Chapter 32 #2
“Hey,” Nash said, his gaze locking with mine. “Your brother was nice enough to offer us a ride.”
“Well, first I offered to kick his ass, and then he explained the situation, and the ride came next.” Bridger pushed to his feet and shook hands with Nash, before offering a hand to Cutler when I set him back on his feet.
“He didn’t do anything wrong, so I’m not sure why you were suggesting bodily harm.” My mother shook her head before walking over to Nash. “It’s really nice to meet you. I’m happy you made it in time for dinner.”
She hugged him before doing the same to Cutler, who kept his little hand in mine.
“Bridger likes to lead with anger first, then he softens,” Easton said with a laugh.
Everyone made introductions, but I was still standing there, stunned. “What are you guys doing here?”
“Your mom invited us for Sunday dinner.” Nash smirked. “And I needed to talk to you, and I didn’t want to wait until tomorrow.”
“This is so romantic,” Aunt Isabelle whisper-shouted, rubbing her hands together.
“Well, son, you’re going to learn quickly that this family has no secrets. So, you may as well get it all out there right now, and then we can eat,” my father said, raising a brow.
“You don’t need to talk here. We can go outside.” I reached for his hand as a wide grin spread across his face.
“Easton said this is kind of my christening into the family, so I’m going to say what I have to say right here.” Nash cleared his throat.
“Go Pops!” Cutler waggled his brows.
“I’m here because I missed you. I love you.
Tara showing up definitely caused some stress, and I’ll fill you in on all of that later,” he said, glancing at Cutler and making it clear he didn’t want to share the details in front of his son.
But then Nash glanced around the table as if he were asking for permission to skip that part.
“We can live with that,” Clark said, and everyone laughed some more.
“Proceed.” Bridger raised a brow, arms crossed over his chest.
“Damn, this is a tough crowd.” Nash smirked. “You know how your mom says that everything happens for a reason?”
“Yeah.” I moved closer to him because I couldn’t stand that there was any distance between us.
“Well, Tara’s coming back forced me to take a hard look at how I wanted my life to look moving forward. The two most important people in my life are standing right in front of me.”
Easton moved to stand beside me, which caused more laughter to erupt around the table before he winked and moved to take a seat.
“I will walk through fire for you and Cutler. You’ve filled a void that I didn’t even know existed.
And as corny as it sounds, you complete me, Emerson.
You complete us. You are the missing piece that made us a family,” he said, moving closer and reaching for my free hand, as Cutler stood beside us.
“I love you,” I whispered.
“I know you do, beautiful. Never doubted it for a minute.” He kissed my forehead.
“So, I’ve put things in place to make sure no one can do anything to hurt us moving forward.
And it made me realize that the most important thing to me is that we’re together.
So I don’t want to spend a year away from you.
” His gaze held mine. “If Boston makes you happy, Cutler and I have agreed to make that move with you. King will run the business, and we’ll figure out the rest once we decide if we want to stay. ”
I shook my head, tears falling from my eyes now.
“Don’t cry, baby. This is a good thing. I’m proud as hell of you, and I want you to have all the things you want.”
“Damn. This guy is good,” Rafe said, and my mom shushed him, clearly not wanting anything to interrupt this moment.
“Pops. You shouldn’t say hell with that little girl sitting at the table,” Cutler whispered, and everyone chuckled.
“Oh, shit. Sorry. Shit, I did it again.”
“Trust me, she’s being raised by a pack of wolves. This isn’t the first time someone has slipped,” Archer said. “Go on. I’m enjoying hearing you fawn all over my cousin. She deserves it.”
“Damn straight,” Easton said, and Cutler raised a brow at him, as well.
I couldn’t hold it in any longer. “I don’t want to move to Boston.”
“What? Why? It’s your dream hospital.”
“It was my dream, when my life was unfulfilled. I was living for work because I didn’t have anything exciting to come home to.
” I shrugged, the tears streaming down my face.
“But they offered me the job yesterday, and when they went over the schedule and the hours—I don’t want to live in a hospital.
I want to live on the water, with my boys.
I want to have my own practice in Magnolia Falls, with patients that I know personally.
I want to be home for dinner every night and eat out by the lake and go to Cutler’s Star Student Day, and barbecue with our friends on the weekends.
I want a life, Nash. I want a life with you. ”
His eyes welled, and he shook his head. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but I’m not questioning it. But know this: if you change your mind, we are on board. Right, Cutler?”
“Yep. Sunny’s our girl. We go where she goes.”
“We go where she goes,” he whispered. “Always.”
“Well, hopefully, right now, she’ll go to the table and start eating because I’m starving,” Easton said.
My mom moved everyone around and led Cutler to the chair beside me, making a place for Nash on the other side of me.
“You all start eating. We’ll be right back,” I said, kissing Cutler on the cheek and leading his father out of the dining room and into the kitchen.
I backed up against the wall and looked up at him. “I love you. Thank you for coming here.”
He took my hand in his and placed it over his heart. Beating heart.
“This beats for you. I love you.”
I smiled up at him. “I didn’t want an audience, but I need you to kiss me right now. I missed you.”
He leaned down and covered my mouth with his, just as my father stepped into the kitchen and cleared his throat.
“Welcome to the family, Nash.” He clapped him on the shoulder.
“Way to ruin the kiss, Dad,” I groaned.
“Sounds like you two have a lifetime for that.” He chuckled.
And he was right.
This was just the beginning.