Page 54 of Hale Yes
“She said that to you?” I barely recognize the seething tone of my own voice. I haven’t been this pissed since… well, it was five years ago. The whole thing with Phoenix.
Nicolette’s lips roll in and out between her teeth a few times. “I overheard Ma talking to her friend about it one day. This was after that Christmas with the Barbie house. A few months maybe? Hell, I don’t know. I was a kid and not great with time, but that seems about right.”
“And your father?”
“Pop loves me,” she says simply, spooning another bite of pina colada gelato into her mouth. “I remember he tried to get me extra gifts and stuff for my birthday when he could afford it, but Ma would always make sure Angelica had twice as much.”
“Foryourbirthday?” I snap.
Nicolette looks at me like I’m the one talking nonsense. “Yeah, Angelica would pitch a fit if she saw me getting anything, so Ma distracted her with her own gifts.” Her nose wrinkles. “It’s always been like that, so I’m used to it now.”
For her to be utterly resigned to being treated like that, I know there’s so much more to the story, but I’ve heard enough to know she needs someone at her back next weekend. And that someone is going to be me.
“Nicolette, have you ever heard the baby elephant story?”
Her mouth twitches. “Are you about to call me an elephant? Because I’m not sure that’s what I need to hear right now.”
Laughing, I take her empty cup and stack it with mine on the ground beside us. “Just hear me out. You might find it insightful.”
She swivels to face me, and I like that. I angle toward her as well as I begin to speak.
“When a baby elephant is kept in captivity, they tie it to a tree with a strong rope.”
Nicolette’s lips quirk. “My mother was bad, but she never tied me to a tree or locked me in a cupboard under the stairs.”
I give her a soft smile. “This story is more metaphorical, not literal.” When she nods, I continue. “Since it’s in an elephant’s nature to roam, the baby pulls and tugs and tries to break the rope or pull the tree down, but he’s just not that strong yet. After months and months of trying, he eventually gives up.”
With her green eyes glistening, she shakes her head. “That’s so sad.”
“It is. And the elephant remembers that struggle as a baby, even when he’s all grown up. So if he’s tied to a flimsy tree with a thin rope, he won’t even try to break free. Though he now weighs several tons and is strong enough to easily break the rope or pull the tree out by the roots, he won’t do it. Because he’s been programmed to expect that he can’t.”
Her green eyes dart between mine, and I realize our fingers are intertwined. I’m not sure if I made that move or if she did, but I’m sure as hell not letting go now.
“So what are you saying?”
I squeeze her hand. “I’m saying, knock over the goddamn tree, queenie.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Dear god, am I blushing?
Helix
Nicolette’s father called while we were on the way home from the park last Friday night. I only heard one side of the conversation, but her entire demeanor was different while talking to this particular member of her family. She was relaxed and smiling, the way one should be when talking to someone they love—and who loves them.
Her pop was apparently excited about her upcoming visit and wanted us to come the day before the engagement party. After she got off the phone with him, she tentatively brought it up, and I told her it was no problem.
So we left work early this Friday afternoon and headed to the airport. Nicolette has been hounding me all week about getting my information so she could book our flights, but I assured her I had it handled. Then she kept asking how much the tickets cost so she could reimburse me… until we arrived at the private hangar for the Hale family. It houses both our private plane andthe company one. Today we’re taking the family jet, a Dassault Falcon 8X.
We’re seated near the front of the plane in two reclining, cream-colored chairs that sit side by side. “I can’t believe how quiet it is,” Nicolette says, staring out the window at the clouds below us.
“Advanced soundproofing,” I explain. “It’s one of the quietest cabins available.”
Her eyes shift toward mine. “I can’t believe you got your family’s plane to fly us to New Jersey. I was planning to buy both our tickets.”
“I’m aware,” I say wryly. “You’ve only mentioned it four hundred times.”
“Oh shut it,” she retorts, smacking my arm. We’re both still in our work clothes, and she brushes at her loose-fitting black pants. “I was planning to change at the airport, but would it be okay if I change before we get there?”
