Nate (A Texas Jacks Novel) (37 page)

Why did Charlie pick that moment to leave?

My muscles were locked up tight from the second I noticed her and Dave. I really didn’t like his hand on her elbow, or that he was walking her to her car. That should have been
me
taking care of her. Instead, I stand here like I don’t notice her or care, while Heather chatters on about how she misses us, reminiscing about the good old days, and about my mom. I really can’t listen to any more of this, especially when she talks about my mom. It’s too painful.

“Nate?” Heather calls me back from the rage-induced fog I’m experiencing over watching Dave with Charlie. I mostly checked out to whatever she was saying.

“Yeah?”

“Are you okay? You look like you’re ready to cause some bodily harm to the man who was just walking his girlfriend to her car. Do you know them?” she asks with a bit of concern and suspicion, all rolled up into one.

“Oh, I know them all right.” But I don’t bother going into more detail than that or correcting her mistake as Dave walks back towards us.

“Was that really necessary?” I ask him. My pissed-off meter is off the charts at this point.

“What do you care? You seem
occupied
to me.” He gives a pointed look at Heather.

“What’s going on here?” she asks us.

“Nothing.” I don’t want to give her unnecessary details, and I’m hoping Dave keeps his trap shut, if he knows what’s good for him.

“Oh, it’s something, all right. But that’s for him to explain, not me. I’m not the idiot in this story.” He scowls as he turns to walk away.

“I beg to differ.” I taunt him. I’m so mad, I really can’t stop to filter what comes out of my mouth at this point. He stops walking and turns back to look at me.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Will someone
please
fill me in?” Heather tries again.

Continuing to ignore her and focusing my attention on the man of the hour, I go on. “I’m not the one who sat on his hands, waiting for something to happen. You had plenty of chances to get in there, but you blew it. Now it’s me who’s in there, so back off,” I warn him.

“I don’t think you have any idea what you’re doing to her.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. I know exactly what it’s doing to her, because it has the same effect on me.”

“Bull. If it did, you wouldn’t have let it go on this long. You would have done something about it the moment you noticed her at the bar. That’s right, I clocked you the minute you saw her. I’ve been watching you all night. You didn’t make one attempt, so why should I believe you?”

“Stay out of it. It’s none of your business. I don’t need to explain myself to you.”

“Nate’s a good guy. I’m sure that whatever is going on, he will work it out when he’s ready to. Not when he’s being forced to.” Heather throws down for me.

“And who are
you
, again?” Dave asks her a bit rudely.

“An old friend of Nate’s, who can vouch for his character, which
you
are calling into question. And who might you be?” She eyes him up and down, finding him a bit lacking, before settling back on his glare.

“A good friend to the woman he just destroyed.”

Heather turns to me, giving me a questioning look.

“I didn’t destroy her. Broke her heart, sure. But her in general? Never.” I’m confident in that fact.

“I will give you this,” Dave starts, as he returns his attention back to me. “I did wait too long, and blew my shot with her. But, the moment she’s over you, I will be there to pick up all of the pieces, and
I’ll
be the one to glue her back together. Then I’ll be the real man who treasures her, and I won’t be letting her go.” And with that final parting shot, he turns and walks away.

“Uh, do you want to explain what that was all about?” I hear Heather ask, as I stare daggers into the back of the man who just told me he’s ready and waiting to steal my girl.

Shaking my head, I look back to Heather, not really wanting to bother with her any longer. I don’t want to be a jerk. But what we had is long over, and it’s never going to come back again. I know she’s hopeful, but I have some things to work out, and when I do, it won’t be her I’ll be groveling in front of to take me back.

“It’s a long story, and I really don’t want to talk about it. Look, Heather, it was great to see you again. But this really is a bad time for me to go down memory lane.”

“I can see that. I’m sorry. I had no clue what I was jumping into the middle of when I saw you.” She looks down for a moment, but then strengthens her resolve to carry on. “It’s just that, when I ran into Carianna the other day, I couldn’t help but remember what we had. I missed you. She never mentioned if you were dating anyone, so I was hopeful.” She gives me her best breath-taking smile, one that used to do me in, but now doesn’t have quite that power. “I guess.” She shrugs, as she looks out towards the parking lot.

“How did you know I would be here, anyway?”

She looks back at me. “Carianna. She said you and the guys come here quite often. I had to take a chance in the hopes that I would see you.”

“Heather, you’ve had years to seek me out, why now?”

“You.”

“
What
?”

“Because it was you. I never got over you, Nate. I’ve always loved you, ever since I was a little girl. The time we spent together, they were the best years of my life. I miss that. I miss
you
. I want it all back. I gave you as much time as I could stand, which was really hard to do, and now, I want a second chance.” Her eyes are pleading with mine to give in and take a chance on her.
On us
.

“Heather—” I gently say, running my hand down her cheek, like I used to do.

She latches on with her own hand, twining our fingers together. “Please, don’t say no,” she whispers.

“I’m not the same guy you dated back then. I’ve changed. My life took a different direction, and I’ve moved on. It may not have been a healthy change, but it was a change all the same. I really loved you, Heather. But that was then. This is now, and I have a complicated relationship—of all my own doing—and I need to fix the broken part in me first before I can move on with anyone, her or you.”

She gives me the most sincerest, hopeful look, just as I hear a loud noise from the crowd inside the club. I look up just in time to see our friends. They’re staring at me with a mix of hard looks, disbelief, and disappointment.
Great
. Another moment that I have no doubt will be shared with Charlie.

