“You didn’t have to answer,” I countered. “You could have texted me later and claimed the phone never rang.”
She was quiet for a moment. “I’ll always pick up for you, Nash. I mean, unless I’m being held hostage, or I’m trapped under a large piece of furniture—but those are extenuating circumstances.”
“And totally excusable.” I glanced in my mirror and changed lanes. “So what happened at the nursing home? Unless you don’t want to talk about it.”
“No, I do.” She sniffed, and I wondered if she’d been crying. “I wasn’t going to stop anywhere—I was just going to leave the Cove after breakfast. Like I said, saying goodbye to Sheri was pretty brutal. But then somehow, my car just drove back to the Tide. I don’t think I told you this, but I saw Jude when I first got back into town on Thursday, and I wasn’t exactly very nice. She was so sweet to me, and I sort of threw it back in her face.”
I grimaced, secure in knowing Peyton couldn’t see me. It didn’t surprise me that she hadn’t accepted her cousin’s warm welcome; I could tell from the moment we’d begun talking at the reunion icebreaker that Peyton was still holding onto assumptions and anger about the Cove and her history there. As someone who had a pretty large chip on his own shoulder, I understood.
Still, unlike me, Peyton had family in Crystal Cove. She’d left behind people who loved her, and if there was even the slightest chance that she could make those relationships right, she owed it to herself to try.
“I’m glad you decided to go back and talk with Jude. You were always so close.”
“I know. She’s the only one I’ve stayed in touch with over the years, and she’s been there for me, even if it was from afar.” Peyton sucked in a breath. “So I went back with my tail between my legs and apologized for how I’d acted. I told Jude that all this time, I assumed everyone in the Cove knew why I’d left and either pitied me or was gossiping about the situation. She had told me before that wasn’t the case, but this weekend, I got to see it for myself. I promised that I’d come visit more often, and that I’d bring Charlie with me so she can meet her family.”
“That’s a great idea.” I had to believe that finding peace there would give Peyton some much-needed closure.
“It is,” she agreed. “But then Jude said that if Charlie came down, she should be able to meet her grandmother. Herothergrandmother. And she reminded me that nothing is guaranteed—that today might be my last chance to see my mother, even if she was stubborn and refused to speak with me. So I let her talk me into riding over to the nursing home in Elson, and we went in—I was terrified, to tell you the truth. I was fully prepared to be rejected by her—again.”
“And . . .” I prompted when Peyton stopped speaking.
“And . . .” She sniffled again. “When my mother saw me, she started crying. She opened her arms and said that she was sorry for what she’d said, that she’d been praying for a miracle that would bring me back to her. It was—it was incredible, Nash. She wanted to hear all about Charlie, and she begged me to bring her for a visit soon.”
“Sweetheart.” I was dangerously close to tears myself, just hearing the story. “I’m so glad for you. How are you feeling now?”
“A little raw,” she admitted. “I feel like my entire life has been turned upside down, and now I have to figure out how to exist in this new paradigm where my mother wants a relationship, my hometown doesn’t hate me or judge me, and—” She lowered her voice. “I had the hottest, most incredible sex of my entire life at the age of fifty-three with the guy who got away.”
Just hearing her husky voice describe what had happened between us this weekend made me have to shift in the driver’s seat. “I love hearing that, but driving with a hard-on isn’t any easier at fifty-three than it was at eighteen.”
Peyton giggled. “Okay, I’ll behave.”
“Only until I see you again. Then you have my permission to misbehave however you want.”
“Duly noted.” She sighed. “I should probably get on the road. I’m supposed to have dinner with Peg and Charlie tonight, and I’m going to have a lot to tell them.”
“Yes, you will,” I agreed. I paused for a beat. “Will you tell them about me? About us?”
“Nash . . .” She said my name on a long exhale. “I don’t know. Probably not, at least at first. Because if I do, they’ll make it a big deal.”
My fingers tightened on the wheel. “I don’t know about you, but I kind of think that would be good. Wearea big deal, Peyton.”
“But that’s between you and me. For now, I just want to keep—this, whatever this is—between us.”
“Ah.” I nodded in my empty car. “Because you think we’re not going to work, and then you won’t have to explain anything to your family.”
“That’s not it,” she denied hotly. “Not at all. But I’m a private person, Nash. I always have been. It’s why I didn’t tell my girlfriends that I was pregnant back in high school. It’s why I haven’t really made any close friends in the years since I left the Cove. I want to enjoy what we have together, and if I’m worried about what Peg might think or what Charlie might say, I won’t be able to do that.”
“I guess I can understand that,” I allowed, somewhat mollified.
“Will you tell Reggie and Max about me?” Peyton inquired.
“Do you want me to tell them?”
“That’s your call. I would love to meet them someday, but as I said, for now, I think we need to make sure that you and I can work in the real world first.”
“I think I’ll play it by ear. I’m not going to lie to them if they ask me if I saw you, but I won’t volunteer the information. And I sure as hell won’t tell them how hot you are in bed.”
“Nash!” Peyton scolded, but she was laughing. “I’d appreciate that. Even if I eventually tell Peg and Charlie about you, I’m definitely not going to tell them that I had more orgasms in one night with you than I did all of the rest of my life.”
