Destiny (16 page)

But the anger he had lived with for so long had begun to recede and left almost completely when Ethan had shown up when Nash needed him. Despite rightfully thinking Nash hated him, Ethan had had his back while his life crashed around him.

“Nash, thanks for coming!” Faith greeted him with a warm smile.

“I was surprised you invited me,” he said honestly. Their relationship had been beyond rocky.

She nodded. “Well, I thought it was time we talked. Come on in.”

He followed her inside.

“Let’s go to the sunroom. It’s bright and a nice place to talk.”

“What’s Ethan up to?” he asked as they passed the closed door to his brother’s office.

“He’s tied up in his office on a conference call. Business.” Faith led the way through the marble entryway and through the den, giving Nash the chance to admire the huge home with an unbiased eye for the first time.

He knew Ethan had parlayed his love of computer games and his army education and training into a lucrative software business that sold military software to the government for a small fortune. Nash hadn’t let himself be impressed by his brother before. He did now.

They ended up in a room he’d never seen before, wall-to wall-windows with an incredible view of the property. The foliage and trees were burnt orange, yellow, and brown, thanks to the end of fall, and the sky above seemed to go on and on.

“Beautiful,” he said.

“Thank you. I love this room and its view.” She swept an arm around. “Have a seat.” Faith settled into a large club chair, propping her feet on an ottoman.

Nash chose to sit across from her on a small sofa. Like the rest of the house, this room was decorated in muted neutrals and masculine browns, yet there was enough warmth in the decor and accessories to assure a homey, family feel.

“So.” He wrapped his arm over the back of the couch and met her gaze.

“You’re wondering why I asked you over?”

He nodded. “I am.”

Faith had never been one to mince words. He’d had it out with her before, over Tess, her relationship with Ethan, and her father’s actions. He doubted she’d hedge now.

“The other day when Ethan followed you to Florence Rossman’s… I wanted to thank you for letting him in.” She tapped on her chest, directly over her heart, leaving Nash no doubt what she meant.

“I didn’t let him in.” His denial was an automatic, ingrained response.

“You most certainly did.” Faith dropped her feet to the floor and leaned forward in her seat. “By not telling him to get lost, by letting him come with you to face Dare, you most certainly did let him in.”

“I sure as hell did tell him to get lost,” Nash felt compelled to tell her.

Faith grinned. “You couldn’t have tried too hard.”

Nash opened his mouth, then closed it again, forcing himself to think.

Hadn’t he just admitted to himself that he’d all but forgiven his older brother? Why was he denying Faith’s words? For the sake of continuing an old argument that wouldn’t serve any purpose except to maintain distance?

“It wasn’t easy,” Nash said at last. “A part of me is still angry with him.” The abandoned little boy, Nash knew. The adult had forgiven.

“You’re hurt. There’s a difference.” Faith’s eyes flashed determined sparks. “But the more you get to know Ethan now, the more you’ll see he isn’t the same kid who ran away and left you behind.”

Silence filled the room. Nash wasn’t sure how to respond. Spilling his guts didn’t come easily but Faith seemed happy to let him think over her words.

“My brother’s lucky to have you in his corner,” he finally said to his sister-in-law.

There was a time when Nash had been envious of what Ethan and Faith shared. The open honesty, the commitment. But he was finding those things for himself now.

In Kelly.

And though he didn’t know where things were headed, he sure as hell liked where they currently were.

“I’m the one who’s lucky,” Faith said. “Which brings me to the main reason I asked you over. I thought that since you’re dealing with Ethan in a more rational manner, maybe you and I could make our peace too.” She drew a deep breath. “I understand why you hate my father, but I’m not
him
. I’m more a part of your family than mine, and I know it would mean so much to Ethan if we could get along.”

She surprised him. But Nash sensed her sincerity and as he looked into her open, honest eyes, he wondered how he hadn’t really seen her before. She wasn’t like her father. She was just a daughter who’d been as blindsided by her parent’s actions as everyone else in town. A woman who’d had to make a fresh start alone. With her father in jail and her mother a town pariah, Faith had returned, recently divorced and betrayed. She should have been fragile, but she’d been strong.

