Page 133 of Beating Heart
“Hey now, why aren’t we out on the dance floor?” Kingston asked, as he dropped into a chair across from me.
“Because we’ve been here for seven hours. This is the longest wedding known to man,” Hayes grumped. “And I don’t dance.”
“Yeah, I think this party is wrapping up.” River pushed to his feet. “It was a great wedding. You sure know how to throw a party, brother.”
All the guys were hugging goodbye, and Ruby, Demi, and I were walking over to say goodbye to Saylor.
“What’s the story with Hayes and Savannah? He looked pretty distraught over the mention of her name,” I asked.
“Yeah. They were really close back in the day, and a bunch of stuff went down with her family right around the time that Hayes and Saylor were going through a bunch of stuff, and River and Romeo got sent to Fresh Start. So I think it was a rough time for everyone.”
Fresh Start was the juvenile detention center that Ruby worked at now.
“When it rains in Magnolia Falls, it sure does pour.” Demi shook her head, eyes heavy with emotion. “I hope she comes back for Abe’s funeral. She was always so happy and nice.”
“Yeah, she was funny as hell. Even my blackened heart couldn’t help but smile around the girl,” Ruby said with a chuckle.
“Who are we talking about?” Peyton popped her head into the little circle we’d formed, appearing out of nowhere.
“Savannah Abbott. We’re wondering if she’ll come back for Abe’s funeral.”
“Oh, I always loved her. She was one big glass of sunshine, if memory serves. But that family scandal of hers was all everyone in town was talking about. I don’t blame her for moving and staying away.” Peyton shook her head and shrugged at the same time.
“It wasn’t her fault, and, speaking of scandal… How about the fact that you’ve been secretly dating my brother?” Laughter echoed around us, just as Nash came up behind me and wrapped an arm around my waist.
“You ready to head home, beautiful?”
I turned to see Cutler on his hip, with his head resting in the crook of his father’s neck.
We said our goodbyes and made our way out to the truck. Cutler slept all the way home, and Nash carried him inside, and then I got him undressed and ready for bed. We had our routine, and tucking this little boy in at the end of the night was the highlight of my day.
Well, aside from what happened every night in the room across the hall after he was long asleep.
“Hey, I have something for you,” I said, leading Nash down the hallway. He had his tuxedo coat slung over the barstool, his dress shirt unbuttoned low, exposing his muscled chest.
“Oh, yeah? I have something for you, too,” he said as he pulled me into his arms and kissed me.
I knew the day that Tara had threatened that Nash might not be Cutler’s biological father had really messed with his head. So we’d agreed to have him do a paternity test that we’d keep between the two of us, because he needed to know just in case she ever tried to pull anything legally with Cutler. I’d already seen the test results because I didn’t even know how I’d tell him if the outcome had been different than it was.
I handed him the envelope, and he opened it. His eyes welled with emotion as he read the words that he’d known in his gut were true.
Cutler was his son in every way. Nash had never cared if Cutler was his son by blood. Hell, his best friends were his family. They were brothers not by blood but by history.
But knowing that Tara could never come back and claim Cutler wasn’t his brought him peace of mind.
She’d signed the papers, and we hadn’t heard from her since, which he told me was pretty normal for her.
And it didn’t matter if she came back around, because he had all the paperwork in place to protect his little boy.
Our little boy.
At least he felt like ours.
He was thriving, and that was all that mattered. His asthma was under control now, and the new meds were working wonders. He hadn’t had an attack since that day out on the lake, but we were prepared and ready if he did.
“So, what do you have for me?” I asked, waggling my brows as he wrapped a hand around my neck and kissed me.
“Come on, and I’ll show you.” In the next breath, I was flung over his shoulder as he carried me to the bedroom where I slept every night, though all of my things were still next door in my rental house, as my lease had a few more weeks before it was up.
