Chapter 52 Nate
NATE
The lawyer’s was a small practice on the main street of Esperance, wedged between the hardware store and a place that sold homemade candles.
“That should do it.” Calloway gathered the signed documents into a neat stack and slid them into a manila folder. “I’ll have the final paperwork for you within the week.”
I stood and shook his hand. “Appreciate your help.”
“My pleasure.” He walked me to the door. “Congratulations, Mr. O’Hare. I’ll be in touch.”
Outside, the air was cool and clean, sharpening the edges of everything. Leaves turning amber along the storefronts, the sky a flat, pale blue.
I stood on the sidewalk for a moment and let it settle.
Weeks of phone calls and library visits and paperwork.
A drive to New Bern that had carved out the last rotten piece of a life I didn’t want anymore.
All of it leading to a signature on a piece of paper in a small-town lawyer’s office on a Tuesday morning.
Now I just had one more stop to make before… I got in the truck and drove straight to the fire station.
I’d spent enough time at the station over the past few months to know Dan’s schedule, so once inside, I headed straight for the gym.
And there he was, gloved up and shirtless, pounding into a punching bag. So, not great timing. But if we were going to go a round over his sister, at least he was already warmed up.
All I could hope for was that he gave me time to put some gloves on, too.
“Hey.” I sat down on one of the benches.
He landed two more hits before glancing over his shoulder. “Hey.”
“I need to talk to you.”
“Sounds important.”
“It is.”
Dan stopped pummeling the bag long enough to shoot me a look. He stripped off the gloves and wiped down with a towel before pulling his shirt back on, then nodded toward the door. I followed him out into the breakroom, waiting while he grabbed two sports drinks from the fridge.
“What is it?” He dropped into a chair at the round table, stretching his legs out in front of him.
I pulled out the chair opposite and sat down. Took a breath.
“I’m in love with Maya.”
There it was. Out in the open, even if it wasn’t exactly how I’d rehearsed it on the drive over. Too late to take it back.
“Of course you are.” Dan twisted the cap off his drink and took a long pull, calm as anything.
“You’re not surprised?”
“She’s my kid sister, so of course I think she’s a massive pain in the butt. But she’s also very lovable. You two have been pretty much inseparable since you got back. So yeah.” He shrugged. “Not surprised.”
I turned the bottle between my hands. “She doesn’t know yet.”
That got a reaction. His eyebrows lifted a fraction. “Now that surprises me.” He gave me a long, steady look while I tried not to squirm. “You want me to ask her if she’ll go steady with you? Like we’re back in school?”
A bark of laughter escaped me. I twisted open the cap of my drink. “No, I can handle that part myself, thanks just the same.”
“Okay, so why are you telling me before you tell Maya?” His eyes narrowed. “Because I sincerely hope it’s not to ask my permission.”
“Fuck no.” I scratched my chin. “It’s for your blessing, I guess.”
“And if I don’t give it?”
“Christmas will be very fucking awkward.”
Dan grinned at that. Then the grin faded and he leaned forward, elbows on the table. The look he gave me was the most serious I’d seen from him since the day he’d warned me not to mess Maya around at the truck dealership.
“You’ll make her happy.” Not a question.
“If she takes me on, I’ll give it my best shot.”
He nodded slowly. “You have it. My blessing.”
“Thank you.”
“I don’t want this to get, you know, deep or anything.” He sat back, rolling the bottle between his palms. “But if it was up to me to choose for Maya… I’d choose you.”
The lump in my throat came out of nowhere. I took a long swig of the drink and swallowed around it. “Fuck.”
“Yeah.”
Silence stretched between us. The good kind. The kind that didn’t need filling.
“Okay then.” I pushed back from the table. “Think I’ll go see Maya.”
“Great.” Dan stood when I did, and we exchanged a hug that involved a solid back slap and zero eye contact. He held on a beat longer than usual. So did I.
Then I walked out into the autumn sun, got in my truck, and kept moving. I still had a lot to do before the day was done.