Page 39 of Silver Sanctuary (The Silver Springs #3)

She cleared her throat again, this time reaching out for the glass of ice water in front of her. For a moment, the sip seemed to do the trick, and she sat back, listening to the chatter around her.

But when her fingers began to tingle and a cold sweat started to drip down her back as sharp pin pricks danced across her lips, Lacy knew something was seriously wrong.

“Nash.” The panic in her voice was clear. She tried to slow her breathing down, the wheezing pull of her throat closing surging the panic forward.

“Lace? What’s wrong?”

“I think…” No. No, no, no. Her heartbeat pounded in her chest. “Sesame.”

“Hey, guys. Everything okay over there?” Stone’s concern filtered across the table. Lacy shook her head.

“Her sesame allergy.” Nash pulled her chair away from the table, turning it so she was facing him.

His eyes raced across her face as his hand wrapped around her wrist. For a second she was confused, until the pressure of his finger on her pulse point clued her in.

Nash was trying to monitor her heartbeat.

“That’s what this is? Lace? You think you’ve had some? ”

“Mom?” Embrie’s small voice pulled her from her panic.

“Y-yes.”

It had to have been only the smallest amount, and yet, her whole chest was on fire, the burning consuming her lungs, making her throat ache as it swelled.

“Where’s your medicine? Fuck… you didn’t bring your purse in the restaurant, did you?”

“No…”

“Lacy, you don’t have an auto-injector with you?” Stone was now standing next to her. She shook her head again, the sound of air fighting to get into her lungs making her stomach lurch. Her head felt so dizzy. Maybe if she just closed her eyes for a second… “Gunner, call for an ambulance.”

“Fuck this. It’s out in the truck,” Nash growled. “Emma, you watch Embrie.”

“No, my mom!” she protested.

“I’ve got her, sweet girl. I promise.”

Before Lacy could try to reassure Embrie, Nash was lifting her out of her seat, running through the restaurant. Her stomach rolled, nausea threatening to bring up what little she’d had to eat.

“W-Where…”

“Your purse is out in the truck. We’ll get you a dose. Just hold on, okay?”

Lacy closed her eyes, fighting for each and every breath. She heard his truck unlock and then she was sitting down. Her eyes slowly opened while he rifled through her purse.

“Nash,” she rasped. “Sick.”

“Here, Lacy.” Stone reached behind Nash and grabbed the small container he had for trash in the truck. Not a second too soon, because her body decided right then it was going to turn itself inside out to get rid of whatever she had ingested.

“Okay. It’s okay, Lacy.”

“Nash, you need to do the injection. Now,” Stone ordered.

“On three, Lace. One… two… three.”

Lacy felt the searing hot pain deep in her thigh as the auto-injector’s needle pierced her. She moaned, gagging through another round of nausea. Her vision was starting to go in and out, static dancing at the edges.

“That’s it. Now, pull it out, and massage where the needle just went in,” Stone guided. Above the receding buzzing in her ears, Lacy could hear sirens getting closer. Nash’s fingers pressed against the sore spot and she squeezed her eyes shut.

“Lace? Baby, look at me. Please.” Her eyes opened as soon as she heard the emotion in his voice. Her hand raised up to cup his cheek, and wiped at the tear that was making its way down to his five o’clock shadow.

“I’m okay.” Her voice sounded like she’d been trying to swallow sandpaper for the last fifteen minutes, but her body had already begun to relax. The pins and needles in her arms and legs were starting to recede and she wasn’t feeling as nauseous as before. “Don’t cry.”

“Fuck. Fuck .” He exhaled heavily. “That was fucking scary. Doc? Is she good?”

Nash stepped back, his hand still on her leg, while Stone stepped forward. “How are you feeling?”

“Better.”

He nodded. “I think those sirens mean your chariot is almost here. Let’s have them give you a once over and see what they think. You’re going to have to take a trip to the hospital either way to be monitored for a bit.”

It seemed like she lived at the hospital lately. She held Nash’s hand, squeezing it to reassure him. “At least I’m your wife now. Lily was right, the insurance is a big perk.”

“Are you sure Seb and Emma don’t mind?”

Nash watched his wife yawn, her arms stretching over the headboard, exposing the peachy skin on her belly.

What a fucking rollercoaster of a day it had been.

Nash’s nerves were fried. He’d known her allergy was severe, but to witness it almost take her from him…

fuck, he felt his eyes welling with tears again just at the thought of it.

“They are more than happy to spend the night here in town.” He cleared his throat, trying to rid it of any trace of emotion.

The last thing she needed was to be worrying about him.

“Embrie and Addie seem to really be hitting it off. Emma said they already had freshly baked chocolate chip cookies and were snuggled together in a pillow fort watching some princess movie.”

“I know, but they didn’t get to go home.”

“That apartment upstairs is for them. They stay over there all the time when we get together and they don’t want to have to drive back to Bell Ridge. I promise. We can lean on our friends and trust that they mean it when they offer to help.”

“They know to call us if anything comes up?”

“Of course they do.” He sighed. “What’s the matter?”

“I just feel bad relying on them so much. And today, when we were getting ready for the wedding, the girls mentioned wanting to go out for lunch on Saturday, but Embrie has that birthday party for her friend?—”

“Archer, right?”

“Yeah.” Lacy’s eyebrows raised up comically high.

“Why do you sound surprised that I knew that?”

“Because why would you?”

