34. Nash

Chapter 34

Nash

W e get home late, and when Willow is finally in bed, I stand with my hands stuffed in my pockets, leaning up against her kitchen counter, my mind flooded with thoughts. Today, I was so afraid and worried, and I just wanted to keep them safe.

Everly finally comes out of her room, and she looks exhausted and her face red from crying.

I open my arms, and she lets me hold her. I rub her back and hold her while she lays her head on my chest.

“I can’t lose her, Nash. I was so scared.”

“Why do you think he took her?” I ask. She pulls back and goes to the stove. Taking her kettle, she turns to fill it with water.

“I think he’s losing control, and financially, I think he’s struggling. Something is going on with this new arena, and it’s not good. He’s grasping at straws because he didn’t expect our pushback,” she says as she turns on the stove and takes down two mugs.

“So he doesn’t even really want her? He just wanted to scare you?” I state, and my blood feels like it’s boiling. Seeing the fear in Willow’s eyes when she was taken and then the relief when she saw Kincaid and me in the back door window. She immediately unlocked it and came with us. She knew what her dad had done was wrong.

“She doesn’t leave our sight. We can go together and talk to the school,” I say as anger fills me when I think about how the school should have never let her go with him.

Everly bites her lip, sadness still on her face. “We?”

“We,” I declare. “I’m not letting anything happen to either of you. You’re mine now, Ev,” I say as I lay my palm to her face and then tuck a curl behind her ear. “Both of you.”

“Okay,” she says, leaning into my hand.

She pours us each a mug of tea, and we carry them into the living room. I get a fire going in the wood stove and stack extra wood next to the Buck stove for her after I leave.

I lean in to kiss her softly and leave my coat on.

“You have to go?” she asks as I come over and pull her into a kiss.

“Yeah, I have to go close the pub, but I’ll be back,” I say as I pull her blanket up around her and rub my thumb over her cheek.

“Thank you for all your help tonight. I love you. I don’t know what I’d do without you, Nash. ”

“Love you too.” I kiss her softly. She leans back and looks like she’s going to fall asleep. It’s been a long day for all of us, and we all need to decompress and get some sleep.

I did have to close the pub, but there are some things I want to work on and plan. I am really tired of the Sullivans wreaking havoc on this town and my family. It’s going to stop.

My family.

Yes, Everly and Willow are my family. I am making them my priority. They always have been, but now they’re mine and my problem.

I close the pub, get everything cleaned up and reset for tomorrow. I’m cashing out and heading up to my office when there’s a pounding on my door in the back.

I look out the peephole to see Richie. I yank open the door and glare at him. He doesn’t look like his usual asshole self. He looks…broken.

“What?” I practically hiss, my fists clenching.

“You got what you wanted. Congratulations,” he says, his tone full of defeat.

“You got sixty seconds before I throw you in that fucking dumpster.” I nod to the big green metal dumpster behind him.

“I want to sign away my rights. I…I can’t be a dad,” he says, looking away and not meeting my eyes.

“You’re serious?”

He nods.

“I’ll have the papers drawn up.”

“You’ll take care of them?” he asks, his voice hoarse and quieter now.

I tip my chin up, saying nothing to him.

He looks at me for a beat and nods and turns to leave. I watch as he gets into his SUV and pulls out.

Well, fuck me. That was not on my bingo card for the night. I figured I’d have to fight him on this, and I was prepared for that fight. This made my plans easier.

Everly and Hayley are busy baking at the pub, and I have Willow. We went out to the ranch and made a horseshoe together. And she got to keep it, and we even painted it pink. We went and hung it in her room above her door for luck. She was so excited and said she couldn’t wait to show her mom tonight.

Kincaid is picking up Mom and Dad at the airport. I’m happy to have them back because this ranch is a pain in the ass to run without them. But one thing I figured out while they were gone is that I love the ranch and prefer the work I do there with the horses to running the pub. I have some decisions to make, and they won’t be easy.

For the past week, I’ve watched Kincaid thrive while bartending at the pub. He loves it and loves the people, and it’s never run smoother. I look over at Hayley and Everly carrying on conversation and baking. I know Hayley isn’t happy here either. The pub got us through, and we have made something great here, but it might not be what either of us has in the cards for our futures .

Hayley’s making plans to go over to take care of our grandmother, so that leaves Kincaid and me. And I know now that I’d much rather work at the ranch than the pub. Sure, we’ve created a great place here, but I’m not sure this is where I’m supposed to be in the long run.

