The winery’s entrance had a trail of magical lights leading up to the entrance. Dakota gasped as Tristan drove along the entrance. She felt like Cinderella going to the ball.
“I thought you’d love it. I remember the night we sat at the town square in amazement of your display.” He held her door open and held his arm out for her to balance as she stepped out of his truck.
“I remember too,” she smiled and then added, “This is absolutely breathtaking.”
Tristan pulled her to the dance floor. “I love this song.” His moves on the dance floor impressed her. She’d been thankful her mother had sent her to dance lessons. Tonight was the first time she’d ever used them.
At the end of the song, Tristan held her tight in his arms and whispered in her ear,
“Thank you Miss Country Girl. I had to steal a dance before we began to mingle. I know I said I wanted to make a public appearance, but now I wish we were alone.”
His expression made her laugh but she agreed. She wished they were alone too. A tap on her shoulder confirmed they weren’t. A clearing of the throat told her she’d better acknowledge that tap. Dakota turned to her friends.
“Care to introduce us to this handsome man?”
Dakota smiled at Tristan and then followed with the introductions. Tristan politely accepted the hugs that followed. Dakota shrugged her shoulders and laughed. “I come as a package.” She spotted Dr. Withers and his wife as they entered the party. Dakota excused herself from the group when he waved her over. Tristan announced he’d get them a drink and meet her at the bar.
“Did you plan to tell me about your little Love List game?”
Tristan’s question startled her when she met him at the bar. He turned to her with an expression of hurt. “I overheard your friends talking about this Love List. I don’t like being played for a fool, Dakota.” Before she had a chance to explain, he walked away. So many emotions raced through her like she’d been hit by a ton of bricks. Her chest felt restricted to catch her breath. Before the tears began to fall, she ran from the room to find a quiet spot to gain her composure and then figure out how to explain to Tristan that he hadn’t been fooled. She still believed their accidental meetings were fate and that the Love List was just a coincidence and a silly game.
Dakota sat with her head in her hands. She knew she should have been up front with the Love List right from the start. But there’d been so much on her mind at the time since she’d told Dr. Withers he might be her father, which she’d simply forgotten all about it. In her defense, she didn’t ask him out, their relationship just happened. She’d told herself it was fate from the first day she’d met him. Still, she knew she should have told him about it. He shouldn’t have heard it slip out from her friends.
“Dakota, is everything okay?”
She knew that voice and looked up to find Dr. Withers and his wife standing before her. She didn’t have time to dry her eyes.
“I think I just messed up my chance of a happily-ever-after; that’s all. But I’ll be fine. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. It’s not like we’re—”
“Related?” he finished her sentence.
Marion Withers sat down beside Dakota and took her into her arms.
“Oh dear, a saddened heart is never anything simple.” The woman released her embrace and dug into her purse for a tissue.
Dakota thanked her.
“I believe we have some news to help cheer you. We hope, anyway. Dear–”
Marion looked up at her husband, John. She continued to tell Dakota they’d wanted to talk to her in private and not at a public event but the timing seemed appropriate to cheer her saddened expression. She looked up and her husband. Dakota’s eyes travelled between the two of them.
He cleared his throat. “Dakota, I didn’t mean to go behind your back and run the test but I did. For that, I hope you’ll forgive me.”
“What test?”
“A DNA test, both our blood samples were on file at the hospital so I asked for the test to be run.”
Dakota didn’t care if he’d run the test without her knowledge. She almost did it herself. “And”
“We are related. I am your biological father. I’m sorry I never knew all these years.”
She felt his words were genuine. She went silent for a moment to digest the news. She’d wondered for so many years and now she knew. It was almost too good to be true and then Marion touched her heart with an invitation.
“We’d both like to welcome you to our family. We hope you’ll join us on Christmas Day for a family dinner. Our daughters, your sisters, are anxious to meet you. I hope you don’t mind we’ve told them. But we do understand if you’ve planned to visit your mother for the holidays.”