Chapter 17
Chapter 17
Nick
“Y ou’re not even going to fight for her?” Leif asked as he stared at me, standing over the small partition wall separating each of our shop’s sections.
“There’s nothing to fight,” I said and immediately regretted the words as both Leo and Sebastian whirled towards me.
“Are you serious right now? Am I going to have to kick your ass for hurting my cousin?”
I winced at Sebastian’s tone and shook my head.
“I meant we aren’t fighting. I don’t have to fight to get her back because she’s not gone. She was overwhelmed and did what she always does when she’s stressed out and turtled in. She literally climbed inside her shell and will deal with it later. I didn’t want to get into it in the middle of an already volatile situation, so I walked away so she could breathe. It’s Lake. I know how she acts. We’ve been friends forever. Yes, things have changed, but I walked away so she could breathe. Her dad was right fucking behind me. What was I supposed to do? Force her to listen to me and let me wrap her in cotton wool so that way nobody could fucking bother her? Because that wasn’t going to work. No matter what I do, Zach is always going to be there. He’s going to be stalking her memories because he hurt her. He hurt her , Leif. And we did nothing about it. We didn’t even realize she was getting hurt or that the asshole was treating her like nothing. Did you know? No. None of us realized it. We just thought that something might be off with her, but we let it pass. All of us did. And that asshole is still out there because God forbid anything ever works in our favor. So no, I’m not going to fight for her because I have fought, and I haven’t walked away. But I’m giving her the fucking space that she wants because Zach didn’t listen to her, but I’m going to.”
My chest heaved once I finished my tirade, and all three men just stared at me, mouths agape.
“That was so much information. I’ve never actually heard you speak for so long at once before.” Leo took a sip of his water and shook his head.
It was Leif, though, who looked at me, frowning. “I noticed that she was tired. That she looked sad. But when I asked her if she was okay, she lied. She lied because she was ashamed even though there was nothing for her to be ashamed about. So I didn’t do anything. And that’s on me. And I sure as hell don’t fucking trust Zach or whatever connections he used to get out of trouble in the first place and is still hiding where nobody could find him. So I guess you did fight for her, just not in the way that we think you need to.”
I sighed, ran my hands over my face. “I don’t know how to be with her. She’s Lake. I realize that she’s your cousin, and not related to you, Leo, but still.”
“No, we may joke around, but I think of Lake more as a sister than anything. You were the only one who thought different.”
I sighed. “I don’t know how to be with her. I didn’t mean for this to happen. I just went on that stupid trip so she wouldn’t be alone and no one would talk shit about her. Because God forbid she actually ask for help or lean on anybody until she’s at the breaking point.”
“Now it sounds like you’re talking shit about my cousin,” Sebastian muttered.
“But I’m not. All of you Montgomerys are like that. You wall yourself in to try not to lean on anyone else so you don’t worry anyone. And yet you all need each other.”
“It’s like you’re looking in a mirror, isn’t it?” Leif said pointedly.
I snorted. “Maybe. Damn it. I don’t know. I’m really not good at this.”
“I’m not either, yet Brooke stays with me. Kind of lucky that way.”
“Once the dust settles, and they find that man, and they let me beat the shit out of him before taking him away to jail,” I began, and Leif grinned quickly before it faded into a scowl, “once all that happens, what’s left?”
“You two are like, perfect for each other.”
I looked at Sebastian, blinking. “Seriously?”
“Of course you are. You guys push at each other and bring out the best.”
“I would say we’ve brought out the worst in each other,” I grumbled.
“Not even. You guys challenge each other and are different enough that you’ll never get bored. It was inevitable that you were going to date a Montgomery.”
“I just don’t like the fact that she could have been hurt.”
“She wasn’t even there, Nick,” Leif said. “And she hasn’t been alone since. You know her dad took her home, to the family home, and she’s been hanging out with the cousins all day while working from there.”
“And yet I’m not there.”
“Well, that’s something you need to work on. Why didn’t she want to call you?”
“Thanks for making me feel like shit,” I answered.