My grandmother practically made my parents leave. She loves her home and her bakery, and she told everyone she’s not ready to die. She has been video calling daily and is adorable and stubborn. We all know she’s not getting any younger, and her health has been failing her, but for now, she’s doing okay. Her heart is having trouble keeping up with her mind, which is apparently still the age of twenty-five. My mom joked that she’s not going to go out before she gets her rolls ready for each day. She’ll die a hard worker. That’s one thing about the McCreedys. We will work hard for life and chase what we’re passionate about.

Paperwork has been caught up, and I need to get out of here and go do something. I look over at Willow, who looks as bored as me, if not more. She’s watching a show and playing with a new Lego kit we bought at the general store.

“Hey, kid, want to get out of here and go get candy?” I ask as I lean my head toward her. She’s propped up at the dining room table with crayons and coloring books spread out. We’ve watched more episodes of Bluey than I’ll ever admit to anyone. And one of them almost made me cry. Almost. Willow and I decided that we’ll be getting a blue heeler. I’ve already made a mental note to keep my eye open for one at the shelter.

“Yes!” she says as she shoots up from her chair, practically knocking it down.

“Alright, let’s go tell your mom,” I say as I nab my hat and keys.

I follow Willow down the back stairs to the pub kitchen and hear her telling her mom that we’re going to the Cozy Creek Confectionery.

“Want us to bring you back anything?” I call as I wait by the back door.

Everly comes over and gives me a kiss on the cheek and hugs Willow. “No, but have fun,” she says as she looks wistfully at us like she wants to come too. After what happened with Richie, she’s on edge and doesn’t want to let Willow out of her sight. We went to the school first thing, and they apologized profusely. Everly still kept Willow home and has been guarded since. Understandable. Things are just too tense right now with the Sullivans, and we don’t trust to leave her.

We walk down the street and stop to pet Mr. Alexander’s dog, a husky that howls and is very verbal.

Willow talks my ear off about puppies while we get closer to the confectionery. I don’t mind because this kid is hilarious and makes me laugh. She now has me convinced that we need two dogs. You know, so it can have a best friend and all. I’d get this kid a dozen dogs if she wanted them.

I open the door as she ducks in ahead of me and hold it for a few other patrons entering the same time as we are.

I take my place in the back of the line and peruse the menu on the wall, opting for a banana nut protein shake. Gigi and Madi are at the counter. Madi smiles and waves at me, and I wave back. Willow’s checking out all the candy and treats in the glass case full of everything you can imagine.

The door to the confectionery opens, and I glance over and do a double take when I see Everly’s father, Brian. He looks older and has more gray in his hair and goatee than he did, and he’s very tanned, with more wrinkles on his face. He’s with a woman who looks slightly younger than him and has two teenage daughters lurking out front playing on their phones and laughing together. He looks happier than I have ever seen him, and he smiles and laughs with one of the kids. Something I never saw him do with Everly.

Confusion fills me when I think about how he has abandoned her, and now he’s just casually back with his new family, almost rubbing it in Everly’s face. I can’t let that happen. She’s had enough going on. I can’t let him continue to break her heart like this.

Everly.

She never mentioned he was back in town, and it dawns on me that she probably has no idea. I look over, and Willow is tasting fudge samples from a colorful wooden toothpick with a leaf decoration on the end. She’s not far from me, but she’s sampling treats with Gigi, who spoils all of the Cozy Creek kids with extra treat samples.

Brian and his new family get in line behind me, and when I glance back at him, recognition hits him when he sees me, and he says, “McCreedy, good to see you.”

It registers that he seems uncomfortable now that he’s recognized me.

“Brian. I didn’t know you were in town visiting,” I say quietly.

He nods, shifts uncomfortably, and looks at his wife who is entering the store and his daughters who are still outside, trying not to make eye contact with me.

I stand staring, waiting to see what he does next. Honestly, I’m shocked to see him here right now. From what Everly has said, he’s never even met Willow before, and they’ve only had contact over social media and sporadic phone calls.

“This is my wife, Jennifer,” he offers, looking even more uncomfortable.

“Hi, I’m Jennifer,” she says warmly, offering her hand and smiling

“Hi, I’m Nash. A family friend,” I offer.

She nods, and her eyes light up. “Oh, you’re a local. We are just having such a blast here. We’re staying at the Cozy Creek Lodge. Brian wanted to show the girls Cozy Creek, where he used to live.”

I tilt my head and ask Brian, “Have you been in touch with Everly?”

