Chapter Six – Haven
Chapter Six
HAVEN
I stared down at my car and the new tires that replaced the ones that literally had zero tread on them. “Hank? Why does my car have all new tires on it?”
He looked at the car, nodded, and said, “It does seem to have new tires on it.”
My hands went to my waist. “Hank?”
He held up his hands. “It wasn’t me, Haven. Someone was, um…paying it forward. They said to take care of the next customer, and you happened to be that customer. Pure luck.”
Narrowing my eyes at him, I said, “Did this someone have a name?”
Hank grinned. “Santa Claus was the name I believe he gave.”
I tilted my head and regarded him. “Is that so?”
“Yep, that is the way of it.”
Sighing, my hands dropped to my sides. “Was it Ted?”
Hank choked. “Ted?”
“Ted Reynolds?”
Hank laughed. “The farrier?”
“Yes.”
“Why would it be him?”
I could tell from his surprised response that it hadn’t been Ted who had done the good deed.
When I didn’t answer, he said, “Are you dating him?”
“Well, I mean, we’ve gone out a few times.”
Hank whistled and said, “Nate know?”
My heart felt like it dropped to my stomach. “Nate did this?”
“What makes you think that?”
I narrowed my eyes and pointed to Hank. “Hank, you never were a good liar. Was Nate Shaw playing Santa Claus today?”
He closed his eyes as he scrubbed his hand down his face. “Well, damn it. Please don’t tell him I told you.”
I blinked a few times, looked at my car, then back to Hank. “Nate bought my tires?”
He nodded. “He said if you wanted to pay him back, you could, but I think he wanted to do this for you, Haven.”
My mouth opened, and I quickly shut it. I didn’t even know what to say, but I shouldn’t be surprised. My mind drifted to the other night when he held me while I cried. He was so tender, and when he whispered he would be there for me, it had been the cause of more tears because I knew he would never be there for me the way I wanted.
“Nate did this,” I said again as I faced my car. “Why would he do that?”
“I’m guessing it’s because he cares for you and didn’t want to see you driving around with unsafe tires.”
Snapping my head to look at Hank, I asked, “He cares for me?”
“Haven, you didn’t notice how he got jealous when I offered to give you a ride home last week?”
“He did?” I asked, feeling a little spark of hope in my chest.
“Yes, ma’am. He was not about to let me take you home.”
My mind drifted back to Nate wanting to tell me something but stopped when Ted showed up. Damn it all. What was he going to say?
“Thank you for telling me, Hank.”
“Now, you’re not going to go off and yell at him for doing something nice for you, are you?”
Smiling, I shook my head. “Me? Yell at Santa Claus? I don’t want coal in my Christmas stocking, Hank.”
Hank winked. “Haven, you also might want to think twice about Ted Reynolds.”
Curious, I turned and faced him before slipping into my car. “Why’s that?”
Hank looked down at the ground nervously before his eyes met mine. “He isn’t known for being a one-woman kind of guy, if you catch my drift.”
The news of Ted should have made me feel sad. Instead, it did nothing. Absolutely nothing.
“Thanks, Hank. And thank you for working me in today.”
He waved as I slipped into the car. I started it, pulled out of the drive, and headed to my meeting with Sophia and our lawyer with a little bit of stress lifted off my shoulders…and it was thanks to Nate Shaw. Of all people. He’d saved me more than once, so why I was surprised baffled me.
I was sure Sophia and I looked like idiots sitting at the meeting table with our mouths hanging open.
Sophia spoke first. “Who was it?”
Pete Mitchell lifted his shoulders. “They wanted to remain anonymous. The check came from another lawyer’s office only minutes before the two of you showed up. It is made out to the LLC you both set up.”
My finger went to the check and pulled it closer to me. The check was for three-hundred-thousand dollars. “Is this legit?” I asked, even though I heard him say it was from another law office.
Pete shook his head. “It’s a donation to your business. You could use it for whatever you want. The dog park, pay off your bus or current debts, whatever you’d like. There was no stipulation with it.”
