“And now?”
“Now, my life is full. And myheartis full. I have you and Willow. And I have asister. A sister who’s getting married and having a baby. I have friends. I live in a community where people care about their neighbors and come together to take care of Dolly. Where a woman who has every reason to hate me will still help me when I need it. But—”
She ran out of steam and plopped back onto the couch, dropping her head into her hands. “But I love Nick, and I don’t know if Icanstay in Wayward Harbor because he thought my house was just a summer rental.”
“Do youbelievehe thinks that?”
“Iknowhe thinks that.”
It was hard, but Lucy told her grandmother what Nick had said to her. About having one less person to take care of. Her voice cracked a couple of times, but she got it all out while her grandmother’s expression hardened.
“That was very harsh,” Helen whispered, but it was the confusion in her eyes that caught Lucy’s attention.
She stilled, remembering the moment Nick broke her heart. But this time she pushed the hurtful words to the back of her mind and focused on his face and his body. His back rigid and his hand curled into fists. The line of his jaw.
His eyes.
“He was lying.” Lucy looked at her grandmother and shook her head. “He was lying so I would go to Miami and chase my dream without looking back.”
Helen’s shoulders sagged with relief. “Okay, that sounds so much more like Nick.”
“Yes, it does.” The shock and pain of what he’d said had been so overwhelming in the moment, she hadn’t seen it.
“What are you going to do?”
“Nothing.” And she meant it. “Whether he thought he was doing the right thing or not, Nick hurt me. So if he wants back in my house, he’s going to have to come knock onmydoor.”
* * *
The next morning was brutal. Nick was usually the first one up, so he got to enjoy a cup of coffee before the others came down. But after one of the most miserable nights of his life, he’d overslept. Not only were Gray and Theo already sitting at the island with their coffee mugs, but Beck was there, too.
“Was about to go up and start vacuuming outside your door like Mom used to do,” Beck said when he walked into the kitchen.
“You didn’t come back outside last night, either,” Theo added, while Gray just watched him.
“Didn’t feel great,” he muttered. “A bug or something. There better be coffee left in that pot.”
“There was, like, half a cup left,” Theo said. “So I poured it in your cup and brewed a fresh pot because you’ve trained us well.”
Nick didn’t laugh. He dumped out the half cup of cold coffee and filled it with fresh stuff from the carafe. Then he looked at Beck. “Why are you here? Where are the kids?”
“They’re sitting on the back deck,” his brother said, pointing to his kids, who were sitting in his line of sight on the other side of the glass. “They’re eating the powdered doughnuts they talked me into like we didn’t just get back from spending half the night in the urgent care center.”
Nick’s head jerked up, the idea of sadly staring into the depths of his coffee forgotten. “What happened? Why didn’t you call?”
“We’re fine. Jeremy’s been coughing a lot lately, and it got so bad in the middle of the night I was afraid it was something awful, so I took him in. I was going to call one of you to sit with Sierra, but she was awake and refused to stay home.” Beck sighed. “Turns out Jeremy has an ear infection and the cough is from fluids draining down the back of his throat. He’s on antibiotics and will be fine, but I won’t be working today.”
Nick nodded. “Good. Though you could have just gone home and called, you know.”
Beck grinned. “But then they would have eaten those powdered doughnuts in my house instead of on your back deck.”
“The ant population thanks you,” Gray said, saluting him with a raised mug.
Nick didn’t usually mind his brothers’ banter, but he’d woken up with a headache almost as bad as his heartache and today wasn’t the day.
“Are you aware you’re actually making a growling sound out loud?” Theo asked, and then he shrugged when all three of them glared at him. “What? Just saying.”
“I already mentioned I don’t feel great. And I have a headache.”