Page 24 of Don’t You Dare Marry Me (Love in Massachusetts #3)

eighteen

“It’s this way,” Nicola said proudly.

Abagail tried to relax her muscles, but she couldn’t. The drive to the rehabilitation facility had been longer than she’d anticipated, and when Cal had dropped them off, she wasn’t sure she should be there. But Nicola had that smile on her face that drew her in and she couldn’t resist.

They walked down a long hallway, past a very nice reception desk, a nurse’s desk, and down another hallway. Abagail would probably get lost in here for days if she let herself roam without supervision. It was a good thing Nicola was leading the way.

“Hey sis!” Nicola’s grin grew from mildly amused to full-blown joyful.

Abagail wasn’t sure she’d ever seen Nicola look that happy before.

The way her eyes crinkled in the corners, the way the entire weight of the world that she typically carried just vanished.

It was astounding just to witness it. But was it all an act?

A way to simply keep Alanna from seeing the weight that Nicola carried?

“Nic!” Alanna grinned back, lifting her arms up for a hug.

Her fingers were still curled over tightly in a ball.

She must not be able to straighten them out.

Nicola didn’t hesitate as she slid in and wrapped her arms around Alanna’s shoulders and pulled her in tightly for an embrace.

Abagail stayed right where she was by the door of the room, making sure that the two sisters had whatever time they needed together.

“Who’s this?” Alanna asked, glancing from Abagail to Nicola.

She certainly wasn’t looking to Abagail for an answer, and that was fine. Abagail would let Nicola do all the talking, and let her figure out exactly what she wanted to tell Alanna about their relationship. Abagail stayed silent.

“This is Abagail.” Nicola turned on her, that grin from before that was so full of joy staying right in place.

Abagail nearly had to take a step back from the full brunt of it. Is this what it was like to have Nicola happy? Well and truly happy without the worry and stress? Because God, this was amazing. Abagail found her own lips curling upward slightly, enjoying the way that Nicola seemed so free here.

“And Abagail is…?” Alanna asked, her voice dragging Abagail’s attention back to her.

“War—” Nicola stopped short, a flash of pain in her gaze before it vanished into the ether. “Abagail is a friend, a good friend.”

That answered one question. Nicola wasn’t going to talk to Alanna about their sex life. It meant that Abagail had a much clearer understanding of where the boundary was.

“We were talking about going away for a week, so I wanted to stop by first.”

“What, now?” Alanna’s face scrunched up, almost as if she was moving in slow motion though. “You’re leaving now?”

“Well, yeah.” Nicola shrugged slightly. “Why not?”

Alanna barked out a laugh. “You never do anything half-assed, do you?”

“Never.” Nicola was giggling, full on giggling

Abagail hadn’t ever heard her make that sound before.

She shifted her stance, not quite sure why she was here to witness this conversation and not sure that she necessarily wanted to bear the full brunt of Alanna’s judgment of her.

Which was odd, normally she didn’t care about that at all.

Especially when it came to any kind of relationship she had—Elia’s friendship excluded.

Fuck, what would Elia think of this entire arrangement?

Of the fact that Abagail was standing here in Alanna’s rehabilitation room, basically trying to convince Alanna that it was okay for Nicola to come play with her for a week at her summer house.

It was barely the end of spring, so it’d still be fairly secluded without everyone there yet. Abagail’s palms were sweaty.

Was she nervous?

“How do I know I can trust that she won’t dismember you and throw you out to sea for the sharks?” Alanna was now glaring at Abagail, trying to play the role of protective sister. This was honestly adorable in a way that Abagail longed for.

This was what her family should have been.

“You don’t,” Abagail finally said, breaking the silence and entering into the conversation fully for the first time.

“That’s not exactly comforting.” Alanna flicked her gaze to Nicola. “But if you dismember her, please only mail back the bits that I might want to see. Keep all the grody gooey bits to yourself.”

“Oh my God!” Nicola buried her face in her hands.

“I’ll try to accommodate that.” Abagail’s lips twitched, nearly forcing their way into a smile.

“Alanna! She’s not going to dismember me.”

“I don’t know,” Abagail said. “The thought of taking you apart one piece at a time sounds fascinating.”

“I think you’d rather be taken apart that way,” Nicola answered, giving Abagail a hard stare.

“But that’s not going to happen. I’ll be gone a week at the most, and I’ll have my phone with me every second if you need to get ahold of me.

” Nicola reached over and snagged Alanna’s hand, squeezing tightly.

“Besides, you’re the one we should be worrying about.

The last time I left you, you ended up in the hospital. ”

“It’s not my fault the burly nurse didn’t catch me in time.”

Nicola snorted loudly, shaking her head and boring her face into Alanna’s shoulder. She came back up and faced Abagail. “Alanna here has a major crush on one of the nurses. Mr. Connor, as she calls him.”

“Nic!” Alanna’s cheeks tinged red.

Abagail stayed still, listening intently.

“So one morning, when he was working, she decided she would try to jump into his arms, and instead they both ended up in a pile of unmovable limbs on the floor. He still teases her about it to this day and it happened nearly a year ago now.”

“I can’t believe you told her that.” Alanna lifted her hands to cover her face and shake her head. “Now the whole facility’s going to know about it.”

“They already know about it,” Nicola countered.

“Yeah, but now they’ll bring it up again,” Alanna mumbled under her breath.

“I swear I won’t tell anyone!” Abagail put a hand over her heart. “Though that does seem an innovative way to get someone’s attention.”

“Oh and she did get his attention.” Nicola winked at Alanna. “But not in the way she intended.”

