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CHAPTER TWENTY
Ashley wasn’t surprised that Josh had blown off his son yet again. What had surprised her, though, was how Nash immediately stepped up to the plate and helped make Kevin smile. If she hadn’t already been filled with warm feelings about Nash, this alone would have convinced her that he was a good man. A really good man.
Unlike her ex, who’d stolen money meant for a trip with his son to gamble it away with his friends, which she’d verified by looking at a picture he’d posted on social media. The jerk.
Enough was enough. There was no way she could let this slide. Josh had pushed her too far.
She was clearing the kitchen counter so that they could start cooking dinner when she saw Nash’s key chain. “This is the Sisi key chain I bought for you in Vienna.”
“It’s the best gift anyone ever gave me.”
“Kevin and I have been playing crazy eights with the card deck I bought.”
“Hey, Nash,” Kevin called from the dining room table. “We could play after dinner, if you want.”
Nash gave her son a thumbs-up, and she felt a little bit of the tension in her shoulders dissipate, thankful that Kevin was smiling with Nash instead of crying over his father’s desertion.
Sighing at the thought of Josh, she was surprised when Nash put his hands on her shoulders and began to knead the tight muscles. She’d never had a partner to share her problems with, so being able to lean into him, even if only for a few seconds, meant a great deal to her.
Of course, she understood that they had no realistic future together. But for a few precious minutes, she allowed herself to appreciate that Nash was here, helping her with the kind of issue she always had to deal with on her own.
“I’m afraid I don’t have too many kitchen skills,” he said in a low voice that thrummed over her skin, heating her up all over. “But if you tell me what to do, I can follow your directions.”
She fought back a shiver as she remembered just how good he’d been at following her directions in the shower in Vienna.
Every cell in her body longed to be with him again. To turn in the circle of his arms and kiss him. But with Kevin sitting at the dining table drawing—and the fact that she and Nash were mere hours away from having their we-can-never-kiss-or-touch-each-other-again conversation—she said, “Why don’t you help chop carrots? We can make vegetable soup.”
“I can do that.”
“On second thought,” she said, “I wouldn’t want to be responsible for you harming your guitar-playing fingers.”
He finished his massage by brushing the hair away from her shoulders. For a moment, she thought he might press a kiss to her bare skin. Instead, he stepped away and said, “I’ll take good care not to cut anything off.”
She got Nash set up with a knife, a cutting board, and a pile of carrots, then began chopping potatoes and onions. They worked in companionable silence until she asked, “How long do you think it’ll take you to build out the van?” She held her breath as she waited for his reply. She would miss him terribly if he left as soon as Kevin’s four days with him were up. On the other hand, the longer he stayed, the harder it would be to say good-bye.
“I rented a place not far from here for two weeks.”
She had to put the knife down or risk cutting off her own finger. “Two weeks?”
“Building out a van has the potential to be a big job. I’m not sure how long it will take, but I figure two weeks is a good window of time to start with.”
To start with? Did that mean he might stay even longer?
Her heart was racing as she asked, “And then what’s your plan once the van is done?”
“I don’t have a firm plan right now. But I’m thinking I’ll hit the road to see what I find. Or what finds me.”
Her heart sank all the way to her toes. Of course he was going to leave when he was done. It wasn’t a surprise. But hearing him confirm his future departure from her life stung.
Ashley had to face facts. Despite her efforts to be realistic, she had created a fantasy narrative about them. A fairytale ending where Nash would realize she was everything he was missing in his life. A story where he would decide that he wanted to bring her son into his life too. A perfect romance where he would be so in love with her that he would give up his nomadic rock-star life to move permanently to Bar Harbor.
Life wasn’t a fairy tale, though. Not for her, anyway.
Fortunately, she loved her life in Bar Harbor with her son and family. What’s more, she knew it would be a waste to mourn the idea of Nash leaving when he was here now. She should focus on enjoying being with him.
