Page 80 of A False Start
She doesn’t react to that little tidbit. Bless her. “It seems like you two make each other happy. I don’t know when I last heard you laugh like that.”Before Nadia? Years.
“Mhm.” I watch the coffee drip into the glass carafe.
She pours the boiling water out of this dainty little kettle, spilling the steaming liquid out in slow circles over the filter, not missing a fucking beat. “Have you heard from—”
“No.”
“Does she know about—”
“No,” I growl, a protective streak I didn’t even know I possessed leaping up and rearing its ugly head.
My mom turns to me, her eyes narrowing on me.Now we’re in touchy territory.
“Don’t you growl at me. You need to tell her. And you need to tidy that up. It’s way overdue. You can’t keep running from your past or it’s going to bite you in your very stubborn ass.”
“I know,” I whisper harshly—hardly better than a growl—good mood evaporating right before my eyes.
“Don’t drag your feet.” She pours the coffee into the waiting mugs.
I press my hands to the brim of my hat, squeezing the edges in as I stare down at the countertop. “Iknow. I’m trying. I have been trying for years.”
Her eyes narrow as she glares down her nose at me. “Try harder, Griffy. And grab the other two.” She gestures with her chin at the two mugs closest to me. And then her face morphs into a smile as she scoops her two up and walks into the living room.
“So, Nadia, tell us about your plans. Last time, you said you were thinking about going back to school. What for?”
Nadia takes the coffee with a warm smile, wrapping her dainty fingers around the mug. “Well, I got into vet school.” She looks my way from beneath the thick fringe of her lashes, suddenly shy. She clears her throat. “I actually start in September. They took me as a late application.”
“That’s just great!” God, why does my dad always sound like he’s shouting? I smile into my coffee mug.
“Close by?” Mom asks.
Nadia nods. “Yeah. At Emerald Lake Veterinary College.”
“Will you come back and work where you’re at now when you graduate?” My mom is not so subtly trying to figure out if she’s sticking around, and it takes everything in me not to roll my eyes.
“I...don’t know.” Nadia’s cheeks go pink, and she stares down at her coffee. “I think I might like to do some sort of rescue work, actually.” Her eyes find mine, swimming with an emotion I can’t quite put my finger on. “I’ve really enjoyed rehabilitating Cowboy, the horse that Griffin bought me. The racing industry can be hard on horses. I know some end up in less-than-ideal circumstances. I think I could do something with that...I don’t know...”
She shrugs, trailing off and looking up at the ceiling like she’s said something silly. But nothing about what she said sounds silly to me. With her soft heart, and spunky side, she’d be perfect doing something like this with horses.
“I have a bit of an inheritance. I’d like to put that money toward something good. Something helpful.”
My throat constricts as I try to swallow. How someone like her has even looked my way, someone who’s risen above her circumstances so fearlessly—I just don’t get it.
I really need to get my shit together.
“That sounds like a lovely idea,” my mother says kindly. But she doesn’t get how incredible this woman is. How pure. How strong. How inspiring.
Because never mind myself, all I want is for Nadia’s dreams to come true. And the prospect of hurting her makes me almost physically ill.
Which means I’ve got one major loose end I need to tie up. The one woman in the world I manage to find all the right words around deserves that much and more.
27
Nadia
I wakeup in Griffin’s arms and have the strangest sense of belonging somewhere for the first time in my life.
I feel safe. I feel treasured. I feel like my home is held tight between his rock-hard arms.
