“Okay, well, we should at least ask,” Dax decided. “He can say no, and we’ll just hang out there with him. But maybe we can convince him. Some sunshine and fresh air and sugar could be good for him.” Then he frowned. “Wait, is sugar okay for him?”

Jane smiled. “Yes. He can eat whatever he wants for the most part.” Then she sighed. “It’s not a lack of sunshine and fresh air. It’s true depression.”

“I know something about that,” he said. “My mom’s was too.”

Jane nodded. “It helps that you understand that. A psychologist sees him every other week and is helping him with his depression and anger, but it still isn’t unusual for him to ask even me and Kelsey not to come see him. If he’s having a bad day because he’s feeling weaker than usual or if it’s just a particularly emotional day, he doesn’t want us to see him like that.”

“I totally get that,” Dax said. “Parents want to be the ones taking care of their kids, not the other way around.”

She nodded.

“I know being told no over and over is hard.” He reached out and grasped her upper arm, rubbing up and down. “It sucks to try, to want to help, and to have them reject it. Especially if it’s time with you they’re rejecting.”

Jane looked into his eyes, her bottom lips between her teeth again. He could tell she saw his sincerity.

“But,” he went on. “If you stop asking, stop trying, then they never have the chance to say yes. And even if the yeses are lot less common than the nos, they are so sweet when they come.”

She gave him a little smile. “But… he’s also in a wheelchair.”

“You mentioned that,” Dax said. “The other night at the bar when you told me some people had just showed up to build a ramp at the house.” He frowned, thinking about the house last night. “Hey, the ramp wasn’t at the house. Is it in back?”

Jane swallowed hard. “Cassie had it taken out. She didn’t like how it looked and once Dad moved to the nursing home, she said there was no reason to have it.”

Dax scowled. Wow, he really disliked Jane’s stepmother. “What about when he wants to come home and visit? Holidays and stuff?”

Jane shook her head. “Nope. He doesn’t do that. We went out to a restaurant at Thanksgiving, and that was such an ordeal he refused to do anything but have us come to the nursing home for Christmas.”

“Why was it an ordeal?”

“The wheelchair is heavy and takes up a lot of trunk space, and then we have to help him in and out of it, which can be hard when he gets tired, and then we have to make room at the table for the wheelchair, and he was really embarrassed by that.”

Dax didn’t know Jane’s dad. But he had an idea, knowing Jane and having met Kelsey, that he was a good guy. “No offense, but your stepmom is kind of a bitch.”

Jane snorted at that. “She’s a piece of work.”

“So we can make this happen,” Dax said. “I can help lift him and the chair and whatever. And the fair is being held in a bunch of buildings in a park outside of Dubuque, right?”

Jane nodded. “The park has a ‘old town’ area with buildings that look like buildings from the time the city was founded. They have fairs and events there a lot.”

“So big buildings with good paths. We won’t have to worry about tables crowded together in a restaurant,” Dax reasoned. “And if it sucks or makes him uncomfortable, we’ll leave.”

Jane took a breath. “I don’t know.”

Dax watched her face. He knew her dad’s situation broke her heart. He knew she did her damnedest to make things work for her family. He knew she often felt helpless to really make anything better. He could definitely relate to that. He’d been there with his mom more times than he liked to remember. His brother to an extent as well.

He wanted to help Jane. He wanted to show her she didn’t have to do it alone. He wanted to make things easier, on her and her family.

In fact, it was becoming a need more than a desire.

“Let’s just go see him,” Dax said. “We’ll talk to him, and see what he thinks. We don’t have to do it, but it is an option. I’m certain I can help with the wheelchair and everything.”

“Your car’s trunk can barely fit the spare tire,” she said, her tone lighter.

“Then we’ll take your car. Or I can rent one. How about a van with a wheelchair lift on it? Maybe we should just buy one?”

She laughed and put her hand on his face. “And I know you’re not kidding.”

“I’m totally not,” he assured her. “If you’re trying to shut me down, you’re going to have to come up with something that I can’t throw money at.”

Her expression was one of wonder and affection. “I’m not trying to shut you down.”

He pulled her hand from his cheek to his lips. He pressed a kiss on the back of it and then put her hand over his heart. “Good.”

“Okay, let’s go talk to my dad.”

“Can’t wait.”

They walked, hand in hand, to her car. “I’ll just text Kelsey and tell her to meet us over there,” Jane said, digging in her bag once she was behind the wheel.

“I can text her while you drive,” Dax said, pulling his phone out of his pocket. Their house wasn’t far from the nursing home. Kelsey could easily walk the few blocks.

“You have Kelsey’s number?”

“Yeah.”

“I—” Jane broke off. “Great.”

He grinned. “Told her she can call me any time. Especially if she needs something during your work hours.”

Jane frowned slightly. “I don’t mind her calling me.”

“I know.”

“Did you say that as my boss, because you don’t want me to take personal calls while I’m at work or as my…” She bit her lower lip.

“As your…” He trailed off the same way she had. “And Kelsey’s friend.” He paused. “And I’m not your boss.”

She nodded.

“I know you work your ass off, and that place would fall apart without you,” he added. “I don’t care if you sit in that break room and color and drink cappuccino all day.”

She smiled. “Too bad you’re not my boss anymore, then.”

He leaned over and cupped the back of her head, pulling her in for a kiss. A long, slow, wet kiss. When he let her go, she blinked at him several times.

“What was that for?”

“Reminding you that you’re very happy I’m not your boss.”

A smile teased her lips. “Right. I almost forgot.”

He growled and said, “Take me to meet your dad before I forget I’m too good of a guy to haul you back to your place and keep you naked all day.”

She gave a little shiver. “Right. But… later. We can be naked all night.”

“Deal.”

She was coming around. He knew he’d blown in and turned her life upside down and that she didn’t want to feel all the things he was making her feel. But she was feeling them anyway. And maybe even starting to like them.