17. Nash
seventeen
nash
L ife doesn’t get much better than this. After an incredible night with an amazing woman, the little furball that’s captured my heart is officially mine. As we pull up to Jack’s house, my imagination runs wild thinking about the future Cora and I could share. She’s brought a new energy into my life.
Walking to the front door, Cora follows behind, whispering to Sherlock Bones about how handsome he is. I love how much she adores my new furry son. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice a vase overflowing with puffy red roses on the front porch.
“Are you expecting flowers today?” I ask Cora as she and SB make their way up the steps.
Her brows furrow at the bouquet. “No, I wasn’t. Maybe they were dropped off by mistake?”
She’s carrying SB, so I bring the flowers inside the house. A small card with Cora’s name on it peeks through the squished petals.
“Honey Bee, they’re addressed to you.”
Who the hell sent my woman flowers? I’ve never been a jealous man, but this just might be the thing that flips the switch. My fingers twitch at the thought.
I put the flowers on the kitchen table. Cora kisses the top of SB’s head and places him on the floor, where he immediately sniffs and explores the house.
I hand the small floral card to Cora. Eyes scanning the page, the look of fury that slowly grows on her face has me on high alert.
“That fucking son of a bitch!” she finally shouts, ripping the card to shreds and slamming the pieces into the garbage can.
“What’s going on? Who were they from?”
Cora’s eyes close, and her chest slowly rises and falls in an attempt to calm her breathing. “They’re from my ex,” she says, her voice strained.
“Why would he send you flowers? Have you been keeping in touch with him?”
I’m definitely missing something here. She clearly wasn’t expecting the gift—her expression looks like she could fight a bear right now, so it’s likely not a pleasant surprise.
She rubs her temples. “I didn’t want to tell you,” she whispers, walking to the kitchen table and slumping into a chair.
I sit right next to her and drag my chair closer, saying nothing, just wait silently for her to continue.
Her eyes flutter open and the unshed tears pooling there break my heart. “Whatever it is, we’ll tackle it together,” I promise her, wanting to reassure her that everything is okay.
“The flowers are from my ex, Ryan,” she replies, tears slowly tracking down her freckled cheeks. “He’s been trying to get in contact with me since I left him in the middle of the night and came to Abalone Bay. My father had just passed away and I was struggling to process my grief while also being there for my Mom.” She gives a self-deprecating chuckle.
I carefully place a hand on her knee and squeeze.
Her voice shakes. “I was a mess when Ryan came into my life, and it seemed like the universe had sent me a miracle. In the beginning, he was charming, thoughtful, and seemed to really care for me. Unfortunately, my grief over losing my dad blinded me to who he truly was: an emotionally abusive asshole who preyed on me in my moment of weakness.”
Seeing Cora re-live her pain is excruciating, but all I can do is listen. Inside, however, I’m a seething volcano on the brink of erupting. That bastard should be locked away like the feral animal that he is.
“The final straw was when I found out he tried to sell Lola, my dad’s car, behind my back. So, I wrote him a break up letter, packed up all my belongings, and left.”
I finally take one of her chilled hands into my own. “And he’s been harassing you ever since? Wait, you’ve been here for almost two months now. Does Jack know?”
She gives a slight nod. “Yeah, Jack knows, but I don’t want him to get involved. Ryan isn’t above using his mother’s wealth and connections to mess with people, and I don’t want Jack to get mixed up in this.”
“I understand that, but you shouldn’t handle this all by yourself. That man is clearly unhinged and doesn’t have a problem overstepping every boundary you’ve tried to create. Have you thought about reporting it to the police?”
Or maybe just leave me alone with the fucker in a room for a few minutes so I can beat the shit out of him?
“I tried right before leaving, but his mother is friends with the police chief. She made me out to be some crazy, scorned woman that was making things up to try and get a check.” Cora is indignant, rolling her eyes. “As if I want a penny from those people.”
I scoop Cora out of her chair and place her on my lap. Her arms wrap around my neck and she buries her face there. “You don’t have to navigate this alone anymore. Please, let me be there for you.”
“No,” she says, shaking her head. “I refuse to be a burden and dump my problems on others.”
I’m taken aback at the idea that this woman believes she could ever be a burden, especially to me. Gently tipping her face up so she’s forced to look at me, the pain reflected in her eyes is a gut punch.
“You could never be a burden, and don’t you dare argue with me on this. Life hasn’t been fair to you, and I’m so sorry for that. However, letting people in so they can help you carry that pain doesn’t make you a burden. It makes you human, and everyone needs help sometimes. Let me carry this with you.”
“You really mean that, don’t you?”
“Absolutely.” I kiss her cheek. “You’re an incredible and resilient woman, and it would be an honor for you to trust me to be there for you.”
The sound of the back door swinging open breaks the moment, and Jack walks in, dripping with sweat. He yanks his earbuds out as he enters the kitchen. “Hey, I wasn’t expecting you guys this morning. I just finished a run, so no one come near me unless you want a whiff of my B.O.”
Jack opens the fridge and takes out a large gallon of water, chugging the contents.
“What’s with the looks?” he asks as he takes in Cora in my lap and the residual tension from our conversation. He walks over and sniffs the roses. “Nash, I had no idea you were such a romantic. Nice flowers, dude.”
“Unfortunately, those aren’t from me,” I say, venom dripping in every word.
