I wanted to avoid the dancing that had already started, but Ryan had left his jacket on the table. Celia was supposed to take my mother home, while Hank was going to drive the four of us back. If I wanted to leave now, I would be pulling everyone away from the best part of Founder's Day. I had no interest in line dancing with the town, despite the competition Ryan and Austin had going, so I was going to have to find another way home. 

 Ryan was supposed to meet me back by the light pole after he had his jacket so we could call an Uber. While I'm standing under the beam of light, trying to shake off my anxious energy, I see Dash strolling over to me. He has his gray wool pants on with suspenders covering his cream linen shirt, which looks bright against his dark skin. I catch his smirk and his bright eyes and I know why he left the energy inside to come and find me. 

"Mrs. Hart, just the gal I was lookin' for," he tells me and I shake my head, "If you're here for the Herald I have no comment." 

"No comment on what?" 

"Anything you're about to ask me about," I tell him with a stern look. He laughs and then looks behind him before he says, "Well Annabeth Matthews sure had a lot to say after what happened in there." 

"Wow, she was quick. Better check her sources before going to print though," I mutter, hoping he'll take the hint and leave me alone. 

"Well apparently, she is the source because she's the one who took the pictures," he baits and this finally gets me to look at him. 

"Pictures?" I ask him, wondering what part of my life she decided to feed to Dash. His eyebrows bounce up and down and I see this is a fun game to him. He loves gossip, he flocks to it. He's Hollis's Perez Hilton. He loves knowing everything about this town and it started when he ran the newspaper for Hollis high. Back when he and my mother went to school together. My mother said he was a clucking hen even then. 

He nods his head, "Apparently she has some dirt on someone's husband and a familiar blonde that used to live in Hollis." I laugh out loud and I can tell from Dash's pinched brow that this is not what he was expecting my reaction to be.

"Dash, those photos outside the hotel were staged. She wanted blackmail for this very reason."

"What very reason?" 

I am unable to answer as Ryan finally jogs out of the back door. He sees me with Dash and picks up his feet. 

"She's not talking to anyone about anything," Ryan tells him and Dash looks back to me, "You don't want to comment on anything?" I am about to shake my head no when another thought comes to me. I quickly glance from Ryan to Dash and say, "You've been doing this gossip stuff for...like ever right?" 

Dash seems confused by my pivot but still nods and says, "Just about."

"You went to Hollis high with my mom and dad too right?" 

He nods again and even glances to Ryan before answering, "I was a year younger, but yes. I knew them back in the day." 

"Did you ever run stories on them or her? Back when she was still Delilah Liddle or before they were married?"

"Sawyer," Ryan warns but I wave him away. Dash has all the intel on everyone around Hollis. I wonder if there was a whiff of an affair before. 

Dash suddenly waves his hands around, "Oh is that what you're threatening me with like she did? Another defamation lawsuit? Well guess what, there is proof this time." 

"When did my mother threaten you with defamation?" I ask, genuinely in shock. Dash stares at me, realizing that wasn't what I was doing. He takes a step off the sidewalk before saying, "Not your mother. Your grandmother. Carolyn Sweeney." 

"You went after my father?" I ask in surprise, never once hearing he was ever embroiled in a scandal. 

"Someone needed to stand up for Diane. I know it's been some thirty years now, but-"

"Who is Diane?" I ask him and he snaps his mouth shut. He looks between us, bewildered and then says, "You are a member of the Hollis Historical Society and you don't even know it's history from the past thirty years? Honey, you have homework to do." He purses his lips and then spins around. He waves back to me as he says, "Remember I asked you to comment." He continues on toward the dance hall and I look back to Ryan, "Okay, so we now have a car, a family in Dallas and a woman named Diane. Use your gray cells Poirot and put all this together."

He shakes his head, "Two pieces have already clicked- the woman your father lives with in Dallas is named Diane." I stare at him, but before I can add anything he pulls his hand up and a set of keys dangles from his fingers, "Gus is letting us borrow his truck. He's gonna catch a ride with his mama."

