Chapter 14 #2
We’re all trying, and suddenly our fumbling feels less like failing and more like growing, but worry still keeps tugging me out of the zone, so to speak.
Then another reporter shows up on the school playground, I get a call, and Nina has to bribe me with Danish pastries so I don’t go ballistic.
That evening, I chat with Kai and Mya about strangers and safety. The kids seem completely unbothered, brush it off, and are eager to play the epic game of Monopoly we started but didn’t finish last night because, and I quote, “I was losing and they wanted to give me a chance to catch up.”
These two, I tell ya.
Nina is at her book club meeting over at Once Upon a Romance in town. I doze off watching hockey highlights and am startled by getting another call late that night.
Well, it’s dark out, but when I look at my phone, it’s actually shortly after four a.m. Still dark. Not even the hint of a purple-gray dawn along the horizon. It’s Nina. She must’ve gotten home from book club, slept, and left already. Meanwhile, I was passed out on the couch.
“Good morning,” I say, voice scratchy, sleepy.
“Lane, the man was outside the bakery again this morning when I got in to open.”
Nerves fire.
Muscles wake up.
I’m instantly alert and on my feet. “Are you okay?”
Hushed, she says, “Yeah, I’m fine. I kept everything locked up, but it’s still dark, and I didn’t want to wake you too early, but—”
An instinctive, powerful force of protection washes over me.
I’ve seen how intrusive the paparazzi can be, lived it first hand—Dad practically invited it because he believes that all press is good press.
I prefer my privacy and know Nina does too.
But more importantly, her safety comes first. “I’m already putting on my shoes. ”
“But Kai and Mya—”
Still getting used to having minors in my care, I beast mode up the stairs before Nina can finish her sentence.
“The kids can see how their favorite pastries are made, and we’ll adapt tonight. Pizza, a movie, and early to bed.”
“You don’t have to come here. It’s fine, I just think it’s the guy from the festival again and …”
“And he thinks he’s going to exploit my family? No chance. And if it’s some creep, he’s going to experience a hockey stick up—wait. You said again.”
The line is quiet.
“Nina. Is there something you failed to mention?”
Keeping my phone pressed to my ear with my good shoulder, she hems and haws about how there was a guy who showed up one morning, but it was no big deal. She thinks it was the same loser at the Happy Hockey Days festival—the one I told to back off.
“You sure it’s the same one?” What part of my message did he not receive?
“I can’t be entirely sure since it’s dark out, but …”
“Doors and windows locked?”
“Of course.”
“I’ll be there in five minutes. If you hear another peep, call 911.”
“I don’t think it’s that big of a—”
“Your safety is my priority.” My pulse rushes with adrenaline. Some reporters are great, but a guy who shows up predawn is trouble.
I wake the kids, whisper that we’re heading to the bakery for a field trip, and gather their shoes.
Cobbiton isn’t the kind of place to have vagrants or crime, but you can never be too careful.
We’re at the bakery in less than five minutes. Although everything seems secure and there’s no sign of suspicious activity, I make my presence known, then pull my wife into a tight hug, breathing her in, thankful she’s safe.
Kai and Mya are keen on this kind of adventure and are thrilled to be helping Nina in the kitchen.
They help her decide on the daily special.
I’m on dish duty and see more clearly that her operating this business on her own must get overwhelming at times.
If it were me, doing all of this solo, I’d have accidentally served customers liquid soap instead of coffee creamer, ordered cement mix instead of flour, and very likely driven the place into the ground.
Donning a fitted apron, Nina leans over the counter, showing Kai how to evenly roll out pastry dough while Mya measures ingredients with a scale.
In the dim morning light, my wife’s silhouette is soft, beautiful.
And I have a deeper appreciation for who this woman is—hard working, big-hearted, and did I mention beautiful?
Shortly after I bring the kids to school, my phone rings. It’s Brad.
Without preamble, he says, “Lane, we need to discuss damage control. The narrative that’s building isn’t good for anyone. Vinny has been in touch. He’s concerned.”
“What narrative?”
“That Nina Bruun deliberately targeted you because of your money and status. That she’s been using a child to manipulate you into marriage while hiding her business’s financial problems. With the pending custody approval, this doesn’t look good.”
“That’s ridiculous. Kai and Mya aren’t even her—” I stop. But that’s not exactly true. She is more of a mother to them than Desi has ever been.
