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“You, me, Silas. My brothers and their machetes.”

“I thought you said no machetes?” Silas asks.

“No machetes for you,” I say. “But for Wilson?”

“Ah. Yes. Carry on.”

I look up at Nate. “Carry on, Nate.”

He grabs the phone. “I’ll be right back. Milly, make yourself at home. Silas, make us a drink.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Nate

My breath clouds in the frigid night air as I bring the phone to my ear.

The cold is a welcome antidote to the hot thrum of my pulse. Will Reese take my call? Is it wrong to ask for a favor so soon after we called off our wedding?

Is it wrong to ask for her help after I’ve moved on so quickly with the woman who was planning said wedding?

I put a hand on the porch railing and hold it in a death grip, wondering what Reese will say when I tell her. Because I have to tell her about Milly and me. The time for keeping secrets has long since passed. I hope she doesn’t see it as a betrayal, because it isn’t.

My pulse blaring in time to the ringtone, I hold my breath and wait. I hear the clank and clatter of pots inside the house behind me. Silas and Milly are getting dinner started—Milly offered to make her brother Samuel’s famous roast chicken—and I can hear them laughing, the conversation flowing freely like they’ve known each other forever.

Makes me feel a little better. If nothing else, this is a win—that my relationship with Milly is out in the open, and that our families are genuinely happy for us in a way I didn’t think was possible.

If this can happen, maybe so can a deal with Reese. One that doesn’t end with our fragile new friendship going up in flames.

“Hey Nate,” Reese says, picking up on the third ring.

My heart dips, then rises. She sounds . . . okay. “I’m sorry to bother you so late. Do you have a minute?”

“No bother. Lemme just close out this tab . . . okay. Yeah.” She takes a breath. “How are you?”

I kick at the balusters, making the railing underneath my palm vibrate. “I’m all right, actually. You?”

“All right,” she says, and I can hear the relief in her voice. “I’m in Charleston working on this new deal, so that’s kept me busy. I’m really enjoying the work so far, and the people down here are—yeah, pretty awesome.”

“That’s great to hear.”

“What about you? What have you been up to?”

Falling in love all over again with Milly Beauregard.

“Where do I begin?” I say ruefully.

Reese laughs. “That sounds juicy. Do tell.”

I tighten my core, steeling myself against literal and figurative blowback. “I’m dating Milly.”

The words hang in the silence that swells on the other end of the line.

Oh, no.

Not a good sign.

“I want you to know it began after you and I called it quits. I was never unfaithful—”

“Nate,” Reese says with another laugh. “I’m going to stop you right there. You’re sweet to be concerned, but if you say you were faithful to me while we were together, I believe you.”

“But the timing . . .”

“It’s not ideal. Let’s be honest, though. Our relationship was on the skids for a while before we broke up. If you started to have a thing for our wedding planner, well, I don’t blame you.”

I let out a sigh of relief. “I didn’t, Reese. Not then. But Milly and I do have history, and after you said you would have zero hard feelings if I went after someone new . . .”

“You went after someone new. Well, not new.”

“Someone else.”

“Yes. And I’m glad you did. I want you to be happy,” Reese says. “I mean that. If Milly makes you happy, go for it.”

“Thank you,” I reply, blinking. This conversation is already going much better than I expected.

“In the spirit of honesty, I may or may not be forming a crush on a coworker down here. Well, technically, he’d be my boss if this deal goes through. He’s a total asshole, but I’m starting to think that may be my type.”

I wait for the stab of jealousy to come. It doesn’t. “Assholes?”

“Who knew? No wonder we didn’t work out. You can be grumpy, sure, but you’re a cinnamon roll at heart.”

“Delicious and gooey,” I say with a laugh. “I like that.”

“How’s everyone else? Silas? Your dad?”

My laughter dies in my throat. “Dad’s become a threat, and I think it’s time for him to go.”

“You weren’t kidding about the juicy stuff,” Reese says. “What happened?”

I tell her.

I tell her about Dad falling back into bad habits. The money he owes, and how he’s working up a plan to extort money from me and the people I love. The Nobles were aware of Dad’s and Silas’s past struggles with addiction, but we were all convinced they were on the straight and narrow.