Make You Mine, page 4
part #1 of Fireweed Harbor Series Series
A tiny voice chimed in. You can’t believe Rhys would hide from a child. Maybe he used to keep things casual, but he’s not that kind of guy.
Shut up, my more strongly defined critical voice volleyed back.
I wondered what Deacon would say if he saw the little boy with Cathy. There was no doubt that child was a Cannon. After a deep breath, I turned and walked back out front, steeling myself to be friendly and polite to every customer who came in.
The second I stopped beside Hazel, she smiled over at me. I looked around quickly, my eyes homing in on Cathy and her little boy over at a corner table. When my gaze made its way back to Hazel, I said, “The timer says the muffins will be done in fifteen minutes.”
Her eyes twinkled as she shrugged. “So they will.”
Just then, the bell jingled above the door again, and we looked over together to see Rhys walking in. It felt as if the universe conspired against me. I wanted to flee to the back again, but dammit, I wasn’t going to be a coward.
“I’ve got it,” I said to Hazel.
“I’m sure you do, but I’m not leaving you out here alone,” she said under her breath.
Rhys was within earshot by then, and she smiled brightly. “Are you here for your afternoon coffee?”
He stopped in front of the counter, his gaze lingering on me for too many beats of my heart. It felt as if I’d been running too fast already and was stumbling down a hill. I couldn’t control my heartbeat and almost felt panicky. Cathy was here, and any second now, Rhys would notice her. It felt as if I was watching a car accident.
Hazel was saying something, but I didn’t hear it over the static in my brain. I didn’t mean to look over toward Cathy, but I did, and then Rhys followed my gaze.
I whipped my head back to look at him. His breath drew in sharply, and his face went pale. Hazel, skilled at navigating small-town gossip and awkward interactions between exes and the like, looked dismayed for a second before she schooled her expression to bland.
Rhys held my eyes. “Haven—” he began.
“We don’t need to talk,” I said quickly. “Maybe you should go say hi to Cathy.”
“Haven, listen to me. I’ve already gotten the test results back. He’s not my son. He’s my nephew. We believe he’s Jake’s son.”
I stared at him.
“Can we please talk?” Rhys pressed.
Hazel glanced back and forth between us. When she looked back toward Rhys, she said gently, “I don’t think now is a good time.” Turning to me, she added, “Go in the back. I will handle the counter. I need you baking.”
My feet wouldn’t move. She placed a hand on my shoulder, turning me and giving me a little push between the shoulder blades. I walked into the back, my brain trying to absorb what Rhys had just said.
What the hell?
Chapter Ten
Rhys
Hazel studied me before cocking her head to the side. “Your usual in the afternoon?” she prompted.
I really wanted to talk with Haven. I looked past Hazel’s shoulders, hoping I could catch a glimpse of Haven in the back over the top of the door.
“I know you want to talk to her, but you’ll have to wait.”
I whipped my eyes back to Hazel and took a quick breath. “Okay.”
“Your usual?” she prompted again, and I nodded. “Cathy is looking at you.” She began prepping my coffee without once turning her head in the direction where Cathy sat with the little boy who I presumed was my nephew. The paternity test had ruled me out, but they had also revealed her child was related to me, closely enough to be a nephew.
“She just got the news that I am not her son’s father,” I offered.
Hazel studied me. “You said that. So you think that’s Jake’s son? Why would she even consent to testing if she knew that?”
“Remember how we used to joke that Jake and I looked like twins?”
Just saying that aloud made my heart ache a little. I missed my older brother.
Hazel nodded. “You and Jake looked an awful lot alike.”
“She dated both of us. I didn’t know that until Colin Blackthorn chased down some old social media posts.”
Hazel passed me my coffee, and I immediately handed her the five-dollar bill I’d tucked in my pocket. “Keep the change.”
“That is some serious ‘cups up’ news for this town.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Hazel, please.”
