“I’m pretty sure she’s tried to dictate your sisters’ lives too—fairly recently, in fact—and they haven’t banned all communication with her.”
“That’s because they live here and they don’t have a choice. If they tried it, she’d probably hunt them down and torture them until they finally spoke to her again.”
Nash’s mouth ticked up on the side. Yeah, she probably would, but that wasn’t anything she should apologize for. Rory was bold and brave and headstrong. Her tenacity was what had gotten her where she was today, had turned her into an amazing mom, woman, and businessperson. It was part of what he loved about her.
“This is the second time you’ve defended her,” Nat said. “And what the hell is with that dopey grin on your face?” She narrowed her eyes at him, then darted her gaze all around the cab of the truck like she was thinking through something. After only a few seconds, she gasped and shot an accusatory finger at him. “‘Downpour’ wasn’t foryou, it was forher!”
He cringed. He’d had his fingers crossed she wouldn’t figure that out until they were closer to Havenbrook. Hopefully she had enough sense not to start punching him while he was hurtling them down the highway at seventy miles per hour. With Nat, you never knew.
“It wasn’t just for her. It was for you. And Gran too.” But, yeah, it was mostly for Rory.
“You’ve got about thirty seconds to start talkin’ and tell me exactly what the fuck is goin’ on.”
He blew out a long breath in defeat. He should’ve known it’d only take her ten minutes to figure out something was awry.
“Tell. Me.”
“Shit, you’re a bossy cow, you know that?”
“I will cut you.”
He wouldn’t put it past her, so he talked. He gave her a very minimized account of what had happened between Rory and him, minus the too-intimate-for-anyone-else details. Like how all the dreams he’d had about her hadn’t stacked up in the least to the first time he’d been inside her. Or how he couldn’t stop thinking about her when they weren’t together. Or how he’d started to feel at home in her house with her, and even with her girls. Or how he felt more for her than he had for another woman…ever. Or how he didn’t care anymore if every last person in Havenbrook saw them together, because he was pretty sure she was it for him.
When he finished, Nat stared at him with her mouth agape. After a few quiet seconds, she said, “I can’t believe you’re sleepin’ with the ice queen.”
“Don’t call her that.” His tone was low but firm. He might not be ready to tell Nat he’d fallen for her sister, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to sit idly by while she talked shit about her.
“Sleepin’ withanddefendin’. Will wonders never cease?” She shook her head. “Now I know why Asher’s been blowin’ up my phone. He’s probably waitin’ to hear if I strangled you to death.”
“Pretty sure he’s already picked out which suit I’ll wear in my casket.” He glanced over at her. “So, what’s the verdict? Am I dead to you?”
She sat back in her seat, crossed her arms, and gazed out the window at the blur of the passing scenery. “Undecided.”
Well, it wasn’t exactly acceptance, but it also wasn’t death by strangulation. He’d take it. Now to hope Rory didn’t kill him.
Rory glanced out at her parents’backyard, pleased with how everything had come together. Thousands of fairy lights dotted the backyard, white paper globes hung suspended from dozens of tree branches, and flickers of candlelight danced in the soft breeze. With the help of her sisters—mostly Will, as Mac had grumbled the whole time—Rory had managed to transform the sprawling green space into a magical wonderland.
If only she could enjoy it.
Instead, she stood off to the side, watching Gran mingle and chat with the guests who’d shown up to celebrate her life. Hundreds of Havenbrook’s residents filled the yard, laughing and joking and sharing stories.
Meanwhile, Nat wasn’t here because she still hadn’t returned a single one of Rory’s calls. That tiny detail would eat at Rory the rest of the party if she let it.
And when her foundation was already on thin ice? She needed to be careful where she let her attention focus.
She’d picked up the girls earlier in the day, and they’d filled her in on theexcitingplans their daddy and Sarah Beth were making for a wedding. She wasn’t even upset that Sean had moved on. Heavens knew she already had. Of course, she was upset at the betrayal—from both her former husband and best friend—but it was more than that.
What really stabbed her in the gut was the fact that the man who’d torn their family apart was giving their girls a new one, all while Rory was still struggling to find herself.
Needing to focus on something else, she checked the food to make sure nothing needed refilling. The stuffed mushrooms were running a little low, so she slipped inside the house and pulled the extras from the oven where Lilah, Hudson’s sister and the main chef at The Sweet Spot, had instructed her to keep them to make sure they stayed warm.
After transferring them to a platter, she strolled back outside, head held high and smile in place. That mask she’d forced herself to slip back on made her feel like she was regressing from how far she’d come in the past months, but that wasn’t something she could unpack right now. Not when hundreds of Havenbrook’s residents had their eyes on her. And they were definitely on her. She’d heard whispers of her name all afternoon, and she hadn’t had to stick around for any of the gossip to know it was just a rehash of what she’d heard yesterday.
Those whispers might’ve cracked her facade just a little, but she refused to show it.
She’d just finished refilling the platter on the table when she felt a presence at her side. Turning her head, she offered a blind smile, the curve of her lips faltering only slightly when she saw Nash’s father standing there. It was remarkable how much the two looked alike. If she wanted to know what Nash would look like in twenty years, she had her answer.
“Oh, hey there, Big Nash.”
