Something must have landed in my eye, because they burned, and it made my nose tingle. It had to be dust, because I could not cry in front of Nate right now.
“Okay,” I whispered, afraid that if I spoke any louder, whatever was making my eyes burn would travel down to my throat.
“Look, I’ll see you tonight. Yeah?”
I nodded as he pressed his lips to the top of my head. No real kiss. No peck on the cheek. Just a fucking head-topper.
Nate left in a whirl, his SUV kicking up dirt and dust as it traveled away from the farm.
I stood out there, watching the driveway for a while. The dust settled, and all remnants of their departure had fallen away.
An arm wrapped around my waist, and I knew who it was without looking. “Hey, sweetie. Want to come inside?”
“I think I’ll just head back to my apartment, Mom.”
“Hmm. But I saved a slice of tiramisu just for you. Snagged it before your father could get his hands on it. I know it’s one of your favorites. Plus, I think your sisters want to chat with you, and you know how they can be.”
I sure did. They’d do whatever they needed to keep me from leaving. Take the battery out of my truck. Hide my purse. Slip a piece of ex-lax into my dessert. I learned that last one the hard way when they wanted the details after my senior prom.
“Yeah, okay. Can I eat it out on the deck?”
“Of course. I may even join you girls.” Mom tugged me in just a little before we turned and made our way back to the house. My sisters were all watching from the porch.
We settled out back on the L-shaped patio sofa that held all of us. Mom brought out a glass of wine and the largest piece of tiramisu, which was at least a quarter of the dessert.
“Thanks, Mom.”
“Now, tell me—” She settled in beside me, tapping my thigh in that motherly way. “—do I get the credit for getting you two together?”
A giggle escaped. That seemed to cure my burning eyes and tingling nose. “I’m sorry, but no. Nate and I actually met by mistake over a year ago.”
I left out the scandalous details but went on to tell them how much of a shock it had been when he arrived at the bed-and-breakfast. I spent another hour answering all my sisters’ sordid questions. They were curious about how we made it work. He was a full-time dad and also way older than me. But somehow, we just made it happen, because we wanted it to. Autumn and Rory had known about my one-night stand mystery man, and to learn it was Nate made all the more sense as to why I couldn’t stay away from him. That one night set a new trajectory for my future, it seemed.
While sitting on the back porch, I continued to look over my shoulder. Thankfully, Andrew didn’t make himself known as my sisters, mom, and I sat outside. They all agreed with me that he would come around. Mom thought maybe he was upset we’d hidden it from him. Whatever the reason, I was angry at my brother for the way he pushed Nate away.
Whatever Nate and I were label-wise, I knew he needed a friend tonight. And I planned to be just that for him.
Now, I just needed to wait for his call.
Chapter Twenty-Two – Nate
My finger hovered over the phone’s Call button. I was torn up about what to do next. The twins were down in the family room watchingBlueywhile I stared at the package on my bed. The manilla envelope had been sitting at the bottom of the stack of mail Autumn had been collecting for me. My mail had been forwarded for weeks, but the postal service included it in the mail being held for Autumn and Colton while they were gone. The rest of my items had been junk. Anything else important was usually work related, and I was made aware of it by my assistant or legal department.
The date on the envelope was three days prior, so it was recent. And the contents changed everything.
I opened the legal-sized package thinking it was something related to the patent for my newest robot. The testing at our facility in California was going well and was surpassing our expectations. I had high hopes that it would get top dollar when the time to sell came. The industry heard rumblings of what the robot was capable of, but real-life data would seal the deal.
While on the road in search of the elusive hearing aid battery for Molly, I reached out to my assistant. I realized it was a Sunday, but I hadn’t actually expected her to answer. I tossed in the idea of what it would take for me to step away and become a silent partner in the business. It would still be mine, but I’d need to move around the organizational structure. By the time we arrived at dinner, she emailed me three different organizational changes along with contract mockups.
But now, those thoughts hung in the air. I was going to have to reevaluate everything. The twins had been on the phone with their mom when I noticed the stack of mail. Autumn set it nicely on the dresser in my bedroom. Instead of sorting through it, I went back to Eloise’s room and listened to the twins’ conversation with Sasha. She was quieter than normal and seemed sad. I wondered if the girls’ fifth birthday approaching put her out of sorts. It was a big milestone. In the background, I suggested they could do a video call, but Sasha declined, saying she didn’t have her face on. She’d always been that way. She practically slept in her makeup, never wanting to be caught off guard without looking photo ready.
The girls were a little bummed out, but Sasha diverted the conversation to the petting zoo they wanted to have for their birthday. I still wasn’t sure how I was going to make that happen.
With shaking hands, I dropped the phone back to my side and lifted the stack of paperwork again. MGMT changes, 1p/19p co-deletions, IDH mutations, X-rays, CAT scans, MRIs, and multiple biopsy results. It was all just gibberish to me, but the cover letter told me everything I needed to know. Sasha received a brain cancer diagnosis three years ago, and none of the treatments worked. The tumor was growing too fast. Her physician noted that nothing they’d done slowed it down. Due to its massive size, the number of headaches and seizures, and the level of drowsiness, her team didn’t believe she had much longer.
It's why over the last few months she’d been so persistent about having the twins visit her. Sasha knew her life was coming to an end. I’d rarely ever spoken with her on the phone. She’d given up trying to speak to me and just forwarded copies of all the paperwork she received.
There was no question what I was going to do next. My time in Ashfield was going on hiatus. I just needed to break it to the twins and Alex.
