us, and he’s very clear about the fact that he hasn’t considered any of it a burden. In that way, Dillon reminds me of Dante. He has always put Leah, and Marissa when she was alive, first. I hope that someday I can introduce Dillon to my brothers-Spencer included-and my sister. I just know that he will fit right in.
Now I just need to get my high school graduation behind me and then I can bring him home to my family. If Dante knew I was going to start dating a twenty-five year old man in my senior year of high school he would lose it; but once graduation is past me he can’t really say much. I think any qualms he might have about it will be erased when he meets Dillon and understands what a stand up guy he is. They’ve got so much in common that I’m sure that once Dante calms down they will end up being good friends. I hope.
I was a sweaty mess by the time we finished our run and once we passed through the garden gate into Dillon’s back yard, we each stopped on the lawn to do our after run stretching. Once stretching was over each of us laid down on our backs to just relax and breathe. It might sound strange, but I really liked the comfortable silence that could exist between Dillon and me. I never felt like I needed to overdo or fill in with meaningless words.
Rolling onto his side to look at me he said, “Hey, you should bring your sister over. I’d like to meet her-and the rest of your family, too. What do you think?”
My pulse skidded to a screeching halt before picking up again at twice the pace it had originally been at. There was no way that I could introduce him to my family, not yet. I needed to hold him off.
“I’d love for you to meet my family. It’s hard to find a time when my brothers and my aunt aren’t busy because they are always working. My sister works in the baby room at a child care center and what time she doesn’t put in there she devotes to school or spending with my honorary brother, Spencer-and that’s really any time he isn’t working. Aside from Delilah and me the whole family works together which is nice, but this is a busy time for them. I’ll keep an eye on their calendars and see when something opens up. How does that sound?”
He nodded as he smiled at me. “Sounds good. What do they do that they all work together?”
I decided to keep my answer simple and fairly generic. I knew that Dillon had no idea that I was from a family that is worth hundreds of millions of dollars and I didn’t want to let that cat out of the bag until it was time for him to meet them.
“They all work in construction.”
Technically that was true. Hart International designs and builds things, so construction isn’t too much of a stretch. What I’m not saying is that the family “Construction” business employs tens of thousands of people all around the world.
“That’s why you want to be an architect, isn’t it? You must have been watching them build things for your entire life. Were your parents in construction as well?”
I was Pavlov’s dog where my parents were concerned and the very mention of them made me tense up like I was bracing for impact.
Sitting up Dillon looked at me with concern. “I’m so sorry honey. You’ve mentioned that your parents are both dead before but that’s all you’ve ever said. I didn’t realize it was a touchy subject. I guess you must miss them a lot.”
I had omitted to share the full truth about my age and the family business with him, but I wouldn’t lie to him about my parents.
“I don’t miss them at all,” I spit out. “They both hated children, particularly the ones they were supposed to be responsible for. My mother died when I was three and my father died when I was ten. It was a huge relief when he died, to be honest. My brothers raised themselves and when we came along, they raised us. If it weren’t for Dante, Damien and Spencer, my sister and I wouldn’t be alive today. After our father died, my mother’s sister got
Now I just need to get my high school graduation behind me and then I can bring him home to my family. If Dante knew I was going to start dating a twenty-five year old man in my senior year of high school he would lose it; but once graduation is past me he can’t really say much. I think any qualms he might have about it will be erased when he meets Dillon and understands what a stand up guy he is. They’ve got so much in common that I’m sure that once Dante calms down they will end up being good friends. I hope.
I was a sweaty mess by the time we finished our run and once we passed through the garden gate into Dillon’s back yard, we each stopped on the lawn to do our after run stretching. Once stretching was over each of us laid down on our backs to just relax and breathe. It might sound strange, but I really liked the comfortable silence that could exist between Dillon and me. I never felt like I needed to overdo or fill in with meaningless words.
Rolling onto his side to look at me he said, “Hey, you should bring your sister over. I’d like to meet her-and the rest of your family, too. What do you think?”
My pulse skidded to a screeching halt before picking up again at twice the pace it had originally been at. There was no way that I could introduce him to my family, not yet. I needed to hold him off.
“I’d love for you to meet my family. It’s hard to find a time when my brothers and my aunt aren’t busy because they are always working. My sister works in the baby room at a child care center and what time she doesn’t put in there she devotes to school or spending with my honorary brother, Spencer-and that’s really any time he isn’t working. Aside from Delilah and me the whole family works together which is nice, but this is a busy time for them. I’ll keep an eye on their calendars and see when something opens up. How does that sound?”
He nodded as he smiled at me. “Sounds good. What do they do that they all work together?”
I decided to keep my answer simple and fairly generic. I knew that Dillon had no idea that I was from a family that is worth hundreds of millions of dollars and I didn’t want to let that cat out of the bag until it was time for him to meet them.
“They all work in construction.”
Technically that was true. Hart International designs and builds things, so construction isn’t too much of a stretch. What I’m not saying is that the family “Construction” business employs tens of thousands of people all around the world.
“That’s why you want to be an architect, isn’t it? You must have been watching them build things for your entire life. Were your parents in construction as well?”
I was Pavlov’s dog where my parents were concerned and the very mention of them made me tense up like I was bracing for impact.
Sitting up Dillon looked at me with concern. “I’m so sorry honey. You’ve mentioned that your parents are both dead before but that’s all you’ve ever said. I didn’t realize it was a touchy subject. I guess you must miss them a lot.”
I had omitted to share the full truth about my age and the family business with him, but I wouldn’t lie to him about my parents.
“I don’t miss them at all,” I spit out. “They both hated children, particularly the ones they were supposed to be responsible for. My mother died when I was three and my father died when I was ten. It was a huge relief when he died, to be honest. My brothers raised themselves and when we came along, they raised us. If it weren’t for Dante, Damien and Spencer, my sister and I wouldn’t be alive today. After our father died, my mother’s sister got
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