Lexi and Willa exchanged a look.
Lexi said, “You told us all about it when we were in high school.”
Mortified, Kenzi’s mouth dropped open. “I did?”
Willa made a face and shrugged awkwardly. “It was when we first met you. You were wasted.”
“You never said anything,” Kenzi said slowly.
Lexi moved over to sit next to Kenzi. “We knew you didn’t want to talk about it.”
Willa sat on her other side. “We were so worried about you when we first met you, but then you seemed to put it behind you.”
Lexi gave her shoulder a supportive pat. “But it’s why we knew coming home would be hard for you.”
Kenzi looked back and forth at her two friends. They’d attended college together so they could remain close, but she just realized they’d gone a step further for her. “So you came to Boston with me.”
Lexi shrugged one shoulder. “We didn’t have a lot tying us to Nova Scotia.”
“And you’re our family,” Willa and Lexi said in unison. They exchanged another look and both said, “by choice.”
“I love you two.” Kenzi used a tissue to dab away a tear before it spilled forth.
“We love you, too,” Lexi and Willa said together.
With a small smile, Kenzi said, “When you two get like this it’s a little creepy.”
“Like what?” they both asked, looked at each other, then laughed.
Willa pointed to her sister then herself. “The twin thing. Most of the time I look at Lexi and think we couldn’t be more different, then when we get excited about something—”
“We sort of know what the other is thinking. It’s weird,” Lexi finished.
“I know,” Kenzi said. She’d seen it happen many times over the span of their friendship, but their connection was always a little disconcerting. Would I have had the same connection to my twin? Could we have read each other’s minds? What ifs could drive me to distraction. Fascinating as it was to talk to them about being twins, it wasn’t why Kenzi had asked them over. “Okay, so back to what I was saying. What are my options? I don’t want an all-out family war. I don’t want to hurt my mother, but I want to find my voice. I want to do something that makes up for what I didn’t do. I don’t know. Is it too late? Am I being ridiculous?”
Willa gave her a hug. “No, you’re being the Kenzi we love. You’re a good person, and you don’t like to hurt anyone. That’s why you never said anything. But what if talking about what happened to you could help someone? What if it could stop someone from putting themselves in dangerous situations?”
Lexi snapped her fingers in the air. “I know what you should do. Public speaking gigs pay really well. Remember the last one, Willa? Three hundred dollars and all we had to do was talk about dental floss at a conference. You could make money and help people.”
Willa rolled her eyes. “Lexi, she doesn’t need the money.”
Lexi plopped back against the couch. “Oh, yeah.” Then she sat forward as another idea hit her. “Do it for charity, then. Same thing, but better.”
Kenzi nodded slowly as she considered it. “I have heard about speakers who go into high schools and help raise awareness on subjects like this. I never imagined myself as one of those people, though.”
Willa hugged her. “You’d be perfect at it, Kenzi. Look at how long you’ve kept your silence because you’ve been afraid to say anything. Imagine if hearing you talk about what happened could help another woman face her own fears. Girls in high school need to hear that if they drink, they put themselves in danger. And if they decide to do it anyway, they need to watch out for each other. Or that when something does happen, no matter what they think, they can survive it. You could make a difference that way.”
Kenzi held one hand of each of her friends and blinked back her tears. “Remember the idea I had for a reality show? I understand why I wanted it now. I was still too afraid to talk about what happened to me, and I thought everything would be better if it all came out—regardless of how. But I was wrong. This is my story, my message, and it’s time for me to control it instead of the other way around. You’re right, I can tell it my way. I refuse to be afraid anymore. Thank you.”
Willa’s eyes teared up as well. “Should I write this down?”
Kenzi chuckled. She felt stronger even though nothing had actually changed yet, nothing outside of her anyway. She could hear Dax’s voice in her head telling her that she was in control of what happened to her and always would be. He’d been referring to sex, but Kenzi saw how little of a say she’d had in her life as a whole. She could accept that that’s the way it was, or she could finally take a stand. “No, I’ve got this. I’ll make a few calls. I bet there are organizations who do this and are in need of fundraising. I’m really good at that. I learned from the best.” My mom. She rubbed her hands over her face. “Now for the million-dollar question—do I tell my family now or after I’ve gone public?”
