Dance Like Nobody's Watching (Summer Lake 3) (29 page)

“I've got your back, bro.”

Just hearing that buoyed him up. “Thanks.
Look, that's it.” He pointed at one of the trailers. The number
1511 hung lopsided next to the door. Clothes hung on a line in the
front yard. Dan rubbed a hand over his face as Chance pulled the
truck over. “Wish me luck,” he said as he climbed down.

The man who opened the door wasn't what Dan had
expected. His disheveled hair was light brown, his eyes blue. Dan had
expected him to look like Scot. He didn't. At all. Maybe this wasn't
him?

“Are you Travis Gibbs?”

The guy nodded, looking wary. “That's me.
What do you want?”

“I want to talk to you about your son.”

The guy rolled his eyes. “Which one? What
have they done now?”

That caught Dan off guard. “How many have
you got?”

“The two of them....” Travis stopped
short. “Do you mean Scot?”

Dan nodded and was shocked to see Travis' face
turn pale. “Is he okay? Tell me he's alright? Is Missy okay?”

“They're fine,” Dan reassured him.
“They're both fine.”

Travis looked over his shoulder and came outside,
closing the door behind him. “Then what do you want? Why are
you here? What's going on with Scot?” He walked down the side
of the trailer and took a seat on a log in the yard.

Dan saw Chance move to get out of the truck, but
shook his head and waved him back as he followed Travis and sat
beside him.

“Scot's doing great,” he said. “I
want to marry Missy.” He looked Travis in the eye, “And I
want to adopt Scot.”

Travis let out a big sigh. “I would have
been there for him, you know. I didn't even know about him ’til
he was two. It took 'em that long to find me.”

Dan nodded. “She told me.”

“I was married by then. Already had my
daughter and another one on the way.”

Dan nodded again. He didn't know what to say. The
guy seemed to be apologizing.

“I had nothing to offer him.” Travis
put his head in his hands and said nothing for a long while. When he
looked up again, he swept his arm out over the trailer park. “This
is the nicest place we've ever lived. I've spent most of the last ten
years inside anyway. Joy and the kids have been on their own. I
figured Scot would do better without me in his life than with me.”

Dan silently agreed.

“What's he like?”

“He's a great kid. Smart, really smart.
Loves his mom. Loves his computers.”

Travis pursed his lips. “He wouldn't even
have one, if I'd been his dad. My lot pester me for one, but I can't
afford that shit.” He looked at Dan now. An appraising glance
that took in his clothes, his boots, his watch. “Money's not a
problem for you though, is it?”

“No.”

Dan couldn't help but respect the guy when he
said, “It's not just about money though. Being a dad is so much
more than that. You need to love 'em. Show 'em right from wrong.
Teach 'em to be good people. That must sound like so much horse-shit
coming from me, but it's what I believe. I always hoped Scot might
have a chance to find a real dad, if I stayed out of the picture.”

“That's what I want to be,” said Dan.
“I love him. I think he loves me. I came here to ask if you'd
have any objections to my adopting him, trying to be a dad to him.”

Travis nodded. “I'll sign anything you want
me to, but I do have one condition.”

Chance had warned him that Travis might try to get
money from him. Dan wouldn't mind giving him some, but he didn't
believe that was what Travis wanted from him. He was right.

“Let me know how he's getting on? Send me
photos sometimes?”

Dan smiled. “Of course.” He took out
his wallet and gave Travis a photo he'd been carrying for a while
now. Scot was sitting on the back step of the RV, playing on his
GameBoy. Missy had taken it when they were all up at Emma's. Scot was
oblivious to the camera and everything else. The lake sparkled in the
background.

Travis smiled. “He's gotten so big. Is that
your rig?”

Dan nodded. It occurred to him that the RV that he
and Scot used as a workshop and game-room was much bigger than the
trailer Travis and his family lived in.

Travis rubbed his arm over eyes and nodded sadly.
“What was your name?”

“Dan. Dan Benson,”

“Well, take good care of him, Dan Benson.”
He stood up. “I'd better be getting on, but you send me the
papers. I'll sign 'em.” He held out the photo.

