Page 28 of Leave Me Not: Nick & Elissa #2 (Badger Creek Duet #8)

28

ELISSA

I t’s been a few days since Nick came home and with our promising conversation with Gerry, we’re both hopeful, but there’s still that small bit of fear that everything will change, and Nick will be gone again. But this time, it’s the hopefulness that outweighs the fear.

We’re woken up by the ringing of Nick’s phone and we groan in unison, having stayed up late last night chatting and feeling more relaxed than we have in months.

“Ignore it,” I mutter, rolling over so I’m now cuddled into the warmth of Nick’s body. I don’t have to work today and all I want to do is stay in bed and bask in the quiet calm that we finally have.

“Just let me see who it is,” Nick mumbles back, his eyes squinting as his phone glows brightly in the dim room.

I let out a huff of mock annoyance, pressing my lips to his bare chest. “Who is it?” I ask when he doesn’t tell me right away.

But I don’t have to wait for him to respond, hearing him say, “Gerry, you have some news?” is all the response I need. I’m glad he answered it. It would have sucked to ignore his call. He’s the only person either of us should be answering for.

I sit up in bed, watching Nick’s face, hoping for something great, but Nick’s face is impassive, and he says very little. I can hear Gerry talking, but I can’t make out what he’s saying, and I almost tell Nick to switch over to speakerphone, but I don’t want to interrupt him.

It only takes a few minutes of conversation for Nick’s face to change, and it’s then that I realize things are going our way.

“Thanks, Gerry, thanks so much. You have no idea how relieved we are. We’ll be in touch if we need anything else. Again, thank you,” Nick says, smiling from ear to ear.

Gerry continues talking and I almost can’t stand the wait. I’m losing my mind over what he’s saying, but it’s obviously good. With my teeth clenched, I shake my hands in front of Nick’s face, and all he does is hold up one finger. Pretty soon I’m going to smack the phone out of his hand and beg him to tell me what’s happening.

“Nick!” I whisper-shout, my eyes wide, and he lets out a small chuckle. “You’re killing me here.” Nick smiles, pulling the phone away from his ear, he switches over to speaker now.

“Gerry, Elissa’s here with me. You want to give her the news?” Nick says, a cheeky look on his face, enjoying that he’s been keeping me waiting. I know it’s good news, he wouldn’t have made me wait if it wasn’t.

“Good morning, Elissa,” Gerry says, greeting me with his deep voice. “I have some good news.”

“I know you do!” I squeal, desperate to hear what he has to say. “I’ve been trying to wait patiently, but you two are making me crazy.”

Gerry chuckles, “Well, I figured Nick would have had you on speakerphone already, but I guess he likes to keep you waiting.”

“And so do you, so just get to it, please,” I demand, but as nicely as possible.

“I’ll start with the easy part; Nick’s contract has been voided, which means he is able to leave without any repercussions,” Gerry starts, and I let out a sigh of relief, realizing I’ve been holding my breath as I waited to hear the news.

“Do we have to pay back his signing bonus?” I quickly ask, which was our biggest concern. Knowing we don’t have a fine for breaking the contract helps, but what about the money Nick got for making the team?

“Nope, none of it. At this point, the US team will be reaching out to Nick to try to keep him quiet since they now know there is a pretty damning article in the works,” Gerry tells me. “They will always want to protect themselves from any negativity in the media, so they will probably try to buy Nick’s silence. That part is up to Nick and how he wants to proceed. It could be a lot of money. Obviously as your lawyer, I recommend staying away from anything that makes it so you are tied to them.”

I look over at Nick and he nods, indicating that he has no interest in taking any more money from the team. Neither of us want to be tied to that mess.

“Thank you, Gerry, we really appreciate you helping us with this,” I say, feeling a little guilty that we weren’t paying him. He might be part of the Holden company, but Nick and I aren’t, so he did this out of the kindness of his heart, getting paid by Max’s parents’.

“Don’t thank me,” Gerry says, a bit of a demand to his tone. “It’s you we have to thank for this, Elissa. You’re the one who contacted the journalist and she’s the one who got the whole thing going.”

“What?” I ask, confused.

“Yep, it was you. We wouldn’t have gotten this inside information if Gemma hadn’t started looking into things. She set a fire under the US team committee because they don’t want this kind of information coming out. Then all I did was reach out to the committee and ask for Nick to be released from his contract. It was quite simple in the end.”

“Wow,” I say, my word quiet. I had no idea it would come to this by asking Gemma to write a story about the team. I knew there were some sketchy things happening and I hoped it would help Nick’s case, but I had no idea it would play out like this.

“I look forward to working with Nick since he’s still under contract with Holden Winter Gear,” Gerry adds. “And I can’t wait to meet the future skiing legend. Wonder if that kid of yours will be a downhill racer or jumper?” Gerry chuckles again. “Best of luck to both of you.”

He hangs up before I can thank him again, even if he doesn’t want to take credit for it. Just having him on our side was a good thing. He was willing to do what needed to be done to help Nick out, and for that I’m grateful.

“Oh my god,” I say, my hand covering my mouth. “It’s over. We did it.” I lean forward, reaching out for Nick, I pull him into my arms.

