Page 89 of Begin Again
A slight fall in Nick’s features catches my eye. “Charlie—”
“I can’t believe I fell for it.” Her burning gaze turns on Joseph when he tries to calm her. “No, Dad! How can you sit back and let them pull this—”
“Charlie, that’s enough,” Joseph says.
“Seeing her won’t magically bring back his memory.”
“Actually, it can; especially if he’s been recalling things that have to do with her. These things aren’t certain. You remember how it was with Grandma. And Doctor Sanders said—”
“This is insanity. They’ve done this whole elaborate scheme to get you to sell the ranch!” Charlie backs away a few steps before turning on her heel and running inside.
That was…dramatic.
Her father’s body rolls with a heavy sigh when the front door slams.
“Joe, I’m sorry,” Nick says. “It wasn’t like that. I swear. I—”
“You have nothing to be sorry for. That’s how these things work. All it takes is one trigger to set the whole thing in motion.” Joseph shrugs, adjusting the hat on his head.
Nick turns to me, cradling my face in his hands. “I should go talk to her. It’ll just take a few minutes. Okay?”
I don’t want to let him go. Don’t want to let him out of my sight, but he reassures me it will be okay. He kisses me one more time when I nod before he follows the same path Charlie took moments ago. When the door closes behind him, I turn back to Joseph. “Can I get a minute?”
“She means you two,” he says to Jace and Ben, who finally take the hint and head toward the house.
“I cannot thank you enough. Truly, you have no idea how much the generosity you’ve shown him means to me. The pastyear has been…the most difficult year of my life. We looked everywhere. We thought he was dead. And now, to find him alive and well, knowing he was taken care of—”
“Don’t think I didn’t put him to work.”
“I have no doubt. He probably loved every second of it. I know he missed working with his hands while doing more of the corporate side before all of…this. He’s not much of a suits guy.”
The thought of being a few hundred feet from Nick still doesn’t seem real after this past year. I’ve discreetly pinched myself a few times to make sure I won’t wake up from this dream, but I’m still waiting for it to happen. The moment I wake up, alone, and look at his side of the bed, finding it empty.
“He’s a good one,” Joseph says, stopping my thoughts in their tracks, and I smile. “You are too, Nina. You’re a bit harder to read, a lot more diplomatic than he is, but you have a big heart.”
“I get it honestly.”
“Do you mind if I askyousomething?” Joseph pushes his hands in the front pocket of his jeans as we begin a slow walk down the hill. “Charlie seemed awful upset when she learned your name, but to be frank, I wouldn’t know the difference between a Villa and the man on the moon.”
His words make me laugh. It’s refreshing to be around someone who doesn’t know who or what a Villa is. “Let’s just say, my family is kind of known around the world for being good with money.”
“So, you’re not a designer?” Joseph lifts a brow.
“Oh no, I am. I have my own design company and help run my family company. When Daddy died ten years ago, he left it to us. Well, he left it to my brother, but I’ve been the one running it for the most part.”
Joseph hums in response with a single nod, his gaze on the gravel path.
“Joseph, I’d like to help. I hate to see you walk away from this place. It’s been in your family for generations and I hate to see it change. You’ve done something for me that I can never repay, but I want to try.”
“Change is part of life, Nina. The only repayment I need is knowing you’ll be in charge of the design for whatever happens after the sale.”
“Joseph—”
“Nina." There’s no room for argument in his voice. “I can’t keep up with this place, and it’s too much for Charlie to do alone.”
“What if you could afford to hire at least one ranch hand?”
Joseph rolls his eyes, shaking his head. “You don’t give up, do you?”
