Chapter 25 Nora
NORA
After tossing and turning all night, I woke early and went for a jog.
Which ended the moment I opened my door and realized how cold it was.
Instead, I checked my laptop, drank coffee, and went through my emails.
Haley slept in, which was fine…I wasn’t ready to face her anyway, not with this weird sensation buzzing under my skin.
I needed to go see my dad, but I didn’t like feeling like I was sticking my nose into something that had been resolved and no longer had anything to do with me.
But I couldn’t stop thinking about why my father would accept Colson’s bid when he’d already told him he’d be forfeited for taking me to California.
Pulling out my cell, and closing my eyes, I dialed my dad, but after a few agonizing rings, it went to voicemail.
Which meant I had to talk to him in person.
Grabbing my keys and leaving a quick note for Haley, I darted out the door.
My truck maneuvered the streets easily enough as I slowly made my way over to my parents’ house.
Parking and exiting the truck, I made quick work of the stairs.
The lockbox secured around the golden handle gave me pause, but didn’t stop me from rapping my knuckles against the door.
After a minute or so, it was obvious that no one was home.
Okay…they must have left.
My gut instinct was to double check my dad’s office one last time to make sure I wasn’t totally off course, but they were supposed to leave for a cruise, so our little conversation might have to wait.
The sky over Macon was a bright blue, with the sun shining on all the snow that had dumped over the past few weeks. It was finally a clear day without any clouds, which gave me hope that maybe the snow might hold off for another week.
A few minutes later, I was pulling into my dad’s office parking lot, feeling a zing of anticipation and relief that his truck was parked in his usual spot.
Walking in, the silence wrapped around me and held me in a viselike grip.
Dad was in his office, typing on a laptop, while the copier ran behind him.
“Nora?” His eyes took me in, worry etched along his face and seeped into his eyes.
Like déjà vu, the same emotions bubbled up as when I came home after I realized my father had had a hand in destroying my future, but I fell into the security of his arms regardless.
I was furious with him, but I was also confused, which ultimately was why I rounded his desk.
His long arms wrapped me up as he pressed a kiss to the top of my head.
“Hi, Dad.”
“How was your Christmas, sweetie?”
Pulling back, I sat down in the simple chair across from his desk.
“Weird, uncomfortable…I missed you guys.” It was all true, parents didn’t stop being your parents even when they broke your heart. They continued to be who they always had been.
He let out a sigh, taking his glasses off.
“We missed you too, kiddo. Next year, let’s be sure we’re together.
” He smiled at me reassuringly and I tried to return it.
Regardless of where I was or who I was with, I wanted to be with them for the holidays, but I had to know that he wasn’t trying to sabotage my future again.
“So what brings you by?” my dad asked, breaking into my thoughts.
He returned his gaze to the laptop screen, then turned to grab a stack of papers from the copier.
“Oh, just some weird stuff that happened in California…”
A deep line formed between his dark brows. “Oh, that… I’m sorry you got messed up in all of it. I tried to keep you clear of the Hanes.”
That made my ears perk up.
“What do you mean you tried to keep me clear of it?”
Dropping the pile of papers in front of him, he flicked his gaze to me, licked his thumb, and flipped through pages.
“Well, originally I had asked as a favor that Colson not get involved with you romantically…that was the deal anyway, he wanted to put a bid in for the company, and I needed to know I could count on him to watch out for you after we left, without worrying that he’d take advantage.
I had to see how serious he was about not trying to date you. ”
My breathing slowed, which was a clear indication that I was two seconds from a heart attack.
Acting unfazed, I cleared my throat and asked, “When was this, exactly?”
My dad didn’t look up as his brows wrinkled in concentration.
“Oh…the day your tree fell, I think. I remember there was an issue, and I was angry that he hadn’t helped you.”
The day he found me in his tub and didn’t get mad that I was there…the day he hunted me down in the diner and helped me light a fire.
All of it.
