AllFreeNovel
Share Us
CHAPTER 8
Kylie
“I really miss our Friday night dates,” my friend Macy said with a sigh as we FaceTimed a week later. “I got a coffee a few days ago and went down to the beach, but it wasn’t the same without you and Nic.”
I smiled at her image as I sat cross-legged on my enormous bed. “I miss those days when we were all together, too,” I confessed. “I’m excited that we’ll be together again in just a few weeks for the wedding, though. I’ve always wanted to go to England.”
“I was there when I was younger, but I can’t wait to be there with both you and Nic,” she murmured. “I just wish I could stay longer and that we could fly over there together, but things are crazy at the sanctuary right now. I have to leave a few days after you. I don’t think Karma is going to last much longer.”
My heart squeezed as I looked at the sadness in Macy’s eyes.
As an exotic animal veterinarian, my friend had lost more than one animal she’d become attached to, but she and Karma, an aging Bengal tiger, had a strange affinity for each other that most people would probably never understand.
I ached for her because I knew losing Karma was going to be particularly devastating.
“I’m so sorry,” I said softly. “You’ve done everything you possibly can for her, Macy. You know that, right?”
She nodded. “I know. She’s twenty years old, and the cancer is starting to cause her pain. If it gets to be too much, she’ll have to be euthanized, so she doesn’t suffer. It’s not like I can expect her to live forever, but the sanctuary won’t be the same without her.”
Macywouldn’t be the same without her feline friend, either, but she’d get through it. Nic and I would make sure she did.
“So tell me how things are going with Dylan Lancaster,” Macy insisted in a lighter tone. “Have you mentioned to Nic that you’re actually living with her future brother-in-law?”
It was obvious that Macy didn’t want to dwell on her sorrow, so I let that subject go. “Not yet,” I confessed. “I’m actually hoping to surprise her by bringing Dylan home for the wedding. I think that would mean a lot to both Damian and Nic, especially if Dylan is ready to make amends.”
Macy raised a brow. “Is he ready?”
“I think so,” I said without much certainty. “I know he hates what he’s done to Damian. I’m just not sure I can get him to confront his fear of being rejected.”
I knew damn well that his worry about an unwelcome reception to his presence at Nic and Damian’s wedding was the only thing stopping Dylan from going.
In some ways, I was convinced that he was actually trying to make sure he didn’t do anything to upset the happy couple.
After spending a month with Dylan, I couldn’t say he was exactly candid, but he’d said enough to make me believe that he didn’t want to miss his identical twin’s wedding. However, he didn’t want to screw up the blissful occasion, either.
“Not going isn’t going to make them happy,” Macy said adamantly. “I’ve talked to Nic. She wants Dylan to show up. Damian is insisting it doesn’t matter whether Dylan comes to the wedding or not, but Nic said it’s all bravado.”
I nodded. “I agree. Damian and Dylan were really close. For an event as important as his wedding, I know Damian wants his twin brother there.”
“Can you convince him to go, Kylie? Do you think he’s wised-up enough not to make a scene if he does?”
“He won’t,” I said firmly. “Dylan has come a long way from where he was when he upset Nic in England. He knows he was an asshole. He doesn’t drink until he’s intoxicated anymore. I just don’t think he knows exactly how to face Damian or how to make things better with his family.”
Although I told Macy everything about myself, Dylan’s counseling was private, so I wasn’t comfortable sharing something that personal about him with someone he’d never met.
Macy’s eyes widened a little as she stared at me. “You almost sound like you’re actually starting to like him.”
“Guilty,” I replied. “Dylan Lancaster is arrogant, obscenely wealthy, and probably one of the most stubborn men I’ve ever met. But he’s also a hard guy not to like now that he’s done being a jerk. He can be really nice when he wants to be, and he was only slightly a sore loser after I won every single tennis match we’ve played so far. The man is wicked intelligent, and he’s helped me a lot whenever I go to him for business advice. Being a partner is a lot different than being the director at ACM, and he’s making that transition easier for me. I wanted to hate him because of what he did to Nic, but I just…can’t.”
Macy wiggled her eyebrows. “I’m sure it doesn’t hurt to look at somebody as scorching hot as he is every single day. Even though I’ve never met him, I have seen his half-naked photo. Plus, he looks just like Damian, right?”
I thought about that for a moment before I answered. “Yes, they are identical twins, but they’re also…different. I can see how they probably complemented each other in business. Damian is very controlled and methodical, and steady is important in business. Dylan is slick when it comes to handling people, and he’s more of a visionary. I think he likes the challenge of newer and riskier projects that could very well pay off much bigger than some of their usual acquisitions.”
“So if the two of them don’t kill each other over their differences, they’re a pretty dynamic team,” Macy observed.
“Exactly,” I replied. “Each of them has their own strengths. Personality-wise, Dylan seems…edgier, more stubborn, and more cynical. Inside, I think they’re both very decent men. It’s just a little more obvious in Damian than it is in Dylan.”
Dylan Lancaster wasn’t an easy man to know, and at times, I still had no idea what he was thinking. But I’d seen his inherent kindness, and I couldn’t unsee it, even though he tried extremely hard to hide it.