Jack’s startled gaze lands on Cora. “Wait, are these from Ryan?”
She suddenly jumps up from my lap, grabs the vase of flowers, and spikes them into the trash can. “Yes, they are. And now they’re where they belong.”
Jack’s eyes catch mine. “That guy’s a piece of shit.” His anger mirrors what I’m currently experiencing. What self-respecting man forces himself on a woman who clearly wants nothing to do with him?
“I agree, but we aren’t going to let him ruin our day. How about someone makes me breakfast while I go take a shower?” Her not-so-subtle hint that she’s hungry has me shaking my head in amusement. She saunters over and kisses my cheek, knowing that she has me wrapped around her cute little finger. Disappearing down the hall, I’m left with Jack.
Jack breaks the silence, leaning back in his chair. “Don’t get any ideas, Nash. I’ve been offering to teach that prick some manners for years, but it’s something she has to do herself. I almost pity the loser, because Cora isn’t someone who I’d want to fuck with, now that she’s thinking clearly.”
“I respect that, but I hate that he’s comfortable enough to harass her.”
Jack walks over to the fridge and pulls out a carton of eggs and diced onions and peppers. “Believe me, I’m with you on that, but all we can do is support her and make sure that she’s safe. Now, get your ass over here and help me make breakfast. The last thing we need is a hangry Cora.”
I chuckle and we cook up some of her favorite waffles and a frittata. With everything on the counter, I bring over the coffee pot.
I fill Jack’s mug. “She’s lucky to have you, J.”
He lets out a hearty laugh, pointing his index finger at me. “You better tell her that, because she thinks I’m a pain in the ass.”
“Which you are.”
Cora reappears in the kitchen, her fiery sunset hair damp from her shower, wearing a strapless green sundress that hugs every one of her glorious curves. I have to clench my fists to avoid reaching for her, but there will be plenty of time for me to worship her later.
We all dig into breakfast, and I listen in amusement as Cora and Jack share stories about their childhood and all the trouble they’d get into. Jack, of course, had to share embarrassing stories about when we were in high school and complete dorks. The walk down memory lane is something I could do without, but Cora’s heartstopping smile and giggles make the mortification worth it.
As we’re wrapping up, both Jack and I receive simultaneous phone calls about a large structure fire in the old abandoned town hall. On the other side of town, the place hasn’t been open to the public for over a decade since the new town hall was erected. So how in the hell did it catch fire?
Something already seems off.
Cora walks us to the door and tells us both to be safe, giving me a soft kiss. In no time, after grabbing our gear and shoving it on, Jack and I drive down the main road to meet our crew at the scene.
On the way, fire truck lights blaring, a flashy yellow sports car crests over a hill on the road. Failing to yield to us, it speeds past in the opposite direction, easily going eighty miles an hour.
“Holy shit, what an asshole. Where are they going in such a hurry? That person’s an idiot.” Jack shakes his head. “Too bad we’re on our way to a call, or I’d be tempted to call the Sheriff to report their ass.”
So would I. Jack lets it go, but I can’t shake the feeling that a car like that seems out of place in a small town like this. Abalone Bay is not particularly known for its sports car demographic.
We pull up right next to the ambulance and head over to Cowboy, who’s taken control of the scene.
“What happened here?” I ask, surveying the roaring blaze and billowing smoke.
The crew rapidly hand jacks the hose from the truck and gets to work, entering the building in teams to control the flames. The ladder is raised to tackle the second story.
Cowboy shakes his head, shrugging. “It’s hard to tell right now, but if I had to guess, someone set this fire purposefully.”
“What makes you say that?” We haven’t had any issues with arsonists in this area for as long as I’ve been with the station.
He leads us to the back of the building, pointing towards what remains of a doorway. “The back door was kicked in, and the owner of the country store across the street reports that he saw someone lurking around here about an hour ago. He wasn’t able to provide much of a description, but I’d bet that they’re our suspect.”
Across the street is the owner, pacing in front of his store. I cross the road, hoping he can share any useful information while we wait for the police to arrive.
“Hello, sir. I’m Captain Montgomery from the Abalone Bay Fire Department. One of my crew said that you may have witnessed the person who did this?”
Jack jogs over to where we’re standing.
“I can do you one better, Captain. After that fire next to the bait and tackle shop, I installed cameras all around the exterior of the store. Come on in and you can take a look for yourselves.”
The three of us cram into a small office in the store to review the security footage. Sure enough, a yellow sports car pulls up outside of the old town hall, and a creepy man that looks straight out of a low budget movie climbs out, looking around to see if anyone is around to see him.
I look up to Jack, pointing at the car. “This is the same car we saw on our way over here.” Something about the shock on Jack’s face has me confused, and slightly, inexplicably panicked. “What is it? What do you see?”
“We need to get back to my place. Right now.” He doesn’t say anything else before shooting out of the country store. I sprint behind him to catch up.
“J, what did you see?” I ask, grabbing his shoulder to stop him as he opens the driver’s side door of his truck. “Do you know who that man is?”
Intense fear is etched across his face, as if he’s seen a ghost. “That man was driving in the direction of my house when we drove past him.”
“Okay, but why would he go to your house?” I ask, trying to follow along but not fully understanding.
“That’s Cora’s ex. And he’s heading straight for her.”