I’m so pissed that he’s just here and being so damn casual. How can he not think about them and have them be his priority when coming back here to town? Yes, her ex-husband was an absolute asshole, but Brian was the first man to break Everly’s heart and abandon her when she really needed someone. I’m going to make damn sure no other man breaks her heart ever again. She’s had a lifetime of it, and it’s not happening anymore. Not on my watch.

I find it wildly ironic that they haven’t even brought Everly up or said anything about her or Willow.

Brian’s face falls, and he looks away and says sheepishly, “I’ll give her a call.”

Jennifer looks at him and asks, “I thought you said she was busy this week.”

I tilt my head expectantly, and he at least has the decency to look embarrassed being caught in his lie. And I highly doubt that he will call her or the topic of her would even have come up had they not run into me.

He mumbles something to Jennifer, and the line moves forward.

“How have you been? Is that your kid?” he asks as he nods to Willow who has her back to us, talking to another kid in line who she probably knows from school. No doubt he’s noticed my eyes have been on her, and she’s come over to hand me a few samples while I’ve been standing here talking to her grandfather who she has no idea is related to her. This is just so wild to me.

I freeze and look at him, wondering if he’s serious right now. It’s crazy enough that he’s here on vacation and didn’t even bother contacting his daughter. But now he doesn’t even recognize his own granddaughter. He doesn’t even know her. And she even looks like Everly.

I knew he had sporadic contact with Everly, but I didn’t realize it was this bad.

Heat fills me when I think about how many people have let Everly down in her life.

I think about this for a minute before I respond, but I stare at Brian, and he looks even more uncomfortable.

I cross my arms and look at him and say quietly, “Brian, that’s your granddaughter, Willow.”

An anxious look crosses Brian’s face, and Jennifer didn’t hear me as she turned and waved at her kids to come in because their turn is coming up soon.

“How about that,” he murmurs as he stares frozen at Willow. She turns and looks at me with her toothless grin and comes to stand next to me.

“Nash, can we get peanut butter cups for Mom? Those are her favorite,” she asks, looking up at me. I know I’ll have a hard time saying no to anything this kid asks me.

“Of course,” I say as I hand her a twenty from my wallet.

I look over at Brian, wondering how he wants to play this, and he’s gone. I look out onto the sidewalk, and he and his family are hurrying to an SUV across the street. Jennifer and the girls look confused.

Jesus. He ran out of here like the building was on fire. Coward.

Gigi has been watching this, and she looks angry and visibly upset. We pick out some treats to take back for everyone and share a brownie at the table with milk for Willow and a protein shake for me.

Willow talks my ear off about a game she’s been playing, and I have no idea what she’s talking about, but she promises to show me how to play it later .

It’s crazy that he’s here on vacation with his new family and didn’t even bother calling his daughter and granddaughter to tell them he was coming.

I know one thing is for sure. Everly doesn’t need this right now with everything she has going on with Richie.

We get back to the pub, and all the baking is done and packaged up and orders are being picked up. Everly and Hayley are both helping in the kitchen because the pub is pretty packed.

I put in two orders for Willow and me, and we eat in a booth in front of the big window so I can watch for Brian. I don’t want him coming in to surprise her without giving her a heads-up. I don’t think he will, but I can’t be sure.

“Can I join you?” Everly asks, looking flushed and tired. She and Hayley have been working for a while now.

I move over, and she slides in next to me with a plate of fish and chips. “That looks good,” I say, nodding to her food.

“It is good, and I am starving. What have you two been up to?” she asks.

“Nash and I are going to play Minecraft after this,” Willow offers as she takes a bite.

“That will be fun. Thank you for hanging out with her,” Everly says as she pops a fry in her mouth.

“Anytime. She’s my favorite kid.” I offer a smile.

Everly smiles and lays her head on my shoulder. “You’re both my favorite.”

Willow runs off to see Hayley, and they’re having an animated conversation off to the side.

I take this time to say to Everly. “I ran into your dad today at the Cozy Creek Confectionery.”

Her eyebrows wrinkle, and she looks confused. “Really? He’s here?”

I nod and lean forward. “He didn’t even recognize Willow. He asked if she was mine.”

Everly’s eyes close, and she takes a deep breath. I know that hurt her. And I hate this, but she needs to know.

She shakes her head like she’s shaking off something. “It’s fine. He probably just forgot to call. I’ll call him later.” But I’m not buying it. This hurt her.

I search her eyes and can tell she’s undeniably bothered about this, and she has every right to be upset. I wish I could protect her from this, but I can’t. But I can be with her through it and be there for her.

I nod and put my arm around her. “It’s going to be okay. I love you.”

“Love you more,” she says softly.