by Kim Law
She just hoped she could achieve what she actually wanted. That it wasn’t her that caused all the people who were supposed to be there for her to always leave.
“I’m not squandering anything.” She could barely get the words out. “I just—”
“Then send me your resume. I’ll pass it along to my contact.” The car started up again. “I need to go, Meg. It was good talking to you.”
He disconnected before she could even tell him goodbye, and when she looked back at the Wilde house, to the home that had housed a family she’d once thought as lonely as hers, tears threatened at her eyes. The Wildes had so much more going for them. Maybe they weren’t perfect, but at least they were trying. While she had a dad who couldn’t even be bothered to return a text.
She pocketed her phone and made the decision to head home. She shouldn’t have stayed as long as she had, anyway. This was supposed to have been a two-minute drop-off. Not hanging out for the rest of the afternoon with someone else whose life plan basically mimicked her father’s.
Chapter Eight
Nate turned up the heater in the truck and slowed as he approached a red light. The morning was cold and gray but given that the guys who’d showed up the day before had spent the last several winters out on crab boats, working in chilly weather was nothing new for any of them. The five who’d arrived had looked over his initial plans the night before, and this morning, they’d started early, clearing out the remainder of the trees where the cabins would be built. While they did that, Nate had agreed to run Jaden to the rehab facility so he could relieve Gloria for a few hours and spend that time hanging out with their dad. He’d done that several times since his dad had been hurt.
“Thanks for the lift,” Jaden said. Due to his booted right foot, he remained unable to drive himself, but his day of freedom would be coming soon.
“No problem.”
“I mean, I know you got tired of driving me around.”
If he hadn’t still been rolling to a stop, Nate would have closed his eyes in irritation. He was not in the mood to talk. And he absolutely wasn’t in the mood to deal with passive aggressive comments referring to the ambush at the store from nearly two weeks before. “I didn’t get tired of driving you,” he pointed out, same as he had that day. “I got tired of only doing that.”
They hadn’t talked about the argument since it had happened—likely because either Jaden hadn’t been at the house all that much or Nate had been busy working when he had been around—but Nate was of the opinion there was nothing to discuss. Families had arguments; people went on. There was nothing earth-shattering in that. His brother, though . . . the up-and-coming counselor-to-be . . . had other ideas.
“Well, I do appreciate it,” Jaden said. “And though I stand by my prior decision to not stay at the house while I initially recuperated, I’ve been thinking about how it must have felt to you. And I apologize for making you feel unneeded.”
Nate did close his eyes then—but he was also stopped. “I’m a big boy, Jay. I promise you. I’ve already gotten over it.”
“Are you sure about that?”
The light turned green, and Nate accelerated. “I assure you that my feelings are intact, and I’ve suffered no long-term damage due to your unacceptance of the full level of help I was prepared to give.”
Him stringing that number of words together at one time should shut his brother up, if only for a few minutes. Unfortunately, it didn’t even last that long.
“Then if not me, what had you so upset at the store that day? And the days before. And most every day since.” As he finished, his words tapering to a level of seriousness that came as a surprise, Nate glanced over at him.
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about whatever is going on under the surface with you.” Jaden waved a hand toward him, and Nate went back to paying attention to the road. “I know the idea of overhauling the farm has given you a thrill these last few days. That’s been obvious. And understandable. But still,” Jay went on, “there’s something simmering. I’m not sure if it’s anger or what, but it’s been there for several weeks.”
“Nothing is simmering. And getting upset because my family ambushes me is to be expected.”
“Maybe.” Jay studied him to the point that the back of Nate’s neck started to itch. “But it feels different than that,” he went on. “It feels unhealthy. And whatever it is, it had you ready to pull out of town and never look back.”
Nate started to argue. He’d never said he didn’t plan on looking back. He always looked back. He just didn’t stay long when he did.
“It worries me even more because it was only a few weeks before all this happened with the orchard and with dad that you’d admitted you were ready to come home for good.”
That was bullshit. “I never admitted any such thing.”
“But you also didn’t deny it when I brought it up.”
Nate frowned and pushed his foot down harder on the gas pedal. His brother really had put on his counselor suit this morning. But he also had it wrong. The conversation he was referring to had been one where Jaden had once again been trying to play counselor. He and their sister had felt that Nate being home for so long had been due to him avoiding someone or something. But he’d been home because he wanted to be home, damn it. And not necessarily because he wanted to stay there.
But none of that mattered now anyway because he’d failed his dad. And he’d almost died because of it.
If only the man would have—
Nate shut down that train of thought as soon as it began. It didn’t matter what their dad had or hadn’t done that morning. What he’d not allowed Nate to do.
None of it fucking mattered now. Their dad’s life was forever changed by that one act; the orchard was no longer a working orchard, and Nate would make the necessary changes, and then he’d get the hell out. And he wasn’t fucking angry!
