“Whoa, whoa,” I laughed. “Who appointed you as my life planner? Girl dad? Listen, I’m good with Noey.”
“Liar,” Harrison muttered under his breath. “And besides, what does Nina want?”
“Well, we haven’t…that’s not a…” I stumbled.
“We like her,” Drew insisted. “Emilia wants to be her best friend.”
“Same with Gwen,” Harrison added. “And it’s completely obvious that the two of you have gotten pretty cozy. So why the hemming and hawing?”
I knew going through our mother’s office was going to dredge up all sorts of feelings, but I’d never imagined they’d be about my future with Nina.
Honestly, after months of damage control with Noah, just trying to get through each day one at a time, I’d kind of forgotten what it was like to look ahead and try to imagine the future. When it came to Nina, I was enjoying where we were, not focusing on where we might be going.
“We’re casual,” I finally said.
“Oof. Dangerous ground,” Harrison scolded lightly. “Especially with Noah in the mix. He’s already attached to her, I can tell. And you’re not acting like it’s casual, bringing her over here all the time. You’ve got no guardrails, no defined roles, and that’s a recipe for things to get very messy very fast.”
I hated when he went into paternal mode.
“We didn’t have much choice about jumping straight into the deep end, you know,” I fired back at him. “And yeah, things are going well between us, but we all know there’s no guarantees when it comes to this stuff.”
“If it’s right, it’s right,” Drew shrugged. He started digging through the desk again.
“I can’t say either way,” I insisted.
I was lying to myself. Every time I’d glanced across the table at Nina, she’d caught my eye to share a secret smile with me. It not only felt right, it felteasy.
And that was part of the problem. In my experience, this was the point when everything usually went to shit, right when I felt settled and bought into the relationship. That connection with Nina was stronger than I’d ever felt before, and that had me worried that I was in for a truly massive crash when it all fell apart. And italwaysfell apart. I’d been burned, and my skepticism about what relationships were truly like now led the way.
Despite how incredible things felt with Nina.
“Will you just take a look?” Harrison demanded, pushing a black velvet tray filled with necklaces toward me. “I don’t want you to regret not taking something, okay? Even if you don’t wind up giving it to anyone, consider it a remembrance of Mom.”
I couldn’t argue with his logic. Owning a piece that she wore close to her heart was yet another way to keep her memory alive. I sifted through the various sparkly options, each one a passport to a memory.
“This one,” I said, holding up the Harry Winston necklace my mom usually wore to charity functions.
It was a cluster diamond necklace with hundreds of different sized pear and marquise-cut stones placed in varying angles on an invisible platinum setting. At the center was a single, rare pink diamond. The effect was like a vine of sparkling gems around the wearer’s neck, with a single blush at the center.
“Good choice,” Harrison said with a nod.
“Too pretty to just sit in your safe,” Drew added.
“I’ll keep your feedback in mind,” I said wryly.
I got back to work cataloging what was in the trays, trying to ignore the way I pictured each and every piece on Nina.
23
NINA
“Oatmeal isblech,” Noah pulled a face and dropped his spoon into the bowl in front of him with a crash. “Why did Josie make this?”
The three of us were gathered at the breakfast table, a situation I still wasn’t quite used to, preparing for a breakfast battle. Thankfully, Noah was back to even keel, but the sass was a new addition I didn’t love. Sad Noah had taken a back seat to Pushing Boundaries Noah.
“Because I told her to,” I answered quickly. “We’re pulling back on all of that sweet breakfast food, mister. And have you tried the brown sugar glaze on top of it? You might like it more that way.”
It was one sugary concession to help him make the change. Josie and I had spent time strategizing how to transition Noah to healthier breakfasts, but he was resisting at every step.
