6. Nolan
6
NOLAN
T hat night, Nolan’s brothers came over for their monthly tacos and poker game. They’d have liked to get together more often, but with everyone’s work commitments and other activities, the brothers had found it was impossible to gather more than once a month.
Now that his house was finished, Nolan usually hosted. Max’s place over his store was cramped for all four of them. Luke’s house he shared with his wife and their three children wasn’t appropriate for a rowdy poker night. Logan had recently purchased a house out on Rabbit Run Road that needed a full remodel before he could move in, so he’d been living in the back room of his office building.
They ate before playing, each piling their plates high with tacos from the spread Nolan had laid out on his island before they arrived. While they ate around his table, they chatted about this or that. Work, sports, and fishing were common topics between them.
Tonight, Logan was unusually quiet. He wasn’t as outgoing as Max or even Luke, but he seemed particularly reticent tonight. “Everything okay?” Nolan asked him.
Logan looked up from his plate. “Yeah. I’m okay. This time of year, has me down.”
“Why’s that?” Max lifted his beer bottle but didn’t drink from it; he was too intent on Logan.
“I’ve got two ugly divorce cases going right now and it’s depressing. Makes me think I never want to get married. You wouldn’t believe the way these former couples go at each other. It’s hard to imagine that they were ever in love. One of my clients and her ex are fighting over custody of their three kids. It’s gotten really ugly.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Nolan said.
“That’s rough,” Luke said, reaching for another stack of chips from the bowl in the middle of the table. “Having gone through a divorce, I know how gut-wrenching it can be. However, now that I found Abby, I have to fully endorse marriage. With the right person, it’s pretty great.”
Max rolled his eyes. “One by one, you guys are all going to get domesticated. What am I going to do? I have a bad feeling our poker games could be obsolete before long.”
“We can still play poker if we’re married,” Nolan said. “Luke’s here, isn’t he?”
“Yes, but for how much longer?” Max shook his head as if describing an inevitable decline. “And I have a prediction.” He paused dramatically. “Nolan, you’re next.”
“Me? How do you figure?”
“I saw the way you were looking at Laney Gray this afternoon. You looked the same way when you were fourteen.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Nolan said. “She’s going through a breakup. There’s no way she’s ready for anything.”
“What happened to her?” Logan asked.
Max made a face. “How do you not know? It’s all Mom’s been talking about.”
“She has?” Logan’s eyes widened. “Tell me everything.”
“You really need to lift your head up from your work every so often and connect with the outside world,” Max said.
“Laney’s fiancé was cheating on her with her best friend,” Nolan said. “She found out like minutes before the ceremony. That louse took the best friend on the honeymoon, which was meant for him and Laney. In Paris.”
“That’s cold,” Max said. “Really cold.”
A conversation followed about Laney and her misfortune, with Nolan filling in as many details as he knew. His brothers were different in a lot of ways, but they were all empathetic and compassionate.
“That must have been gut-wrenching,” Luke said. “The poor thing.”
“I know,” Nolan said.
“Yeah, but it brought her here,” Max said. “Which gives you a chance to make your move.”
“You can relate to a broken engagement,” Logan said to Nolan, not unkindly but in a matter-of-fact tone.
“You should use that to your advantage,” Max said. “Shared sympathy could bond you.”
“Not everything’s a game, Max,” Logan said, practically growling.
The two had a lifelong battle of sensibilities. Max thought life was a grand adventure, whereas Logan had a more serious nature. In fact, his assertiveness and ever-challenging questions made him a great lawyer. However, in other aspects of his life, Logan’s personality could be difficult. Most of the conflict among the brothers had been between Logan and Max, with Nolan as the peacemaker. Luke, as the oldest, had always expressed equal loyalty to both of them and mostly stayed out of it.
“We’ve talked about it already,” Nolan said, eager to keep the evening harmonious. “And it did bond us.”
“You like her,” Logan said. “For real.” Not a question, more of a statement, in typical Logan fashion.
“I do,” Nolan admitted. “It’s not exactly smart, either. She’s probably going home after the first of the year.”
“If it’s meant to be, it will be,” Luke said. “Look at Abby and me. After everything we went through, not to mention the kids, we found each other.”
“You two are adorably disgusting,” Max said.
