Page 112 of Begin Again
Slowly, her resolve breaks, and she takes a deep breath. “He felt like I didn’t do enough to bring you home. He thought I was…happy you were gone. He had his opinions on me and B—”
Without hearing the rest, I leave to find my brother. Nina calls after me, following me through the house and pleading with me to let it go. I won’t let this go. I can’t. Not when he’s treated her with utter disrespect.
It doesn’t take long to find him. He’s playing in the treehouse in the backyard with Lara, Brie, Ophelia, and Elena.
“Brie, take the girls inside,” I demand before adding a quick “please.” Without question, Josh’s oldest daughter does as she’s told, only looking over her shoulder once before they disappear into the house.
“I’m not doing this, Nick,” Alex says, trying to follow, but I grip his shoulder and push him back a step.
“Did you tell Nina she wasn’t doing enough to find me?” I ask, starting small, but he doesn’t say anything. My brothershoves his hands into the crooks of his elbows, eyes downcast on the ground beneath his feet. “I’ll take that as a yes. Did you also say she washappyI was gone?”
He looks up at me before his glare turns to Nina, now next to me. “Of course, you told him. I will say, I’m surprised you lasted this long.”
“Don’t blame her. She is still trying to protect you, but I’m over this avoidance game between you. We’re adults, Alex, take ownership of your part of the problem.”
“My part of the problem? She’s the one who was fucking the sheriff! Instead of looking for you, she was too busy spending her nights in bed with him and—”
“So what if she fucked Beau?”
“So, itistrue,” he hisses toward Nina, and I step in front of her. “And you’re okay with it? She cheated on—”
“She thought I was dead, Alex. She slept with him one fucking time. And I’m not blameless, either. I messed around with the daughter of the guy who took me in.”
“You didn’t know who you were! You have an excuse.”
“And she doesn’t?” I scoff. “What is she supposed to do? Spend the rest of her life alone because I’m gone?”
“She stopped looking, Nick! She didn’t even try—”
“How would you know? Were you here with her every day for the past year?” My hand reaches out to my wife behind me. At first, she ignores the gesture, but then she interlocks her fingers with mine. I give her hand a gentle squeeze. “No, you weren’t.”
“You weren’t even that far away. She should’ve been able to find you! She didn’t look hard enough.”
“There is more to this situation than you realize, Alex. You need to take a step back, take a deep breath, and get a fucking grip. NinaandBeau are the only reasons I’m home. Neither of them stopped looking for answers. She never stopped trying tofind out what happened. Did you know she was almost attacked by the same people who attacked me?”
Alex’s wide eyes meet hers. “Nina?” he asks, but she looks away from him. “Is that what Beau meant outside of Magnolia’s?”
“Alex, it’s time to let this go,” Lara says from behind him. “Nina has been nothing but gracious to all of us, including you, and you’ve been nothing but an asshole to her lately.”
My brother looks between his fiancée and Nina, and I don’t think Lara knew what happened either. I’m not surprised, Alex knows Lara wouldn’t stand for him acting this way.
“I didn’t mean to call her a bitch,” Alex says and the fire that had started to dampen reignites. “It just came out!”
He called her a bitch?
“Alex.” Nina sighs from behind me.
I take a step forward. “Did you just say you called my wife abitch?”
“Oh, you tell him everything else, but not that?” Alex asks her around me, but I step back into his view, blocking her.
“Youdarespeak to my wife that way? To the woman who has given you everything on a silver fucking platter for the last decade. No matter the cost, she always made sure you got whatever you needed…whatever you wanted. And you would dare walk into my house and not only accuse her of being happy that I’m gone but call her a bitch?”
Alex might be slightly taller than me, but I tower over him right now. There is no way I’ll allow him to disrespect Nina when she has been nothing but good to him. To all of us.
“Nick,” Nina says, taking hold of my arm and trying to pull me back. “Nick, it’s okay. It’s not a big deal, let it go.”
“He doesn’t get to talk to you like that, Davina.”