Instead of seeing her strength and integrity, Nash had been blind. He’d already blamed his adoptive father’s fatal heart attack on Martin Harrington’s Ponzi scheme and he was already angry at Ethan, so Nash had lashed out at Faith too, calling himself justified.

He shook his head and forced himself to meet her gaze. “I’m not sure why you want to make peace with me.” He clasped his hands together in front of him. “It’s not like I’ve given you a reason.”

She shrugged easily. “Like I said from the beginning, Tess needs her family. You, me, and Ethan coming together would give her a huge foundation from which to build.”

Nash noted she hadn’t mentioned Dare. “You’re right about that,” he agreed. “Tess judges everyone by how they treat Ethan.” At one time that would have had him gnashing his teeth. Now it just was.

Faith grinned. “He can have that effect on women.”

Nash rolled his eyes, not wanting to discuss that aspect of his older brother’s character.

“I haven’t been fair to you, but I’m willing to start over too. And I appreciate you giving me a chance.”

Faith exhaled a long breath and laughed. “Well, that was easier than I anticipated.”

He shook his head, embarrassed by his past actions. “I’ve been pretty tough on you.”

“Nothing I couldn’t handle.”

“But you shouldn’t have had to.” Which led him to another question. “I’m glad you reached out to me, but I have to know why. Why now?”

Faith met his gaze. “Because it took guts for Kelly to come over here and ask Ethan to go after you. Considering how you felt about Ethan, Kelly had no way of knowing whether he’d laugh in her face or throw her out.”

Nash did his best not to wince at the too-true description.

Of course now he’d transferred that anger to his younger sibling. As much as Nash wished he could blink and make it all go away, he couldn’t. Dare had betrayed him in an elemental way, an adult way, and he didn’t know how to come to terms with that.

“Anyway,” Faith said, her voice bringing him back to the present, “if Kelly thought you were worth the risk, I decided you must be. So I called and asked you to come by.”

He cocked his head to one side, surprised. So he had Kelly to thank for this, did he? He’d have to find a way to show his gratitude. A way that involved that claw-footed bathtub in her apartment.

He shifted uncomfortably and forced himself to focus on his sister-in-law’s peace offering. “I’d like to start fresh.” He rose to shake her hand.

Faith startled him by pulling him into a warm embrace.

Ethan cleared his throat. “Am I interrupting?” he asked as he stepped into the room.

To her credit, Faith didn’t flinch at being caught hugging him. She just turned, keeping one arm around Nash’s waist. “I was making peace with your brother,” she said with a big grin.

“Is that so?” Ethan eyed Nash warily.

Not because there was a chance in hell Nash would make a move on his brother’s wife, and Ethan knew that. They all knew that. But because Nash had been such an ass to Faith for so long.

“Apparently your wife believes in second chances,” Nash said to Ethan. He wanted to step aside, but Faith held on to his waist, keeping him beside her.

He understood her. She wanted to make the point that they were a family. Nothing more to hide.

“As long as you aren’t harassing my wife, I’m all for peace,” Ethan said, but his tone remained wary.

It seemed his big brother had no problem extending his own olive branch, but he was a hell of a lot more protective when it came to someone he loved.

Nash admired that particular quality. “No harassment. No insults,” he assured him.

“Good.” Ethan’s expression relaxed, his frown turning into more of a smile. He held out a hand and Faith eased from Nash’s side right into her husband’s. “How are you holding up?” Ethan asked Nash.

“I’m fine.” Working and trying hard not to think about things he couldn’t change. Every time he tried to understand Dare’s lies, he only lost sleep and valuable time he could be spending doing other things.

Which reminded him. “I saw Kelly’s car outside?”

Ethan caught his gaze, letting Nash know he wasn’t buying his “I’m fine” lie.

Faith merely grinned. “Kelly and Tess are in the kitchen baking cookies.”

“I’ll go say hello on my way out,” Nash said, ignoring them both.

“Actually, we’re going to take Tess over to the youth center. My friend Kate Andrews wants to start up an art program there. Tess asked one of her teachers if she had time to volunteer. We’re going to talk about how to proceed,” Faith said.

“And Faith figured Tess would get something out of helping others,” his brother added.