When will this night ever end?

“Lucy has some ‘splaining to do.” Holt says in his best Ricky Ricardo impression.

Ignoring them, I look back to Heather, giving her hand a squeeze as I pull my fingers from hers. “I’m sorry, Heather. When, and if I ever get myself together, it will be Charlie’s door I’ll be breaking down.”

“Charlie? Is that the woman who just left, looking like someone stomped all over her heart?”

“The one and only.” I give her a small, sad smile. I’m silently wanting to berate myself for putting that look on her face, and none too pleased that Heather just reminded me of that fact all over again.

“You can’t blame me for trying, Nathan. If your mother hadn’t passed away, we would still be together. I truly believe that. I really believe we could make a second go of it, and be so happy.”

“Heather, please don’t bring his mother into this. That was a low blow. If it was meant to be, don’t you think he would have tracked you down a long time ago, once he got his head on straight?” Tucker’s now aiming his hard stare her way, clenching his jaw. My mom was like a mother to both Tucker and Holt. They don’t like to be reminded of that sad time in all of our lives. Though the guys both have wonderful moms of their own, they really loved mine.

“Hey, Tucker. Holt.” Heather says, smiling fondly at them. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen your mugs. And Tucker,” she says, glaring at him, “I wasn’t being a jerk to Nate, or blaming him for his mom dying and our relationship falling apart. That was never my intention. So, Nate,” she turns back to me, “I’m sorry if it came out that way. I meant no harm. I can see now that my idea was a bad one. Honestly, you can’t blame a woman for trying to get back the best thing she ever had. It was worth a shot, because Nate, you are worth it.” She leans in and gives me a lingering kiss on my cheek, then pulls away. “I’m sorry to have shown up at a bad time, and for causing any pain for you, Nate. Or any of you,” she amends, looking over at the guys.

“Heather, it’s always a pleasure to see you. We miss having you in the guy’s club with us, but Nate has enough on his plate at the moment. He doesn’t need his ex-showing up to complicate matters further. Good thing Charlie left awhile ago.” This comes from Holt.
Little does he know, the damage has already been done.

“Well, I wouldn’t say he got off scot-free with her. She saw me talking with Nate, which caused problems with some other guy, and honestly? I have no idea what that was all about. But I’m pretty sure this other guy is ready to take over Nate’s place when he gets the chance.” She not so helpfully fills the rest of the gang in.

“Oh, boy.” I hear Halley say.
She can say that again
.

“It’s late. I’m tired, and I feel a headache coming on. I need to head to bed and forget that this day happened.” I turn back to Heather. “It was great seeing you again, Heather. You look beautiful, as ever. I’m sorry for how our story played out, but that was long ago. It’s time for you to make your own story with someone who deserves a good woman like you. I’m not that man. And no, I don’t blame you for trying. I just want you to be happy.” I reach out and give her arm a light squeeze. No need to add more fuel to the fire of the glowing eyes of the two women staring my way.

“Thanks, Nate. You were always such a great guy. I really hope you make peace with yourself, and Charlie. It was good to see you guys again,” she tells Tucker and Holt. We really did have the best group when we dated. The guys were sad to see her go, but a lot of time has passed, and we’ve grown up and moved on.

“Have a good night, Heather, and be safe in your travels.” Tucker hugs her, then Holt follows suit.

“We loved seeing you again. Don’t be a stranger in the future,” Holt adds with a gentle smile.

“Goodnight.” Heather says to our group, before walking back to her car and leaving the parking lot.

“Nate—” I hear Halley start, but Holt beats me to it.

“Not now, babe. Let it be. We don’t know the full story. Give the guy room to come up for air. You can rain all over his parade tomorrow. I promise.” He chuckles, but even I can hear the strange way it comes out.

“Thanks, man.” I bump his shoulder. “I’ll see you all back at the house. Ladies,” I bid them farewell as I take my leave.

Bed
. That’s all I’m going to worry about now. It’s too late to think about anything else.

I
T’S THE DAY AFTER OUR
run-in with Heather, at T.J.’s, and I’m still conflicted. At the moment, I really want to jump in the truck, and go make-up with Charlie. There’s a part of me that’s scared out of my mind, for a couple of different reasons. One—I’m scared of the long lasting feelings, and second, I’m scared that Charlie is done with me. I’m slightly more confident over her taking me back than I am of my feelings.

I can’t shake the thought that I’ve just let her slip through my fingers, though. And I’m not in the mood to take advice from Holt or Tucker, should I run into them. I’m doing what I do best—avoiding everyone. Instead, I’m letting the back-and-forth thoughts bog me down.

Even if I need space to just be me for awhile, I know I can’t leave Charlie hanging with what went down last night. Rolling over on my bed, where I’ve been for the last hour—letting my mind get trampled on by my thoughts, to pick up my cell phone. I dial her number, and listen to it ring until it turns over to her voicemail. I frown down at the horrible device in my hand, not wanting to believe Charlie wouldn’t answer the phone for me. Once again my mind travels over last night’s incident, leading me to automatically think the worse. Surely she’s busy, or didn’t hear it? I try her again, only to get her voicemail once more. Deciding that the whole ‘third time’s a charm’ is the best way to go, I try her yet again, to my displeasure when she doesn’t pick up. I hang up, without leaving a voicemail, and send her a text instead.