It was both a truth and a lie. One I was good at saying. I didn’t need to hide who I was or where I came from. My emotions, however, were very much buried behind my barbed wall. Nash was hiding more than emotions. He was hiding everything about where he came from. The Nash I’d thought I’d known was just a thin veneer on top of stacked layers beneath.
Taunting me. Drawing me in. But I couldn’t let him. I turned away.
“Goodnight,” I said, opening the door and going inside as he watched.
As the ipecac syrup left my system, returning my body to its normal state, it allowed the heightened awareness of Nash to ease back in. I ached to touch him. I ached to be touched by him. But I wouldn’t be the one to make the mistake again. I wouldn’t straddle him with bare breasts or kiss him while he lifted a dumbbell from my arms. I was done making my moves on a man who would only regret it.
♫ ♫ ♫
The sun was just chasing away the dark when my alarm went off. I groaned and then pulled my body from the bed which was not only beautiful but had been extremely comfortable. I put on my workout gear, pulled my hair up into a ponytail, tied my shoes, and headed down the stairs to the kitchen to fill my water bottle.
When I opened the back door, the smells of the farm hit me first, followed by a brisk breeze that coasted over my skin. The summer weather had hung on later than normal this year, but it finally felt like the humidity and heat were breaking away as October moved into November. The rustle of leaves on the grass agreed.
I took off down the path we’d taken the day before in the golf cart named Betsy, heading toward the fields and the pond at a steady pace. The lemon scent in the air was appealing to all of my senses today, bringing images of the Isle of Capri to mind. We’d gone there as a family when I’d been in high school. Our parents had wanted us to understand our heritage, and so we’d spent an entire summer in Italy on one of Dad’s sixty-day leaves. We’d stayed on the mainland but visited the island multiple times.
My thoughts were on the island as I passed the greenhouses, but then I was drawn back to the unexplored land in front of me. More fields of plants I couldn’t define. More scents in the air, these spicy like basil and rosemary and thyme. I ran until I hit a gate that led to some sort of manufacturing building on the other side. The words Wellsley Place, Inc. were painted across the top of it. If I wasn’t seeing it all with my own eyes, I wouldn’t believe Nash came from any of this.
The thought brought back the tension from the night before between him and his uncle. It felt heavier than just Nash thumbing a nose at the family legacy for a military life he had no intention of giving up. It felt like sad stories were holding them both back.
I left the gates behind, reversing my direction until I approached the pond again. The willow trees on the opposite bank called to me. I found a barely visible grass path that circled the water and followed it without much thought. The birds and wildlife came alive as I jogged, chirping, croaking, crunching in the bushes, but nothing to cause fear.
Once I got to the willow trees, I slowed to a walk, the drooping fronds adding a dream-like quality to the morning. I eased my way through them, brushing them aside like I was dancing between the branches. It was cooler there, sending a slight shiver over my sweaty skin.
On the other side of the trees, the path curved toward the gravel road once more, but I was reluctant to go back for some reason. My phone buzzed, and I sat down amongst the long blades of grass at the water’s edge, pulling my phone from the pocket of my yoga pants.
BRADY: Are you awake?
ME: If I wasn’t, I would be now.
BRADY: Don’t try to make me feel bad. You’re always awake this early, babe.
ME: Then why did you ask, BABE? And more importantly, why are you up this early?
I emphasized “babe” to make sure he got the point that he wasn’t supposed to be using it.
BRADY: ***eye roll emoji *** This house is too quiet. I’m already going insane.
ME: It hasn’t even been a day. ** laughing emoji **
BRADY: Unlike you, there with some sexy being to keep your heart pattering, I’m stuck with LEE and four BEHEMOTHS. I don’t even have Alice to flirt with.
ME: You do know Alice is lesbian, right?
BRADY: But she still flirts with me.
ME: What do you really want?
BRADY: I’m worried about the press.
ME: Me too. I’ll spend some more time today heading them off at the pass.
BRADY: I’m also worried about you.
ME: Fiona isn’t going to find me here.
BRADY: But what about when we come crawling back out of the woodwork?
ME: Give the police some time to find her.
BRADY: I know. It’s hard to be patient.
ME: It’s never been my strength either.
BRADY: Please be safe. Georgie and Mac would never forgive me if something happened to you.
ME: I’ve got the Otter with me. Nothing is going to get past him.
BRADY: It already did.
ME: Which means he’s doubly diligent.
I couldn’t help an impish smile because I was out in the middle of nowhere, jogging by myself, even with Nash on alert. His family and his past were distracting him. Regardless, he’d probably flip a lid when he found out. I lay back, looking up at the blue sky and the