“Which means… you might have to help Kelly finish the cookies,” Faith told Nash in a teasing voice.

Kelly sat with Tess in Faith and Ethan’s gorgeous
kitchen baking cookies for an upcoming fund-raiser at Tess’s school. The money raised would pay for a trip to the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan, something she knew Tess would love. Since Kelly’s kitchen was tiny, Tess asked her to come and bake at her house. They’d started with all the ingredients to make cookies from scratch laid out on the counter and had progressed to almost getting the entire mixture ready. As for cleaning, Rosalita had the day off and Kelly was on her own, something she was used to anyway.

She glanced down at the large bowl of batter in front of her. “Betty Crocker I am not,” she muttered, as she added eggs to the cookie mixture. “Tell me again why we couldn’t use slice-and-bake cookie mix for your fund-raiser at school?”

“ ’Cause it’s a cookie recipe swap, so we also have to have copies of the recipe available. Now keep mixing. It has lumps,” Tess ordered, sticking the spoon in for a taste.

“Hey!” Kelly playfully swatted her sister’s hand. “Quit eating all the profits and get back to greasing the cookie sheets.”

“Slave driver. Did you remember to preheat the oven?” Tess asked.

Kelly nodded. She finally mixed the batter until it was smooth. Together they placed the dough on the sheets, spacing each cookie far enough apart that they wouldn’t spread into each other when heated. Finally, they placed the full set of baking sheets in the oven and Kelly set the timer.

“Why do you like Nash so much?” Tess asked, taking her off guard.

Kelly bit the inside of her cheek, wondering how to answer. “Your brother’s a good man.”

“That’s not what I mean.” Tess hopped onto a stool by the counter, propped her dough-filled hands under her chin, and stared at Kelly wide-eyed. “Forget Nash is my brother. Why do you
like
him like him?” The teenager pushed in
the way that meant Kelly wasn’t getting away without answering.

“Yes, Kelly. Tell Tess why you
like
me like me.”

Kelly jerked her gaze to the door, where Nash stood watching them. Eyes glittering with amusement and heat.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“Well?” Tess pushed. “Answer me!”

Kelly couldn’t help it. She leaned against the counter for support. “There’s no explaining chemistry,” she murmured, more to herself than to Tess.

Nash couldn’t tear his gaze from hers.

“God, grown-ups!” Tess shook her head in frustration.

“Tess, you about ready to go to the youth center?” Faith’s voice called to her from the other room.

“Coming!”

“Go wash your hands,” Kelly told her.

“Yeah, yeah. Thanks for making cookies. But don’t think we’re done with this conversation!”

Kelly bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing as Tess ran from the room. “What are you doing here?” she asked Nash.

He walked over and sat on a stool next to her. His warm cologne assaulted her senses, reminding her of falling asleep beside him and waking up in his arms the last few mornings. “And I thought the cookies smelled good,” she said.

“What was that?”

“I said you smell good.” She leaned in, nibbled on his ear, and was rewarded with a low growl. She grinned. “So what are you doing here?” she asked again.

“Faith invited me. We made a sort of peace.” He shook his head, obviously still surprised.

She wasn’t.

“I’m glad.” First Ethan, then Faith. Slowly but surely, the walls he’d built around himself were crumbling.

If there was anything good that had come out of this mess with Dare, it was that Nash had begun to warm toward his older brother. In turn, Tess continued to warm toward Nash, asking questions about them as a couple instead of being angry. Now they just needed him to do the same for Dare and this family might just become whole.

It was too soon to mention it now. Just like it was still too soon to tell him she loved him.

Not when she was still reeling from the knowledge herself.

Nash was in a better place, but he wasn’t there yet. And she was still learning to accept and understand what loving Nash meant.

Suddenly she had an idea. “Are you busy this weekend?” she asked, before she could chicken out.

He leaned in close, his body heat sending her senses into overload. “What did you have in mind?”

“I thought we could go away? A bed-and-breakfast or something for the weekend?”

His eyes lit up at the suggestion. “That sounds perfect,” he said, his voice rich and warm.

“I’ll research and find someplace. We can leave early Saturday morning after Tess’s art show Friday night?”