She stopped digging since her arms were tired anyway, but she wouldn’t face him.
“I have no intention of ripping up Ivy’s floor and I don’t have ‘a guy’ who will pay Mark for the boards. I was lying so he wouldn’t let some other contractor come in and reclaim the wood. I knew there was no talking him out of his plan, so I needed to buy time until Ivy was feeling better and I could advise her against having it done—at least while she’s living in the house.”
The rain pelted Zoey’s cheek and ear as she angled her face in his direction. “Why should I believe that?”
“Because it’s the truth. And all of my actions have shown I care about Ivy too much to betray her like that.”
“But the other day you said—”
“Something really stupid. Something I didn’t mean. I was stressed out.” Nick stepped closer, his voice going low. “I-I was disappointed.”
“Disappointed in what?”
“If you come inside—ifyouinvitemeinside, I’ll tell you.”
Zoey dropped the shovel and clapped dirt from her hands. “All right. Fine.”
Gabi was waiting, looking scared, with a stack of towels. Once Zoey had dried off, she went upstairs to change her clothes. When she came down, Gabi and Nick were in the living room. “I made hot tea but there’s also iced tea in the fridge if you want that instead,” Gabi said.
“Hot tea is fine. Thanks.” Zoey sat down at one end of the sofa. “It’s late. You should go to bed now.”
“You sure?” Gabi looked apprehensive.
“Yes. We’ll talk about all of this in the morning, honey.”
So she said goodnight and a very fluffy Moby followed her out of the room. Nick sat down in the armchair opposite Zoey and they quietly sipped their tea until she prompted, “You were going to tell me why you were disappointed?”
He cleared his throat. “Ivy was one of my first clients when I came back to Dune Island. It was after my father died and Aidan had just been through a really rough patch, too. Ivy and Sylvia were really kind to us. The way they treated us… I don’t know, I guess I’d say it helped us heal. And it was a privilege to get to know them, to hear their stories, too. So even though I want what’s best for Ivy, and even though I heard Mark talking about an assisted living facility at Sylvia’s funeral, I was disappointed when you said she was seriously considering moving.”
“That’s not how you acted,” Zoey replied, but her attitude toward him was softening. “You acted as if it was no big deal. You basically said all that you cared about was how her decision affected your work on the kitchen.”
“Yeah, that was a defense mechanism.” Nick shifted in his chair. “A way of putting some distance between me and Ivy so I wouldn’t feel sad about her going.”
“Oh, I see.” She was touched by Nick’s candid admission.
“It was also a knee-jerk reaction to you springing it on me that you’d been offered the job—which is great news, obviously. But I kind of felt like, well, like I’d held down the fort for you at your aunt’s house both times you were away on your interviews, and then when it paid off—when you got the job—you didn’t even mention it. I had to ask you about it and even then, you glossed right over it, like it was none of my business.”
“Oh, no! I’msograteful that you’ve covered for me during my family’s crises. If I glossed over the job offer, it’s only because so many other more important things have been going on and I’m not even sure if I want the position. I’m sorry I didn’t communicate that better. But your friendship means a lot to me—that’s why I was hurt by what you said the other day.”
“Yeah, the second I saw the look on your face, I wished I could take my words back.”
“They’re already forgotten,” Zoey said, giving him a small smile. His apology went a long way toward making an awful day a tiny bit better. But other matters still weighed heavily on her mind and she realized they wouldn’t be so easily resolved. They might not be resolved at all.
“So, can I ask why you were transplanting roses in dark—and in the rain?”
“I was transplanting them. I-I was looking for something.”
“You mean like a buried treasure?”
“I guess you could say that.” Zoey rubbed her temples, admitting aloud what she already knew in her heart, “But it turns out that what I thought was a treasure hunt was really a wild goose chase.”
“Are you sure? Because tomorrow I could help you dig.”
“Thanks, but no.” She could know see that it was ridiculous to believe her dignified, ladylike aunt would have buried evidence related to her son’s paternity beneath a rose bush. She felt herself blush with shame as she remembered how determined she had been to believe, just a few minutes ago, that all her problems could be solved by digging a hole in the ground. “I’m sorry you had to see me acting so foolishly.”
“It’s no problem. I’ve known for a while you don’t have enough sense to come in out of the rain,” he playfully needled her.
It took a second for Zoey to recall the time she’d refused a ride from him in a rainstorm. “That wasn’t because I didn’t have enough sense. It was because I thought you were friends with Mark, so, guilt by association, that kind of thing. Sadly, I have a few trust issues.”