I nod, "Let's go to Austin's. I want out of this dress so I can dive into this more." 

"I want to stop you and force you to just talk to your mother about this but you won't will you?" He asks as I step off the curb. I shake my head, "Nope. She clearly doesn't want to talk to me about it either." 

******

When I slide out of Gus's truck, I land on the gravel with a thud. I smooth out my ruffles and dart to the Porsche sitting at the top of the driveway. We were quiet the entire drive over and I feel like something is bubbling beneath his smooth exterior. I don't know what he's stewing over, but he's been simmering since we left the parking lot. 

"Is it locked?" I ask Ryan and I hear him behind me answer, "No idea." I walk up to the passenger door and yank the little silver handle toward me. I'm excited when the door pops open. I try to push my way inside the musty opening and I hear Ryan's footsteps come up behind me. 

"Darlin, why don't you tell me what you want and I can get it so you don't get stuck." He then pulls me and my massive petticoat away from the opening and dips into the car. 

"Check to see if the registration is in the glove box." I watch as he pops the tiny compartment open and after a few seconds of rifling, he pulls a sleeve of paper out. He fingers through it until he finds what he's looking for. I want to rip the paper from his fingertips, but I practice my patience and wait for him to read it over. 

"Well, it's registered to your father but hasn't been renewed in almost twenty years."

"I had never seen this car before we found it in the shed. I don't remember him driving it ever," I tell Ryan and he checks the glove box again. He looks to me and says, "Everything in here is stuff from the dealership. No evidence of Diane or anything else." He hands me the registration information and then climbs out of the car. 

"Now what?" I ask him and a half laugh, half scoff escapes him. 

"Why don't we go home, open some wine, put on Netflix and have a normal Saturday night?" He asks me, while we both stand in antebellum attire, on my brother's driveway with my father's registration in my hand. 

"I didn't think we did normal?"

"Why can't we do normal? We don't need a scandal or an F.B.I case to dig into every day. We can take a second to breathe before divin' into the next episode of the Sweeney Scandals." I can see he's now frustrated with me and I don't know why. I take a step back which causes the motion sensor to shine a spotlight onto us, which means I just activated Austin's Ring camera. He can hear and see everything. 

After a calming breath, I reply, "There is a lot I don't want to think about Ryan and I just think going home and trying to put a distraction on will only make things worse."

"Sawyer, I don't think continuing to dig into your father tonight is a good idea. I don't even think you've taken a moment to just be since we got back from New York."

"And you have?" 

"I've tried. I go golf with Austin, I run every morning, and I tried to unwind at Theo's. I've tried. Have you?" 

"How can I? I don't have my own space, I don't have a job, I don't have any friends. Everyone is hiding shit from me all the time and I thought I was going to be preoccupied with pregnancy and a house. I thought Hollis was going to make me feel more settled but since we've gotten back, it's been one fiasco on top of another." 

"So stop jumping into drama fests. You run head first into these fiascos and I am trying to pull you back from diving into another one," he tells me and I watch all of his energy drain out of him. "I have to sit with shitty information all day every day and tactfully figure out how to deal with it. You running around Hollis, asking about your parents, playing Sherlock with sensitive information is going to backfire. Did you see how your mother looked at me tonight when she thought I was the one who instigated this?" He asks me. 

"I just want the truth. I want to know what the fuck is going on!"

"No, I just think you came home to a different Hollis. It's not shenanigans with Gus and Annabeth anymore and you're not sure what to do about that."

"You're right. Nothing is the same from when I left Hollis to go to Paris."

"Do you want it to be?" He asks and the spotlight suddenly shuts off, thrusting us into darkness. I'm given a moment to think about what he's asking me. 

"If you're asking me if I am happy I can say I am happy with you, but that's about it." I finally say and he drops his hands from his hips. I add, "I got you, but nothing is how it's supposed to be."