The road to the rehab center came upon him faster than he’d anticipated, and he had to stomp on the brakes in order to make the turn. Still, the tires squealed as he swung wide onto the connecting two-lane road, and Jaden, wisely, chose not to comment. The remaining five minutes of the trip were made in silence, but when Nate pulled up to the front sliding doors, he knew he couldn’t be so lucky as to have the drop-off go the same. Instead, Jaden turned to face him.
“Get out, Jay.” Nate tried to cut his brother off before more “well-meaning” bullshit could be spewed.
“I will get out. But I could also walk from the parking lot. I’m not that damaged. Why don’t you go ahead and park, and we’ll walk in together?”
“I don’t have time to come in. I have a crew at the house that I have to get back to.”
“I met your guys last night.” It had actually been a fun evening with him and his brother hanging out with all his friends. “They’re a good bunch. And they’re more than capable of waiting ten extra minutes while you come in and say hello to Dad.”
Nate frowned at his brother, wondering why this was going to be a thing today. “Tell you what. You say hello for me.” He leaned over and pulled on the latch to open the passenger door. “Now get out so I can go.”
But of course, Jaden didn’t get out. Instead, he gave Nate one of his “insightful” looks. The kind that implied he thought he’d landed onto something deep and personal. “Does it have to do with Dad?”
Nate sat back in his seat. “What are you talking about? Does what have to do with Dad?”
“You haven’t come by to see Dad since the day we got him set up here. Are you avoiding seeing him for some reason?”
The observation reminded him of Megan pointing out his lack of a visit the week before.
And then thinking about Megan made him think about the fact that she’d hightailed it away from the house right after taking that phone call the other day. She’d barely stuck her head back in long enough to tell him she had to run.
“I’ve been busy, Jay.” Too busy to ev
en follow up with Megan and see if she was okay. Something about that call had upset her. “Have you forgotten that? It’s the reason you all asked me to stay. And now I’ve committed to getting the cabins done by mid-summer, so I have even less time for anything else.”
“But no one expects you to work around the clock. No one wants you to feel like you can’t take the time to do anything else.” He looked over at the multi-grain-cracker-colored one-story building before turning back. And this time he shifted on his seat to face Nate. “Did something happen between you and Dad before the accident?”
Why did his brother have to try to make something out of nothing? “No, Jay. Nothing happened between me and Dad before the accident. He went out that morning, same as he’d been doing every day for weeks. He went out, and I drove into town for breakfast. End of story.”
“Are you angry because you weren’t there when it happened?”
“Are you?” he fired back. Arsula—even though she and Jaden had been broken up at the time—had tried to get ahold of Jaden that morning before she’d finally reached out to the rest of them. She had a gift that sometimes allowed her to sense things via her dreams, and she’d awoken that morning certain something terrible had happened to their father. Nate had rushed back home the second he’d gotten the text, but thankfully, Dani had already been there and called for an ambulance.
Jaden chose not to answer Nate’s question, and Nate took that as the discussion being over. He reached across the seat once again and pushed at the still-open door. “We’re all upset over that morning, Jay. We all wish we’d have talked him into stopping his early-morning checks. We all feel like we should have realized that he wasn’t as healthy as he’d been before. And if that in some way manifests into anger, then fine, I’m angry. At myself.”
“I’ll take a cup of roasted tomato basil soup and . . .” Megan scanned the menu hanging on the wall once more as the café worker waited on her to finish her order. “A grilled cheese sandwich.” She should probably have a salad since she hadn’t made it to her exercise class last night, but she planned to walk over to the lake to eat her lunch, so she wanted something warm. Plus, she liked dunking a grilled cheese into the soup.
“Any croutons for your soup?”
“No need. But make it to go, please.” She scooted down the line to make room for additional customers filing in, and then noticed the way the three female workers on the other side of the counter were now casting glances to someone standing behind her.
The girl who’d waited on her plastered a bright smile on her face and turned to the next person in line, and as she asked to take their order, Megan snuck a peek herself. If whoever stood there was that good looking, then . . .
It was Nate.
And yeah, he was that good-looking.
“Hey.” He grinned at her as if sneaking up behind her had taken some great amount of effort.
“Hey.” She hadn’t seen him since hightailing it out of his place Monday afternoon after taking that call from her dad. “You grabbing lunch for your guys?”
His eyes registered surprise. Apparently, he wasn’t aware that a couple of the men he’d brought in to help with the cabins had been at the bar last night—which was also where she’d been instead of at the gym working out.
“Just lunch for me,” Nate corrected. He ordered a baked potato topped with meatballs and marinara, as well as three chocolate chip cookies—also to go—and then he turned back to her. “You’ve met the guys?”
“I met Cade and Dre.” She wiggled her brows but held back the “yummm” she’d uttered to Brooke as the two men had first entered the bar. She did offer the kind of smile that might make a person wonder if that was exactly what she was thinking, though. “Cade’s a good dancer.”
“Is that so?” He nudged her shoulder to get her to slide farther down the line. “He’s also a total player. He wouldn’t be in it for the long haul.”
