Page 94 of Begin Again
“No!” Beau extends his arm, catching the deputy as he rushes down the sidewalk toward us. “No, it’s fine.” After a deep breath, Beau glances my way. “I deserve that.”
“What is going on out here?” I hear Kai call before he and Elizabeth appear. “Holy shit.” My brother runs down the steps, past me, past all of us, and pulls Nick into a full embrace. I swear the impact knocks Nick back a step, but he returns the gesture. When Kai pulls back, he grips Nick’s shoulders, before one of his hands cradles Nick’s cheek. If I didn’t know better I’d think they were the long-lost couple.
“Get a room!” A voice calls from behind us.
“Shut up, Sheffield!” Kai yells back at Finn before he clamps down on Nick’s shoulder one more time. “Fuck, it’s good to see you.”
One by one, everyone comes out of the house and greets my husband. Each time, there’s a look of disbelief before they rush down the steps and sweep him into a hug, not waiting for the person before them to finish. It’s a wild rush of emotions watching the scene unfold. I stand to the side, next to Beau, letting everyone have their moment. The same way I had to when I first saw him at Blackwood Ranch.
“What’s all the commotion out here?” I hear Jimmy ask and he finally emerges from the house, Alex not far behind him. His blue eyes sweep across every face until they land on Nick, and I can see the tears begin to well. Jimmy slowly makes his way down to his oldest son before he pulls him into the tightest embrace of anyone here. “Where have you been?”
“It’s a long story, Pop.” Nick smiles, tears brimming in his eyes.
“And I want to hear every bit of it,” Jimmy says, stepping to the side so Alex can have his turn. Jimmy’s eyes find mine and he smiles. For the first time since the others joined us, it feels like I’m not an outsider watching a family reunion.
“We’ll tell you guys everything, but first, I need to see my daughter,” Nick says when Alex tries to push for answers.
“She’s inside with Brie,” Jimmy says, motioning toward the house.
My husband glances my way as if asking for permission, and I nod, motioning for him to lead the way. “Don’t leave,” I whisper to Beau, only loud enough for him to hear, and he responds with one curt nod.
Elena hasn’t left her father’s side since I stepped aside to reveal him standing there twenty minutes ago. Tears fell down her cheeks as she clutched his neck, and every few seconds, she would pull away and look him dead in the eye to make sure it was really him. Another piece of my world slid back into place watching them cling to one another. When Nick’s gaze met mine, I half expected him to reach out for me to join them like he always did, but his arms remained wrapped securely around our daughter. He offered me a half smile before returning his attention to Elena, who finally pulled away to chastise him in half English, half Italian for being gone for so long.
Even now, Nick sits in the middle of her room, listening intently as she moves in every direction to show him every little thing she owns, even the things he’s seen before.
“You have a minute?” Beau whispers, joining me in the doorway. His eyes land on Elena as she hands her dad the Barbie horse Beau had gifted her for her birthday last year. She explains what each button and tassel does—one makes it bow, another makes it dance—four in total and I still forget what each one is meant to do.
“Yeah, I don’t exist to them right now, anyway,” I say with a small laugh, and follow him down the hallway.
Beau waits until we get out the front door and to the driveway before he asks, “You want to tell me what in the hell that’s allabout?” His hands rest on his hips and his stance tells me he’s not leaving until he gets an answer.
“What?”
“That.” Beau motions toward the house. “That…awkwardness between you and Nick. Nina, you just spent the last year looking for him, hoping he’d walk through the damn door, and if I’m being honest, you don’t exactly seem—”
“He knows.” My gaze falls to the ground before I look up to meet his gaze.
“Yeah, I got that.” Beau points to his face, where discoloration has already started to set in on his cheekbone.
“I am so sorry, Beau.” I touch his cheek, and my thumb gently skates over the bruise. “He’s not exactly happy with me. Actually, he’s pretty mad about the whole thing.”
“Mad at you?” Beau scoffs when I nod. “How can he be mad at you? If he should be mad at anyone, it should be me. I’m the—”
“Absolutely not.” I shake my head. “You did nothing wrong. This is all on me.” I step back from him, rubbing my eyes with the heels of my palms. “Do you know what it was like to get that phone call? After all this time, to hear that he might still be alive?”
“You should’ve told me, Nina. I would’ve gone with you.”
“I needed to do it alone.”
“Alone? Sweetheart, I didn’t even know where you were! What if something had happened? What if it turned outnotto be him?”
“But it was.”
“But what if it wasn’t?”
Truthfully, I hadn’t thought about that possibility. When I heard Jace say they had found Nick, my sole focus was getting there as soon as possible. I didn’t stop to think about the other outcomes.
“I don’t know, Beau.” I look to the sky, closing my eyes with a deep breath. “He had amnesia. That’s why he never came home…Whatever happened on the trail—”