Alanna looked so embarrassed, but in a good way, not like Nicola was pushing this too far. Abagail settled into that feeling. This was definitely what family should be—gentle teasing, love, care. What had happened to her family that none of this was present?

“So how do you two know each other?” Alanna asked.

Abagail snapped out of her reverie. She must have missed the shift in conversation, because she hadn’t been expecting that question. Nicola sucked in a slow breath, flicking her gaze to lock her eyes on Abagail before looking directly at Alanna.

“We met, I think for the first time at the bar Abagail owns. Though that’s not the first time we actually met.”

Alanna squinted. “I smell a story.”

“There is a story.” Nicola patted her sister’s hand. “And maybe I’ll share that story with you sometime, but not today.”

“Why not?” Now Alanna was staring at Abagail.

“I can… leave if you’d prefer to tell her while I’m not here.” Abagail pointed toward the door.

Immediately, Nicola stood up and came right to her.

“No. I don’t want you to leave.” Nicola skimmed her hand down Abagail’s arm, but she didn’t stay there.

Instead, she put space between them. And never before had Abagail felt so distant from her.

Not even after their argument when Nicola had left without telling her what was happening or where she was going or if she would even be back.

“Oh, I smell a really good story.” Alanna chuckled and put her hands up next to her face.

Abagail smiled at her. She’d never seen someone just so happy with life. It was contagious. Nicola rolled her eyes in an exaggerated manner and moved back to sit next to Alanna. “You’ll get it, maybe. Someday.”

“You can spare me the smutty details.”

“Alanna!” Nicola squeaked.

“And that’s definitely my cue.” Abagail nodded toward Alanna. “It was good to meet you.”

Without waiting for Nicola’s reply, Abagail walked out of the room and toward a waiting area with couches and a fireplace.

She sat down, immediately crossing her legs and pulling out her tablet and phone.

She had a few things she needed to tidy up at work before she could just leave Ivy in charge for the next week.

Not that she wouldn’t be checking in while she was gone, especially since this trip had been so last minute.

Staying in there and knowing what Nicola was going to say about her was definitely not something she needed to do.

She wasn’t sure how long it took, but she was right in the middle of an email to Nathalie Coeur when Nicola stepped into her line of sight.

Abagail nodded toward her, finished the email, and then closed her tablet so she could focus on Nicola.

“All done?” Abagail asked.

“Yes.” Nicola’s cheeks were rosy, but she had a forlorn look in her eyes that Abagail hated seeing. “We can go.”

“Are you sure?” Abagail reached out and touched Nicola’s arm lightly.

“Yes. I’m sure.” Nicola stepped away and broke the physical contact.

Again, that same feeling swept over Abagail, the one that felt so out of place and not at the same time. She longed to lean forward and brush her fingers across Nicola’s arm, maybe even fold their hands together. And that unsettled her. She recoiled from it and kept herself locked where she was.

Nicola started to walk away and halted, staring back at her. “Are we going?”

“Uh… yes.” Abagail shook herself and started to walk.

They were shoulder to shoulder as they went outside and met Cal with the vehicle.

Abagail ushered Nicola into the vehicle first before sliding next to her and shutting the door.

She relaxed into the seat of the car, tempted to close her eyes and truly rest. But something prevented that, something she couldn’t name quite yet.

“Did you and Ted get along when you were younger?” Nicola asked as Cal pulled away from the rehabilitation facility.

“Ted’s much younger than me.” Abagail furrowed her brow as she looked over at Nicola. “Why do you ask?”

“Trying to make conversation. When I was younger, there were times I wanted to kill Alanna and times I wanted to wrap her up in my arms and never let go.”

“The joy and privilege of being siblings.” Abagail gave her a wan smile, knowing full well that that was the expected answer. But she and Ted never had the traditional sibling relationship.

“Yeah, it is. Warren never understood my relationship with Alanna.”

“He wouldn’t.” Abagail rubbed her hands together. “And his father and I were poor examples.” Abagail sighed.

Nicola scoffed. “Yeah. Maybe he wouldn’t have turned out to be such an entitled asshat.”

Abagail nearly choked. She slowly turned to look at Nicola with wide eyes. “I can’t believe you said that.”

“Why? It’s true. Not once did he come to visit Alanna, and you’ve already done that.”

“He never…” Abagail’s breath left her lungs. “You two dated for years.”

“Yeah. We did.” Nicola frowned and shook her head. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have?—”

“Just because he’s my nephew doesn’t mean you have to filter yourself around me. I know what kind of man he is.” Abagail reached over and took Nicola’s hand in her own. “And I know what he did to you.”

“You don’t know the half of it.” Nicola locked her lips together and they thinned into a line that was barely visible.

Abagail wanted to ask more questions about that. She wanted to know what Nicola wasn’t telling her, but she was acutely aware that this wasn’t the time or the place, and that while she had Nicola’s trust, she didn’t have it that fully yet.

If that was ever going to happen.

“You and Alanna are very close.”

“We are.” Nicola smiled, genuinely this time. “We have been since the accident, but even before then we were, too. She’s my baby sis. It’s going to take hell on earth to keep me away from her.”

Abagail nodded slowly. Oh to have that kind of family. “Good. You need each other.”

“We do.” Nicola looked out the window, turning away and effectively ending the conversation.

Abagail settled into the seat, watching Nicola carefully.

What would it be like to have a family like Nicola did?

One that was supportive and loving. Elia had that, and Abagail had gotten a glimpse of that growing up with her.

Elia’s mother had nearly taken her in as one of her own, but Abagail had never quite fully relaxed into that ease of a relationship with her.

She’d always kept her at an arm’s length.

But Nicola?

Maybe something could be different there.

Maybe this could work.