Chapter 52
FIFTY-TWO
Lake
I screech into the driveway, barely able to wait for the garage door to open so I can pull inside.
On the call, my mom was screaming.
From my house.
Nonsense about Nova and—
I pull the final few feet inside and brake hard, cranking off the engine, jumping out and hustling into the house.
My mom is sobbing on the couch.
Full-on shrieking and hysterical and—
Christ.
I really don’t have the patience for her bullshit right now.
“Where’s Nova?” I ask, moving toward her, barely resisting the urge to shake her.
My mom looks up, tears clinging to her lashes. “You m-mean your live-in girlfriend that you haven’t t-told me about?” She clamps a hand to her chest, sniffs loudly.
“Yeah, Mom. My live-in girlfriend who you don’t know about because you flit into my life with your bullshit”—she gasps—“then you flit right back out again after you’ve drained me dry and have to move on to someone else to play emotional vampire with.”
She starts crying, even louder than before.
I shake my head, not buying it this time, not having the patience for it, just extending my hand. “Give me the spare key.”
The one I forgot to relocate all those weeks before.
The one she knows about because I’ve had it in the same spot in every single house I’ve lived in.
Her tears dry up in an instant, and she scowls at me. “Why?”
“Because I’m done catering to you. I’m done walking on eggshells.
I’m done feeling guilty for being borne and putting up with your bullshit because you want to punish me again and again and again.
Now tell me,” I grit out, stepping closer, holding her gaze, not giving in to her crap, not this fucking time.
This is too important.
I lean in, roar, “Where. The. Fuck. Is. The. Woman. I. Love?”
“Woof!”
I jump, head whipping to the side, seeing Nova standing in the kitchen, eyes wide, Steve in her arms.
Fuck.
She heard that.
She’s going to run.
She has her boots and coat on.
And Steve.
And—
I’m moving away from my mom before I even process it, crossing to her, and doing it hurrying.
Because she can’t leave.
Because I love her too fucking much to allow her to go.
But she doesn’t retreat as I move toward her, doesn’t turn and flee out the door like I half expect.
She just stays there and lets me approach and—
“Butterfly,” I rasp.
She blinks once. Twice. Then, “You love me?”
Fuck.
“Don’t leave,” I beg. “Just pretend you didn’t hear that. We’ll keep moving like we are—slow and steady and together.”
“But…” Her eyes go glassy. “You love me?”
Too fucking soon for my beautiful woman who wants to fly off because it’s safer than sitting on a branch and waiting to be squashed by the world.
But I can’t lie to her.
This woman has come to own my heart.
“Yeah, butterfly. I love you.”
She goes still, holding Steve as her eyes slide closed, her shoulders draw up.
Then she exhales and her lids peel back.
“I was going to leave this,” she whispers.
“What?”
“I was going to leave this.”
I frown.
“I got all the way to the pond with Steve and was planning how to get the hell out of here, and”—a tear escapes—“I was going to leave this, leave us, leave you.”
“Butterfly.”
Another tear slides down her cheek. “I’m not sure I have the tools for this. I’m not sure I won’t fuck up and hurt you. I’m not sure that I even know how to be open enough to be in a relationship, but…I love you,” she whispers. “Truly, I do.”
My heart does that thing.
That solely-reserved-for-Nova thing.
“Woof.” Steve wiggles and I give him a scratch before tugging him out of her arms, setting him on the floor.
My mom squeals when he runs toward her, and I spin around. “You can either shut up, sit there, and wait until I’m ready to talk to you.” I take a breath, release it slowly, calming my tone so she knows that I’m fucking dead serious. “Or you can get the hell out of my life.”
Her lips clamp together and she leans back on the couch, kicking her shoes off and curling her legs beneath her.
Out of the pup’s reach.
Or so she thinks.
I shake my head, turn back to Nova. “I don’t have the playbook to figure this out. I don’t have the answers, and I can’t guarantee that I won’t be an asshole again, that I won’t hurt you. But I do know that you’re the one woman in my life—past and present—who gives me what I need.”
“Lake,” she whispers.
“And I figure we can figure the rest out, butterfly. All the bumps and misadventures, the troublesome family and the urge to hit the road.”
“But I left,” she says then winces. “Things got hard and I left.”
“You went to the pond—to our pond—and were back to figure things out in what, like thirty minutes?”
“I—” She swallows then nods. “Yeah.”
“I think I can deal with you going to our place for a half hour to sort out your head.” My lips twitch, and I move closer, drawing her into my arms. “Can you deal with me being a grumpy asshole when things aren’t going my way?”
A long, slow breath. Her eyes coming back to mine.
Strength. Courage. Warmth.
Nova.
She smiles. “That’s what mules are for.”
Grinning, I bring her closer. “Damn right, they are.”
“I came up with a new flavor,” she tells me softly. “Cucumber and raspberry.”
“Nothing beats honey rosemary.” I settle my forehead against hers. “And nothing beats what I feel for you.”
Her hand weaves into my hair. “I love you.”
“I love—”
“Woof!”
We break apart, heads jerking to the side.
Seeing the tiny demon dog with my mom’s shoe in his mouth, violently shaking the expensive leather from side to side as he growls fiercely.
“Steve!” we both cry.
But fuck if that isn’t the best justice I’ve ever seen.
And I know Nova feels the same as she glances up at me, her lips curving.
Then she’s laughing.
And I am too.
And I know that things might be complicated, might not be drama-free, that we might even have to take a detour on the open road.
But we’re going to do it together.
And that’s all that really matters.
Well, that and mules.