Chapter 25
twenty-five
GREER
“We’re home!” Lachlan called from the garage doorway.
The kids screamed and ran for them while Greer stayed behind and cleared the table after a very messy dinner with all of the kids, but she didn’t mind. Lachlan had been at the hospital, springing Nathalie and bringing her home, and Ivy was at a late-night appointment with her lawyer to avoid missing any more work.
It meant Nathalie’s house was alive with the sound of kids who were full of anticipation and excitement to see Nathalie after such a long time away. The only one they’d allowed to visit her at the hospital had been Alaric, and everyone had made sure to keep those visits as short as possible.
But it was amazing to see everyone taking care of everything while Nathalie was out of commission. Greer hadn’t been back to the hospital since she’d left Nathalie there, so seeing her now was making her nervous. They hadn’t finished their conversation yet, and the tension between them had only increased. They’d talked, sure, because of Alaric, but that was it.
Greer had made sure to keep everything as professional as possible. She didn’t know what else to do, but the week with Lachlan and Ivy alone had been amazing. She felt so close to them in ways she was fairly certain wouldn’t have happened if Nathalie was around.
So just adding in that fourth very loud and demanding and controlling and uncompassionate voice was going to throw everything they’d built in the last week off-kilter. Greer wasn’t ready for this. Yes, she wanted Nathalie home and healthy, but the little oasis they’d managed to build for the last five days had been blissful, calm, and exactly what Greer had needed.
Lachlan stood close to Nathalie as they came through the door, but Nathalie was walking on her own, and her color looked amazing compared to before. She really had done well at resting while she’d been hospitalized. Alaric was pinned to her side, holding onto her hip and side as she walked.
He had missed her so much. Nothing had been quite the same, especially since he’d been staying the week at Ivy’s instead of in the house with Greer. Greer stayed silent and continued to clean up in the kitchen. Lachlan immediately came over as Nathalie sat down at the kitchen table.
“Here, I’ll help.”
“You don’t have to,” Greer answered.
“I want to.” Lachlan smiled at her. “Besides, it’ll give Nathalie some time with the kids before I make her go upstairs and rest even more.”
Greer chuckled lightly and whispered, “You think she’ll listen to you?”
“I’ll make her.” Lachlan winked and then started in on the dishes.
That left Greer with cleaning up the kitchen counters and the table. She definitely wanted to avoid getting any closer to Nathalie, so she started with the counters and took her sweet time. She glanced over at Nathalie several times, their eyes locking, but she immediately looked away.
Greer finished the counters, rewet the sponge, and immediately started toward the kitchen table. To hell with it. She wasn’t going to tiptoe around the house for forever, so she needed to get over whatever was between her and Nathalie. Which was nothing. Because Nathalie would never allow anything to happen between them.
Leaning over the large kitchen table, Greer started scrubbing on the side opposite Nathalie. She moved around the kids who were still underfoot and ended up right in front of Nathalie. Her heart hammered hard, but she bit her cheek to keep herself from chickening out and started to pull away and stand up.
Nathalie shot her hand out and grasped onto Greer’s wrist. “Will you help me upstairs?”
“Me?” Greer’s eyebrows shot into her hairline. “Lachlan can?—”
“You,” Nathalie confirmed. But she didn’t add anything. Would this be a firing? Would be it be a talking to? An apology? A thank you? Greer had no idea. And she wasn’t even sure if it’d be anything in the end anyway.
Greer looked over her shoulder at Lachlan, who was eyeing both of them carefully. “Really, Lachlan can?—”
“Greer…” Nathalie sighed. “Help me upstairs.”
This time it wasn’t a question, but a simple and exhausted request. Greer straightened her back and pulled her hand from Nathalie’s grasp. She nodded. “Yeah. Sure.”
She hated that she’d agreed to do this, but there was something in the soft way that Nathalie was asking that seemed almost like she was begging. Greer deposited the sponge in the sink and then went back to Nathalie to help her stand up. She might be looking better, but she was still frail and weak. Greer was going to have to remember that for at least the next week while Nathalie took even more time off work to recover.
Greer let Nathalie walk ahead of her, staying two steps below her as they went up the stairs. Once they were in her newly cleaned and sanitized room thanks to Ivy, Greer settled her into the bed and then went to walk away.
“Stay a minute,” Nathalie said.
Greer straightened her shoulders, a tension like a string pulling them from the center just waiting to be snapped or cut in half so she could fall to the ground in a mess. “Was there something else you needed?”
“I need you to stop being so cold to me.”
Greer tried to hold back whatever face she was making, but she didn’t quite manage it. Her head canted to the side and her lips pursed. “I’m not being cold.”
Nathalie frowned. “Could have fooled me.”
“Fine.” Greer wrinkled her nose. “I’ll work on it.”
“Sit down, please.” Nathalie gestured to the edge of the bed.
Greer hesitated, though. Sitting there seemed a bit too intimate. It didn’t matter that they’d slept in the same bed that first night Nathalie had been sick because Greer had been so worried about her, this was way more intimate than that. And Greer wasn’t willing to put herself in that position.
“Or stand,” Nathalie responded. “I started to apologize the other week, and I’m not sure I quite finished. I don’t really remember, honestly.”
Greer clenched her jaw tightly, but she said nothing.
“I’m sorry for my recent behavior.” Nathalie pushed back into the pillows, but she kept her gaze on Greer, eyeing her in a way that meant she was serious. Greer sighed, her shoulders relaxing slightly, and she moved to sit on the edge of the bed like Nathalie originally wanted. “I was a bit of a bully after I found you and Lachlan…together.” Nathalie’s cheeks pinked slightly.
