Page 21 of His Greatest Treasure

Cooper chuckles. “Something like that. We were drunk in Ireland but got Punk’d nonetheless.”

“So, you came home and got married for real?”

“Not right away, but soon enough. Cooper’s too obsessedwith me not to be my husband. He has a fetish for telling everyone I’m his wife,” Addie teases.

I snort a laugh. “There are worse fetishes.”

“You’ve got a point. He could like sucking on my toes like lollipops or something.”

Cooper tugs on her earlobe. “You’d love me anyway.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. My toes are too ticklish for you to be macking on them.”

He shakes his head, the half-smile on his face not moving an inch. “Alright, love. Stop creeping Avery out with your toe talk.”

“I’m not creeping her out. Am I creeping you out?” she asks me, flustered.

“You’re not creeping me out, but toes do.”

She winces, smiling apologetically. “Right. Okay, well, tell me about you. How have the last ten years been? You look incredible, but I do miss the black hair. When did you get rid of the nose ring? And O-M-G, your little girl! Tell me all about her. How old is she? Is her father here somewhere? I didn’t see him when you arrived, but I had to drag Cooper here, so I wouldn’t blame him for not?—”

“Breathe, Addie. One question at a time,” Cooper murmurs, his hand steady against her back.

Addie sucks in a long inhale and slows her roll a bit. “I’m sorry. I’m just . . . I’m just really excited. I feel like I know you so well but also like I don’t know you at all. Does that make sense?”

“Yes. It makes a lot of sense.” I unclasp my hands and slide them over my thighs. “I wasn’t sure what you guys knew about me, if anything at all. It’s not like I’ve been around to ask.”

“We know some. Little bits and pieces that trickled down from our parents. We knew you were in BC but not where until your mom called mine and Aunt Gray to tell them you were going to be bringing your daughter to the studio. I think everyone just thought that you didn’t want us to know much. When you didn’t answer any of my messages . . .” She trails off, biting down on her lip.

“You thought I was cutting you out,” I finish for her.

“Yeah.”

“Life is hard on everyone, Avery. We understood that. You didn’t grow up here like we did. There was nothing forcing you to keep in contact with us,” Cooper says.

I know he means well with his words, but the honesty in them only makes me feel worse. These people were my family, and I just cut them out.

“That doesn’t mean I still shouldn’t have. I did want to keep in contact with you, but it was hard being so far away all the time. Everyone was so close to one another, and once we got old enough, I felt like a hang-around most of the time. When I decided to move to Canada, I didn’t know if it would be awkward to pop up out of nowhere and hope that you still wanted me around, so I never reached out. I’d always felt like the odd one out, and I think I just got so used to expecting you guys to forget about me that I convinced myself it was easier to just . . . let it go,” I admit, relief following soon after.

Keeping my feelings inside has never benefited me, yet I tend to lean into the habit. It’s easier than baring your insecurities to someone in hopes they don’t take advantage of it and hurt you deeper than before.

Adalyn reaches her hands out for mine, and I give them to her. With gentle squeezes, she parts her lips on a sincere smile and leans forward, our shoulders touching.

“You were never a hang-around. I always wished we were closer in age because then we would have had a real chance at becoming good friends back then, but I’m up for it now, if you’ll have me.”

“You’re family regardless of where you grew up or how often we saw one another, Avery,” Cooper adds gently.

I grip Addie’s hands tighter and look between the two of them. “Then I’d love to get to know you guys again. Nova and I are in Vancouver now.”

“This is so exciting. I’m going to be all over you all the time now,” Addie gushes.

I grow warm both inside and out. “Is everyone else still here?”

“Well, Maddox and Braxton are in Ottawa, Noah and Tinsley live in Toronto, and Addie, me, and the Bateman family are still here,” Cooper answers.

“I remember hearing about Maddox signing with the Ottawa Beavertails. But Noah and Tinsley? He moved over there with her?”

Maddox, Noah, and Adalyn are all Huttons, while Tinsley is a Lowry and Cooper’s a White. It’s one hell of a complicated, extravagant group of friends around here, but after a while, it grows less confusing.

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