“You did it, Lis,” he corrects, and it makes me smile. “There is no one else in the world who would have done what you did to help me. You put yourself out there, calling that reporter and finding a way out of this that no one else thought of.”

“Nicholas O’Connor, you are so damn cheesy, but you’re right, I would do anything for you.” I rest a hand on his cheek, bringing his face to mine, I kiss him softly.

“Thanks, Lis for taking me back, for believing in me, for always being my ride or die,” Nick says, before leaning in to kiss me again.

“Nick, I can’t imagine my life without you, and now we get to stay here and raise our baby together.” I stop, furrowing my brow a little, and Nick cocks his head to the side, watching me.

“What?”

“What happens now?” I ask. “We live with my mom and we’re going to have a baby in a few months.”

“Oh, Elissa O’Connor, can’t you just relax and enjoy this moment?” Nick teases, pulling me down on top of him as he lays in the bed. “I have some things in the works so don’t worry.”

“What are you keeping from me?”

“Nothing, babe,” he replies, winking. “Now why don’t we celebrate this win by rocking our baby to sleep?”

“You are insatiable,” I say, wiggling against him.

“Oh, and you’re not?”

A few hours later, we’re heading over to Badger Creek to grab some lunch at The Matterhorn, meeting up with Max and Harper to share the good news with them.

As we’re walking in, I get a text from my mom. I had sent her a text letting her know about Nick’s contract and how things are good now, but it has taken her a bit to respond. I know she’s at work, but I really would have thought she would have responded sooner. I don’t need any more drama in my life and of course her delayed response has made me a little nervous.

Mom: Oh Elissa, that’s wonderful news. Tell Nick I said congrats. We can celebrate when I get home from work. I also need to talk to you about something.

As soon as I read her message, my heart sinks to my feet. What the fuck? She has to talk to me about something? That can’t be good, and she knows I’m on edge lately. Between the pregnancy and Nick’s contract, she should know better.

Me: MOM!!! Don’t do that to me! What do you need to talk to me about!!??

I turn to Nick, showing him my phone and all he does is smile. I give him a hearty smack on the arm, hating that he can just read that message and not think the worst.

“Nick, do you know what she wants to talk to me about?” I beg, desperation in my voice. “Fuck, please tell me she isn’t sick again.”

“She’s not, babe. All is good, promise,” Nick replies, slinging an arm around my shoulders, he pulls me close, kissing the top of my head.

“Why do you know, but I don’t?” I ask, whining as Nick holds the door to The Matterhorn open for me.

“She wants it to be a surprise. She ran the idea by me last night and I promised her I wouldn’t tell you. It’s good, though. Don’t worry.”

Mom: Sorry, sweetie. It’s nothing bad. I’m healthy and happy and I’m so excited that Nick will be here with you to raise the baby.

Me: You’re not getting off that easy. Just tell me. I’m not in the mood for surprises!

Nick and I head over to an empty booth, sitting down while I continue texting my mom, hating her idea of a surprise. I’m over surprises. The only good one has been the baby so far.

Mom: Fine, fine. I’m going to be moving in with Steve and you and Nick can have the house or you can sell it and take the money. Whatever you want. You happy now?

Me: OMG, MOM! That is way too generous. We both put the money in for the house. I can’t do that.

Mom: Think of it as a gift for the baby.

I show my phone to Nick, and he laughs. “So you couldn’t just let her surprise you, huh? It is very generous of her, but that’s how parents are.” He shrugs casually, looking over the menu, like my mom didn’t just give us a house.

“Nicholas, we can’t take it,” I say, not sure how to handle this. My mom has given up so much to give me the life I have, and I really don’t want her to be out the money she put into the house.

“Then we sell the house and give her back her share,” he says, and I take a deep breath. Everything is always so easy and casual with him. It’s actually really great. He balances us out perfectly.

“And then what?”

“Lis, come on, let’s just enjoy this day and worry about all this later,” Nick says, taking my hand and pressing a kiss to each knuckle.

I tilt my head to the side, waiting for him to realize, I can’t just let it go. That’s not who I am. Right now, I need everything to fall into place without having to juggle drama.

“Okay, I have a plan, but it’s totally up to you,” Nick starts, smiling. “We can sell the house and give Judy her half back, and then we can buy our own house. Or we can just stay and use the money I have from my contract to pay Judy back.”

“Thank you,” I say, kissing him. “I just needed to know our options. Now I can relax.”

“You are very easy to please,” Nick jokes, just as Max and Harper walk in.

Harper’s belly has really popped, and she waves when she sees us. “We need to get a picture of us together,” she calls out as she approaches the table. She puts her hand on her belly, calling me over with a wave of her hand, telling Max to get a picture of us.

I walk over to her, stopping a little bit shy of where Nick and I are sitting. “Look at you!” I shriek, putting a hand on her cute little stomach.

“Look at you!” she squeals back, her hand on my stomach now as Max gets a few pictures.

“Okay, look at me,” Max says, getting a few more before we all sit down. “So, what’s this all about?” he adds, looking at Nick.

“We’ve got some good news.”