Page 18 of Silver Sanctuary
“My grandparents own a big ranch. I’m talking thousands of acres up in a place called Goldfinch Falls. They had four kids by the time they were twenty-three, and those four kids all married and built little cabins on the ranch where they started their own families.”
“It sounds incredible to grow up with so much family around you—so much support.”
“It was. I was incredibly lucky.”
“You didn’t want to stay? To ranch like the rest of your family?”
Nash sighed. “The thing is, no one really understands just how dangerous a job ranching is, especially somewhere like Montana, where the weather can change on a dime.”
His eyes settled back on the movie screen, but Lacy could see he was lost in a memory. “Is that what happened to your parents?” she whispered. “They were caught in bad weather?”
“Yeah. A blizzard in late spring. They were too far out, working on a fence line that had fallen during the winter on our property line. There wasn’t adequate shelter, and they…”
His mouth closed, and Lacy watched as he swallowed.
“I’m so sorry, Nash. I’m so sorry that happened.”
“It was so long ago now, it almost feels like Nanny and Pop were always meant to be the people to guide me through this life. Anyway.” He cleared his throat. “I moved in with them, and they encouraged me to enlist. I was a rotten kid after my parents died. I think they figured that being away from the ranch—all the memories and reminders of my parents—for a while, would help straighten me out. And boy did it.”
She shook her head. “I can’t imagine you being rotten.”
“I was. I was angry at the world, angry that my parents hadn’t kept themselves safe. Angry thatIcouldn’t keep them safe. I was the only one in my family that was an only child. I resented my aunts and uncles for not being the ones to go out and work the fence repairs that day. I said some things I’ll never be able to take back. It’s honestly a wonder they ever forgave me.”
Lacy slipped her hand out from under the blanket and placed it on Nash’s cheek, gently turning his head so he had to look in her eyes.
“I don’t know what you said, but I do know that you were a child, in pain. Of course they forgave you, because that’s what family is supposed to do. I would do that in a heartbeat for Embrie because I love her. And I would never ever hold it over her head like it was for…” She stopped herself, but not before Nash’s eyes narrowed on her.
He took her hand, removing it from his cheek, and pressed his lips to the center of her palm.
“I don’t know the whole story of what happened with your mom, but I hope one day you feel safe enough to share it with me. Because you’re right, I had people who truly loved me, and who forgave me when I made a mistake. And you deserve that too, Lacy. You deserved that all along.”
“Thanks,” she managed to whisper beyond the painful memories.
“So.” Nash winked, setting her hand in her lap, but keeping their fingers laced together. “My Nanny and Pops are truly something else. They’ll hug you, Nanny will stuff you right full of brambleberry pie, and then Pops will have you out riding a horse like you were born on the back on it in no time.”
“They sound incredible. I’d love to meet them one day.”
“I meant what I said to Embrie. I’d take you up there tomorrow if I thought you’d let me.”
“Maybe not tomorrow… but definitely one day soon.” She smiled as she set her head back on his shoulder, never wanting the night to end.
Six
Two more months—that was all she had left in the tank. Just two more months before she would have to tell Sebastian Montgomery—the freaking insanely successful billionaire businessman who was kind enough to fund her dream of opening Petals, and one of the best friends of the man she was constantly drooling over—that she couldn’t keep the doors open any more.
She was a failure.
Failure, failure, failure.
Lacy took one hand off the steering wheel, rubbing at the growing pressure behind her temple. If she lowered the amount of inventory she had, it might help. But a lower selection meant the already sparse customers she managed to find would be likely to look for arrangements elsewhere. It was a never-ending cycle that seemed to just have one finish line: Petals closing its doors forever, leaving Lacy and Embrie without a way to pay for their already horrific living situation.
She needed to find a second job. But a second job meant an early morning or late night sitter, which meant even more money out of her accounts. Would it even be worth it?Working a second job just to pay for a sitter? She didn’t see Brie nearly as much as she wanted to as it was, and that was the whole point of moving back to Silver Springs.
Maybe there was online work she could do during shop hours. She normally finished the one or two orders that came in everyday by lunch, and tidying up the store while refreshing the inventory took only another hour or two. Brie could just go to the store after school, and that would give her a few more hours of work time before they went home. She truly hated calling that dump home. How many leaks in the roof was it going to take before her lazy landlord fixed something?
“Mom? Did you hear me?”
Lacy looked in the rearview mirror as she pulled up to the drop-off line in front of the elementary school.
