19. Nash

Chapter 19

Nash

S weat pours down my back as I pound the red-hot metal and shape it into a shoe. Farrier work is grueling and hard, but I love it. It’s where my mind can wander, and instead of using it to drown out thoughts of Everly. . . she’s all I want to think about now. I wonder what she’s doing and where her mind’s at on everything with us. I make an extra shoe, and it’s hot and tiring, but my body needs it. Something about being outside with the horses clears my mind and makes me dream of what life will be like on my own property someday. This property has been in my family for four generations now on my mother’s side. My father’s family is from Ireland, and he’s a first-generation American. Ireland has always been a special place for us. We’ve spent a part of many summers there as kids visiting our grandmother. We’d stay with her and help her at her bakery, and she’d come here to visit us. She hasn’t been well enough to make the trip over here for a few years, which worries us all. It’s hard to be so far away from her. The back part of land on my parents' ranch has forty acres, so I’ll have my own ranch someday. I have a tiny home out there right now that I placed near where my house will be built. I like to go out there every now and then and dream. But it was hard to dream about a place where I couldn’t see myself living at until now. I can see Everly and Willow there with me, and it feels like it could really happen. I can see us having a big, beautiful home, lots of animals, and a horse for Willow to ride. My brother and sister have the same number of acres on either side of mine, so we’ll be neighbors someday with our own families. None of us have settled down. Kincaid is off working the rodeo circuit and isn’t home very often, and Hayley seems…lost. She’s been different, and maybe it’s because we’ve been so busy with the pub. Although she does seem somewhat happier now that Everly is back in Cozy Creek.

I look out over the mountains and dream of having a wife and a family that I can take care of here. I’ve only ever wanted to live here in Cozy Creek. Even in high school and after, when I was still doing dumb shit, I wanted to get it right. I just didn’t know how. And now I feel like I’m getting it right. And I’m going to tread very carefully with Everly. I can’t mess it up. They are everything to me.

“Penny for your thoughts, bro.” I turn and see Hayley walking toward me with a bag of food and a few waters in her hand.

“That better be Gigi’s subs.” I grin as I wipe sweat from my forehead. I stand and set my hot iron down with the horseshoes completed next to it on a cooling place.

“It is, but it’ll cost you.” She cleans off the back of my truck tailgate and sets the food down, then hops up on it. I wipe my hands off and head over, then hop up beside her.

“What’s the price?” I grab a bag of chips, open it, and pop one in my mouth.

“Tell me what’s going on with you and Everly?”

I look over at her and roll my eyes. “You didn’t have to bribe me with food to talk about Everly.”

“Yeah, right, you’re not exactly Mr. Sharing when it comes to anything,” she says as she unwraps the paper on her sandwich.

“What did you get me?” I ask as she hands me a sandwich.

“Barbecue brisket.”

I sigh and close my eyes, realizing how hungry I am. “Thanks, I’m starving.”

She looks at me and tilts her head expectantly.

“I love her,” I admit. “I always have.”

“And…” she pushes.

“I’m shooting my shot with her.”

She looks at me cautiously. “For real this time?”

“This time?”

“You know what I mean. I think both of you were devastated when she left. You weren’t yourself for a long time after that. It changed you,” she says as she takes a bite of her sandwich and chews.

“We were young. And it’s different now. I can’t explain how, but it feels like this is our time. It’s right; it was always supposed to be. She was the right girl, wrong time,” I say, relaxing my shoulders as I let this out. We sit side by side, our feet dangling from the tailgate.

She zips her jacket up and shivers. “It’s cold out here. I don’t know how you’re sitting there in a T-shirt and sweating.” She wrinkles her nose.

“I’ve been working with the hot iron making horseshoes. Want to try it?” I ask her, raising my eyebrows.

“Eww, no thanks. I bake in a hot kitchen with hot ovens going. I don’t want to work out here with more heat.”

I laugh and take another bite.

“For what it’s worth, I’m rooting for you both. I think you two have always been meant to be. And both of you seemed so lost without each other for the past several years. And we have Willow, now, so that’s a bonus.”

“She’s a pretty great kid,” I admit as I reach for more chips.

“Mom and Dad are happy for you guys, too.”

“I don’t want to mess this up,” I admit as I look out at the mountains, a mist of clouds settling over the peaks.

“I don’t think you will. Just be patient with her. She’s still going through it with Richie. He’s not letting up, and her being with you isn’t making it any easier for her.”

“I hate that guy,” I mutter.

“Join the club. I can’t believe the crap he’s pulling with the library.” She holds up her pickle to me, and I take it and eat it. She never eats her pickles, yet always gets them and gives them to me.

“Thanks.”

I’m disgusted and full of rage about what Richie is doing to Everly and Anne Marie. Coming for the town library? That’s a new low, even for him. I want to take that prick and his father down a peg or two and teach them a lesson on what happens to bullies.

“Have you heard from Kincaid lately?” she asks as she takes her phone out of her pocket and checks it.

“I texted with him over the weekend. He’s good, having a blast on the rodeo circuit. He said he’ll be back in a few weeks. Mom and Dad will be happy to hear that.”

“That’s good. It’ll be good to have everyone home together. Dad’s going to Ireland in a few weeks to check on Grandma. She’s not doing so good,” she says, and I don’t miss the worry that crosses her face. “It has to have been hard on him all these years being so far from his family.”

“We’re his family, too,” I remind her. “He loves the ranch.”

“Do you ever think about leaving Cozy Creek?” she asks as she stares out at the mountains.

I shake my head. “No, I never want to leave. Why? You feel like you want to leave?” I ask.

“Sometimes I do feel like I want to get out of here, honestly. I have this urge to travel and see the world. I want to meet people. I want to meet my person. I want what Mom and Dad have. And I feel like I won’t find that here in Cozy Creek.” She balls up her sandwich wrapper and stuffs it in the bag .

I look at her and finally see it. She’s unhappy and has been for a while. I don’t know how I missed it. She has the wandering bug like my dad, which brought him to the States, where he met my mom and became a rancher. He left everything he knew behind, stayed with her, and built a life. My mom and dad have always had a strong marriage and relationship and modeled that for us kids. They are meant to be. Sure, things weren’t always perfect, but they love each other and are happy.

“You should go, Hayles.”

She looks up at me. “What about the pub?”

“What about it?” I shrug. “We’ll manage, and we can hire more help. We’ll be fine. It’ll be here when you come back.”

“I’ll think about it,” she says as she hands me a brownie.

“You make these?” I ask as I unwrap it and take a bite.

“Nope, Everly did.” She grins.

“Even better,” I say as she nudges me with her shoulder.

“I’m happy for you guys,” she says as she sways as we look out over the mountains.

“Thanks, Hayles. Go do what makes you happy. It’ll all be okay here.” I pull her to me and kiss the top of her head.

I just remember what I wanted to ask her. “Hey, have you seen my toolbox? The big green metal one? I can’t find it, and I think I left it somewhere.”

“Nope.” She shrugs. “Maybe you left it at a client's barn or something.”

“Keep an eye out for it, will you? It was Grandpa’s old one, and I misplaced it.”