Chapter 35

Cord pushed his large frame out of the patio chair and met Dez halfway. They did the universal male
embrace/clap on the back hug.

"I hope so. I need more testosterone in my home, man. With Winter, Andy, Rhea, Val, and Onyx...I'm
feeling like I'm trespassing."

"Where is Val? She didn't fly in with you guys?"

"Uncle Dez!"

"Dez!"

Dez looked out over the yard, finding the girls in the pool. The two of them climbed out and came
running toward him, dripping wet but with huge smiles. He hadn't seen the girls in person for almost six
months.

Rhea got to him first, hugging his right side. Andy wrapped her arms around his left.

"Girls," Winter said as she passed holding salad dressing in her arms. "You're getting Dez all wet. Go.
Get dried off so you can eat."

Andy pouted but looked up at him. She crooked her finger at him so Dez bent low to the girl's eye level.
"Did you bring them?" Andy asked.

"I did," Dez said.

"The colors?" Rhea whispered.

"The exact ones you're requested," he said with confidence.

"Love you, Uncle Dez," Rhea said as she kissed him on the cheek.



"You're the best, Uncle Dez," Andy sang, kissing his other cheek.

The girls backed away and ran for the house, passing Fallon on the way in. As Fallon approached, he
shook his head.

Fallon twisted his lips and rolled his eyes as he and Dez walked to the patio table. "What did you buy
them this time?"

Dez sat beside Cord. "Hey, I'm not like you. I have to work hard for a girl's attention."

Cord laughed. "Yeah," he said, "some of us almost have to die for it."

Winter narrowed her eyes and said, "I fell before you almost died so stop lying."

Dez chuckled at their light-hearted mention of the incident. Some folk can't move on from trauma but
Winter wasn't one of them.

"I hear you have a woman now, Dez," Cord said as he took a cola from the cooler beside him. "Seems
we have a Winter and a Spring now."

Dez watched as Cord also took a few cubes of ice and handed them to Onyx, who lay at his feet. Onyx
was a beast of a dog, and if she wasn't so well trained he would have been apprehensive about being
around her.

"Dez," Winter said, frowning, "I thought you were bringing her today."

He was. "She and her sister had other plans." Dez was a bit disappointed but he understood that
Spring had a life before him. "I hope you can meet her before you fly back."

"We are staying with Fallon for a couple more days before we fly out to Arizona to drop the girls off at
Jacob's folks for summer break." Cord shrugged then said, "Maybe we can all have dinner together."



"What's going on with this sister? Do you see a love connection with Fallon and her? I hear she's a
beauty too," Winter asked.

"Yeah," Cord said. "Then we'd have three seasons in the family."

"That shit ain't even gonna happen," Fallon said as he opened a beer.

Dez looked at Fallon. The fact that he told his family about Summer in the first place was odd. When
Fallon noticed Dez watching him, Fallon gave him his middle finger and a grin. Dez laughed.

(The man doth protest too much, me thinks.)

----------

A COUPLE OF WEEKS LATER

With fingers that may appear possessed, Dez tapped each key on his laptop with confidence. The
words hadn't stopped flowing. It was as if everything was clearer. His thoughts, his life, his goals.
Everything made sense again.

His flow was epic. So much so that when his cell started to ring, he almost ignored it.

"Hello?" Dez answered, using his shoulder to hold the phone in place while he continued to type.

A clicking noise sounded. "Dezmond, my favorite author in the entire world! Tell me you'll be at Muri's
tonight. I'm not taking no for an answer. Prick Percy is trying my patience again and if I don't get a drink
while you're talking me down, I'm going to beat the ever-loving shit out of him."

"Fallon, why are you still working there?" Dez's cell slipped but he caught it, secured it with his
shoulder, then commenced typing again. "You can open your own agency and won't have to put up
with Percy."



Fallon groaned.

"Stop being lazy and make the plunge. Hell, you know I'll sign with you."

"Yeah, I know you got my back." Fallon sighed. He said nothing for a moment. "Are you writing?"

"Why, yes I am." Dez let his smile free. "It's like this new book is writing itself."

"That's what's up, man. Sucks that the piece of shit Percy will benefit from this one after screwing you
over with Silicone Blur."

Fallon groaned.

"Stop being lazy and make the plunge. Hell, you know I'll sign with you."

"Yeah, | Know you got my back." Fallon sighed. He said nothing for a moment. "Are you writing?"
"Why, yes | am." Dez let his smile free. "It's like this new book is writing itself."

"That's what's up, man. Sucks that the piece of shit Percy will benefit from this one after screwing you

over with Silicone Blur."



62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda