Page 105 of Golden Touch
The warmth of his touch makes me ache inside. “I’m so sorry, Nash. If I had any idea this would have happened, I would have left the state when I had the chance.”
He tilts his head, considering. “You think if you left the state, then there’s no chance the brewery would have burned? Who’s to say they wouldn’t have done it anyway? They fucking told me to my face that if I didn’t turn you over to them, this could happen. And then they did, which is a fucking shame. But they went to jail for it. Instantly. So I wonder who regrets it most.”
“Well…” He’s got me there. And it’s a little confusing. “Still. I brought this trouble to your door, and I don’t think I can ever look your father in the eye again.”
“That’s bullshit,” Nash says, squeezing my shoulders. “How come you blame yourself, and not Razor? You ran away from Razor and hid for a year of your life, because you were unwilling to go down for his crimes. You told me that yourself.”
“Yeah? So?”
“So why are you going down for his crimes now?” he asks. “He burned this place. Not you. But you’re punishing yourself.”
“Because I gambled your family’s future on mine!” I shout. “I should have known right from the start that hiding here was a bad idea. I should have foreseen that it would blow up in all our faces.”
Nash doesn’t even look upset, which is weird. He just shakes his head. “I get why you think this way. Had a little chat with your brother tonight. And Jennie, too. Nobody ever has your back, do they?”
“You talked to my brother?” I gasp. “Now, there’s a waste of time.”
“Exactly.” Nash actually smiles, and his teeth glint in the darkness. “My family can be tough sometimes, but they have my back when it matters. If I showed up on any of their doorsteps with nowhere to go, I know they’d take me in. Even my dad, and he’s a cranky fucker.”
“Damn right,” says a hoarse voice from the back window.
I gasp. But Nash turns around slowly to look over his shoulder, where a face has appeared in the inky dimness. “Sorry I called you a cranky fucker,” he says.
“I am a cranky fucker,” Lyle replies. “Is the safe still there? I came to get my recipes.”
“How’d you get here?” Nash asks.
“Got Mitch to bring me. He’s waitin’ in the car.”
There’s a small sound of distress from the direction of Poppy.
“I’ll get your recipes in a sec,” Nash says. “Livia and I have more to discuss.”
“We don’t,” I whisper. “I appreciate your forgiveness, but it’s better if I go.”
“That’s a damn lie,” Poppy mutters from outside.
“She’s not wrong,” Nash says. “I love you, and it will hurt me if you leave. That’s just the truth.”
Everything inside me slows down while I try to take that in.Ilove you, he’d said. Those aren’t words I’ve heard very often in my life.
“She still breathing?” Poppy asks.
“Not sure,” says Nash. “Let’s give her a minute.”
“Nash,” I gasp. Then I gulp oxygen.
“Still breathing,” he says cheerily.
“You are…” I struggle for words. “The best man I have ever met. And you are someone that I could love, under easier circumstances. For example, if I hadn’t just ruined your family’s financial stability and future happiness.”
“But you didn’t,” comes Lyle’s gravelly voice. “I did that all myself.”
“Wait, what?” I ask. Nash and I turn to gape at the shadowy figure in the window.
“I knew this place was a tinder box,” he says with a sigh. “It’s not up to code. That’s why I haven’t made any improvements to the building. Like that canning line Nash wants to fix up. I would have had to move a wall, which is a structural improvement…”
“Which would’ve demanded that you bring the place up to code,” Nash says slowly. “The fire marshal was probably on your ass to make improvements.”
