Page 88 of Returning to Everton

“No, Rowen, you’re right,” he reassures her. “Logan, we leave in thirty minutes.”

“Okay, Dad! Come on Violet!” They turn and run out the door back to the playhouse.

Once the coast is clear, I turn back to Rowen. “Have fun?” I ask with a smirk.

She blushes bright red but squares her shoulders and tilts her head up. “Yes, I did actually. Your brother is very thorough,” she smirks right back at me. Damn, I love it when she teases me like this.

“If you thought he was thorough, wait until I get you inmybed,” I wink at her.

“Oh, I can’t wait,” she quips back and my nostrils flare at the lust I see in her eyes.

Hudson must see because he cuts in before I take things too far. “Okay, enough about that. I’m glad you and Kayden had a good time,” he smirks at Rowen, “but we have other things to talk about now that you’re back.”

Rowen’s shoulders sag at that. She clearly isn’t ready to let go of her orgasm high. “Trust me, Rowe, none of us want to talk about this, but weneedto,” I tell her gently. “We talked about the problem at hand some more while you were gone, and Hudson has some questions for you that might help us figure this all out.”

She sighs and looks at Hudson expectantly. “Do you still have any of the tea that Harris used to make you? We’re hoping the potion is mixed in with the tea, and if you have any, I’ll be able to track down the magic user that helped him,” Hudson explains.

“Oh, ummm I don’t know. If I did it would be in the kitchen somewhere,” she responds uncertainly.

“Do you know what container it was in?” Hudson questions.

She closes her eyes and rubs her hand over her eyebrow. “It was in a decorative tin jar… I think it had flowers or butterflies on it?”

With how hard she’s thinking about this tin, either she’s only seen it a few times, or her memory has been messed with. Not that that surprises me, we already figured he did something to her memory. I’m just worried about how far he went with it. What else has she forgotten because of that jackass?

Hudson gets up and starts rummaging through her kitchen looking for the tin. Declan joins him, searching the pantry. I look over at Nate, and he looks like he’s about to explode with all the anger he’s bottling up. It’s no wonder he’s not helping with the search, I think he’s more likely to destroy Rowe’s kitchen than be of any help.

I catch Rowen’s eye and tilt my head toward him. She looks over and sees what I see, then looks back at me, and nods her head.

“Hey, Nate?” she attempts to get his attention.

His head jerks over to look at her and she smiles at him to disarm him. “Yeah, sweets?”

“Will you distract me from all of this?” she pleads with him. The look on her face almost breaks my heart, so I know it had the desired effect on Nate.

He sighs and walks over to her and squats down to her level. “How can I do that, love?” he asks as he cups her cheek.

She leans into his hand and smiles up at him. “I don’t know, just talk to me. Tell me something, anything. What have you been up to since I left?”

Nate huffs at that. “This may take some time, let me sit down so I don’t kill my knees squatting like this,” he laughs as he stands and takes a seat next to her.

“Let’s see, what have I been up to since you’ve been gone... Well, first I was a grumpy bastard and railed against the world and everyone in it. Then these assholes somehow managed to calm me down slightly. Although, I didn’t start giving up on most of the anger I was holding onto until Declan and Jane moved to town and we all became friends. Then Jane died and Declan was left with a broken heart and this tiny little baby to take care of. He was a wreck. It snapped me out of my despair, I had something to live for now. Once Dec and Logan moved in with us, I tried to let go of all my anger, so I could be a good role model for Logan,” he gives her the CliffsNotes version of how bad he was when she left.

“You’re a great role model Nate. I must say, I was surprised about how good you are with Violet at first, but it makes sense knowing you’ve been helping raise Logan for seven years,” she compliments him, and I want to do something to make her look at me like that.

Nate scratches his cheek in embarrassment of her praise. “Thanks, Rowe. I spent a lot of time with Logan when he was a baby. I don’t know, I guess I felt the need to make up for being such an insufferable prick for so long, but I was his main caregiver for a while. Declan was in a bad way. Not that he ever neglected Logan or anything, he just needed time and space to grieve, and I stepped up to the plate.”

Nate looks uncomfortable talking about this, but he keeps going because he can tell it means a lot to Rowe for him to tell her. It was a huge shock to all of us when Nate stepped up like he did for Declan. Hudson was busy trying to get the bakery off the ground, and Kayden and I were running ourselves ragged working at the shop almost twenty-four seven. Nate had been so lost for so long after Rowe left, he didn’t have a job or any responsibilities. He was barely living until Declan and Jane moved here.

She cups his cheek, leans forward, and kisses him. It starts as just a tender peck on the lips, but once her lips touch his, Nate snaps and pulls her into his lap so he can ravage her. I look away to give them the illusion of privacy, not that they really care who’s watching, and see Declan and Hudson are back. Hudson has a tin in his hand, and my eyes widen in surprise.

“Is that it?” I blurt and Rowen pulls away from Nate to see what’s going on.

She sees Hud holding the tin and slowly nods her head while she holds her breath. Nate felt her tense when she saw it, so he tightens his arms around her in comfort. She leans into him more and lets out her breath.

“Yeah, that’s it,” she confirms.

“Do you mind if I take it home?” Hudson asks her gently.

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