The savior routine… it wasn’t because he liked me…it was because he was trying to buy the company. My lungs seized like someone had plunged something sharp into them.
“So…who did you end up selling to, Oliver made it seem like he was a candidate.”
Heaving a sigh, my dad pulled a sheet free from the pile, looking it over.
“No, I can’t stand that man or what he stands for. I ended up selling it to Colson after we renegotiated the terms.”
My chest was two seconds from collapsing, as though those latches that had unhitched were flapping in the wind.
“What terms?” I said around a thick ball of nerves stuck in my throat.
I had to hear them. I had to know.
My father finally paused his movements and leveled me with a stare as if he assumed I knew.
“Part of the final purchase agreement was that he wouldn’t be romantically involved with you in any way. It’s a legally binding stipulation in order for the transfer of sale and ownership to go to him.”
There was so much…so many things invading my chest, making it hollow out, making my voice weak and feeble.
“He wouldn’t agree to that.” I barely managed to say through a cracked set of lungs and a barely functioning voice box.
With one tiny lift of his wrist, my father handed me the page he’d pulled out, and there on the bottom was Colson’s signature.
I snatched the paper from my father’s hand, reading every word on the page, to confirm that this wasn’t some joke or elaborate scheme.
Tears clogged my throat as I tried to speak, but nothing but a sob worked itself free.
“You can’t…” I tried and failed.
Anger surged forward, so potent, so raw that tears blinded me as everything from Jason and now Colson came to the surface.
I ripped the paper, and then I reached for the whole pile.
“Nora!”
My dad tried to stop me, but it was too late. I was ripping and tearing everything in sight.
“How could you do this again?” I sobbed, my chest ached, my fingers were numb to several paper cuts bleeding along my fingers, but I didn’t care.
My father stared at me like I was a deranged fool.
“How could you, with Jason, and now…” I couldn’t even say his name, how could he have signed, how could he give me up?
“You deserve better, Nora, and if I have to break your heart so that you find the right one to hold it, then I will.”
“No!” I cried, throwing the shredded paper at him.
“You don’t get to decide that for me, you can’t choose these things for me and put an impossible choice in front of these men that I loved. I loved Jason, I wanted to marry him.”
“And you found Colson, because of me… now think of who you’ll find after Colson.”
He thought he was helping me. He thought…
I couldn’t breathe.
“These men are given simple choices, and the day you find the man who picks you out of everything offered to him, you’ll know he’s the one.”
I wasn’t hearing him anymore, not really. I had no idea what sounds I was making, but my chest was burning.
“Nora, calm down.” He soothed, trying to calm me, but it wouldn’t work.
My heart was shattered. All I could see was Colson’s signature on that line, a few paces above it, said he agreed not to ever enter into a romantic engagement of any kind with me.
I sank to the cold floor, hiccuping as sobs worked through me and tears streamed endlessly.
“Call Rae. Please call Rae. I can’t look at you and I don’t ever want to speak to you again.”
“Honey, you need to breathe. I think you’re having a panic attack.”
I couldn’t focus on his face, or even his voice. Black dots danced in my vision, which made me angry. I hated that this hurt so much. I couldn’t breathe around the crater in my chest.
Another man I loved had fallen for it.
Choosing that I wasn’t worth it.
I closed my eyes and then I finished breaking.
I could hear Rae talking.
And I knew that Davis had carried me into the house. I had no idea what time it was, or why she’d brought me home, but I didn’t want to be here, or anywhere close to Colson.
Sitting up, I slowly gathered myself enough to start packing.
“Hey…you’re up,” Rae said from my doorway, she held her elbow like she wasn’t sure what to do with me.
I didn’t know what to do with me either, so that was fine.
“Thank you for getting me.” I rasped, my voice raw.
She moved closer. “Of course. Your dad didn’t say much, just to get you home.”
I laughed sardonically at that.