“I’ve also been in communication with your father.”
And there it is. Reading between the lines, he and Vinny are behind this—we share the same agent. My father is trying to drive Nina and me apart.
Brad continues, “The optics are bad, Lane. Injured player, outrageous marriage, sudden appearance of a child, failing business. It looks like a setup.”
“What do we do?” I ask, feeling helpless.
“Cut your losses.”
Does he mean to cut her out of my life? But then I see dollar signs in red—the money she owes for rent. Once again, I worry my father is right. What if all of this is more trouble than it’s worth?
But the thoughts are there and I can’t shake them.
After the call, I drive home in a daze. This is way more than I signed up for when I got hypnotized in Vegas. Two kids, media attention, legal complications, and questions about Nina’s motivations that I hate myself for even considering.
But the doubt exists, planted by my father and watered by lawyers and sports reporters who make money off other people’s drama—people like me, even though I’ve tried to avoid this kind of thing for my entire career. Xoe being an exception and I can’t relive that catastrophe.
That afternoon, after practice, I find Nina in the kitchen at home, helping Kai with homework while Mya looks through an old, illustrated recipe book that belonged to Bibi.
Something that smells incredible bakes in the oven.
It’s so domestic, so perfect, so unlike what my life looked like mere months ago.
It feels so achingly right that for a moment, I forget all my worries.
Then I remember the final notice I glimpsed on Nina’s desk at the bakery, and my misgivings come rushing back. But it’s not only that. If we cut the tether, she’ll be safe from dangerous reporters and can go back to her quiet life. The one I barged into with all my problems.
“Nina, can we talk?”
She looks up from Kai’s math worksheet, and my expression must give me away because her face immediately grows guarded.
“Kids, why don’t you move to the living room while I wait for the timer to ding?” she says.
They exchange a look, but quietly obey.
When we’re alone, I don’t even bother to take a breath before diving in.
It’s time to push her away. It’s for her own good.
“The media have run with our story. Photos from the festival and a bunch of other nonsense are everywhere. They’re speculating about Kai being your son, about you targeting me because of money. ”
Nina’s expression pinches. “I thought I set them straight. It’s ridiculous.”
“Is it? Because I also saw that final notice for the bakery lease on your desk when I was looking for your label maker.”
Her silence tells me everything I need to know.
“Nina, I wish you had told me you were in financial trouble. Why didn’t you?”
“Because it’s not your problem,” she says quietly. “I’ve been handling it on my own for years. I don’t need rescuing.”
“But maybe that’s what this has all been about. Maybe that’s why you agreed to stay married, why you were so willing to take on Kai—”
“Stop.” Nina’s voice is sharp now and her gaze narrows with accusation. “Just stop. You think I’m using you? Using him? Mya?”
“I don’t know what to think anymore.” The words come out harsher than I intend, but I can’t take them back. “This whole situation has gotten way too complicated, too real. Maybe we should end our arrangement before someone gets hurt.”
She gasps and liquid brims in her eyes.
It pains me, but what did I expect? For her to cheer and smile?
Expression pinched and voice trembling, she says, “I thought you were afraid of your career failing. But the truth is, you don’t know how to be part of a family.”
Those are fighting words and they hit like a blow to the chest. I grit my jaw.
“Are you kidding me? What exactly have I been doing all this time then?” Shaking my head, I continue like I’m sliding down a slick hill in skates with no way to slow down.
“If that’s the case, you’re using the so-called promise you made to your father as an excuse not to allow anyone to get close to you. ”
Her arms fly in front of her chest and she crosses them tightly. “What are you even talking about? I’ve been giving my all to you guys.”
Frowning, I retort, “Maybe we don’t have what it takes to fight for these kids, for each other.”
With a snort, she says, “You’re right. Maybe it is for the best.”
But even as the words hang between us, I can see the kids in the living room, Mya helping Kai with his fractions, both of them finally together for the first time in their lives.
“What about Mya and Kai?” Nina asks, voicing what we’re both thinking.
“I don’t know. Maybe Sabrina is right. Maybe they need stability while we figure out what we’re doing.”
“So we stay together for them, but not for us?”
The question is just what I was thinking, but even as she says it, that’s a challenge I’m not sure I can meet.
“Nina, what if one day you decide you’re done, that we’re too much, and you leave?”
She seems to shrink and her voice is a whisper. “Like my mother.”