11. Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

Nolan — Now

I loved women.

When I was in the praying mood, I made sure to thank God for the women in my life.

But I loved a particular one the most.

“Well, look at you,” I crooned to Winnie, sprawled out beside her on the living room floor. “You’re quite the artist. Good enough to give your stinky uncle Levi a run for his money.”

With a giggle, Wren scribbled harder, her chubby hand clenching the crayon. She lay on her belly, clad in nothing but a diaper and a mermaid shirt. Splatters of mashed potatoes were dried on her fingers, pairing perfectly with the avocado she’d smeared into the two black pigtails atop her head. I smiled to myself, thinking about how she’d tried to rub it into her dad’s beard during dinner.

“More,” she whispered, though it sounded more like mo . She was a year and a half, and absorbing more knowledge each day, but she was smart enough to know when she was doing something she shouldn’t. “More, more.”

I grinned, eyeballing where her parents stood in my kitchen. We’d just finished our weekly family dinner, and it had been my turn to host. Deciding we were in the clear, I snuck her another bite of cookie—the baby ones that dissolve once you put them in your mouth. “You’re going to turn into a cookie if you eat any more,” I warned when she insisted on another bite, and she gave me a gap-toothed smile like that was her entire dream. “You’re going to get me in trouble with your mommy—”

“Winnie!”

My niece and I shared a wide-eyed look at the sound of her mom’s voice. I scrambled, shoving the soggy cookie in my mouth just as Shay said, “Winnie, I told you no more cookies. You’ve had three—” Shay covered her mouth, her shoulders shaking as she fought off a laugh.

I followed her gaze and choked at the sight of Wren sprawled out on her back, her tongue hanging out like she was playing dead.

I might’ve fed her the cookie, but she was the true mastermind.

Shay scooped her daughter up, both of them giggling as she tickled her side. I cleaned up the crayons and paper, setting them in the craft bin for her to use later, and then joined Jake and Brooks in the kitchen. “Did you teach her that?” I asked, grabbing a towel to help Brooks clean up dinner.

“We’ve been teaching Cash some new tricks,” he said, referring to their German shepherd. “Apparently she liked that one.”

I elbowed his side. “Makes sense why she was barking at me for a cookie.”

He shook his head with a grin, and it struck me how much he looked like Dad. Not solely because he’d inherited Dad’s dark hair and sturdy frame, but because of the pride in his eyes as he talked about his kid. “Thanks for letting us have dinner here.”

“Thanks for feeding me.” I put the last of the dishes on the rack. “I keep telling you—we can switch houses.”

“And kick you out of your bachelor pad?”

“Anywhere is a bachelor pad as long as I’m there.” I leaned against the counter beside him, both of us watching as Jake and Shay played with Winnie in the living room.

I’d lived here for most of my life. It was a two-story cabin, the ceilings high and vaulted. The hardwood flooring was nicked and scratched, proof three boys had grown up here. The living room was open, room for a sectional and recliner. There were deer mounts and photos on the log walls. A fireplace in the corner with a string guitar leaning against it. It had been Dad’s. I smiled as my niece curiously strummed the strings, but I couldn’t stop my thoughts from wandering back to what Sam had said the other night: You hang out with your brother and that pretty wife and daughter of his, but at the end of the day, you go home to that big house alone .

Pushing past the lump in my throat, I added, “Besides, it makes more sense for you to have the bigger house.” There were six bedrooms. Besides mine, and the one I kept ready for Levi when he visited, they were empty. “There’s one of me and three of you—maybe more if you start pumping out babies left and right.”

“Shay has been feeling a little baby hungry,” Brooks said, and I could tell by the way he watched his wife, he was excited to grow their family. Hell, I was excited for them. If I had my way, I’d have thirty nieces and nephews. “But I don’t know. This is your home—”

“It’s our childhood home,” I reminded him. “I just happen to be the last one here. Wouldn’t it be cool to raise your kids in the house you grew up in?”

“You could do the same.” Brooks raised a brow, and I snorted, not bothering to grace that with a response. “Yeah, I thought so. Guess I’ll have to rely on Levi to give Wren some cousins.” He patted my shoulder. “Thanks for offering us the house—but we’re good. Shay and I talked it over, and we’d rather add on than move out. That cabin was our beginning, and we don’t want to give it up.”

I didn’t blame him. When Shay first moved to town, she and Brooks had been at each other’s throats. But slowly, they lowered their walls and let the other in. Brooks had built her that house, and in return, Shay saved my brother. They were each other’s home.

