Page 3 of Forged

Bax laughed. “Ah. Yes. Some of us are susceptible to being bribed with things we can lick.”

Everything seemed to stop for a second. A faint flush appeared on Nick’s cheeks. Bax kicked himself for making an off-color joke to a man with a pouty child in his arms. He was so used to throwing out innuendo every three seconds. It was his normal.

The cartoony music of a mobile phone broke the awkward moment. Nick shifted Macy into his other arm and reached for his phone in his back pocket.

“Hello, Mum,” he answered the call. “Yes, yes, we’ll be down in three minutes. Alright.” He ended the call, then slipped hisphone back into his pocket. “Hurry up, you lot. Granny is waiting.”

“Tell me what you need me to do to help,” Bax said.

Nick hesitated for a moment before saying, “Let’s swap. This one is already in her coat, but it’ll take some wrestling to get that one to put his on.”

Bax laughed, then set Jordan down so that he could take Macy. The moment Jordan’s feet touched the floor, he bolted. Nick chased after him while Bax tried to coo and entertain Macy. The poor thing was obviously overheated in her coat, which was making her uncomfortable, but there was nothing Bax could do about that.

Nick managed to catch Jordan and shove him into his coat with surprising speed and agility. Bax watched the whole process with all different kinds of admiration. For a hulking blacksmith, Nick was surprisingly gentle with the kids. He knew just what to do to get Jordan to behave and put his coat on, even though it was a huge fuss.

At the same time, Nick looked exhausted. Ever since Bax had started spending more time at Hawthorne House, Nick had looked tired and strained. Raina had been gone for a while now, and while the entire family was still mourning her, Bax was fairly certain that the stress of being a single father weighed on Nick as well. He was a single father who was also a teacher, and if what some of the other family members had told him was right, Nick was an incredible artist as well.

How one man could manage all those things was a mystery. In fact, Bax had a feeling Nick struggled to juggle all those things. He’d be lying if he said that wasn’t part of Nick’s appeal. Bax wanted to take care of him in every way.

“Yoohoo,” a matronly voice drifted in from the hall just as Nick and Bax had pulled things together. “What seems to be the hold-up?”

“Mum,” Nick gusted out as he lifted Jordan into his arms. “You didn’t have to walk all the way up here.”

“You said three minutes,” Mrs. Turner said. “It’s been six.”

Bax arched one eyebrow and exchanged a look with Macy, who wasn’t really interested in him. Mrs. Turner must have had a thing for punctuality.

It was more than that, though. Bax had never met the woman before, but at first glance, she seemed to be completely the opposite of Nick. She was tall like Nick, but she held her back too stiffly, and her grey hair was pulled back in a tight bun. From what Bax knew, the Turner family was middle-class, but Mrs. Turner looked like she was trying to be posh. Her wool coat was pristine and had a brooch pinned to one side, and she wore a skirt instead of trousers, even though it was nippy outside.

“Come to Granny, dear,” Mrs. Turner said, reaching to take Macy out of Bax’s arms.

Part of Bax was loath to let the girl go, but as soon as Mrs. Turner came near, Macy reached out for her. When Bax handed her over, Macy wrapped her arms around the woman’s neck. Clearly, they loved each other.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Mum,” Nick said, stepping over to give his mum a kiss on her cheek. “Jordan was in rare form this morning. I’ve only just got his coat on. They’re ready to go now, though.”

“Good,” Mrs. Turner said. “Auntie Joann and I are ready to have a lovely day with our favorite boy and girl.” She smiled and nuzzled Macy’s face, causing the girl to laugh.

She lost her adoring smile a moment later as she faced Bax again and asked, “Who is this?”

Bax ignored her standoffishness and greeted her with, “I’m Baxter Hawthorne, one of the cousins.”

“Another bohemian?” Mrs. Turner said, dripping disapproval.

Bax noted the reaction but ignored it with a laugh. “No, I’m the odd one out in this family. I’m an accountant. I’m staying at Hawthorne House this winter, just across the hall, actually, while I’m auditing the books.”

“Oh, an accountant,” Mrs. Turner said, warming to Bax instantly. “How lovely. My late husband was a financial planner, so I know quite a bit about accounting.”

Bax had the impression the woman was the sort who fancied she knew a lot about a lot of things.

“Is Joann with you?” Nick asked, picking up the nappy bag and shifting forward.

It was a sign for everyone to move, so Bax stepped into the hall.

“She’s waiting in the car,” Mrs. Turner said.

“I’ll carry Jordan down and say hello to her, but I need to get down to the forge so I can work on my sculpture,” he said as everyone except Bax started walking toward the stairs.

“You’re still puttering away on that unwieldy thing?” Mrs. Turner asked.

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