Page 114 of Begin Again
Charlie doesn’t waver—she stands tall on the porch, looking down at me.
“You know what.” I scoff. “I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. MaybeXavierwas starting to feel something for you, but the problem is there would have always been a piece of him missing. You’d never have the whole thing. You couldn’t. And you want to know why?” My hand rests on the hood of the Wrangler, waiting for her to answer, but she doesn’t. The only response is the scowl forming on her face. “That’s not who he is. That man is not Xavier. He is Nick Davis. Not only that…He’s a Villa, and it would serve you well to remember that the name Villa means something.”
“He isn’t a Villa.” She practically spits out our last name as if it’s bitter on her tongue.
“Oh, make no mistake, Charlotte. Nickisa Villa. You only got to see a glimpse of who he is. You don’t know the real him.”
Charlie scoffs, shaking her head. “He didn’t even miss you.”
Does this girl never learn?
“Maybe Xavier learned not to miss something he never knew, but what was your plan when he finally woke up one day and remembered who he was?” I ask, but she doesn’t have one of her snarky answers this time. “Let’s say things had turned out differently. God forbid, I never found him. Even if you had won Xavier’s heart, there would always be a piece of him you’d never win—a piece of him missing. Because no matter what happens, Nick Davis will always bemine.”
Charlie’s face falls, but is quick to recover, returning to a scowl.
My phone rings from inside the car and I know I’m cutting it close. I didn’t tell him where I was going. I only said I had to run an errand—an errand three hours away. Satisfied with the end of our conversation, I turn on my heel to get back into the car before he starts freaking out because I haven’t answered the phone.
“Where are you?” Nick’s voice fills the cab, and I recognize the hint of panic. I wonder how long it will take before we don’t have the small amount of fear that settles in our stomach when the other doesn’t answer their phone. I almost had a small panic attack two days ago. He went into town and didn’t answer when I called to ask him to make one more stop. The only thing that kept me grounded was Elena in the next room. Two minutes later, his name flashed across my screen and the panic finally subsided.
My hand rests on the gear shift, but I don’t put it into reverse yet. I watch Charlie rip open the envelope, scanning over the documents in her hands—the deed to the property and a paid-in-full bill of sale. Her eyes lift to meet mine through the windshield with a look of disbelief. When I called Joseph two days ago, I made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. I wanted to pay the remainder of the loan he’d taken out on the property and pay a year’s salary for two ranch hands. He had done something forme I could never repay, but I thought giving him his home back and a few helping hands was a good start. And I may have added a small request: keep Shadow for a little longer until we can bring the horse home with us.
I smirk, finally putting the car into reverse. “On my way home.”
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
Nick
I KNOCK ON THE office door before opening it without waiting for her answer. She’s hunched over the desk, tracing over the lines of a document with her finger before glancing up at the screen and back down. This will be the first time she has faced the board since they learned of my return—alive and well, back from the dead. No matter how much I ask what she thinks will happen, she says she doesn’t know. I know her better than that. She has a plan. She always has a plan. Nina Villa never walks into a board meeting without some idea of the outcome. Whatever the outcome is this time…she doesn’t want me to know.
Things between me and Alex haven’t smoothed over since our fight last week. He left Colorado the same day—or, he left the house, I should say. According to Pop, my brother and his fiancée drove to Denver to catch a flight the next morning, and Alex spent the whole drive sulking. Pop wasn’t exactly happy with me kicking him out, but he understood why I did it.
Should I reach out to Alex? Maybe, but I’m sticking to my guns about this. I don’t care if he’s my brother, he’s not allowed to disrespect my wife and get away with it. And until he apologizes to her, there won’t be a conversation between us.
“Hey, you,” I say.
Nina looks over the rim of her glasses on the edge of her nose. The line of her lips finally curves upward.
“Want to grab lunch after your meeting?”
“That would be great.”
“You think it’ll be a long one?” I ask, coming to the back side of her desk and sitting on the edge next to her, our faces inches apart.
“I don’t know, maybe.” Nina stretches. She’s been here since at least seven this morning after coming in for a few hours last night after we landed. “They’ll have a lot of questions.”
“What could they have questions about?” I chuckle. “It’s not like they need to know—”
“I’m stepping down.”
It takes a second for me to register the words, and at first, I think she’s kidding, but nothing about her expression says this is a joke.
“W-what? Nina, you can’t. You—”
“I think it’s time.”
“Nina, if this is about—”
“No, it’s okay. With everything that’s happened, I think it’s best.”