“You know I won’t talk to anyone about this, but you should be prepared for the gossip. Hell, anyone who sees that little boy will make assumptions. Your best bet is to get the news out first. Otherwise, gossip will catch fire and burn someone in the process. You need to talk to Haven.”
“I just tried to talk to her,” I pointed out.
Hazel made the change from my five and stuffed the remainder in the tip jar, shrugging as she glanced back up at me. “You did. It’s just now isn’t a good time or place.” She tilted her head in Cathy’s direction. “I’m tempted to send Haven home for the day, but I don’t think she’ll agree to go.”
“No,” I said grimly. “She won’t.”
“Please tell Haven what I just told you about the testing. I know I said it, but I’m not sure she believes me. Don’t tell anyone else. Well, other than Phyllis,” I added, knowing it would be near impossible for Hazel to hide this from her best friend.
Hazel nodded, her gaze serious. She made the sign of the cross in front of her heart.
I took a breath. “And now, I will go say hello to my nephew.”
I walked across the café, stopping beside Cathy’s table. She looked up with a tight but polite smile on her face. “Hi, Rhys.”
“Cathy.” I dipped my chin.” I’m assuming you’ve heard.”
“I have,” she said.
Her son looked up at me, and my heart experienced a jolt. He was wearing earphones. His eyes were so much like Jake’s. Others might say they were like mine, but I didn’t look into my own eyes very often. He looked back down at the phone in his hands, his thumbs moving over the video game he was playing.
She was quiet as she studied me. “It’s not about the money, you know.”
“I don’t care if it is,” I said bluntly. “Our attorney gave your attorney some times. When you all get back to him, I will see you then.”
She gestured toward her son. “This is Matthew.” He took out one earbud. “Matthew, this is Rhys. He’s an old friend of mine from college.”
Matthew looked up at me. “Hi,” he said.
“Nice to meet you, Matthew.”
Someone spilled a drink at a nearby table, snapping through the moment and creating a distraction. “Good to see you,” I said when I looked back at Cathy. “Talk soon.” I didn’t wait for a reply, lifting my coffee cup in acknowledgment as I turned away.
Matthew’s mere existence was stirring up so many emotions around Jake and the gaping hole he had left in our family’s life. The relief I felt at learning I didn’t have a son had quickly been replaced by a piercing sense of longing for my brother and to ensure that Matthew knew his father was a good man. Jake had been young when he died. He’d been flawed like we all were, but I hated that his life story was punctuated by such a tragic end.
I knew he wouldn’t want people to know all that he had experienced at the hands of our grandfather. Yet it still ate at me. Our grandfather was facing charges for felony embezzlement in our family’s company. We knew we couldn’t ever hold him legally responsible for what he had done to my brother, but that had only been one of his crimes. The ugliest for certain. We could make sure he paid however we could. People in town knew he’d been harsh, but they didn’t know the whole story. Even though Jake wasn’t here, I wanted to protect him from the gossip that would circle like sharks around our family if the whole story came to light.
As if the mere thought of Jake set this in motion, my grandmother called as I was leaving, asking me to stop by. Since she lived near downtown, I aimed in that direction.
When I walked into the living room, my grandmother was seated in her favorite chair. Although she had plenty of money, she still lived in the house she and my grandfather had occupied when they started Fireweed Winery. It was nice enough, but it didn’t reflect what she could have. It was a beautiful piece of property near downtown Fireweed Harbor, situated on the bluff overlooking the harbor. The view was a stunner, with a clear view of downtown, the harbor, and a few islands.
Her face was weathered, but her gray eyes were warm as she smiled at me. “I met Matthew,” she said, her voice a little raspy.
“Mom told me.” My throat felt tight as I sat down on the nearby couch.
“He looks like Jake. And of course you. Because you and Jake were Irish twins,” she said lightly.
I nodded. “He sure does.”
“You’re doing right by him. I know we don’t have to do anything.”