I wouldn’t give that up either.

I cleared my throat. The last of the sun was glaring through the window, and I glanced at the clock. “Alright.” I kept my voice as relaxed as I could manage. “I’m going to head out. You guys can stay as long as you want, obviously—”

“Where you going?” Jake smiled smugly as he pulled out a chair at the kitchen table. He knew exactly where I was going. “Oh, that’s right—you’ve got a hot date with Indy.”

Before I could tell him to eat sand, Brooks said, “So she’s really back in town, huh?”

I wasn’t surprised he’d heard the news. In this town, word traveled, especially news as hot as Indy. But I was shocked he hadn’t brought it up before now. He’d fidgeted all throughout dinner, so much Shay had stomped on his foot beneath the table. I’d brushed it off as them having a silent argument, or even as foreplay—I had no doubt Brooks was a kinky bastard—but now it was clear it’d been Shay telling him to mind his own business.

“Tell him the best part, Nolan,” Jake pressed.

I pointed a finger at him. “This is the last time you’re invited to family dinner.”

“That’s fine.” He wiggled his brows. “You can invite your wife.”

“Your what?” Brooks gritted out.

I rolled my eyes and couldn’t help but laugh along with Jake. Somehow I’d managed to get stuck with the town’s biggest gossip as my best friend. “Alright, cool your shit.” I grinned at the sight of red creeping up Brooks’s neck. I’d already planned on telling him, so I might as well have some fun with it. “You’ve got a wife. I’ve got a wife. What’s the big deal? We can go on double dates—”

His jaw clenched, and when it was clear he was a tiny nudge away from full-blown mama-bear mode, I told him the truth. Not stopping even when Shay stepped into the kitchen, her eyes widening with every word.

“There, now you know everything.” I set my arms on the countertop, leaning against the kitchen island. “And as you can see, it’s not a big deal. We’re getting divorced, but as far as anyone outside this room is concerned, we already did.” I shot Jake a glance, making sure that was understood. I didn’t care if he’d leaked the news tonight, but Indy had asked me not to tell anyone. And after she’d rushed me out of her parents’ diner, it was obvious who she was hiding this from. That was fine.

I wouldn’t pretend I hadn’t earned my spot as her dirty little secret .

“You’re playing with fire.” Brooks’s arms were tense at his side, his voice deep with concern. “There’s no way you don’t get burned.”

I didn’t respond, not bothering to agree or disagree with him. He looked inclined to protest, but before he could, Shay asked, “What’s your wife’s name again? Indy?”

I paused at that. It was the first time in years Indy had been referred to as my wife in a way that wasn’t meant as a joke or a dig. “Yeah.” I rubbed the back of my neck. “Indy Tyler. Her folks are Lila and Seth.”

She made a squeaking noise, her cheeks turning the same shade as the pink in her hair. Before I could think more on that, I checked the clock again. “Alright. I’m going to go.”

Brooks scuffed his boot against the floor, seeming to hesitate before he admitted, “I really don’t think going to the bar is a good idea.”

I groaned, feeling like a broken record. “I’m not going to drink.”

He looked ready to give me his unwanted opinion, but Jake beat him to it. “I have to agree. I don’t think it’s a good idea either.”

“What?” I scoffed, wishing I’d never left Winnie in the living room. Babies are way cooler and talk less. “You’re the one who guilted me into doing this in the first place.”

He hadn’t. And based on the look Jake gave me, he knew he hadn’t either. “I’m not talking about you fixing things with Indy. I’m talking about you taking her to that bar. Why the hell would you want to take Indy on a date there?”

“It’s not a date,” I said, even though I’d already told him that when I shared the plan with him this morning. “And you know exactly the crowd that hangs out there. That’s why we’re going.”

Plus, I needed to talk to Heath about buying the bar. Once he read Dad’s letter and saw I not only had his blessing, but the money, there was no way he wouldn’t sell it to me. I hoped.

Jake pressed his lips together, and I thought a miracle might happen and he’d stay quiet. But I should’ve known better than that. “I think you need to remember there’s a whole lot more than just you that kept Indy away all these years. You might as well throw her to the wolves. ”

I hesitated at the door. Was I? Despite what she might believe, I didn’t want to hurt her. And no matter how she might’ve tried to hide it before, I knew this town’s words had done some damage.

I waved the thought off and stepped out the door, reminding myself what this was. Indy had asked me to repair her reputation. I wasn’t throwing her to the wolves.

Even if I was, Indy could handle her own. She didn’t need me.

I’d always been the one who needed her.