“What happened?” Rae’s voice was small as she settled on the edge of my bed, watching me grab clothes.
Slamming a drawer, I tried to make my voice work without sobbing.
“He gave Colson an ultimatum to buy the business.”
Rae’s eyes searched mine, and I knew she understood all the things I wasn’t saying.
Her head shook as she whispered, “He didn’t agree. Tell me Colson didn’t agree.”
My gaze moved past my best friend, and that’s when I saw him, hovering near the doorway.
His voice was low and tainted with pain as he made his way into my room. “I agreed on paper, but only because it was bullshit, Nora. He was going to be in Arizona, I could fight the stupid shit in court. I had a plan.”
Colson walked in, trying to defend himself.
I shook my head, while Rae got up from the bed to block his path.
“I think you should go, Colson.”
He ignored her and stepped forward, pushing his hands into my hair as he cupped my jaw.
“No, it wasn’t real…I just…” He hesitated, his jaw working and tensing. “I couldn’t let him have it.”
Pushing him away, I cried. “Well, congratulations, your father doesn’t have the company, but you lost me in the process. I hope your dream is everything you hoped it would be.”
His brows came together, as if he couldn’t process what I said, then his mouth twisted.
“No, I didn’t lose you.”
He grabbed for me, but I pushed him away again. “Leave, Colson, and give me your key. Yours is still at your house, by the way, because I saw right through that bullshit.”
His eyes closed, and I knew I was right.
“I panicked…I needed time, but I still needed you close until I figured it out because I can’t lose you, Nora. I won’t lose you.”
“You already did!”
My voice was sharp and loud, I knew Haley was in the house, so was Davis…I had no idea who else, but he wasn’t hearing me. Now maybe he would.
“No…” he whispered, tears coated his lashes as he shook his head, “please, no…I just…I messed up, let me fix it. I already gave it up, Nora. The first time he—”
His pause nearly made me laugh.
“The first time he asked you to watch out for me. The real reason you were suddenly nice to me, and couldn’t seem to leave me alone? When you said you were just being a good neighbor? Yeah, he told me about that too.”
“Did he tell you that I wanted to be with you a year ago?” Colson stepped forward again, the muscles in his neck straining as he pleaded with me.
“Nora, I’ve wanted to be with you, I’ve been in love with—”
“Stop, Colson. Just stop because all I hear you saying is that you let my father decide for you, and I refuse to be with any man who would allow that. Not ever again.”
“Nora…” He strained again, but I moved to the bathroom and shut the door, locking it.
I heard him yelling something, but then Davis intervened, and I wasn’t sure how they got him out, but eventually they did.
I finished packing my things, and thankfully Davis and Rae stayed, helping me load it all into my truck. I couldn’t run into Colson again; it would hurt too much.
“I’m so sorry about all this,” I said to Haley, hating that I left her in the lurch.
She shook her head, waving me off. “Don’t worry about me. I’m sorry my brother is such a mess.”
Nodding my head and swiping at my tears, I handed her a key.
“Would you mind housesitting for me while I’m gone? You said you didn’t have the next place picked yet for where you would go, and you need to talk to him…so please stay here until I’m ready to come home?”
She nodded and then wrapped her arms around me.
“Of course, I will. Davis mentioned a gym that I might like, so I’m going to check that out and treat this as a sort of vacation.”
“Good.”
Grabbing my purse and snagging my favorite plant, I headed toward the door.
“I’ll text you to check in with you.”
Haley walked out with me, my eyes stayed down, refusing to look over at his house.
“Okay, take all the time you need to.”
Opening my door, and tossing my bags in, I gave Colson’s porch one glance, just one.
He was standing on it, white air clouding in front of him as he watched me. His hands strangled the railing as he dipped his face, that muscle in his jaw jumped and the sight made my stomach swoop.
He’d done this.
He broke it.
As I climbed in and my door was still open, I heard him yell my name.
Then my door slammed shut, and I put my truck in reverse.