“You can keep it if you want?” Dan
wanted him to have it. He'd send him more too. He understood that
Travis believed he had done the best he could for Scot by staying out
of his life. Dan respected that—and was glad of it.

“Thanks.” Travis held out his hand and
Dan shook it firmly.

“I want you to know I'll do my best for him.
Always.”

Travis nodded and walked away.

*
**

They were almost back to Summer Lake when Dan's
cell phone rang. When he saw Leanne's name on the display, he
muttered a quick
sorry
to Chance and answered it. He'd seen a
voicemail from her this morning, but hadn't had time to check it yet.

“Hey, Lee. Is everything okay?”

“I'll let you decide that. Have you heard
from Olivia?”

“No.”

“Well you can expect to. I've had her on,
bitching me out.”

“Why? What's going on?”

“Seems like she got some insider information
from Systech.”

“Insider information? Like what? And how?”

“Considering it's the weekend and
considering Corey is disillusioned with her, my guess is that she's
screwing one of them now and that's how she found out that what
Systech wanted most out of Prometheus was
you.
She thinks the
deal is going to fall through if you're not part of the package.

Dan tried to process this. He couldn't. “So?”

“So watch out, my friend. She'll be hunting
you down now she thinks she needs you again.”

Dan gave an involuntary shudder. He'd been
pleasantly surprised that Olivia had made no attempt to contact him
after he'd told her he was done with her and the company. “So,
what do I do?”

Leanne laughed. “Hide! Block her calls, and
let me draw up a deal with Corey.”

Dan thought about it. He didn't need to hide, he
was up here at the lake. He could easily ignore Olivia's calls. He
had no desire to talk to her. Especially not today. He'd talked to
Steven, it seemed his old friend had given up, he'd even encouraged
Dan to sell to Corey. “Okay then. Do it.”

“Will do. Call you later.”

Chance looked at him as he hung up. “Everything
okay?”

Dan nodded. “I hope so.” He explained
the whole situation to Chance as they spent the last few miles
crawling along in the weekend traffic heading in to the resort.

“Watch your back,” said Chance. “You
know what they say about a woman scorned.”

Dan smiled. “I do, but there's nothing she
can do to me now. She's part of my old life. Everything and everybody
I really care about is up here now.”

Chance looked at him, eyes narrowed, jaw set.
“Watch. Your. Back.”

***

Missy sat between Emma and Holly in the big
pedicure chairs at the salon. Emma's birthday gift had been to bring
Missy to get her hair done, ready for the party. Holly had decided
that they should all get manicures and pedicures while they were
there.

“So.” Emma grinned at her. “Are
you all ready for tonight, birthday girl?”

Missy nodded happily. “Yep. I'm having my
best birthday ever. The party will be the icing on the cake.”

Emma's grin grew bigger. “Speaking of cake,
I made your fave. Though how we're going to fit all those candles on
top, I don't know.”

Missy slapped at her arm. “Give it a rest
with the old lady thing, Em. I already feel ancient!”

Holly laughed. “Don't feel too bad, Miss.
You're the one who has snagged yourself a young hottie. We landed
ourselves with a couple of old men, compared to your Dan.”

Missy smiled. “It doesn't feel like he's
younger than me though. He's so smart, and he takes such good care of
us, you know?”

Holly smiled back at her. “I do know. I
wasn't so sure at first. I honestly thought he was a bit clueless,
but he's not, is he? When he asked me to find you a dress, he knew
what he was doing alright.” She laughed. “He even showed
Pete up, and you've got to love anyone who can do that!”

Missy nodded happily. She did love him, but she
wasn't going to tell the girls that yet.

Emma watched her with that knowing smile, though.
“Are you still going to argue about being my sister-in-law?”

Missy felt the heat in her cheeks. She could no
longer trot out her arguments about being at different places in
life. Since he'd mentioned it in Vegas, she kept hoping that he
might
ask her to marry him.

Holly laughed. “Your silence says it all,
sweetie. Sorry, but it was obvious from the beginning that he wanted
you more than he might want to go off and start a family.”

Missy nodded. “I get that now. But honestly,
I could never forgive myself if he wanted babies and he missed out on
that because of me.”

“Hopefully you believe that he doesn't,
now?”

