Page 69 of Wine & Whiskey
She glances at the clock on the oven before sitting down next to Nick, her hand sliding onto his thigh. A feeling of home stirs in his chest he hasn’t felt since childhood. “But it’s only eight-thirty.”
“What can I say? My stomach can’t tell time.”
They turn toward the laugh coming from the doorway. Carter smirks and nods toward Max. “That’s not the only thing wrong with you.”
Max points his fork at him. “You’d better be glad there’s a lady here, or I’d tell you what’s wrong with you.”
Rolling his eyes, Carter reaches out his hand to Shae. “Hi. I’m Carter.”
“It’s nice to meet you. I’m glad to finally confirm you’re real.”
He scrunches his face in confusion. “You thought I wasn’t?”
“You’ve been an enigma to me all this time. Max always says ‘Carter’s here’ or ‘Carter needs to meet with you.’ But I‘d never actually seen you. I thought maybe it was code for trying to get rid of me.”
“You’ve figured us out.” Carter winks at her and shrugs his shoulders. “I’m an actor posing as Nick’s cousin to help him escape from you.”
“Cousin? Well, now I’m really glad to meet you. I can’t wait to hear about him growing up.”
This could be trouble. She’ll love to tease him about Carter’s exaggerated tales. “Zip it, Carter. She doesn’t need to hear any of your stories.”
“Well, don’t tell her that, dumbass. Now, she’s going to want to know even more. Just sign your name.” Carter taps on the papers and pushes them closer to Nick. “My dad and Nick’s mom were brother and sister, and we were always hanging around together. I was even there the only time Nick ever got yelled at by his mom.”
And here we go. Nick swallows down his bite. “What do you mean you were there? You caused it.”
“Focus on your papers, and let us talk. Anyway, this one time, we were maybe eight or nine and trying to build a fort. We got the bright idea to use sheets and blankets and grabbed all the ones off the beds and in the linen closet. Then, it started to rain, practically a fucking hurricane.”
Her hands fly to her face, covering her mouth. “Oh no!”
“So, we ran around trying to get everything and drag it back into the house. By the time we got them inside, they were covered in mud. The floor was filthy and most of the blankets were ruined. Aunt Beverly was usually a quiet, easy-going lady. but this time, she was livid.” Carter leans his head back and laughs. “She yelled at us for a good twenty minutes. I think she might’ve even let loose with a curse word or two.”
Nick puts his fork down, the bile burning in his stomach. Her anger had just been a cover for her fear, of the punishment she would receive when his father came home, how she would suffer for the boys’ innocent mischief.
“What did you do?”
“We stuffed everything into trash bags to go to the laundry and mopped the floor. She felt bad about yelling at us and made us hot chocolate when we were finished.”
“She knew you were good boys. I’m sure it was easy to forgive you.”
Nick smiles at her, trying to let go of the past and focus on the joy sitting next to him, her gentle touch soothing his pain. “Me, yes. Him, it’s not as clear.” He slides the papers back to Carter. “Now, take your papers and get out. You’re interrupting my dinner.”
“Fine, I’m going. But I’ll be back to tell her some more stories. So you better be nice to me…” He looks at Shae and raises his eyebrows. “Because I know everything.”
Her sweet laugh is a reminder of the first day he brought her home. Even then, there wasn’t any doubt how happy she would make him. He has to do everything he can to do the same for her.
When they’re alone again, he squeezes her hand. “Are you going to tell me what happened with Jason?”
She looks down, tracing the stem of her wine glass. “He’s just worried. He’ll come around.”
“Shae?”
“It will hurt you, and I don’t want to do that.”
She protects both of them, a shield between the men in her life who can’t get along. A role she shouldn’t have to play. “You or Max should have let me know you were upset.”
Her head flies up, worry darkening her eyes. “Don’t be mad at Max. I asked him not to. You would’ve gotten mad and raced home, but there wasn’t anything you could do. You can’t change Jason’s feelings.”
“No, but you don’t have to hide the truth to protect me. We have to be honest with each other, remember?”
