Staying Home by JC Valentine

Author:JC Valentine [Valentine, JC]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-02-28T00:00:00+00:00

THIRTEEN

Neither knew who should go first, so for several minutes, Nash and Vivian just sat there, silently staring into the hearth and sipping their tea.

Who would speak first? What would they say to one another? Nash had a hundred thoughts and possibilities pass through his head in that short span of time that felt far longer than it actually was.

Vivian was the first to break the silence. “Well, I have to hand it to her, Ms. Gretta is a hell of a ballbuster.”

Nash chuckled. “Yes, she certainly is.” He took a deep breath, about to say something, but Vivian beat him to it.

“But she’s right,” she said as she continued to stare into the fire. “We need to get this—whatever this is—aired out once and for all. Because I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of this back and forth and weird vibes going on between us.”

“Me too.”

“Either we quash it, or we agree to end it. But either way, I’m over the weirdness. Things have to change.”

“I agree.”

Cutting her gaze to him, she finally met his eyes. “I already said I was sorry. If you need me to say it again, then I will. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to lie, and I didn’t mean to hurt you. I was in a weird place in my life and I didn’t want my past interfering with my present or future.” She shrugged. “Turns out, it did anyway.”

Nash sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “How about we agree to leave the past in the past. It’s done. There’s no going back and changing it.”

Hope flared bright in her eyes. “Are you suggesting a clean slate?”

“I don’t think there’s such thing as a clean slate, but a fresh start? Yeah. It’s possible.”

“Okay… So you forgive me?”

Nash considered this. Did he forgive her? “Yeah, I do. And honestly, I think I did a long time ago.”

When he reached down deep and took a good, hard look at his feelings, Nash found he didn’t feel much of anything. No anger or resentment. No need to yell or snipe or scold. He just felt…content. In fact, any time he was around Vivian, he felt that way. There was a peacefulness that came over him, a sense that he didn’t have to stress and worry but he could just breathe.

And wasn’t that something he’d been trying to do since Carlene died?

How come it had taken him so long to figure that out? To see that Vivian had somehow managed to make him feel that way again? Maybe, he considered once again, Gretta was right, and he was a stubborn ass. It would certainly explain why he had taken this long to pull his head out of his rear.

“Really? Because you have a funny way of showing it.”

“Yeah, well,” Nash replied mirthfully, “someone told me I can be a touch stubborn. I figure they might be on to something.”

Vivian’s eyebrows arched. “You think?”

They shared a laugh, and damn, it felt nice. Nash hadn’t felt a good, lighthearted moment like that in too long.

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