Chapter 18
Cole
Nora slept against my chest while I held her and stared at the ceiling. There wasn’t any point lying to myself anymore.
I loved her. I wanted her back in my bed, and I wanted her there after the inn opened.
She’d heard my side about Gregory, but she still had no proof.
“How long ago did you come to Misty Pines?” Nora mumbled sleepily, shifting a little.
“Almost three years. Florida before that.”
“You didn’t like Florida?” she asked, her eyes still closed.
“For a while. Then it just didn’t feel like where I was supposed to be.”
“And Misty Pines does?”
“Yeah.”
“That sounded almost sentimental.”
“Go back to sleep.”
Nora eased up a little and looked at me, resting on my arm now. “Do you have any family? You never talk about them.”
“I only have a brother. He lives in Canada.”
She smiled. “Really?”
“Yeah, he’s a few years younger. Has a family of his own…”
“You ever want kids?”
I took a breath. “Yeah. More since I hit forty.” I looked down at her. “What about you?”
She snuggled into me and sighed. “I do want my own family someday. I was hoping Misty Pines would be a great place for that. Not New York. I know that much.”
“Hmm,” I said as my mind wandered to Nora having kids. Her breasts full, her hips wide, her stomach swollen with life. The family part came too easily. Then my brain put another man beside her, and the whole picture went bad fast.
I couldn’t stand putting some other bastard in my place, touching her, filling her—
“You okay?” she asked, and I quickly snapped out of it.
I cleared my throat. “Fine.”
“You don’t look fine.”
I glanced down and met her eyes. The jealousy burned off fast. I’d gotten pissed over a man who wasn’t even there.
I smiled despite myself. “Why Misty Pines for you?”
She studied me. “Now you’re curious?”
“Answer the question.”
She sighed. “The city was really getting to me. It felt like the walls were closing in, and if I didn’t move quickly, I’d suffocate.”
“It can be like that,” I agreed.
“And then my parents are always putting so much pressure on me. It didn’t feel like the life I wanted to live. Every choice turned into a family meeting.”
I didn’t need details to picture it. Gregory had never been good at hearing no. I traced my thumb over her arm as I listened.
“Then Grandma Ellen died, and that did it for me. I had to leave.”
“How did your parents take the news?” I asked.
Nora scoffed. “I told them I was leaving, and they tried to stop me. I was done fighting about it, so I left anyway.”
I chuckled. “Of course you did.”
She grinned. “They both want me to come back, but I won’t. I love this place, and I really think I can make something of it. Even if the inn tries to bankrupt me first.”
“You sure can, Princess. You already are.”
“I’m glad I’m here.”
“Me too,” I said.
Nora blushed and rested her head against my chest again. She closed her eyes, her breathing slowed, and a few minutes later, she was fast asleep.
I kissed the top of her head, pulled the covers up, and let myself have the quiet. I knew what I wanted now. Gregory was still between us, whether I liked it or not.