Page 10 of Silver Sanctuary
Something jumped inside his chest. She knew he would be in because it was Monday. Was she waiting for him? Did she normally keep an eye out, waiting for him to stop by? His time spent in the shop on Monday was normally his favorite part of the week, and lately he’d been looking for any excuse to stay there longer than it took her to put together a few bouquets for his friends and their office spaces.
He held up the bag by his side, and watched her face shift to confusion.
“What’s that?” she asked.
“I wanted to drop off some new gear for Embrie.”
Her face fell.
Fuck.He’d completely overstepped.
“She has gear,” Lacy said, her eyes dropping to the ground.
“Of course she does. I just talked to Sebastian about how silly it was of us to drop down the registration fee for the league and then not provide the kids with what they needed to play. He totally agreed…” He in fact did not agree, because Nash in fact didnotspeak to him about it, but he would be calling his friend up as soon as he walked out of the shop. “I should have said it differently. This is the gear thatallthe kids are getting, and I figured I’d just drop Embrie’s off today since I was going to stop in anyway for flowers.”
She eyed him suspiciously, so he gave her the full razzle dazzle of his smile, making sure it was big enough for his dimple to pop out. That was his tried-and-true trick as a boy growing up with his Nanny, and from the smile that blossomed on Lacy’s face, he knew it worked.
“Well, that was awfully nice of Sebastian. I’ll have to thank him.”
“I’m sure he’ll tell you that no thanks are necessary.”
“Mm.” She sighed, taking the bag from Nash’s outstretched hand and set it on the counter. “All right, what flowers are you thinking today?”
“What did you get in this week? Anything that says, ‘This is a therapist’s office. I’m a serious lady, but also want you to feel comfortable’?”
“That is oddly specific, and yet… I think I did.” She laughed, the sound settling right next to his heart as she moved to help him pick out his flowers for the week.
One hundred dollars for cleats?!
She was going to be sick.
Seventy-five-dollar shin guards?
A mouth guard for forty-five!?
Lacy’s eyes had to be deceiving her, because there was no way Nash would pay that much for Embrie’s gear. He hadn’t even been reasonable about it! This was professional level gear for kids. It was more than her grocery budget for the month. If she was going to pay him back, she’d need to drive into Bell Ridge to access the food pantry, and she hated to do that. There were families in worse positions than she was. But still… she would never let Embrie go hungry. And shewouldpay Nash back.
It took the entire walk from her shop to Montgomery Defense to calm down. Because if she was being honest with herself, as she needed to be with Nash, she knew Sebastian had nothing to do with that gear. It was written all over Nash’s face—how happy he’d been to do something for her. For Embrie.
She squared her shoulders and pushed through the doors. Mae sat at a large desk between the gym and a hallway that looked like it led to the guys’ offices.
“Lacy? Hey! What are you doing here?”
Her eyes drifted behind Mae, to the vase that was overflowing next to her phone.
The flowers.
The ones she’d helped him pick out.
They weren’t just for Sloane. They weren’t just for a friend who she knew was already seeing someone else. They were for Mae.
Oh, god. Had they always been for her? Of course. Nash was just a genuinely good guy—she’d read into it all wrong. Lacy forced her smile to stay bright and plastered on her face as she pulled her checkbook out from her purse.
“Oh I, uh, I need to see Nash. It’s not personal, or anything like that.” Mae’s eyebrows furrowed, but her body language didn’t change, so she must not have thought of Lacyas a threat to her relationship with Nash. Why would she? Everyone in Silver Springs knew Lacy was trash. A respectable man like Nash Caldwell wouldn’t see anything in her other than a charity case. There was no way Mae would see her as competition—not that she was. Because Lacy would have never flirted…flirted back… if she’d known.
“Give me one sec and I’ll call him up here.”
Lacy nodded, finally allowing herself time to look around Montgomery Defense. She’d done some light online research about the business after moving back. It wasn’t every day a handsome man stepped into her shop, protected her from an aggressive customer, left his business card with her, and told her to call if she ever needed help. After Nash had done that, she’d done some digging. Montgomery Defense was a pet project for Sebastian Montgomery. The same billionaire who invested in her flower shop apparently wanted a place for his SEAL team buddies to land once they got out of the military. Or that’s what the bio on their website made it sound like. The gym portion of the space was large, clean, and looked inviting enough. Not that she’d ever have time to use the equipment. But Lacy allowed herself a moment of whimsy, thinking about what it would be like to have an hour or two to herself. Justforherself.