“She’s legally going to be my daughter, Lace. I already love her like she’s mine. And dads know what their daughter’s schedule is—they pay attention. When it comes to you and Embrie, I pay attention.”

“I… I don’t deserve you.”

“Yeah, you do. You deserve so much more than me. And you also deserve to go to lunch on Saturday with the girls. So text them and tell them you’ll be there. I’ll drop Embrie off at the party and pick her up when it’s done.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.”

Lacy reached over and grabbed her phone. She cleared her throat once. And then again. His mind began to analyze everything. Was she looking a little gray? Were her cheeks swollen? Was she flexing her hand because it was starting to feel numb.

“Hey,” Lacy whispered. “I’m okay. I just had to clear my throat. I’m good.”

He raked his hand over his face. “This isn’t how I wanted us to spend our night.”

The phone fell to her side. “I’m so sorry.”

“No, Lace. Christ. You did nothing wrong. That fucking waiter should be arrested though.”

“We don’t know how the sesame got into my food. The waiter said he told the kitchen staff.”

“I messaged Colt. I want Rudy and the whole kitchen staff questioned, because if that waiter told them about your allergy and they did nothing to prevent sesame from being in your food, or someone purposely put it in there, it’s fucking attempted murder.

And they’ll be lucky if I let Colt and the sheriff’s department handle things.

If I go back there and have to handle things myself… it won’t be good, Lace.”

“I’m okay. Don’t be angry. Don’t let this ruin our day.”

“No. It’s my job to protect you, baby, and on day one, I fucking failed.

But never again, Lacy. Never ever again.

No one is going to so much as look at you sideways.

You deserve to be respected. You deserve to be able to eat at a restaurant and trust that they won’t try to kill you! In what world would that ever be okay?”

“That’s the world I live in.”

“No, beautiful, it’s not. Maybe before today it was, and I’ll always fucking hate that with every fiber of my being. But from this moment on, you’ll never step foot back in that world. You’re too precious. Too valuable.”

A tear slipped down her cheek, but before she could sweep it away, he was reaching up to cup her face in his hand.

“I hate that life has taught you that you aren’t worthy of safety. Of someone taking care of you. Of being loved just because you exist.”

“I’m not worthy of you. I hate that I have nothing to offer you… except drama and unlimited trips to the emergency room.”

“I can’t wait to spend every day of the rest of forever showing you how wrong those words you just said are.”

“You can’t mean that. Not after…”

His brows furrowed. “Do you think I was lying today during my vows? That I willingly said those words with no intention of following through? Because that’s not the sort of man I am.

I started thinking about what forever would look like after our first kiss.

Did it come a lot faster than I thought it would?

Maybe. Am I mad about that? Not at all.”

“Nash, I?—”

“I’m gonna stop you right there, wife .” Nash leaned in, lowering his head so it rested against hers.

With his eyes closed, he laid his soul bare.

“I wish, for just one second, you could be inside my mind. Because then you would be able to see how I see you. You’d never doubt me again.

You’re kind in the face of everything you’ve been through, and stronger than anyone I’ve ever met before.

Not to mention, you’re the most incredible mother to Embrie. ”

“I haven’t brought anything good to your life, Nash.

And now you’re tied to me, you’re going to have to adopt Embrie.

There’s all this stuff with me potentially being prosecuted for falsifying legal documents.

I stabbed a man and was perfectly fine living my life thinking I’d killed him. You’re married to a criminal.”

“I married a woman who loves her little sister so much that she sacrificed everything to protect her. She gave up all her dreams to give her sister the mother she never had herself. You are not a criminal, baby. You did what you had to in order to protect Embrie. You’re a fucking badass in my eyes. ”

“Nash.”

“Besides, you’re only half right. I am tied to you forever, because I meant what I said today, Lace—‘till death do we part. But you’re wrong about not bringing anything good.

You’ve brought the best things into my life—you and Embrie.

I know you’ve had to do everything on your own for so long, but listen to me, it’s an honor to get to take some of the load off of your shoulders.

To share raising Embrie with you. To protect you both, and keep you safe.

To cherish your heart. All of that is part of the best thing I’ll ever do in this life.

As a husband. As a father. It makes me so happy to know that my two favorite people will soon share my last name. ”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Oh, god! He almost forgot!

Nash jumped up and ran to the closet, pulling a flat box down from the shelf. He carried it back into the bedroom and set it on Lacy’s lap.

“What is this?” she asked.

“A wedding gift. I’ve been working on it for a while with Embrie—since you both moved in after the fire. It just happened to come in a few days ago. Seems like divine timing.”

“Can I…”

“Please. Open it.”

Lacy carefully pulled at the ribbon, watching as the white ribbon slowly untied and fell off the box. She pushed her fingers between the bottom of the box and the lid, and he heard the softest inhale when she realized what she was looking at.

“Nash?”

“We weren’t sure what color he was originally, because Brie only ever saw him in his abysmally dirty, ratty state.” His words were teasing, a light shining in her eyes as he watched excitement take over her face. “So I found the original blanket, but it came in three colors. I ordered all three.”

“He’s blue. Silky is blue.”

“Perfect. Then there’s the pink one for Embrie.”

“Nash.”

“And the yellow one can be for…” His fingers reached in the box and touched the yellow blanket, thinking of a day in the not too far off future…

“For who?”

He swallowed down his nerves. “For our baby, one day.”

“You want to have a baby with me?”

“I told you, Lace. I love you. I want it all with you. A marriage. Raising Embrie. Adding to our family. I want it all.”