Page 21 of Silver Sanctuary (The Silver Springs #3)

Thirteen

W armth slowly infiltrated her dreamless sleep.

Embrie must have brought a book into bed with them, because she normally never let Lacy sleep in unless she was lost to her reading.

Something dipped on the mattress, next to her hip.

She reached behind her back, to try and feel Embrie, but she wasn’t there…

“Lacy? It’s time to wake up. I’ve got your pain medicine here.”

“No, no medicine.” She yawned, trying to place the gruff voice. Lacy let her arms drift above her head, stretching out her sides. Oh fuck! Lightening hot pain blazed up her body, stealing her breath. She’d completely forgotten how sore she was.

“Yeah, that’s not an option. The doctor told you to take it as prescribed to make sure your body could heal, so that’s what you’re going to do.”

She let her eyes open, adjusting to the soft glow of afternoon light flooding into the room. Wait—not her bedroom.

The memories from the night before flooded back in, and Lacy closed her eyes as she let the dizziness pass .

“You okay?” A strong, steady hand landed on her arm, grounding her.

Nash. She was at Nash’s apartment.

“What time is it?” Lord, she really needed some water. Her mouth felt like she hadn’t had anything to drink in days.

“A little after five.”

“At night?! Oh my god! Where’s Embrie? Is she okay?” Lacy sucked in a harsh breath as she launched herself up in bed. A whimper escaped and tears flooded her eyes.

“Lace! What the fuck? Lie back down.”

Nash’s hands remained steady on her as she lay back into the soft pillows that had surrounded her all night… and apparently all day too.

“I’m fine,” she gasped, knowing full well that she wasn’t, but moms didn’t get a day off. She needed to know where Brie was. “Embrie?”

“Had a good day at school and is now enjoying a pizza night with Gunner and Lily, even though Lily made us enough soup to feed a small army this afternoon. You don’t have to worry about Embrie.

I think she’s mentioned having a little sister at least five times since Lily let her play with Sage when I brought her to the office after pickup. ” He chuckled.

“It’s so nice of them to have her over for dinner, but she can’t stay the night there. I need to help her with her homework and she needs to be with me. We’ve never not been together. I can’t?—”

“Slow down. I didn’t ask them to watch her overnight, and I would never do that without talking to you. But that’s just it, Lace. We need to talk.”

There it was—the moment he realized her problems weren't worth dealing with. The trailer might be nothing more than a pile of ashes, and now she was going to have to find somewhere for them to land, but that didn’ t mean he had to feel obligated to help her out.

Lacy let her head drop, her eyes squeezing shut as she waited for him to kick her and Brie out.

“Lace?” Concern laced through the care in his voice. “Hey, is it the pain? I really think you should take the medicine like the doctor said. I talked to Jake today, and he said he’d come over here if we needed him to. Do you feel like the pain is severe?”

“What?”

“You’re face. You look like you’re in pain.”

She shook her head. “I was just waiting to hear what time you want me and Brie to leave by. I can probably be ready to go in a few minutes, but if Brie is eating dinner, then we’ll have to wait for her to be done.”

“What are you talking about?” His deep rumble had her eyes jumping to meet his.

“I just thought… I told you I would be okay, and then I slept the day away instead of making sure we were ready to leave when you got home from work. And I wanted to cook for you to say thanks, but my body was just exhausted.”

“Baby,” he whispered. “Did you forget about the fire last night?”

She winced. “No. I didn’t forget.”

“So, where were you planning on going?”

“We can stay at the shop tonight. In my office.”

His face fell. “No. Absolutely not.”

“Nash, we can’t stay here and intrude on your life.”

“Of course you can! I want you to! I want you and Embrie to be so ingrained in the blueprint of this place that it feels like it was always your home, too. Someone hurt you last night, and I told you, you’re both staying with me. That’s… that’s what I need to talk to you about.”

She bit the inside of her cheek. “I can cook and clean around here, if that’s what you’re worried about.

Brie and I can share a room, too. It was silly for me to be here today.

And it’s just until I can get the office at the shop fixed up.

There’s no reason we can’t stay there after.

I don’t want you to think I’m taking advantage of you. ”

“Lacy—”

“No. You’re being too good to me. That’s not how things go. So, if we stay—which will just be until I find a place for us to go—I’ll pull our weight. Hopefully, we’ll be so out of sight that you won’t even know that we’re staying here.”

