Chapter 7
“Dani, what’s going on pretty girl?” Dean inquired as he flicked through the news articles on the web. “Luke and Ty went at it again?”
“Ty accused Luke of being abusive yet again; they’d walked in on an argument and took it out of context. It was a mess Dean.”
“I’m sorry honey, how’s Luke?”
“He’s okay, he took today off and is at home resting.”
“While you’re doing what?” Dean asked in surprise that she’d leave him alone after what’d happened.
“Shopping…okay I was seeing my therapist, don’t Dean,” she added when he started to stutter. “I’m okay. I started seeing her after I lost the baby because I was depressed but I’m good I swear.”
“Dani, why didn’t you tell us about all of it? Why keep it to yourself?”
“Because I know you Dean, you’d have been on the first plane out here if you thought I was in trouble. I’m not I swear. I’ve worked through my issues and I’m getting stronger every day. Luke and I haven’t had it easy with the constant media attention but we’re making it work.”
“You swear you’re okay Dan-Dan?”
“On Mom and Dad’s grave De-De,” she said crossing her fingers.
“Alright, I’m sorry for the press being in your face all the time but at least it means I get to keep up with what’s going on in your life.”
“You mean what the stupid reporters think is going on in my life. Did you see the headlines about Ty and Luke’s fight? They have the nerve to hint that Ty and I had an affair and that’s why they’ve been after each other all week.”
“They obviously don’t know you Dani because if they did, they’d know…”
“What—that the only man I’ve ever slept with is my husband?” she asked with a laugh.
“Yup but it’s weird talking about my sister’s love life and especially her sex life.”
“Then it’s a good thing there’s not much to discuss. I’ve got to go Dean; we just got home.”
“Be careful Dani; we’ve been keeping an eye on Mona’s dad and he’s up to something. We don’t want you getting hurt in the process.”
“I’ll be fine Dean I promise. Luke’s not going to let anything hurt me.”
“Good because I’d hate to have to come back there to kick his ass before coming all the way back out here.”
“Bye Dean.”
“Bye Dani, I love you.”
“Love you too,” she whispered hanging up. She tucked the phone back into its hiding place and headed inside. She dropped a kiss on Luke’s head as she passed by him sitting on the couch with his laptop. “Problems?”
“Yeah, this stupid database isn’t working right. I swear we paid these guys enough that it should sing us to sleep every night.”
Dani grinned at the idea and slid over to sit beside him. “Mind if I take a look?”
“Be my guest, you can’t possibly make it any worse than it already is.”
“Hey,” she scoffed elbowing him lightly. She quickly began searching the program setup and her eyebrows rose in disbelief at what she found. “Luke, don’t shoot the messenger but you were swindled.”
“What?” he said glancing at the screen. “That makes no sense to me Dani.”
“It makes sense to me but it’s so basic that anyone who read a how-to guide on the internet could manage to set this up. What do you need it to do?” she asked leaning into him.
He listed off what it was supposed to do, and she gave him a light smile. “If you don’t mind dinner being a bit later than normal, I can probably get it reworked for you tonight.”