Turning to Sophia, I slowly shook my head. “Who has three-hundred-thousand dollars to just…”
My voice trailed off.
“What is it?” Sophia asked.
Tears started to build in my eyes as I thought about earlier when I picked up my car. “He put new tires on my car.”
Pete and Sophia looked at one another and then back to me.
“Who put new tires on your car?” Sophia asked.
Pete handed me a tissue as I fought to keep my tears at bay. I cleared my throat once I knew I could speak without bursting into tears. “Nate. This check is from Nate Shaw.”
“Nate?” Sophia asked in a surprised voice.
Pete looked at the check and then at me. “It’s possible. The Shaw family does a lot for the community. This amount of money could have certainly come from them.”
“Do you know who the law firm is that represents the Shaws?” I asked Pete.
He tugged on his tie as he looked at the check, then back to me. He hesitated as his eyes bounced from the check, to me, and landed on Sophia.
“It’s this law firm listed on the check, isn’t it?”
Nodding, Pete replied, “It is, yes.”
Sophia drew in a sharp breath. “Do you really think it was Nate?”
I nodded. “I know it was.”
“Why would he want to remain anonymous, though?”
Pete spoke then. “It could be for several different reasons.”
With a shake of my head, I said, “I know why he did it.”
“Why?” Pete and Sophia asked at the same time.
A part of me wondered if Nate did it because of what my father had done to me all those years ago. Was it guilt that made him do it? Knowing what a low life of a father I had, or was it simply because he wanted to do this for…me?
Looking at Sophia, I said, “The why doesn’t matter right now.”
“I know Nate, he won’t take this check back or he’ll deny it was him who sent it.”
“What do you think we should do with it?”
She glanced at the check and then thought for a moment. “I think you pay off the bus loan and business credit card.”
Pete nodded his head in agreement.
“That is still leaving you—us—with a good amount of money left. I think we put it aside for anything that might pop up. Having some money in the bank is always good, right?” Sophia asked Pete.
“I agree with what Sophia is suggesting. You don’t have a lot of debt, which is good. But this donation can help even more with that. And like Sophia suggested, you should put it in the bank and hang onto it. With the donations that have come on board and the money the two of you are bringing, you don’t have to have any more of a down payment to get the business loan. You’re set there.”
I nodded. “Okay. Yes, I think we should do what you suggested, Sophia.”
She smiled, as did Pete.
“If it was Nate Shaw who gave you this money, he either really loves dogs or…”
My head snapped up to look at Pete. “Or?”
“Or he has a heart of gold.”
Sophia chuckled. “Or he has a strange way of showing someone he has feelings for them.”
By the time our meeting was over and Sophia and I walked out to the parking lot, my mind had gone over every possible reason I could think of why Nate Shaw would drop a shit-ton of money into my lap. Or my business lap, if you will.
“Your mind is racing, Haven.”
“Do you know that when I picked up my car, I thought Ted had paid for my tires? Ted? The guy who has never even held a door open for me. How could I have been so stupid?”
Sophia stopped at her car. “How did you find out it was Nate?”
“By mistake. Hank slipped and said it was Nate. I should have known. The night he picked me up in the storm, he had wanted to pay for the new tire, and I went off on him.”
“Why?”
I shrugged. “Pride mostly. My mother was always so adamant about not taking handouts. That a man always wants something in return. When I heard Nate say he would pay for it, I got embarrassed and used anger to deal with it.”
“Then I have to ask this, Haven, how are you taking it that he gave you three-hundred thousand?”
“He didn’t give it to me; he gave it to our business. And where does a twenty-two-year-old get that kind of money? I mean, his house is beautiful, he has a brand-new Ford F250 truck, and he’s dishing out three-hundred-thousand-dollar checks?”
Sophia looked around, wondering if she should say anything. Ultimately, she said, “I know the grandkids all received a trust from their grandparents. That’s how Josh and Nate bought the land and built houses. Please don’t let Nate know I told you. I don’t think it’s a big secret, but I don’t think they want me going around telling people. You’re not people, though. I mean, you are, but you know what I mean.”