“Stop it.” His hand slipped over hers. “I don’t want you to cook and clean.

My girlfriend doesn’t have to earn her keep here.

I love cooking, and if I wasn’t feeling up to it, I would be happy to bring dinner home for us all every day from Dolly’s.

Or I’d take my girls out. I want you to stay here to have a safe place to live and because I actually enjoy being around you and Embrie.

It’s the best part of my day when I get to see you.

So, why would I not want you here, where I can see you all the time? ”

“Your girlfriend?” Lacy hated to admit it, but her mind sort of short circuited at the label.

His face turned red, the color a striking difference to the salt and pepper of his hair. Her eyes traced the worry lines that started to form between his brows.

“Actually, after our appointment tomorrow, I’m hoping to change that title.”

She knew the meds would make her drowsy, but the doctor in the emergency room had said she’d need to schedule a follow up appointment with her primary care doctor. There’s no way Nash could have known who that was, or made the appointment for her, was there?

“With Jake?”

“What? ”

“That’s what the appointment is for, right? My follow-up, like the ER doctor wanted?”

“Oh, uh, no. I would have scheduled it with Jake, but I wasn’t sure you’d feel comfortable going to the clinic again after what happened.”

“It wasn’t his fault. I don’t think he was there yesterday.”

“I know that, now,” Nash grumbled.

“How?”

His hand ran over his face, stopping to scratch his jaw. “I went over there first thing this morning. Nearly gave him a black eye and threatened to get the clinic shut down for what happened. He promised to take action against the people who refused to treat you.”

“He doesn’t have to do that!” she nearly shrieked.

“Why does that have you so panicked?”

“Because, this town is already in desperate need of medical care. And it’s just one more thing everyone will blame me for.”

“Lace, no. They fucking left you in pain for hours. They didn’t treat you. You heard what the doctor said last night. You should have been immediately seen at the ER. No one is going to blame you for their negligence.”

Silence fell between the two of them, until Nash’s hand landed on her thigh, tracing small circles over her skin with his thumb.

“I’d be okay with seeing Jake,” she whispered, trying to break the tension.

“Good. I’ll call and make a follow-up appointment for you after we’re done tomorrow.”

“How did we get so off track? What’s going on tomorrow?”

“We’re getting married.”

Lacy inhaled so sharply that the room spun. “I’m sorry, I think I need to have my head checked. What now?”

“I said, we’re getting married tomorrow. ”

“When did we agree to this? I can’t be held to what I said while under the influence of painkillers.”

“Oh, you said some pretty interesting things on the ride home last night, I’ll definitely give you that. But… I’ve messed this all up. I guess I didn’t actually ask you yet.”

“Whatever is going through your mind, don’t sweat it.

You do not need to come up with some elaborate plan to protect me.

Nothing is worth tying your name to mine.

It would be suicide in this town. You have so much to think about; it’s not just you.

Your friends, your business, everything could be jeopardized by marrying me. ”

“Lacy.”

“No. I’m not letting you get dragged down with me.”

She watched as he dropped off the edge of the bed, onto one knee, and pulled a small box from his pocket. Her heart skipped a beat as she watched Nash’s eyes fill with softness and concern.

“Lacy.”

“Nash… please.”

“Goddamn it, would you listen to me? This makes sense; it’s the right thing to do.

” He opened the box, revealing the most beautiful ring she’d ever seen.

It was perfect. Stunning rose gold woven around to form a band made out of little branches.

Several leaves were studded around the branches, with sparkling diamonds inside.

But the main stone, a breathtaking oval-shaped diamond, nearly blinded her.

There was no doubt in her mind that the ring he was holding out to her was worth more than anything she’d ever owned before.

“It’s perfect,” she admitted, watching his face fill with hope. “But I’m not marrying you tomorrow. I’m sorry. I can’t. If that means we have to leave tonight, if it means you don’t want to keep seeing me…”

They sat in silence for a moment, Nash’s eyes never leaving hers. Finally, he moved to sit on the bed beside her, reaching inside the small jewelry box to pull out the ring.

“If you won’t marry me tomorrow, because I can see how that would be overwhelming and a bit presumptuous on my part, will you at least become my fiancée?”

She laughed as her brows drew together. “Why?”