“You’re jealous,” Logan said.
“I mean, maybe a little.” Max stretched his arms over head. “But right now I’m mostly interested in taking everyone’s money.”
If only he were joking. Max had an amazing amount of luck when it came to poker. Any game for that matter. He’d mastered his poker face and somehow was onto all of their tics as well. There were almost no nights Max went home with less money in his pocket than when he’d arrived.
Their Max was born under a lucky star.
The day of the cookie decorating party, Nolan woke to a text from Mom, asking if he wouldn’t mind picking up some more sugar and flour.
He responded with an affirmative and reminded her that Edna and Laney were joining them later that afternoon. She wrote back that she was well aware and that she couldn’t wait to see Laney again.
He smiled as he stepped into the shower. His mother and Edna were close. There was no way the two of them weren’t talking and probably plotting how to get Laney and him hitched.
Not that he minded. He could use a little well-intentioned meddling.
He stopped by Max’s store on the way to his mother’s, grabbing sacks of flour and sugar. Max was not there, having gone out to run an errand, but one of his competent clerks rang him up. Soon, he was pulling up in front of his parents’ house.
His dad was just coming out of the barn when Nolan opened the back of his SUV to grab the flour and sugar. They greeted each other with a half hug.
“How’s it going, kid?”
“I’m good. Off work until the beginning of the year. Feeling free as a bird.”
“Good for you.” His father took the flour sack from him. “Come on in. Your mother’s inside making enough cookies to feed a small country.”
They walked around to the back door that led into a mudroom connected to the kitchen. The minute he walked in, scents of sugar, butter, and cinnamon made his mouth water. The smells of Christmas and his mother.
Grace Hayes was bent over a sheet of cookie dough, stamping out dozens of stars, Christmas trees, and angels. She’d had those cookie cutters for as long as he could remember. Glass containers filled with small candies, sprinkles, and other cookie decorations lined one corner of the counter. He knew without having to look that she’d filled the refrigerator in the garage with frosting in every color of the rainbow.
She looked up, her expression brightening at the sight of him. “Hello, sweetheart.”
He set the bag of sugar on the counter, then kissed her soft cheek, catching a whiff of her flowery perfume. “Hi, Mom. Merry Christmas.”
“Aren’t you sweet to bring this for me? I could have gone into town myself, but I’m feeling a little crunched for time.”
“You want a cup of coffee?” His dad was already at the machine, pouring himself a steaming mug.
“Of Mom’s brew? Always.”
Soon, he was seated at the island with a hot cup of coffee watching his mother whip up another batch of cookies. Gingerbread this time. Nolan’s favorite.
His father had begged off, saying he had things to do, but Nolan was fairly certain he was headed to the living room to watch football. Nolan loved seeing his father thriving in retirement. He’d worried that without the farm to fuss over, his dad would become depressed. Instead, he’d fully embraced his new season of life. He volunteered at the church, spent mornings playing checkers with his buddies outside Max’s store, and helped out some of the elderly in their community by delivering groceries and doing small repairs and errands for those in need.
“I’m happy Laney could come. I’m dying to see her again,” Mom said. “Edna says she’s grown into a remarkable young lady. It’s such a shame what happened with the wedding.”
Was it? He kept that to himself, knowing he’d sound terribly self-serving if he admitted how glad he was that Laney was single. “I took her to dinner a few nights back to catch up. She’s as great as she was when we were kids.”
“You two were quite the pair that summer. I was worried you were going to take your affection a little too far and Edna would never forgive me.”
“Mom,” he said, scandalized. “I was a gentleman. Just as you and Dad taught me to be.” They’d only shared a few innocent kisses that summer. On the day she was to leave, he’d given her one last chaste kiss. One he never forgot.
“I know, dear, but a mother worries about these things. Especially with all the testosterone in this house.”
“It was Max you had to worry about.”
His mother laughed. “You don’t have to tell me about that boy. I thought he might be the death of me back then. There was an endless parade of girls in and out of this house. I had to watch him like a hawk.”
He snagged a broken cookie from one of the trays she must have recently taken out of the oven. “Mom, that’s so good.” The sugar cookie melted in his mouth.