But why was she blushing?
Greer still kept her mouth shut, wanting Nathalie to fully have the floor to say what she needed to say. She stayed right where she was, ears attuned to whatever was happening downstairs with all five kids and Lachlan. She didn’t want to leave Lachlan down there alone for too long.
“I was surprised, not just by finding you but by the fact that it was with Lachlan. I figured Ivy, but not Lachlan.”
“Ivy?” Greer raised an eyebrow at that.
“Because you’re both lesbians.” Nathalie waved her hands uselessly in front of her. “And Ivy’s more likely to jump in bed with someone than Lachlan is.”
Greer chuckled, nodding to that. She had no doubts, but Lachlan had been the one to approach her.
“But I was also upset because I care about them.” Nathalie pulled her lip tight into her mouth. “And because I care about you…in a way.”
“In a way,” Greer repeated, her voice dropping at the end. She nearly couldn’t believe this. And she had to put a stop to it. She didn’t want false statements or even ones that distorted the truth just to try and make her feel better. “Stop, Nathalie. I don’t need to hear platitudes or lies to make me feel better.”
Nathalie narrowed her gaze. “It’s not a lie.”
Greer nodded. “All right then. I’m going to head down and get Alaric ready for bed.”
“Lachlan can do that.” Nathalie snagged Greer’s hand again. “I needed to not just apologize to you, whether you accept that or not, but I also needed to thank you.”
That made Greer pause. She really just wanted to escape and to get out of this situation entirely. It was uncomfortable.
“I needed to go to the hospital, and you made me go despite the fact that I was refusing.” Nathalie nodded. “So thank you for looking after me.”
“You’re welcome,” Greer said. “Can I go now?”
Nathalie paled. “Yeah.”
Greer nodded sharply and left the room. She shut the door behind her and breathed relief as soon as the fresh air from the hallway reached her lungs. She hadn’t wanted it to be any more awkward than it was, but it was impossible. If she didn’t figure this out with Nathalie, then she wasn’t entirely sure that she could continue working there. Still, these things took time, and because Nathalie had been gone for so long, rectifying the situation had been put on hold—which probably only made it worse in the long run.
Leaving Lachlan to take care of the kids, Greer went to her bedroom. She curled up around her pillow and turned on her laptop so that she could watch television mindlessly. She’d lost track of time, so when there was a knock on her door, she was startled by it.
“Come in,” Greer said.
Lachlan popped her head through the door, a forever smile on her lips. “Hey.”
“Hey,” Greer smiled at her. She was coming to love these soft moments with Lachlan. “Is Alaric asleep or do I need to put him down?”
Lachlan frowned. “It’s after eleven.”
“Is it really?” Greer touched the trackpad on her computer to check the time. Sure enough, Lachlan was right.
“Yeah. I told Nathalie I was staying here tonight in case she needs something.” Lachlan walked toward the bed. “Mind if I stay in here?”
Greer looked Lachlan over from head to toe and then back up again. “Sure.” She shifted herself on the bed to give more room so that Lachlan could slide under the blankets with her. She moved the laptop to the nightstand and closed the lid so that it wouldn’t be a distraction. “Is everything okay?” Greer asked.
“I feel like I should be asking you that question.” Lachlan smiled at her, turning on her side and cupping the side of Greer’s face. “You seem distant.”
Greer tried to smile, but she knew it didn’t reach her eyes. “I guess I am.”
“Because of Nathalie?”
“Yeah,” Greer answered. She glanced down at the necklace that Lachlan was wearing and started to play with it gently. “I don’t know what to say to her.”
“Did she apologize?”
Greer snorted lightly. “She did, again. But something about it—I don’t know—it doesn’t seem genuine.”
“It is, I promise.” Lachlan moved in and pressed her lips against Greer’s. “She cares about you.”
“Doesn’t seem that way,” Greer mumbled, curling into Lachlan’s body. It had been so nice that night not to be the one in charge of taking care of Nathalie, and not the one who was running around after the kids. The last three weeks had taken a toll on her, and it wasn’t until right now that she realized it. She still needed to start studying for her midterms before they hit her out of the blue, and she’d barely had time to get her homework in on time lately.
“She does,” Lachlan repeated. “And so do Ivy and I. We don’t ever want you to feel like you’re not part of us.”
Except Greer did feel like that, and that was the hardest part to admit. She desperately wanted to be included in everything that they were working to create together, but at every turn she felt pushed away and kept apart. Ivy and Lachlan might be on board with it, but Nathalie wasn’t. And unless everyone agreed and was open to the conversation, it would never work out.
But she didn’t say any of that. She didn’t want to shatter Lachlan’s illusion and end it all with the way it had been going so far. And part of her still wanted to live into that oasis they’d worked at creating. The place where she was wanted, not just for what she could do for them but because of who she was. That was all Greer had ever wanted—to be accepted for who she was by people who cared deeply for her and wanted her around.
Nathalie wasn’t that.
Greer moved in and kissed Lachlan quickly. She could distract herself with sex far more easily than she could with thinking about something else. And she had a feeling that Lachlan would be a willing participant. Deepening the embrace, Greer rolled on top of Lachlan and continued to kiss her while she slid her hand down Lachlan’s chest and over her breast.
“Want to have some fun tonight?” Greer asked.
Lachlan looked up at her with wide, curious eyes before she lovingly smiled back. “Whatever you need.”
Ignoring the sentiment in the comment, Greer pressed their mouths together again. This would be the perfect distraction—exactly what they both needed.