"How do you think I feel?" He asks with a breath of a laugh, "I had my life planned out for the next...twenty, thirty years until I met you last August. And now I am in Hollis, without my badge, supposed to be consulting on cases where instead, the three jobs I've taken all have roads leading back to you."

"That's not my fault!" I snap back to him. 

"I'm not saying it is Sawyer, I'm just saying my life isn't the same either and I think we're both treading water."

"Do you regret coming back here with me?" I ask, with my throat squeezing out the words. 

"What? No, no, I just can't..." He sighs out before running his hands down his face. "I just need a pause. I keep trying to do normal things with you, to just be newlyweds for a bit. I can't dig into your parents' personal lives. I can't dig into your friends. My life has always been about solving puzzles, but I'm drawing the line at family. Your parent's marriage is not a puzzle I want to solve." He's pleading with me while standing in a confederate uniform after being dragged around town all day dodging questions about the trial but answering endless about our wedding. He's been a good sport. He's always a good sport and I need to hear what he's trying to tell me. 

"Okay, okay. I get it. I'll take a break. I'll breathe." He finally looks back to me and says, "I just wanted to dance with you tonight." I sigh and I understand what he means. To just stop time and be together. Having fun. 

I look to him and hold my hand out, "Gimme your phone." He doesn't seem to have the energy to ask why, so he reaches into his pant pocket before dropping his phone into my outstretched palm. I open his music app and find the song I am searching for. I use my thumb to turn the volume all the way up and then gently place the phone onto the driveway. 

"Dance with me then," I tell him as I hold my hand out. He looks at me a moment and I am willing to drop my sword if he is. He drops his defensive stance and grabs my hand. I place my hand on his shoulder and he laughs, "You did not put a Taylor Swift song on."

"But you're my lover," I tell him and he places his palm on my lower back. His cheek finds the top of my head and we stay huddled close together as we spin slowly around the driveway. I guess I do need to stop. Let my mother tell me when she's ready. Focus on one thing instead of a million, which is what Ryan asked me to do when we got back to Hollis. He asked what can I control and I need to figure that out. 

"I'm sorry," I whisper to him as the song ends and his lips are on my ear when he asks, "For what?" 

"For dragging you into my craziness," I tell him but when he doesn't respond I add, "Okay, for dragging myself into my craziness."

"I need a moment Sawyer. I need a moment away from Rory, Kit, Annabeth, Gus, Your mother..."

"Not Austin?"

He laughs, "Your brother is actually the sanest, even-tempered person I know."

"You're only saying that in case the Ring is still recording."

"Oh shit," he laughs and looks back toward the door. "Let's go change and then go home. Our home." I nod to him and he holds my hand as I use the other to hold up my layers. We push open the door and after he turns the alarm off, I saunter back toward the guest room. When we make it to the front of the door, I spin around and place a hand on each side of the door frame. I pop my hip, the best I can in my massive petticoat and look to Ryan, "You know...I may have ruined the dance, but..."I quickly spin around and look over my shoulder, "I still need help outta this dress." I watch Ryan hesitate, so I pout my lip and flutter my lashes. "You're not gonna leave me hanging, are ya soldier?" 

"Sawyer baby, are you sure you're ready to go there?" He asks me and his tone has me dropping my pout. I turn back around and pull him into me by his belt, "I want you. I've been patient. Hell, you've been patient. Please?" He drops his forehead and then brushes his lips on mine. I grab his face with my gloved hands and his drop to my waist. As soon as his tongue finds mine, he's pushing me back into the room. I go for his belt and as soon as I whip it off, he spins me around to start on my corset. His fingers furiously tug the silk strings free and when my rib cage expands he yanks the top over my head. His hands are back on me, exploring areas he hasn't touched for weeks. We both need this. I'm done with my friends. I am done with my family, I am just going to focus on this man in front of me for the time being. 

His hands fumble around the skirt and I finally show him the buttons that keep the skirts together. He nearly rips them off and as soon as the layers are scattered around the room he's tossing me into the bed. I pray Margot and Austin are winning the dance competition because we're going to be here while.