“You were my one with the biggest, sweet tooth,” Mom said. “Or maybe it was that you were the baby, and I was more lenient with you.”
He grinned. “It’s because I’m your favorite, right?”
“Sure, you are.” His mother rolled her eyes before setting her gaze upon him for a moment. “Tell me more about this dinner with Laney the other night? Edna said Laney came home considerably cheered up after spending time with you.”
“Really? That’s nice to hear.”
“Will you take her out again?”
“I’d like to. But she’s kind of vulnerable right now. I don’t want to take advantage of that.”
“You can take her out as a friend and see where it leads.”
“I didn’t think I’d still feel all fluttery around her.” Nolan glanced down at the coffee mug with the Hayes Syrup logo on the front. “Like no time had passed. She’s smart and funny—kind of nerdy like me. Back then, no one could make me laugh harder than she did. Not even Max.”
“That’s how it was with your father. He could make me almost choke with laughter. Usually at the most inappropriate times. He still does, the rascal.”
Nolan sipped his mother’s nutty coffee. What had he found so appealing about Laney? From the moment he’d met her at the bookstore all those years ago, his heart had belonged to her. How come he’d not looked for her? It wasn’t as though he hadn’t thought about her over the years. As if he’d contemplated this out loud to his mother, he said, “I wish I’d stayed in touch with her.”
“You were young. You had lives that continued after that summer. High school and college. All the big changes that come with those.”
“She’s thinking about taking over the bookstore. Did Edna tell you that?”
“Oh yes. That’s Edna’s evil plan. She’s hoping Laney falls in love with the place again and decides to stay. Edna would never admit it, but I know she’s been lonely. She told me once she would have loved to have children. Laney’s the closest thing to a daughter she’s ever had.”
“From what Laney said, her parents don’t want her here permanently. She said they strongly discouraged her from visiting again after that summer.”
His mother nodded sagely. “I remember Penelope Gray quite well. She didn’t like how close Laney and Edna had become. She didn’t like you much, either.”
“Wait, what?”
“She told Edna that she thought you were a bad influence.”
Nolan laughed. “I’ve never been a bad influence on anyone in my life.”
“True enough. My other boys, yes. You, not so much.”
Nolan finished his coffee and eyed the cookie sheet for another broken one but found none. He knew better than to eat a fully intact cookie. His mother had been known to smack greedy hands with the back of a wooden spoon. She was ninja-fast, too.
“I wonder why she thought that about me,” Nolan asked.
“My impression was that she didn’t like how close you two had become over the summer. Penelope’s always held very tightly to her daughter. You were a teenage boy. A demographic that doesn’t have the best reputation.” Mom’s eyebrows rose and she tapped the countertop with her fingernails. “Penelope must be devastated over the wedding. According to Edna, Penelope approved of Josh. But she’s always been enamored with the Hampton types, probably because Edna and Penelope grew up so poor. I don’t think Penelope ever got over feeling like that same little girl with the holes in her shoes. Thus, she wants security for Laney. Not just security, but wealth. The right circles. The right job. Some people care so much about what others think of them.”
“Yeah. No one in this family, but yes.”
“Your father taught you all well. The only judgment we should care about is that coming from the Lord above.” Mom gestured toward the heavens. “People seem to forget that sometimes.” She waved her spatula at him. “But you, young man, should not hesitate to ask her out. She may not think she’s ready, but all of that will go out the window when she meets the right man.”
“You think that could be me?” He cringed at how vulnerable he sounded.
“Why not you? You’re the finest man I know. And you had a wonderful connection when you were young. The kind that’s genuine—before people start to pretend to be something they’re not in order to fit in or get someone to like them. Anyway, if you don’t ask her out and she goes home, you’ll regret it. You’re not a shy little boy anymore, sweetheart. You’re an esteemed professor. You own a beautiful home. You’re as handsome as any movie star. Therefore, I see no reason whatsoever that you should hesitate. She deserves a good person in her life, not that awful cheating weasel. She dodged a bullet if you ask me. You slide right in there, honey, and show her what it’s like to be loved by a good man.”
That was her typical response about a lot of things. She had often told her sons they could do whatever they set their minds toward. Her confidence in them never wavered. If only he had the same confidence when it came to women. But she was right. If he didn’t try, then how would he ever know?