Page 36 of Faith
Montgomery smiled as he watched them.
When Zeke caught Mont, he eased back from Nina and smiled at her. “Do you want to go ride?”
“Yes,” Nina said, taking a hand from each man. She tugged them to her sides, then looped her hands over each one’s elbow.
The three of them walked down the sidewalk as one, taking their time as they followed families toward the park. The soft music reached them, and Nina squeezed her hands on both their elbows.
Nina gasped when she saw the building, windows thrown open, that housed the vintage carousel. She tugged both of them forward, urging them to move faster.
Zeke couldn’t help his smile at her delight. She was like a kid again, enjoying something that should have been a simple pleasure. Something everyone should have been able to enjoy whenever they wanted.
Montgomery handed over a dollar to cover their rides, getting a quarter back. The three of them found their way onto the carousel. Nina debated between a black horse with a wide open mouth and a pink mane and a beige horse with a lowered head and a brown mane.
“We’ll take another ride,” Montgomery told her, allowing her to pick the black horse before the ride started.
Montgomery rode the horse next to Nina, and Zeke sat on a sled behind them. He stared at brother and sister, hoping they had many more good memories ahead of them.
The ride ended and Nina swung her leg to get off the horse, nearly stepping off the edge of the carousel. Zeke was right there to catch her, saving her from a twisted ankle or worse.
“Are you okay?” he asked, looking her over closely.
Nina nodded. “Always my hero.”
Zeke righted her, setting her away from him with a tight smile. He was no one’s hero. He’d failed more times than he could count, especially when it came to Nina.
Zeke led the way off the carousel, his skin feeling too tight and his neck tensing with every step he took. Twelve years of failing her couldn’t be erased with one save. It couldn’t ever be erased. And he needed to remember that.
Montgomery and Nina raced to get back in line for another ride, and Zeke followed, knowing he wouldn’t leave them alone. He and Montgomery were both checking the crowd constantly, watching for any potential threat.
Zeke doubted Gwendolyn Lennox would be dumb enough to show her face, but he knew she wasn’t operating alone. She had an army. One who would do anything for her. Including take Nina out surrounded by families and kids, if that was what Gwendolyn ordered.
Their second ride around the carousel was less eventful, with Nina not losing her balance. After, they walked around the park, watching the kids and families play and laugh and enjoy the day.
“I was really hoping I’d have some nieces or nephews to meet,” Nina said to Montgomery. “You never had anyone?”
Montgomery shook his head. His eyes were shaded by his glasses, hiding the truth from Nina. A truth Zeke knew as well as his own. Montgomery never forgave himself for letting Nina disappear. He never thought he was worthy of happiness when his sister didn’t get to have hers.
“Never found the right one.”
“You and Berkeley?—”
“No,” Montgomery said before Nina could finish her question. “There’s nothing going on.”
Nina looked up at her brother with a look that said she didn’t believe him.
Zeke wondered what he missed. Berkeley was amazing, but she was their office manager. She kept everything together and going. Montgomery never said anything about her that didn’t have to do with work.
But Nina saw something that made her ask. Maybe it was because she was the only woman Nina saw Montgomery around. That had to be it.
“There’s no one else. Never has been. I was in the military, then I started Rose Protection Agency, and I never slowed down to think about having a family or anything.” Montgomery’s words were ones Zeke had told himself for years, but there was something underneath, something Zeke felt but had never been able to name.
Nina. For Zeke, it was loving Nina. But it was there for Montgomery, too.
“Maybe one day,” Nina said.
“Always the optimist,” Montgomery replied.
“I have to be. I had to be. Otherwise, I never would have survived.” Nina’s words were a reminder of why they were there. Why they were reliving childhood memories and happier times.