“He’s family. And even if Cathy is just after this for the money, Matthew is Jake’s son. We’ll take care of him.”
My grandmother nodded before offering, “Do you want any coffee?”
“No, thank you. You said you had something to discuss?”
At her nod, I took a slow breath. For the past year, we’ve been dealing with an ugly situation—for our company and for our family.
“Clint has taken the deal.”
“Okay. How many years?”
“Five.”
My asshole, abusive grandfather had been verbally abusive to all of us, physically abusive to Jake and me, and had raped Jake. We didn’t know that horrifying detail until my cousin Archer came forward with it. Archer carried his own trauma from witnessing it by accident once. We would never be able to hold our grandfather accountable for what he did to Jake, but since he’d also been embezzling from the company for years, we’d gone after that aggressively.
He'd accepted a plea deal for felony embezzlement. This was the only way he would answer for any of his crimes. Jake never told me about how bad it had been, and that still stung. I didn’t hold it against Jake for not telling me, but I hated that he had to carry that alone.
I just wanted my brother to find peace, even if he was no longer with us. I wanted to somehow atone for what he’d gone through.
“I wish we could do more,” she said.
“I do too,” I said after a few beats. “We all do.”
“I wanted to give you the update. I also wanted to ask that none of us go to the sentencing.”
“No?”
She shook her head firmly. “No. When I became aware of how he treated you all, I wanted to remove him from the company. But I felt like it was the only way I could keep him in check. It was my leverage. I will never stop regretting that I didn’t realize how bad things were.”
“None of us did.”
“But you were children. The reason I don’t want any of us at the sentencing is because he’ll hate that he’s just that irrelevant to us. I wish the sentence was longer. It’s enough that I hope he dies in jail.”
I studied her for a moment before nodding. Considering I would have to keep myself from standing and driving my fist through my grandfather’s face at sentencing, it was probably for the best that none of us went.
After I left there, I drove to the cemetery on the outskirts of town. I stopped in front of Jake’s gravestone, reading the inscription. Loyalty, friendship, and love. May his spirit live forever.
I thought back to Jake, remembering how he had flashes of anger as we grew into adolescence. I chalked that up to life, to facing the wrath of our grandfather. None of us knew just how bad Jake had it. He must’ve felt so lonely. He’d protected us all. My most vivid memory was one time when I was trying to stand up for Wyatt. Wyatt had accidentally broken something, and my grandfather went to slap him. I stepped between them and took the force of the slap instead. At that point, Jake was taller than our grandfather. He had come in and stepped between us when my interference pushed our grandfather into a rage. My heart ached at the courage that must’ve taken, knowing what our grandfather had done to him.
Jake had been so loyal to all of us. I only hoped I carried his mantle well.
I placed my hand on the inscription plate, tracing my fingertips across it. “I miss you,” I whispered. “I hope you know we all do.”
Blinking my tears away, I took a deep breath and held it for a beat before I let it out and turned away.
I intended to walk back to the office, but I couldn’t focus on work. My feet kept moving as I passed the main location for Fireweed Industries, turning into the entrance of the building next door, Fireweed Winery, the flagship store, and restaurant for our family’s business. Fireweed Industries was so much more than this now, but this place was where it all started. Behind the store and restaurant lay the production and distribution warehouse Blake managed.
With Blake being a year and a half younger than me, we didn’t have the level of closeness that I had with Jake growing up, but we’d become closer since I’d moved back to Fireweed Harbor. I wanted to bounce this situation off him, and I needed to talk with someone who loved Jake.
Chapter Eleven
Haven
I sat on the couch with my legs crossed while I stared at the fire in the woodstove. The flames flickered behind the glass door. I had tried to work on new graphic designs for some cards, but I couldn’t focus.
I sighed, thinking about Rhys and Cathy and the news that he wasn’t the father of her child. I’d ended up working late at the café because I told Hazel I needed to stay busy. She’d harrumphed about it and muttered her disagreement under her breath, but she’d graciously let me stay.
