Free InHap*pily Ever After (Incidental Happenstance) by Kim DeSalvo Page A

shouldn’t have even asked. I’m so
sorry, sweetie.”
    Tia
reached over and took her mom’s hand. “I’m the one who’s sorry! None of this
bad stuff matters now… we have a happy ending—a happy new beginning—and today
is for celebrating! I can’t tell you how horrible I felt keeping all this from
you guys.  I’m just sorry I never told you!”
    “What?”
Danielle asked. “You mean about who Dylan really is?”
    “I
wanted to tell you so badly at least a million times,” she said. “But I was
afraid of how people would react and how my life would change, and Dylan was so
far away, and then I thought we’d broken up…”
     “Oh
sweetie, you’re absolutely right!” her mother quickly agreed. “Don’t you feel
guilty for one minute—I can’t even imagine what a struggle that was for you. Of
course you did the right thing. Now no more talk about that horrid woman… let’s
change the subject to happier things, OK? Let’s start at your beginning.
This is all new news us, so you have to tell us everything! How in the world
did you two meet, anyway?” her mother asked enthusiastically. The tone at the
table changed completely as they spent the next hour talking about their
relationship, the places they’d visited on the tour, and their love. Tia felt
so relieved to be able tell her parents the happy things, and was thrilled as
they fell into an easy conversation. She knew that her parents would love
Dylan, and soon they were laughing together and sharing stories like old
friends.  They could all feel the presence of the people who looked on—Tia
couldn’t help put peek over the barrier once to see that every table in the
restaurant was full and many others stood around the edges, but as anxious as
the atmosphere was in the room, no one trespassed on the sanctity of the DND.
    They
all scooched around to the same side of the table, lining up their chairs so
Tia could share some of the pictures and videos that she hadn’t been able to
show before. Her throat tightened as she sat with the people she loved the
most; sandwiched between Dylan and her mother. She hadn’t felt so much peace in
a long time, and she was overcome with emotion. This was ending up to be a
great day.
    When
they got back to the present and had answered what seemed a million questions,
they all stopped and took a collective breath. It was a lot to absorb in one
sitting, and Dylan could almost see their minds spinning. In a normal situation,
they would have gotten this information over the course of months. However, he
thought wryly, introducing a popular celebrity at the middle of an
international scandal as your boyfriend would never qualify as a normal
situation. He needed to give them some time to catch up with it all; and to
catch up with each other.  He took advantage of a lull in the conversation to
give them just that. “I’m sure you have a lot to talk about as a family,” he
said, standing, “Tia told me that there is a back entrance here—do you think I
could make it to the men’s room without being noticed?”
    Will
pulled out his wallet and handed him a card. “You can head outside through that
door,” he said pointing, “and turn left. You’ll see the outside entrance for
the locker room a few doors down and you can swipe the card to get in.
Considering half the membership of the place is in the dining room and it’s
only twelve degrees outside, I doubt you’ll run into anyone.”
    Dylan
pressed his lips to the top of Tia’s head. “I’ll give you all some time to
catch up, and be back in a bit.” He donned his coat, pulled a hat over his head
and slipped out into the December day.
     
     
     

Chapter 5
     
     
    The
entrance to the locker room was well marked, and Dylan stepped inside. The room
appeared empty, and he took a seat on a long leather couch that spanned the
back wall across from a marble vanity top that held four basin sinks. He picked
up a magazine, disappointed that there wasn’t a