Chapter Twelve – Nathan
Chapter Twelve
NATHAN
Haven’s eyes started to fill with tears before she blinked them back and softly said, “Pinch me.”
Grinning, I looked over to where Sophia and Doug were standing and going over the plans. Meeting her gaze once again, I said, “I think we should save that for later in the bedroom.”
Haven laughed. “Thank you for making me see I was having a pity party for one.”
“You were not, Haven. You were expressing your feelings, and nothing is wrong with that. I want you to always feel like you can be honest with me.”
She bit into her lower lip and shook her head. “Nate Shaw, you may just be the most perfect man in the world.”
I scoffed. “Hardly perfect. But I am behind you a hundred percent. I want to see your dreams come true, Haven.”
She drew in a deep breath and slowly let it out. “I’m so glad my tire was flat that night.”
Drawing her into my arms, I held her tightly as I kissed the top of her head. “So am I. So. Am. I.”
Glancing back over to Sophia and Doug, she cleared her throat. “We should get back over there.”
“The sooner we get Doug on board, the sooner we can get this project going.”
Lacing her fingers in mine, we returned to Doug and Sophia.
“Okay, what’s the next step?” Haven asked in a voice that was filled with hope and excitement. Sophia and I exchanged a smile as Doug launched into the steps that needed to be taken next.
My heart felt full with something I had never experienced before as I watched Haven contain the happiness that was clearly about to spill over.
Sophia took my arm and held me back as we all started to walk toward our vehicles.
“Nate, I just wanted to say that I’m so happy the two of you finally found your way to each other. Thank you for believing in her dreams.”
I smiled at my future sister-in-law. “I can’t explain it, Sophia, but I want to see her happy. I need to see her happy.”
A wide grin appeared on her face, and she patted me lightly on the chest. “That, Nate, is your heart falling in love.”
Sophia started to walk off, and I couldn’t help but smile. Six months ago, if someone had told me that, I would have laughed my ass off.
“Looks like Josh is smarter than I thought.”
“You invited a girl for Thanksgiving?” my sister Lily asked as she held her daughter Maggie while we stood in our parents’ kitchen for a family dinner night.
Glancing around the kitchen, I shot my sister a warning look. “Do we have to talk about this now?”
She laughed. “Um, yes. Nate, you’ve never seriously dated anyone. Who is it?”
I turned to face my sister. “How do you even know?”
Her eyes lit up. “So it’s true! Who is it?”
“How did you know?”
Lily rolled her eyes. “Avery.”
My mouth fell open. “How did Avery know?”
With a half-shrug, Lily set Maggie down, who then ran over to our mother when she walked into the kitchen.
“How did Avery know what?” Mom asked, looking between me and Lily.
“That Nate is dating someone and asked them to come over for Thanksgiving.”
I elbowed Lily in the side.
“Hey, that hurt, you butt munch!”
“Butt munch?” I asked with a laugh. “Seriously, Lily, is that all you’ve got?”
“The both of you stop it. You sound like toddlers.”
At that moment, Maggie cried out, “Butt munch!”
Our mom looked at her granddaughter and then back to us. “See? Are you happy now? You taught your daughter something new, Lily.”
Lily giggled, then quickly stopped when our mother shot her the look. The one that all moms have to warn you to stop while you’re ahead.
With a sigh, Lily leaned against the kitchen counter. “She’ll forget it in an hour.”
“We’ll see,” Mom stated, giving Maggie a piece of banana nut bread and telling her to go find her granddad.
Once Maggie was out of the kitchen, my mother focused all her attention on me. “Who did you invite for Thanksgiving?”
I shot Lily another dirty look to which she simply smiled and folded her arms over her chest as she waited for me to answer.
“She hasn’t told me if she is coming yet. It would be her and her mother.”
That intrigued both women in the room. I inwardly cursed myself. Less is better with my sister and mother.
“Do I know her?” Lily asked.
“Yes,” I replied, taking the garlic bread my mother left me in charge of out of the oven.
“Do I know her?” Mom asked.