Leif shook his head. “No. Could it be she just went back to what was comfortable? Or that she was overwhelmed like she said. Just talk to her. Which I know sounds so strange considering I don’t actually like to talk about my feelings and shit, but here we are. We’re learning.”
“It takes a village,” Sebastian added, and I shook my head.
Thankfully the conversation was over, and Sebastian and Leif’s clients both walked in, Tristan and Taryn behind them, their clients and Leo’s following soon behind. My client was running late but would be there soon. I was grateful, because it gave me more time to think.
When the bell above the door rang, I looked up expecting to see my client, but instead I saw her .
Not Lake. Damn it. I wanted it to be Lake.
“Hey, we’ll be right with you,” Leo called out before his voice faded as he saw the look on my face.
“I’ve got this,” I said while Leif gave me a look.
I shook my head and figured if I was going to force Lake to deal with her own fears, maybe I should deal with my own.
“Mom.”
“Hi. I didn’t know if you were working today, but I just wanted to drop these off.” She held out two canvas bags filled to the brim with photo albums. For some reason my heart lurched, and I wondered what was in those—and why part of me wanted to find out while the other part wanted to hide.
“There’re a couple of boxes and stuff inside, just small stuff from your dad. They were in storage, but I thought you should have them. I honestly thought I would just drop them off with some of your coworkers here, and you wouldn’t be here, so you wouldn’t have to see me. Again, I’m sorry for encroaching on your space. But these are yours and you should have them.”
I looked at her, at the woman she had become. She looked about a decade older than her years, but that was probably due to lack of sleep and the stress that came from breaking down after losing Dad.
But she looked nice, had done her hair, put on a little makeup, and had dressed herself in clean clothes. She looked like a mom. A memory of my mom. It was odd to see her here, especially when everything kept coming at me at once.
“Thank you. I’ll take them.”
Relief flooded her features until she schooled them again, and I hated myself for that.
“I just wanted to say I’m sorry again. I know I made mistakes. I ignored you.”
I let out a hollow laugh, noticing that everyone else was doing their best to make noise as if they weren’t paying attention, but they could all hear. I didn’t want an audience for this, but frankly, I was done hiding. Done hiding from everything. From my past, from what I felt for Lake. Hiding wasn’t doing any good, so maybe I should just be honest for one fucking minute.
“You don’t really have to say anything. Thank you for these though.”
“I was wrong, and I do not have any right to your forgiveness. But I wanted you to know that I was sorry. That nothing that happened was your fault, even though you know that. And I’m very glad that you had the Montgomerys.” Her eyes filled with tears. She looked past me, towards Leif, and smiled. “I’m glad you had the Montgomerys,” she repeated before she looked at me again.
“I lost myself, and then I lost you. And I’m sorry. I’ll go now and you won’t have to see me again, I promise. It’s good to see you looking well. You’re doing amazing things, Nick. Just like I always knew you would.”
She turned to go, and I cursed under my breath. “Mom. I don’t know…”
She turned to me then, that small sliver of hope in her eyes breaking me. “I know, Nick. It’s okay. You don’t have to say anything. This is on me, it was never on you.”
“You know what, why don’t we take a seat? My client isn’t here yet, and I could do with some coffee.” I paused. “You like tea, right? That rose tea?”
She stared at me a moment, her eyes wide before she smiled tentatively. “You have rose tea? I didn’t think you liked that.”
My chest hurt, but I nodded. “Lake likes it.”
I turned and led my mother back to the break room, for a cup of tea, because why not? Hiding from the mistakes of the past wasn’t helping. And I couldn’t fix my past, but she was trying, and honestly, I didn’t have anyone left. She was my only family. Yes, the Montgomerys were family, but she was my only blood. And she didn’t have anyone else.
I couldn’t fix what happened to Lake, couldn’t fix what had happened to my dad, to my mom, to me. But I could fix this. And I would be there when Lake came back. When she realized that I would be there. Because I didn’t want to go back.
I sat there with a cup of coffee, staring at my mom as she sipped her tea, as the others worked, and I introduced them.
The door opened again and I turned, and once again it wasn’t my client. It was Lake, and my heart hurt, everything hurt. But as she smiled at me, her eyes wide, I had hope.