She nodded. She really did. Knowing that he
couldn't have children made it so much easier too. She wasn't
depriving him of having a family of his own. She was sharing
something with him that he would never have known otherwise.

“Anyway,” she said. “What time
is Laura getting in? We've been playing phone tag for weeks, but I
still haven't managed to talk to her.”

“She's going to call before they take off,”
said Emma. “The poor thing was so excited that Smoke was going
to get her, but then she had some diamond people show up, and she's
spent the last couple of days with them. She won't even get to see
Smoke ’til she gets to the airport.”

“Aww, what a shame!” Missy had been
looking forward to hearing how Dan's plan to get those two a couple
of days together had worked out.

“At least they'll both be at the party
tonight,” said Holly.

“Hopefully,” replied Emma. “Jack
said he'll pick them up from the airport, whatever time they arrive.
What time are you going over there, Miss?”

“I don't know, I'm waiting for my men to
tell me what we're doing.”

Emma laughed. “It must be love! I never
thought I'd see the day you would wait for a man to tell you what
your plans were.”

Missy nodded. “I know. It's weird isn't it?
I like it when it's Dan though.”

“I definitely hear more wedding bells on the
horizon,” said Holly. “Just do me a favor and coordinate
with Pete before you decide on a date? You know what he's like for
planning and he has to make sure nothing clashes!”

Missy looked up as a glass crashed to the floor. A
woman, sitting in the waiting area a few feet away, had knocked it
over, along with a pile of magazines. She stood up and looked around.
Missy offered her a friendly smile, knowing how embarrassed she would
feel if it were her. The expression on the woman's face as she looked
back at Missy wasn't one of embarrassment, or even humor. It was a
look of pure venom that took Missy's breath away. She tucked a strand
of her angular cut bob behind her ear before turning and stalking out
of the salon.

“Wow!” said Holly as the door slammed
shut. “Who the hell was that, and what did you ever do to her,
Miss? It's a good thing looks can't really kill, or this would be
your last birthday!”

“I have no idea!” Missy was stunned.

Jackie, the owner of the salon, came over to clean
up the broken glass and soggy magazines.

“Who was that?” asked Emma.

“A tourist, I guess,” said Jackie.
“She came in saying she just wanted a blow dry. I told her it'd
be at least an hour before we could fit her in, but she wanted to
wait. I guess she changed her mind, huh?”

“I wouldn't worry about it,” said
Holly. “She might have turned us all to stone, giving out looks
like that!”

***

Missy sat in front of the mirror in her dressing
room. This really was the best birthday ever. She'd had a great time
with the girls, getting pampered. It had been far too long since
she'd done that. Now she was getting ready for her party. Dan had
gone out to collect Scotty a while ago. How could she ever have hoped
to find a man who would be so close to her son that he apologized
about leaving her to go and help him and his friend before they came
home? She didn't mind one bit. It had given her time to take a long
soak in her tub. She'd even had a glass of bubbly in there as she'd
sat and stared out at the lake. Life was good. So very good.

She was applying her mascara when she heard Scot
come bounding up the stairs, followed by Dan. Scot came into the
dressing room and started to laugh when he saw what she was doing.

He looked at Dan. “She always sticks her
tongue out when she does that.”

Dan smiled at her. “I know, and I don't even
know why she does it. She doesn't need makeup, she’s
beautiful.”

“You should see some of the other stuff she
does to look beautiful,” said Scot, laughing again.

Missy wondered what he was about to give away.

Dan's eyes were twinkling now. “Really? Like
what?”

“She pulls her eyebrows out!”

Missy laughed, remembering Scot's face when he'd
seen her plucking her eyebrows. As a male, and a very logical one at
that, she had not been able to make him understand it.

“Isn't
that
weird?” he asked
Dan.

“No.” Dan smiled at her. “It's
not necessary, but it's not weird.”

“Not necessary?” She laughed. “If
I were to leave them to grow wild for a couple of months, you'd
understand how necessary it is. I'd look like something from Planet
of the Apes!”

Scot laughed, but Dan ran a hand over his face.
“Do I look like something off Planet of the Apes? I'll shave it
off before we go out.”