Nico
NICO
I checked my watch, frowning at the time. Everly and Rhett should have been here by now. The traffic was worse than normal today, but even if there had been a hold up on the freeway, they wouldn’t be this late. There hadn’t been any wrecks, according to the local news—thank Christ.
My phone remained worryingly silent, too, despite the texts I’d sent and the calls I’d made. Then again, if she was driving, answering her phone wasn’t the most sensible thing to do, and as she didn’t have Bluetooth in her old truck, I had no choice but to wait it out and hope she arrived soon.
I paced. Searched on my phone for news. Paced some more. Poured a glass of whiskey, took one sip, and then tipped it down the sink. It’d look great if Everly arrived and found me half-cut.
An hour later, the sound of her truck rumbling outside sent me racing to the front door. I flung it open, awash with relief that switched to concern the second I saw the look on her face.
“What’s wrong? Where’s Rhett?”
She pointed her chin. “Can I come in?”
Anxiety swirled in my chest, and my throat thickened uncomfortably, but I stood back to let her in. She headed straight for the kitchen, pulling out a stool at the breakfast bar.
“I don’t know how to say this, so I’m just going to come out with it.”
Something’s wrong. Very, very wrong.
“Go on,” I urged.
“Paul’s back.”
My jaw dropped to the floor. Whatever I expected her to say, that wasn’t it. “Paul, as in your ex Paul?”
She nodded, her expression glum and hopeless. “He was waiting for me when I got home after fetching Rhett from school. I only went back to pick up our stuff, and there he was.”
“How did he get in?”
“He still had a key.” She sighed and rubbed her face. “I suppose I should have gotten the locks changed, but it just never occurred to me.”
I pulled out a chair beside hers and collapsed into it. “What does he want? Why has he come back now?”
She lifted her eyes to mine, searching my face. She sighed heavily. “He wants us to try to make a go of it. For Rhett’s sake.”
My stomach dropped to the solid floor at my feet. “What?” I croaked. “Please tell me you’re not considering this. Has he even explained where he’s been?”
She pinched the corners of her eyes with her thumb and forefinger. “No, he hasn’t told me where he’s been, and no, I’m not considering getting back together with him. You asked me once what my feelings were for Paul. I don’t have any feelings for him. He killed them when he disappeared. We’re over.”
“Thank God.” I extended my hand to grasp hers. She moved it out of my reach.
“I need space, . And time. I have to get my head straight. I feel… stunned. Lost.”
I raked a hand through my hair, then fisted a clump and tugged. “I’m right here. You’re not alone. Not anymore.”
“Please,” she begged. “I have to deal with this in my own way. Paul’s return has rocked the very foundation I’ve fought so hard to build. I can’t deal with him, and Rhett, and you right now. It’s too much.”
I rolled my shoulders, tension settling there. I felt her distancing herself from me, from us, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it. “Where is he now? Please tell me you didn’t leave Rhett with him to come here.”
Her jaw worked, and I instantly knew I’d said the wrong thing. Shit. Too late to take it back now.
“No, I haven’t left Rhett with him. Jesus, .”
“I’m sorry.” I made another move to touch her, to connect on a physical level, to remind her what we had… have? Fuck. I didn’t know anymore.
Her hands came up in front of her. “Please don’t. This is difficult enough as it is.”
A ball of fury built in my stomach. This fucker had pissed off for two years, and now he just thought he could waltz right back into her life and screw up everything. “Where is he now?”
“Checking into a motel.”
At least she wasn’t letting the fucker stay at her house.
This was wrong. All wrong. She belonged with me. Everly and Rhett belonged right here where I could protect them and take care of them.
And love them.
“Don’t leave things like this between us. Please. Let me help you.”
I love you.
A sudden blow hit me right in my abdomen .
I love her .
Jesus. When had I fallen in love? My feelings for her had crept up on me, and only now did I realize how much she meant to me. Yet I couldn’t tell her. Not now. She wouldn’t believe me. She’d think I was using some kind of emotional blackmail to force her into staying when she’d asked for space.
Tears filled her eyes. She leaned her elbows on the breakfast bar and dropped her head into her hands. “This is a nightmare.”
“Let me help you,” I repeated, desperate to reach her somehow. I’d fall to my knees and beg if it stopped her from putting this distance between us. “Don’t push me away, Everly.”
“I’m not.” She shook her head. “Maybe I am. I don’t know. All I know for certain is that I have to put Rhett first. God, , the happiness on his face when he saw Paul. I wanted to sweep him up into my arms and run as far away as possible, but I can’t do that. I can’t do that to Rhett. I have to at least give Paul the chance to explain and see if… ugh, I don’t know, see if I can ever trust him enough to let him back into Rhett’s life. To be a father to our son.”
I suppressed a wince. Rhett wasn’t mine, and yet these last few weeks in particular, he’d felt as if he was. The need to keep him safe, to keep them both safe, while Everly pushed me away bore a great fucking hole in the center of my chest.
“Don’t leave me. Please.”
She scrubbed her face hard, almost as if she were as frustrated with me as with Paul. “All I’m asking for is a little time. If you can’t give me that…” She jumped down from the stool.
I scrambled to my feet. “I can. I’ll give you as much time as you need. Just please don’t throw away what we have.”
She pressed her palm to my cheek, the first sign of affection she’d given me. I covered her hand with my own.
“I can’t make any promises, . I don’t want to lose you, but Paul turning up out of the blue has tossed everything on its head. I have to put my life on hold for now. Only Rhett matters. You understand that, don’t you?”
I twisted my head and pressed my lips to her palm. “Of course I understand. I’ll wait for you. However long it takes. Just promise me that if you need anything, anything , you’ll call me.”
She leaned in, her lips barely touching mine. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered.
I stood by the front door, watching as she walked down my path.
All I could do now was wait and pray she hadn’t walked out of my life forever.