“Good to know.” And she’d already figured that out herself. But the boy could still dance. “How about, Dre, then?” Dre had been the more interesting one anyway. And the better-looking one, though only marginally. He was originally from a small town in Pennsylvania and had said he’d fallen for this area several years ago when he’d taken a summer job in Glacier National Park. He’d been looking for a good excuse to come back ever since.
“Dre is—” Nate reached for Megan’s bagged food before she could get it, and she slapped at his hand.
“Don’t even think about it, Wilde.”
A heart-stopping half-smile made her weak at the knees. “I was just getting it for you.” He set the bag on the counter in front of her and motioned toward the register. “Have at it, Manning. No one here is trying to pay for your food. I promise.”
“Good.” She passed over her debit card, her gaze tracking his hands as he reached out once again and accepted the bag that held his food, and she wanted to kick herself for even noticing anything about him. That’s the whole reason she’d gone to the bar the night before. Because ever since she’d last seen him, even though reminding herself that he 1) would be leaving Birch Bay within a couple of months, and 2) was still Jaden’s brother, he kept popping into her head at the oddest of times.
Like when she’d been eating dinner Monday night and had thought about him feeding her own casserole to her.
Or when she’d almost texted him Wednesday afternoon after spotting loafer-guy-Mark as she’d been entering the grocery store.
And every time she’d thought about him, her mood had taken a bit more of a nosedive.
“I should pay for yours just to teach you a lesson,” she muttered, and as he passed over his own debit card, his eyes twinkled down at her as if to say that he liked “lessons,” both giving and receiving. And, of course, her stupid mind came up with half a dozen on the spot that she’d be willing to offer for free.
She blew out a breath. What in the world was wrong with her?
She snatched her lunch off the counter and took a step away. She needed to get away from him. Or maybe what she needed was to hunt Cade up and take him up on the one-night stand he’d so boldly offered. And then her mind could get back to what was important.
“I’m actually glad I ran into you,” Nate said as he pocketed his receipt and debit card and followed her with his food. “I have a proposition for you.”
Again, her mind went to a place it shouldn’t. “And what’s that?” She grabbed a handful of napkins and shoved them in her bag.
“It’s actually something I’d rather not talk about in public.”
At his more somber tone, her dirty mind got punted to the backburner, and she studied the lines of his face. He didn’t look upset. More like he’d suddenly gone all business. “Sure. I planned to walk over to the lake to eat my lunch. Do you want to go with me? There might be people around, but surely we can find a quiet spot.”
“That sounds good.” He held the door for her and nodded toward his truck. “Let’s ride over, though. I have an appointment to get to, and I don’t want to be late. Plus, your casserole dish is in the truck. I can drop you and it off at the store afterward if you want.”
“No need.” She headed for the truck. “I parked over by the lake this morning because I don’t plan to return to work this afternoon. My assistant manager will handle things.”
As she climbed into the vehicle, she retrieved the dish from the passenger seat and set her bag of food down in it while he went around the back of the truck. She didn’t ask what he wanted to talk about, but since the picnic area in the downtown part of town was only a few blocks away, she’d find out soon enough.
“I also wanted to thank you for the meal itself,” he said as he settled behind the steering wheel. “And to tell you how good it was.” He looked over at her and smiled. “I was so busy inhaling it Monday afternoon that I don’t think I stopped to say either of those things.”
She laughed. “You said you’d missed lunch. I’m guessing that doesn’t happen often?”
“Basically never.” He pulled out into the traffic, and she settled back against the seat.
“I don’t usually cook a lot,” she told him. “But what I brought over is one of my favorite dishes to make. So, I’m glad you liked it.”
“No. I loved it. Feel free to cook for me anytime.”
Her dirty mind returned with the idea of cooking for him wearing nothing but an apron, and she shook her head in disgust. Honestly, she just needed to get laid. She was going through a bit of a dry spell lately, and apparently everything was doing it for her.
He turned at the corner office where his sister ran her marketing business, then made his way to Second Avenue. As he drove, Megan searched for something to talk about, if for no other reason than to keep from thinking inappropriate thoughts. She rolled down her window and propped her elbow over the doorframe and brought up a subject that should totally get her mind off Nate.
“So tell me about Dre.” She tilted her face into the wind and let the cool breeze wash over her cheeks. “I interrupted you in the café before you could finish whatever you were going to say.”
“What do you want to know?”
She peeked at him. “Good guy?”
“One of the best.”
“Marriage material?”
A muscle in his jaw twitched, and he kept his eyes on the road. “I would guess that he is. And he’s not necessarily tied to any place, either.” He glanced at her then, his eyes unreadable. “Nor does he care whether he returns for another season of crab fishing.”
“So, he could potentially settle in Birch Bay?”
“I’d say it wouldn’t be completely out of the question.”
“Good to know.” She scoped out the picnic tables as he pulled into the small parking lot and immediately saw that at least two were empty. “What about the guys I haven’t met? Anyone with potential?”
He cut a look over at her the way he might a little sister asking if any of his friends were cute, but he also followed up the look with an answer. “Chris, no. Dustin, no. Jordan?” He lifted a shoulder. “Maybe. And then there are the ones who aren’t here yet.”