A knock on the door snapped me out of my reverie. My pulse instantly started to race. I glanced over at the door, wondering if it was Rhys.
I didn’t like admitting it, but I missed him. Standing, I told myself not to be ridiculous. Maybe it was Rosie. Since she lived down the street, she stopped by sometimes. Last week, she had stopped by because she ran out of sugar and was baking that evening.
My heartbeat wasn’t listening to my logic and kept on tapping out a wild rhythm. A few feet away from the door, I came to an abrupt stop, looking down at myself. I was in my comfy clothes. The evenings were cool because spring was chilly in Alaska. I wore a pair of soft fleece pants that swung around my legs and rested low on my hips. Atop that, I had on an old sweatshirt, the fabric soft from years of wear. My fluffy blue socks with stars on them were probably the most fashionable item I was wearing if they could be considered fashionable in any way.
I’d pulled my curls back in a ponytail and reflexively reached up to tighten it on my head, smoothing a few wild locks away from my forehead.
“What are you doing?” I whispered to myself.
Obviously not quietly enough because Rhys said, “I can hear you, Haven. Please let me in.”
I rolled my eyes, feeling my cheeks heat with the embarrassment of getting caught talking to myself. I tried to take a deep breath, hoping to quell the anxiety spiraling through me. It was to no avail. The mere sound of his voice set my heart to beating even faster.
On the heels of another shallow breath, I curled my hand on the doorknob and opened it. A major downside to avoiding someone was that your nerves went a little haywire when you saw them.
I stared into his silvery-gray eyes. My brain thought I said hello, but apparently not because Rhys prompted, “Haven?”
I jumped slightly, blurting out, “Hi!”
His eyes coasted over my face. When we’d been seeing each other, I’d discovered that having Rhys’s attention on me was intoxicating. He was a man of detail and care. That attention could cut both ways.
Just now, I didn’t like how perceptive I sensed he was. It had taken so much nerve to let down my guard and give him a chance last summer. Me, the quirky girl in high school who’d crushed on him so hard. He was my brother’s best friend, handsome and popular. I’d hated my crush on him because so many girls liked him in high school.
“Can I come in? I was hoping we could talk,” he said quietly.
“Uh, sure.”
I stepped back, swinging the door open wider for him. He walked in, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he turned to look at me. My brain was lagging; everything was happening a few steps behind. A cool gust of wind blew through the open door. I belatedly closed it before catching the hem of my sweatshirt and rubbing it between my fingers.
If I was being honest with myself, which I preferred not to do, I knew avoiding Rhys forever wasn’t practical. It also wasn’t the best thing for my sanity. Yet it hurt to see him. After a shitty breakup with my ex-boyfriend—which maybe hadn’t splintered my heart too badly but had left my pride battered and bruised—I’d come home to lick my wounds and try to rebuild my life.
Ending up next door to my brother’s best friend and high school crush hadn’t been on my bingo card. I also hadn’t expected the chemistry that snapped and crackled in the air between us whenever we were near each other. I absolutely hadn’t expected Rhys to try to persuade me he wanted me. Cynical me, I also hadn’t expected to fall for him as swiftly as I did.
That was the problem with a man like Rhys Cannon. All of the things I didn’t think I wanted—his handsome looks, his hair like honey gilded with sunlight, his silvery-gray eyes, and his muscled, lean, and rangy body. The man was freaking oblivious to just how handsome he was. It was all ridiculously unfair. To top it all off, he was a nice guy. I knew this because he was Deacon’s friend. They had stayed friends all these years. Even after Rhys left town for a few years after college, he and Deacon played video games online and chatted weekly. I knew he was still the friend Deacon turned to when he needed advice.
Rhys was genuinely down to earth. His whole family was. They were very wealthy, but they didn’t act like it. Two of his brothers were firefighters with Deacon up in Fairbanks. They were just a regular family who happened to be wealthy.
