One Reckless Night (6 page)

“Bayleigh, are you okay?”

Bayleigh looked up when her mother spoke. There was a concerned look on her face. Her

sister, Tasha, had one to match.

“I’m sorry, Mama. What did you say?”

Her mother put down her fork and Bayleigh felt awful. She was having lunch with her

mother and younger sister. They did a girls day out at least twice a month and today was their

scheduled day. Yet she wasn’t enjoying herself because her mind was still on Dane and the

conversation she had with her friends last night.

“What’s wrong, Bayleigh?”

“Sorry Mama. I didn’t get much rest last night.”

Tasha leaned forward, her eyes full of scrutiny. “You don’t look tired.”

Bayleigh bit back a groan. Her sister’s innocent statement called her bluff. Her mother’s eyes

narrowed as she leaned closer to study her. Bayleigh looked down at her crispy chicken salad and

picked up her fork.

“Is something wrong, Bayleigh?”

Bayleigh put the fork down and looked away. She wasn’t ready for this, not with her mother.

“Not really Mama. I just have a lot on my mind to figure out.”

Her mother’s expression became even more concerned. Tasha’s inquisitive expression made

her squirm. Even though her sister was younger than her by three years, she was wise. There wasn’t

much she could get by her mother with her sister present. Her sister didn’t disappoint.

“It’s a man isn’t it?”

Bayleigh groaned. “Tasha,
please
.”

Either Tasha didn’t hear the plea or she chose to ignore it. “It
is
a man, isn’t it?”

Bayleigh rubbed her hand across her forehead. How was she going to get herself out of this

mess? Her mother and sister stared back at her. She would have to provide answers before the lunch

was over. Answers she wasn’t prepared to give.

“Bayleigh, are you going to tell us, or should I allow Tasha to interrogate you?”

Bayleigh cut her eyes to Tasha. Her sister looked all too happy to grill her if necessary. She

sighed. Would there ever be a day when Dane wasn’t the subject of conversation? “It’s a man, but

not like Tasha thinks.”

Tasha gave her a surprised look. “How do you know what I think?”

Bayleigh smirked. “Because I know you as well as you know me. Besides, you’re still a

newlywed, so it’s obvious what you think.”

Tasha stuck her tongue out at Bayleigh before glancing down at her left hand. Bayleigh

smiled. Her sister had married Jarvis, her boyfriend of three years, six months ago. She felt twinge of

jealousy as she stared at the ring on Tasha’s hand. Bayleigh wanted to get married and have children

someday.

Right now she wasn’t sure it would ever happen. Still, she was happy for her sister. In spite

of them being on opposite ends of the personality spectrum she and her sister were close. It was

Tasha who always tried to get her to open up. The older they got, the more Tasha seemed to realize

Bayleigh was happy being the shy person that she was. At least she had been until recently. Between

her sister getting married and Deidre losing her mother, Bayleigh became conscious of the fact that

life was passing her by. Now Dane had come along making her question everything. She was ready

for a relationship, but not with Dane. It felt forbidden to even think about. She looked up at her

mother and sister.

“So, are you going to tell us?” Tasha asked with impatience.

Bayleigh was unsure of where she should start. How much she should tell them? Her family

knew Dane. After five years of friendship he had been around her family a handful of times. Dane

and her younger brother, Lynden, got along well even with a ten-year age difference between them.

When Lynden pulled out the video game console, put the Madden football game in, those ten years

disappeared.

If she told her mother and sister too many details lunch could end up being longer than it

already was going to be. Bayleigh sighed. She might as well get this over with. “There’s a guy

interested in dating me.”

Her mother smiled. “How is that a problem, Bayleigh?”

Tasha nodded. “Yeah. I would think you would be excited—wait—is he some type of jerk

like Erwin or something?”

Bayleigh rolled her eyes. “No, he isn’t like Erwin. He’s the exact opposite.”

Her mother frowned. “Then what’s wrong?”

Bayleigh paused. If she said much more, she might give away more information than she

wanted to. “I never thought about this guy that way.”

“I’m not surprised, Bayleigh,” Tasha said, around a gentle smile. “You avoid the opposite

sex as much as possible.”

“Tasha has a point, honey. But now that you know about this young man’s attraction to you,

how do you feel about him?”

Bayleigh hesitated. The question didn’t help her any. She had always like Dane, still did.

What she wasn’t sure of was if she wanted to date him. Still, she couldn’t imagine how a relationship

would work between them. How did she know Dane wouldn’t wake up one day and be bored with

her? Worse yet, he could end up thinking she was weird, as some other people had over the years.

Bayleigh looked up at her mother who was still waiting on her answer. “I don’t know, Mama.

This is new to me. I need time to figure it out.”

Tasha grinned. “Is he a good guy?”

Bayleigh nodded.

Tasha’s smile widened. “Is he cute?”

“Gorgeous.”

Tasha leaned forward. “Is he a good kisser?”

Bayleigh’s eyes widened at her sister’s outlandish question.

Her mother shook her head. Bayleigh turned the tables on her younger sister. “Is Jarvis a

good kisser?”

Tasha’s expression turned dreamy. “The best.”

Her mother made a sound of warning, but Bayleigh knew her mother was just going through

the motion of protest. Her mother always had been was open and honest, sometimes too honest.

Bayleigh flushed as she recalled the sex talk with her mother. It had been uncomfortable, but once

she had become sexually active she appreciated her mother’s frankness. Bayleigh wondered what her

mother would think if she knew the man in question was Dane. Both of her parents seemed to like

him. So why did she feel like she was committing a cardinal sin?