Sighing, I replied, “Yes, you’re friends with her mother, so I hope you can convince them to come.”
“Nate! Who is it?” Lily said as she grabbed my arm and shook it.
I wouldn’t win this battle, and everyone would find out sooner or later. I was honestly surprised they didn’t know already. My parents had friends everywhere in this town, and somehow my sister was always in the know.
After I took off the oven mitts and set them down, I turned to face them both. “It’s Haven.”
For a few seconds, neither of them said or did a thing. They simply stared at me. My mother was the first to break the silence.
“Well, it’s about damn time!”
Lily jumped and clapped her hands. “Finally! Holy crap, Nate. It took you long enough to open your eyes.”
I was pretty sure my mouth was on the ground. “What do you mean, finally ?”
Lily laughed. “Haven has liked you for as long as I can remember. You finally noticed her.”
Frowning, I replied, “I’ve always noticed her.”
Lily folded her arms over her chest. “Have you really? Was that before or during all the times that you treated her like crap?”
“What?” my mother asked horrified.
“I did not treat her like crap.”
With another roll of her eyes, Lily said, “Please. You have. You’ve done everything you could to push her away.”
“Nathan Christopher Shaw! Is that true?”
If someone were keeping track of how many looks I shot my sister in the last ten minutes, they would be well over ten by now, surely.
“It’s complicated, Mom.”
It was her turn to cross her arms. “Explain it to me, I’m an intelligent woman, and I’m sure I can understand it.”
“Isn’t everything ready for dinner?” I stated, motioning toward the food on the kitchen island.
“Oh, no,” my mother said as she slowly shook her head. “You’re not getting away that easily.”
“Can we at least sit down and eat, and then I’ll tell you?”
My mother turned to look at Lily for approval. Lily nodded, followed by my mother. “Fine. Let’s take the food out to the table, Nate. Lily, gather up your husband and daughter. Wherever they are, your father will also be.”
Lily dashed out of the kitchen, yelling for Maverick and our father. My mother sighed. “Well, I could have done that.”
My mother cleared her throat once we had everything on the table and everyone had food on their plates.
“Nate has something he would like to share with the family.”
My father looked up. “Really? What about?”
“Haven Larson,” Lily blurted out before I could even take a breath.
“Don’t you have to feed your child or something?” I said as I looked over to see Maverick cutting up the lasagna for Maggie, who was shoveling it into her mouth with her little fork as fast as she could.
“Mav has it covered,” Lily stated with a shit-eating grin.
“Hasn’t that young lady had a crush on you since middle school?” Dad asked before taking a bite of his food.
“Yes, she has,” Lily stated as if she would remember anything from when I was in middle school.
Before I could utter a word, Lily added, “And Nate has done everything he could to push her away.”
“Thank you, Lily, for adding your two cents…again,” I stated dryly.
“What did you do to the poor girl?” my mother asked.
“I wasn’t trying to be mean to her, but keeping her at a distance was easier.”
Maverick looked up at me. “The old ‘ if I don’t have to see her, I won’t be reminded of how I feel about her’ trick.”
All eyes turned to him. He shrugged. “I felt that way about Lily.”
Lily smiled and reached across the table to take his hand. “I love you.”
He returned her smile with a wide grin. “I love you more.”
“Ugh, seriously?” I said as I shoved a piece of garlic bread into my mouth.
My father laughed. “It’s hard sometimes to listen to your heart. Especially when you feel something for someone you’ve never felt before. It’s scary.”
Everyone at the table nodded. Maggie joined in when she saw everyone else doing it, and I nearly started to laugh.
“Yes, a part of me was afraid of my feelings for Haven. Happy now, Lily? But there was more to the story.”
“Like what?” Lily asked.
I looked around at the four of them; correction, five since Maggie was looking at me as well. “Something in Haven’s past hurt her badly and I was afraid that I would hurt her too. Don’t ask me why, I just thought it would be better to be friends. But every time I was near her…I felt something more than friendship. So it was always easier to stay away.”