“I know the Shaws are a wealthy family, but, Sophia, he gave us three-hundred-thousand dollars. Why?”
Sophia gave me a soft smile. “The same reason Josh donated or, I would assume it’s the same reason.”
My gaze met hers. “I want to think I know why, but it’s Nate. We have a history.”
Her brows rose. “What kind of history?”
I closed my eyes as that night in the barn returned to me. “Our senior year of high school, I worked with a horse at Nate’s parents’ barn. We were the only ones left in the barn, and I was trying to save this kitten, and let’s just say I ended up on the bed in the office. Things happened, and I was so gloriously happy, Sophia. I can’t even begin to tell you how long I had, or if I’m being honest, I have liked Nate. Things went pretty far, but not that far. He just stopped and said it was a mistake. He kept repeating how what we had done—what we’d almost done—was a mistake.”
Sophia took my hand in hers. “He got scared, Haven. He’s still scared.”
With a shake of my head, I felt the tears starting to build. “No, I don’t think that’s it. He knows something about my past and I’m afraid…I’m afraid…”
“You’re afraid of what?” Sophia asked.
“That my past is what is keeping him from moving on from friendship. I know he cares about me, that is evident with what he did about my car and the donation.”
“I think he more than cares for you as a friend. You should see him when your name gets brought up. Something in him changes, and he lights up. And don’t even get me started when I mentioned you had gone out with Ted. I thought Nate was going to tear his hair out.”
My chest ached. “Why can’t he admit he has feelings if he truly does have them?”
Sophia thought for a moment. “I wish I had that answer for you, sweetie. The only person who knows that answer is Nate.”
I nodded. “What do I do now? Do I tell him I know the money and the tires, that it was all from him?”
Sophia shrugged. “I could ask Josh if you want me to. He would have a better insight into Nate. But, if you think whatever it is that was in the past is the reason he is friend zoning you, just ask him.”
I closed my eyes and tried to push away the nausea that I felt any time I thought of my father. I wasn’t sure if I would ever be able to talk about those years, especially to Nate. What if he looked at me differently because of my father and how horrible of a person he was to me and my mom.
Drawing in a deep breath, I asked, “If you tell Josh, will you please ask him not to say anything to Nate that I think it’s him?”
“Of course. And you can trust Josh. He won’t say anything.”
I gave her a weak smile.
“I need to run. Please let me know if you need me to do anything for tomorrow’s pick-ups.”
“Yes, of course,” I said with a nod. “Go enjoy your evening with Josh.”
Sophia pulled me into a hug. “Call me if you need anything.”
“I will. Have a good night.”
“You too, Haven.”
The drive back to my apartment was a blur. What was I going to do? Did I confront Nate and tell him I knew the money was from him? Do I not acknowledge it? I was confused. One second Nate Shaw was cold, the next hot as all get out. So the biggest mystery was what did he want from me?
Once I entered my apartment, I dropped my things on the floor and headed to my bedroom. Face-planting onto the bed, I let out a yell before rolling over and staring up at the ceiling. A part of me thought I should be angry at Nate for giving me so much money, but another part was so overcome with relief that I felt like I couldn’t think straight. Why would a man give someone three-hundred-thousand dollars for the heck of it? Did he think I would shove it back in his face and tell him ‘no, thank you’? No, he is banking on me not finding out it was from him.
Closing my eyes, I thought about how I had reacted to the tire. Of course, he would most likely think I would turn it down. He simply did it out of the kindness of his heart. That was a lot of money, though, for just the kindness of your heart.
My hands came up to my chest as I drew in a deep breath and slowly let it out. “Nate Shaw…what in the world are you doing and why?”
I reached for my pillow, brought it to my chest, and rolled onto my side. I was exhausted. The last thing I remembered before drifting off to sleep was silver eyes looking into mine, and Nate’s soft words were an echo as I drifted off to sleep.
“Last night…something–”
“Something what, Nate?” I whispered into the pillow right before finally succumbing to sleep.