Bayleigh giggled when she thought about how jealous Erwin had been over her relationship

with Dane the entire time they were together, though it hadn’t been funny at the time. Erwin would

get angry because of the time she spent with Dane. He even accused her of cheating. She had tried

to soothe Erwin’s male pride several times. In the end Erwin told her she needed to choose between

him and Dane. Bayleigh hadn’t had to think about it. Dane was the clear choice.

Erwin had ended the relationship, throwing several vile names in her direction. Names she

had grown used to during their relationship. It hadn’t been until her relationship was over that she

realized how abusive Erwin had been to her.

Her friends had tried to tell her he was bad news from the beginning, especially Giselle.

Bayleigh recognized how much Dane did for her throughout her up and down relationship with

Erwin. Anytime Erwin hurt her, Dane was there to hold her close. His arms offered her a sense of

comfort she didn’t get anywhere else.

“So what are you going to do, Bayleigh?”

She looked up at her mother. “About what?”

Tasha laughed. “About your admirer silly.”

Bayleigh took a bite of her salad. It bought her time to think about her answer. When she

swallowed, she still didn’t have one, so she shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Tasha looked surprised. “What is there to think about?”

Bayleigh gave her sister a small smile. “More than you can ever guess. Don’t forget, I don’t

have the best record when it comes to dating.”

Her mother frowned. “You’ve chosen a few bad ones is all. We all do.”

Tasha laughed. “Did you miss my dating life before Jarvis?”

Her sister had dated a few losers, but Tasha had gotten lucky when she met Jarvis. She

hadn’t been surprised when the proposal came. The look of joy on her sister’s face couldn’t be

replicated. Her sister’s wedding had been beautiful. It had been the first time Bayleigh thought about

getting married, having a family of her own, since her innocent days in high school. Once she

graduated, the real world had hit her square in the face. Her focus turned to establishing herself.

Now she had the education she wanted, along with the job she loved.

For five years she had been satisfied with those accomplishments, but recently something

inside yearned for more. She wanted companionship. A real connection, not like the relationship she

had with Erwin. Bayleigh become conscious of how quiet her mother and sister had become. When

she looked up, they were watching her.

“It’s complicated.”

Her mother and sister had no idea how accurate those words were. Everything about this

was complicated. What did Dane see in her? Compared to the other women he dated she shouldn’t

be on the radar. She wanted to scream. Trying to figure out what to do about Dane was exhausting.

Her mother put down her fork. “Most relationship matters are complicated, Bayleigh.”

Bayleigh shook her head. “But you and daddy—”

“Argue all the time,” her mother interrupted.

Bayleigh’s eyes widened. “No you don’t.”

Even Tasha looked unconvinced. “Now, Mama, I’ve heard you and daddy argue a few times,

but all the time is an exaggeration.”

Bayleigh nodded her agreement. Over the years her parents hadn’t been afraid to show

public affection, and they had…often. With the closeness her parents shared she thought their

relationship was perfect. It stunned her to know there were problems in their marriage. She was also

curious. “What did you and daddy argue over?”

Her mother smiled. “Everything you can imagine. Money, business ventures, you kids, but

your father and I have always had an open line of communication.”

“It also helps that daddy lets you have your way most of the time,” Tasha teased.

Their mother laughed. “It does help when your father is willing to
compromise
, but I make it

up to him in other ways.”

“Mama, please,” Bayleigh groaned. “We don’t want to know that.”

Her mother grinned. “Now, Bayleigh, you and your sister are old enough to know your

father and I have a healthy sexual relationship. How do you think the two of you and your brother

got here?”

“Immaculate conception,” Tasha offered.

Bayleigh fought to keep the soda she just drank down. Her mother was a riot. Both of her

parents were. It often made her wonder why she turned out to be so different. She was introverted

while the rest of her family was outgoing. When she was around her family she could relax and enjoy

herself. They understood and accepted her there was any pressure to fit in.

“Very funny young lady. But your father and I tried not to shield you from the real world.

We wanted to show you what a real relationship is like.”

Bayleigh shook her head in disagreement. “Mama, your relationship with daddy isn’t normal.

The two of you have the type of relationship I dream of having one day.”

Tasha nodded. “I agree with Bayleigh, Mama. Even with the few arguments we witnessed,

you and daddy never screamed. You never yelled at each other, never degraded each other. You

never became physical with each other.”

Their mom smiled. “Well, I’m glad you consider your father and me to be good role

models.”

Bayleigh sighed. Her parents were great role models for what relationships should be like. It

was also the exact opposite of what her relationship with Erwin had been. There were times when

she couldn’t understand why he had been interested in her. In the end it became clear.

Erwin had been looking for a doormat, a woman who wasn’t high maintenance and would

put up with his crap. The sad thing was, she had been that woman for a year. Bad sex should have

clued her in but she thought it would get better with time. If anything, the sex became worse. She

thought back to the night she shared with Dane. In one night he managed to surpass a man she

dated for over a year.

“What are you thinking about, Bayleigh?”

She jumped at the sound of Tasha’s voice. It was hard to clear the guilty expression from her

face but she managed. Her sister and mother were going to become more suspicious than they

already were if she didn’t stop wandering off into her wicked daydreams.

“Sorry, my mind is on some of the other errands I need to finish today.”

Her sister’s eyes narrowed. “What errands could you have to distract you so?”

“Shopping.” The white lie slipped out. Fortunately it was somewhat true. She did need to

buy an outfit or two. Bayleigh just hadn’t planned to go do it today. After wearing the dress her

sister brought her, she wanted to update her wardrobe. She would start small, focusing on casual

clothes. Even now she felt out of style sitting next to her mother and sister. Bayleigh resisted the

urge to pull at her button down shirt.

“You have plans to shop?”

Bayleigh smiled at Tasha’s skepticism. “Yes, I need to update my wardrobe a little.” Her