundings, with its landscaping of green grasses and red dirt.

The sun wasn’t close to going down, but the house was so deeply ensconced in the shadow of the pines, it was lit within already, adding its lot to the warm glow of the Arizona sunshine.

Dair parked at the bottom of the long, straight row of red, flagstone steps that led to a two-story wall of windows edged in stone.

They were about to get out when they saw Ned at the top of the stairs gesturing to the side.

“Hold,” Dair ordered and drove around where they found another path that led up to the house, this one winding, not straight, and wound among more boulders, grass and subtle garden lighting.

At the top of these stairs was Blake.

She’d taken off the jumper outfit and was wearing a black tank dress that had a twist at the midriff, cutout sides and slits at the hem on either side. She wore thongs on her feet with a bow at the toes so big, he could see it from where he sat in their car.

Her hair was a luxurious mass of ebony tumbling over her shoulders.

He felt one side of his lips hitch up as he shut down the vehicle and climbed out.

He escorted his mother up the steps, Davi trailing, and Ned had made it around to their side by the time they cleared the top.

“So glad you came,” he greeted, going right to Kenna.

“Och, Ned, this house is extraordinary,” his mum replied as she accepted a kiss on her cheek.

“When we understood we’d be out here often, especially when my grandchildren start arriving, I commissioned it from Remy Gastineau,” Ned told her, going in to greet Davi.

“Heya, hen,” he murmured to Blake, bending to brush his lips along her cheek, and he decided this time to make a wider sweep and ended with them at her ear.

He also had a hand to her waist, so he felt her shiver.

Therefore, he was smiling when he pulled away.

She gave him a murderous look. Or she aimed it at his ear.

His smile grew.

She moved to greet his mother and sister as his mum said, “Remy Gastineau. Impressive. Wasn’t he at the wedding?”

“The Gastineaus are family friends,” Ned said. “Now come in, let’s get you some drinks.”

“No happier words ever spoken,” Davi put in.

They trooped inside and it was a tossup if the outside was better than the interior.