She waited, turned on the water, and started brushing her teeth. “Since?”

“Since I told him I wasn’t taking over his practice.” He paused. “We’ve talked, just not in the way we did before I told him what I really wanted to do with my life.”

Dakota watched the foamy water wash down the drain, rinsed and wiped her face. “That’s a hard conversation.” She moved to the doorway and leaned against the frame. “It’s hard letting your parents down. Doesn’t matter how old you are or why you’re doing it. There’s something inside us that always wants to please them.”

Walt turned with a smile. “Did you minor in psychology?”

She shook her head. “Psych 101 was as far as I went in college. The school of life and studying people is something I’ve done since birth. Every character I create in a book is real in my head. They have a family, a history, and something that drives them to do the things they do within the pages of fiction. Pleasing our parents is taught since birth. From ER Dr. Eddy to Dr. Eddy, master of all things cardiology.” She pushed off the doorway and moved to the opposite side of the bed from where Walt sat. “Most of our needs and wants are the same; we simply have different ways of meeting them.”

Walt reached across the bed and captured her hand. “Every time I think I’m smart, I meet someone like you.”

The compliment made her smile. “I study people, Doc . . . you fix their issues. I have the easier job.”

He lifted her hand and kissed the tips of her fingers before moving into the bathroom.

While Walt moved about the bathroom, Dakota dimmed the lights and stripped.

“I don’t think my mom hates you,” she heard Walt say from behind the bathroom door.

“Oh?”

“No . . .” He opened the door. “She—”

Dakota liked to think she knew a thing or two about men. Nudity wasn’t something they expected. Ever. She had some sexy lingerie in her overnight case, but she really didn’t have any desire to put it on.

From the dropped jaw and wide eyes of the man standing over her, she knew she chose the right outfit for the evening.

“I think we should stop talking about your—”

“Don’t!”

She laughed and placed a hand on her bare hip.

Even from several feet across the room, she noticed his eyes darken.

When he covered her body with his, there wasn’t any room for conversation.

He wasn’t sure if it was the sexual high from the day before, or the actual hours of restful sleep he’d managed in bed with Dakota, but Walt rose ready to take on the free world. Or his parents . . . which in his case was the same thing.

Dakota liked to sleep in . . . or maybe it was a little bit of the alcohol from the night before. Either way, Walt woke with the sun and started a pot of coffee.

The evening before played in his head while he watched a thin layer of fog lift from the lake. He missed this . . . the quiet time at the lake. Only the birds to keep him company or the occasional interruption of his sister.

He thought of Brenda and smiled. How had the two of them turned out to be so together? Seemed both their parents were hell-bent to break them of their free will, and yet they both forged their own paths.

Who were Dakota’s people? Did they get her? Did they give her crap at every turn? Would they accept her and all her adult decisions or would they fight them every step of the way?

Walt wanted to know. For the first time in a long time, he really wanted to know.

“Hey!”

Brenda walked along the shore of the lake and waved.

Walt looked behind him, thought Dakota would sleep a little longer, and met his sister.

“I see you’re still an early riser,” he told her.

“Larry still sleeps until eight. The day’s half over.”

Walt laughed, draped an arm over his sister’s shoulders. “Married life agrees with you.”

Brenda hip-bumped him. “Dating life agrees with you.”

He smiled.

“I like Dakota.”

“I like her, too.”

“Have you guys been dating long?”

Walt glanced over the lake, wondering how much he should say. “Define long.”

Brenda laughed and tried not to stare.

“Truth is we’re so busy at home we haven’t spent much time together until this weekend.”

His sister snuggled into her jacket, warding off the morning chill. “I would have thought you’ve known each other for months.”

Yeah, Walt thought the same thing.

“I’m glad you’re moving on,” Brenda told him.

Is that what I’m doing?

Chapter Ten

Dakota brought more than one formal outfit, not sure if the Eddys would keep the party going all weekend.

She wore silver without sequins and a modest neckline. The glitz of the gown spoke wealth and class, and JoAnne couldn’t suggest for a moment it was inappropriate in any way.

“Avoid Vanderbilt,” Walt warned her as they walked through the crowd. “He’s sick.”

“He’s not the only one sniffling here, Doc. Must be quite the occasion to come to a doctor’s party ill.”

Guests were still arriving and the main living room was already filled. There were waiters in black bow ties holding trays of appetizers while others carried champagne.

The evening before killed Dakota’s appetite for copious amounts of alcohol. The glass in her hand had been there for over an hour with hardly an inch removed from it.