Page 61 of Silver Sanctuary
Lacy dropped his hand, stepping back toward the brick building before he could grab a hold of her again. She took her mother’s arm, turning to walk past Nash.
“Lace, don’t?—”
“I’m sorry. I really, really am,” she whispered. “Will you watch the table for me? I’m just going to speak to my mother privately for one minute. Right in the alley.”
“I don’t think—” he started to argue, but she just shook her head.
“I’ll be okay, and if I’m not, I’ll shout for you.”
He finally nodded, but she felt his eyes on her the entire time she was walking her mother into the small alleyway between buildings.
“You’re not getting anything from us. He attacked me that night—I acted in self-defense.” Lacy’s words rushed out, herbody shaking with the memories of what she’d had to do to keep Embrie safe.
“You can’t prove that. And Adam’s here, Lacy—he lived—and he wants money to keep his mouth shut about what you did to him. It’s your word against his. Ours, actually. And I’m clean now, Lace. Really clean. I could pass any test a court gave me.”
That gutted her. Amber Graves was clean again, but not because she wanted to make things right with Lacy. “I’m happy for you—that’s how it always should have been. I just don’t understand why that means you had to track us down? Why did you come back here?”
“We want money, Lacy. One hundred thousand dollars and he won’t go to the police. One hundred thousand dollars and I walk away from you and Embrie forever. I’m in Texas for the next two weeks…” Her mother’s eyes shifted to the street in front of her as she held out a piece of paper for Lacy to take.
Bell Ridge Midnight Motel
- Room 212
“Not in Silver Springs though—too many bad memories here. Too many people who remember and can’t move on from the past. This is my number now. Call me when you have the money ready.”
“I don’t have that kind of money!” she cried.
“Don’t lie to me! I know… I know all about the little flower shop grant. About why you really came all the way back here.”
“That grant was to open my shop—to give Embrie a chance at a normal, good, safe life. All things you never gave to me and sure as hell never tried to give to her. So listen to me when I say this, Mom: I do not have that money any more. Itwent into my shop. It’s barely making enough money to keep the doors open, nevermind the fact that we were almost homeless just a few weeks ago.”
“I knew it!” Her mother sneered.
“Knew what?”
“That you were just a charity case to him. Your fiancé has a savior complex, doesn’t he? Wants to help out poor, defenseless, Lacy Graves? I can smell his type a mile away. You might not have that money, but I’m betting Mr. Bodyguard out there does.” Her eyes dropped to Lacy’s hand. “Pawn that ring—it looks real. Would probably make a little dent in what I’m asking for. You’ve got options. Maybe I should ask for more in that case. That Montgomery man the article I found talked about… he could certainly part with more than a measly hundred grand.”
“No! I’m not taking advantage of Nash or his family—my friends. No. Nothing you say could ever make me change my mind.”
The saccharine smile that grew across her mother’s face curdled her stomach.
“You might not care about the police coming to arrest you for attempted murder, but I know for a fact you do care about where your sister ends up. Don’t get that money to me in time, and I'll take Embrie back to West Virginia with me. You can play mommy all you want, but in the end, she’ll always be my daughter.”
And just like that, the real reason why her mother had gotten clean came to light. Because if Lacy was reported for taking Embrie across state lines, if her mother went back on her word and made it seem like Lacy had taken Embrie without her consent, Embrie would be forced to go back to West Virginia and Lacy would go to jail.
“You need to leave, right now.” Nash’s voice had Lacy nearly jumping out of her skin. In her spiral, she’d missed himwalking around the corner, but the warmth at her back told her exactly what she needed to know. She braced an arm against the cool, dark brick, praying for the ground to open up and swallow her. Because the second she’d heard his voice, she’d known there was no saving what was between them.
He knew her secret.
And she hadn’t been the one to tell him.
“I want to be holding that money in my hand before next week,” her mother taunted as she walked down the alley with her head held high. Lacy would have laughed if she didn’t feel like the walls were closing in around her.
Nash’s hand held steady on her back, but she couldn’t gather the courage to look into his eyes. The fear that he was about to reject her felt like an elephant had taken up residence on her chest. She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t spill everything she’d been holding inside only to have him end things with her. Because she knew that was what was going to happen. He was going to tell her to get out, that her lies were too much. That he didn’t want to deal with her drama anymore.
But as he tipped her face, forcing her to look into his eyes, she could see everything no words would ever be able to adequately express. There was so much warmth, so much concern. They hadn’t said the words to each other, but she could see it. There was love in the way he was watching her, waiting for her to make a decision.
Lacy swallowed, her throat feeling raw with emotion. With just a nod, Nash was pulling her into his chest, where he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. She stayed there, allowing his hold to flood her with comfort, knowing that the conversation they needed to have would be one of the hardest she’d ever have to face. But for the life that he’d been wanting to build with her, for every way he’d been proving himself to her, she owed him honesty. Even if it was the last thing she ever shared with the man who’d stolen her heart.