This time, it was my father who stated, “Yes, the old ‘ I’d rather keep them as friends’ logic.”
Turning to my father, I asked, “Did you do that to Mom?”
My mother and father exchanged a look before Dad focused on me. “I will admit I was afraid of my feelings for your mother only because I had never felt like that before her. It can be a very powerful emotion. I think it’s that fear of rejection or ruining something that keeps them somewhat close to you that you don’t want to risk. But you can’t have them too close, or then your feelings get muddled.”
Maverick nodded in agreement. “Then you think about how you’re not good enough for them, and that plays with your head.”
I slowly nodded. I had felt all of those things when it came to Haven.
“But the idea of them with someone else nearly drives you mad,” I softly said.
My father and Maverick both said, “Yes.”
“I will never understand men,” my mother stated before drinking her water. “Never.”
“Same,” Lily agreed with a smile in her daughter’s direction.
“What made you decide that it was worth giving a relationship a shot, Nate?”
“I couldn’t fight my feelings for her anymore. The bad part of it all is that Haven thought what happened to her in her past was the reason I was pushing her away. That was the worst part.”
Lily wore a concerned expression. “What happened to her, Nate?”
All eyes were back on me. I cleared my throat. “It’s not my story to tell.”
My mother set her fork down. “Does it have something to do with her father?”
“Her father?” my dad asked.
“Mom, I made Haven a promise.”
She gave me a soft smile. “I understand.”
“The question I want to ask is are you dating her?”
I couldn’t help the smile on my face. “Yes.”
My mother and Lily both grinned from ear to ear.
“How is it going?” Mom asked.
Glancing down at my plate, I fought to keep my giddiness in check. “It’s going amazing so far. It’s only been a few days since it was official. Last weekend, to be exact.”
Everyone at the table exchanged looks as I went on. “She’s an incredible woman with dreams and passions like no one I’ve ever met. She takes pride in everything she does, from walking dogs to helping less fortunate people; even if she struggles herself, she puts everyone else first.”
“Her mother, Grace, is the same way. She always does what she can for the community.”
“How long have you known Grace?” I asked.
My mother thought for a moment. “Let’s see. Maybe since you kids were in elementary school.”
I nodded. “This, of course, stays between us here at the table, but Haven mentioned times were tight for her mom.”
Mom cleared her throat. “I know Grace is very private, but times have been tough on and off for years. Especially after that low-life husband of hers up and left her. Grace wanted to stay at home with Haven for as long as she could, which put a strain on the family, but it was important to Grace to be there for as long as she could. Grace works for a dental office and was recently promoted to office manager. I hope the promotion will help ease some of her burdens.”
Maverick cleared his throat. “Beck was telling me that Blayze was talking about hiring an assistant for the ranch. Someone to help with all of the bookkeeping, since Stella and Lincoln are both ready to step away from that. Scheduling, doing the payroll, and all of that. I would hazard a guess they would pay more than a dental office.”
“Do you think Grace would be interested?” Lily asked my mother.
She shrugged. “I guess it would depend. I’m sure she could handle anything that is thrown at her. The last I knew she didn’t have health insurance, but that might have changed with the promotion.”
“If she worked for the ranch, she’d have health insurance,” I quickly said.
“It would be an opportunity that I think should be presented to Grace.”
I nodded. “If they come to Thanksgiving dinner, maybe you can bring it up.”
Dad nodded. “I’ll talk to Blayze and get all the information for what they’re looking for.”
Turning to my mother, she smiled. “If Haven and Grace decide to join us, then I will for sure speak to Grace.”
My heart felt so full of love for my mother and father that I had to clear my throat. “Thank you both.”
Reaching for my hand, my mother squeezed it. “No need to thank us, Nate. We’ll do whatever we can to help. I adore Grace and Haven.”
The conversation thankfully moved on to a new stallion that was being delivered, and then on to winterizing the ranch. I tried to keep up with it by nodding every now and then and trying to be part of the conversation, but the only thing I could think about was when I would be able to see Haven again.