Page 4 of No Take Backs

My smile wilted when I heard Mr. G close the car door. “So, this is it.”

With a tilt of his head, Nate nodded. “Make the most of a beer at the airport in Brissie before you’re underage.” He then stepped even farther back, out of reach. And thank Christ he did. It would have been so easy to latch back on to him and squeeze my friend to death. I knew I’d have to cope and get on without him, but it didn’t mean it would be easy.

I shoved aside the ache in my chest, knowing I wouldn’t see his stupid face every day or hear his voice while he got up me to finish my homework or whatever I was being lazy about. “I’ll make the toast to you,” I managed to say. Without another word, I got into Mr. G’s car and strapped myself in, offering him a tight smile and a dip of my head.

And I didn’t look back.

Couldn’t.

If I did, I’d struggle to breathe, knowing I was leaving behind the one person who’d been my rock for the past seven years, the one person who simply got me.

As I focused ahead, I realized I hadn’t said goodbye. I huffed out a laugh. Maybe that was a good thing. I didn’t think I’d ever truly be able to say goodbye to Nate Griffin.

CHAPTER1

NATE

EIGHT YEARS LATER — NOVEMBER

Exhaustion beat at my heels.Regardless, I opened up the main entrance and stared bleary-eyed around the store. Immediately, rightness settled in my chest. While work was busy, this place was pretty much my second home. Whenever I was here, whatever stress I was feeling melted away. Maybe not all of it, but certainly enough to help me breathe.

If only it could help with my sleep-deprived state too.

It had been another night of Amber being uncomfortable and calling me at almost midnight, worried she’d gone into labor.

After checking on her, and me and her gran reassuring Amber that perhaps the curry she’d eaten may have been responsible for the grumbling stomach pains and not the baby ready to say hello, I’d finally dropped face-first on the bed in their spare room and crashed. Six hours later, I was going through the orders, preparing for a big delivery from our produce guy while yawning like it was an Olympic sport.

“Coffee?”

I glanced up at Patrick. He carried my saving grace. “Please tell me you got me a double shot and vanilla?” My voice was scratchy, lack of sleep doing a number on more than my attention.

“The gross sugary syrup is most definitely in there.” He wrinkled his nose, and I didn’t have a single thing to say in my defense, not when staring at the order sheet was already addling my brain.

Instead, I grunted, “You are a rock star,” and took the coffee from him.

“That I am. Don’t you forget it when it comes to Christmas bonuses.”

I snorted before inhaling the scent of coffee deeply once I clung to the cardboard cup. I took a tentative sip, unable to wait until it cooled. The splash of frothy coffee, with the bitter tang of caffeine barely disguised under the vanilla, hit my tongue. I sighed happily.

“Amber again?”

I nodded, gaze resting on Patrick, a small smile forming. He was one of two full-time staff who worked for my dad and me. He was young, early twenties, and from a local family. I knew his big sister from high school, which had helped me decide to give him a chance, and I was so pleased I had.

Most of the day-to-day management rested on me these days, which I was more than okay with. While Dad was still young in his midfifties, he’d had a few health issues over the past couple of years, so he had stepped back a fair bit.

But this store was all I’d known, so running the place was as easy as breathing. It meant even when struggling to function, I could just about manage. It also helped that I took comfort in being here. I loved the familiar space, loved hearing the gossip from the locals, loved interacting with so many people.

“Is she okay? The baby?”

“Both fine. She just had a scare. It’s getting close, though.”

“What is it now, a month?”

I bobbed my head, my heart leaping a little when I thought about Amber. In just over a month, she’d be a mum. I still struggled to wrap my head around that. Hell, she was still a kid herself. Admittedly, she was a lot more grown up than most eighteen-year-olds I knew, but she was like my kid sister and absolutely my family, which meant she was still practically a child. Her being a parent would change it all, though. And hell if we weren’t all excited for the new addition.

“Are things still difficult at home?”

A chuckle spilled out of me. It was no secret Gran Broadwater was a force of nature. When Amber had asked me to be with her when she told her gran she was pregnant, I was sure I’d been more nervous than she was. But Gran had surprised us both that day. She’d listened to her seventeen-year-old granddaughter tell her she was pregnant without batting an eyelash. And when Amber had admitted it had happened when she’d gone to a festival, where she’d done the deed with two different guys, neither of whom she was in contact with, I’d been the one who’d winced and could have broken out into a full-on lecture. But Gran had listened to every single word before asking what she wanted to do about the pregnancy and saying she’d support Amber whatever decision she made.

---