A few days later Dax met Clay for an evening jog by the Charles River. Clay wasn’t admitting to it, but Dax was reasonably certain he was sticking around Boston in case all hell broke loose. So far each time Clay had brought up Poly-Shyn or Kenzi, Dax had refused to comment on either. Their friendship had survived many years because they knew each other well enough to know when to push and when to wait for the other to work things out on his own.
When their jog wound down to a walk, Dax wiped the sweat from his face with one hand and took in a long, cleansing breath. “I told my team we’re backing off Poly-Shyn.”
Clay stretched as he walked. “That’s a wise decision.”
“It was exactly as you said: the fallout outweighed the potential profit.”
“So it had nothing to do with that Barrington woman?”
“Why would it?”
“Oh, I don’t know, maybe because you’re sleeping with her.”
“I’m not sleeping with her.”
“Not yet?”
“Not yet. Not going to.”
Clay shook his head in confusion. “Then what are you still doing in Boston?”
“I do have an office here and other projects I’m working on.”
“That has never kept you stateside. Listen, you look like shit. You completely dropped the ball on the island sale. I sent you two potential buyers, and you blew them off. I call your office and you’re not there half the time. Are you in some kind of trouble?”
Dax stopped and watched a woman walk her dog onto the grass beside the path. She put down a small blanket, sat down on it, and called the dog over to sit on her lap. She took out a tablet and started reading something while petting her dog absently with her other hand. He pictured Kenzi in the woman’s place and remembered the conversation they’d had about pets. Kenzi had grown up wealthy but also oddly deprived. In his experience women who were born into money as she had been were shallow creatures who cared more about what they were wearing than anything else. Kenzi was humble and grateful.
He thought about how she’d been raised, what had happened to her, and how the combination had shaped the beautiful woman she was. He hadn’t called her for the same reason he hadn’t kissed her, she was fragile and he wouldn’t take advantage of that. She hadn’t made that decision easy for him. There’d been times when she’d looked at him and he’d known he could have her in his bed if he wanted, but then what?
It was that last question that was new to him. Never before had he cared enough to ask—then what?
Every scenario he ran in his head concluded with her being hurt when it ended between them. And it would end. Everything did.
The only solution he’d come up with was to not give in to the sexual attraction he had for her. If she called, he’d help her, but that’s all. They couldn’t be more.
“Dax?”
“Sorry.” Dax’s attention returned to the present. “I forgot your question.”
Clay waved a finger at him. “That’s my point. I’ve known you a long time, an
d I’ve never seen you like this. You can tell me it’s none of my business, but what the hell is wrong with you?”
Dax looked back at the woman on the blanket. “If you wanted a dog, where would you get one?”
“A dog? Seriously?”
“Not for me.”
“For Kenzi Barrington?”
“If she wants one, she deserves to have one.”
“Oh, boy. Is Kenzi the reason you walked away from Poly-Shyn?”
“Yes. No. Fuck, it’s complicated.” Almost as complicated as tracking down the guy who had hurt Kenzi in high school only to discover he’d died in prison. From what Dax could uncover, the man had been convicted of stealing expensive cars from rich kids, but his ultimate punishment had come at the hands of a fellow inmate after bragging about liking young girls. Some crimes were too heinous for even a criminal to stomach. He ran a hand through his hair. “I’d like to see her happy, that’s all.”
“So she didn’t ask you to back off the Henderson’s company?”
“No, but Dean Henderson isn’t as bad as I thought he was. He’ll lose the company anyway, but it won’t be at my hands.”
Clay turned and started jogging in place. “As fascinating as all of this is, I have a date tonight—with a woman I’m going to sleep with. That’s the way it’s supposed to work, Dax. You like a woman, you fuck her. You don’t spare her old boyfriend’s company, and you definitely don’t buy her a puppy.”
Dax fell into a jog beside Clay as they headed back the way they’d come. “She never dated Dean. I had a complete investigation done. They were friends. Nothing more.”
Clay asked in a serious tone, “Promise me something?”
“What?”
“If I ever get like you are right now, beat the shit out of me.”
Dax gave Clay a hearty shove. “I should do it now.” He wasn’t serious and they both knew it.
Clay’s stumbled but laughed more and quickly righted himself. “Hey, be careful when choosing a dog for a woman you’re falling for. Remember, those things live a while. You could end up with it at the end of your bed. Oh, wait, you have no intention of sleeping with her so that’s fine.”
“Shut the fuck up.”
