Page 49 of Silver Sanctuary (The Silver Springs #3)

Thirty-One

N ash pulled up on the reins of his horse, Honey, stopping short of the rocky shoreline.

He’d spent days telling Embrie about all the times his dad had brought him to fish in that very spot.

It had taken a little bit of begging from both of them to get Lacy to agree to them taking off without her, but in the end, she agreed.

“Right here, Brie. We can tie the horses up to the tree while I show you the lake.”

The last few weeks in Montana felt like a dream. The air was cold and crisp, and they’d had to bundle up in more layers than he remembered to stay warm, even as nothing but clear sunshine was in the sky, but it was just so damn peaceful.

And after the nightmare they’d walked through together, it was more than needed.

It was a lifeline—a medicine injected directly into their hearts.

Aside from a phone call from Jake when they first arrived to tell him the people responsible for leaving Lacy in terrible pain when she needed medical attention had been released from his practice and stripped of their nursing licenses by the Texas Board of Nursing, they’d barely heard about life back in Silver Springs .

At first, Lacy had a hard time leaving the cabin he’d grown up in, but he didn’t mind.

There was something precious about spending the days with his girls, just the three of them, playing games in front of the fireplace, and cooking meals all together in the little kitchen.

Nanny and Pop had tried their hardest not to intrude, but by the second week, they were banging down the door with practically every aunt, uncle, and cousin he hadn’t seen over the last few years.

His wife and daughter were completely embraced by his family, and he watched them both come out of their shells. Little by little, he saw the apprehension fade, and life returned to a new normal.

He hopped off Honey, rushing over to help Embrie off her own horse. She’d taken to riding like she was born for it. And Nash had spent far too many hours researching horses and stables back in Texas for her to continue riding once they were back.

Sharing these moments with his own daughter were the absolute best. Showing her the spots where he’d grown up, where he made memories with his own parents, put a fresh stitch in his heart.

It only took a few minutes for them to set up their camping stools and get their fishing poles out into the water. He was determined that today would be the day she reeled in her first big catch, especially knowing that the weather called for snow over the next few days.

“Mom’s going to be okay, right?” Embrie’s question broke through the serene silence.

He heard the worry in her voice, but didn’t want to overreact. Embrie hadn’t been very vocal about what happened after the initial debrief with the sheriff’s department. Part of Nash chalked it up to kids being resilient, and that Embrie was so mature for her age. Maybe that had been a mistake…

“What do you mean? ”

Embrie reeled her line in. “She’s nervous now. You saw how she was when I dropped my plate last night…”

Nash nodded. He’d sent Embrie to the couch with a bowl of ice cream, cleaned up the shattered ceramic and held Lacy. It was obvious that she was trying not to completely fall apart, but the tears were still there, and that broke his heart.

“Do you know what Aunt Sloane does for a job?”

Embrie smiled as she cast her line back into the lake. “She’s a counselor, right? She listens to people talk about their problems?”

“Oh, that was a great cast! ” Nash set his pole down in the stones.

“And yeah, that’s exactly her job. I asked her to help us.

She’s going to send me a list of people she thinks might be a good fit for us to talk to about what happened before we left Silver Springs.

I think that might help your mom feel better. ”

“I think so, too.”

“And what about you? We could all talk to someone together.”

“Yeah.” Embrie looked up at him. “Sometimes, I think you should be mad at me. I didn’t… I didn’t do a very good job of staying safe.”

“No, ladybug. You did the best you could with the information you had. I’m so proud of you. Don’t ever doubt that, okay?”

She nodded.

“Good. And besides, who will always make sure you’re safe, whether you’re nine or thirty or seventy-five?”

“Seventy-five?”

His head tipped back towards the sky as he laughed. “Don’t give me that sass. Just answer the question.”

“You will, Dad.”

“Damn straight I will.”

Embrie let go of her fishing rod and held her hand out toward him.

“What’s that for, Cheese? You want a high-five?”

“No.” She giggled. “It’s for the ten dollars you owe me. Pay up. Aunt Lily’s only a phone call away.”

He placed his hand over his heart. “My own daughter, trying to get me in trouble with the swearing authorities! Well, let me teach you something my dad taught me a bunch of years ago when we were standing in this very spot.”

Nash chuckled at the way Embrie’s eyes went wide. “What?”

“You can say whatever words you want to when you’re at the lake. Adult words included.”

“No.”

“Yup. You can yell as loud as you want. Clear across to the other side if you can. The fish don’t care one bit, and as long as it stays a thing we only do at the lake, I don’t mind either.”

His sweet daughter looked out of the lake. “It sounds like fun.”

“Do you want to give it a go?”

“I can’t—Oh shit!” she blurted out. “There’s a fish on your line!”

Nash was so stunned that he burst out laughing, before handing the reel to Embrie.

“All right, potty mouth. Let’s catch some dinner!”

The cold Montana air nipped at Lacy’s nose as she sat bundled up on the porch of Nash’s parent’s cabin. It had become her own slice of paradise—a calm sanctuary in the chaos of trying to heal after everything that happened in Silver Springs.

“It sure is pretty out here, ain’t it?” Nanny walked up onto the porch, handing a plate of cookies out to Lacy.

“Yes, ma’am. It really is.” Lacy smiled as she held the plate on her lap, her mouth watering at the sight of her favorite lemon drop cookies. Would it be rude to eat one before Nanny even sat down?

“Now, we’ve talked about this. Ma’am is for old ladies. I may be pushing up against those pearly gates, and my hair may be gray, but I don’t feel a day over forty-five. So don’t you go thinking you need to address me any other way than my grandson does. Nanny is perfectly fine.”

Come to find out, Nash’s grandmother wasn’t called Nanny just because she was a grandmother. The nickname had been given to her as a little girl by her parents, who, according to Nanny herself, found it easier to shout than her full name, Nadine, when she was mischievous.

“Thank you so much for letting us come up here. I think Montana has been so good for all of us—for healing.”

“It’s the fresh air.” Nanny patted Lacy’s leg as she sat on the porch swing beside her. “You know, you’re always welcome to stay. We’d love to have you here, forever and ever if we could.”

It had crossed Lacy’s mind—something she brought up with Nash a time or two in the last month that they’d been visiting his family.

Everything felt right in Goldfinch Falls, but her husband wasn’t ready to leave his team—their friends and family.

Truth be told, as much as she loved the peace and quiet the small cabin they were staying in provided, she missed them too.

And she wasn’t ready to call it quits on her flower shop. She’d had to close the doors to Petals for their extended stay in Montana, but Lacy was determined to have it up and running again as soon as they got back.

“Our lives right now are in Texas, but I’m going to make Nash bring us up here to visit so often you’ll be sick of us.”

“Never, doll. I haven’t seen my grandson this happy in decades. Having you, getting to be Embrie’s dad…” Her eyes fi lled with tears. “What a blessing the both of you have been for him. We’re so happy to have you in our family.”

“I know Nash has shared some of what my childhood was like, but I’ve never had family like this—that loves me. That wants me around. That doesn’t think of me as a burden. I’m so grateful for that man you raised. He’s incredible, Nanny. The love of my life.”

“Well, I love the sound of that.” Nash rounded the corner of the house, Embrie giggling as he carried her on his back.

“Mom! Dad let me ride Apples all by myself today! We went out to the western fence line and he showed me where he used to fish with his dad and Pops!”

“Sounds like you both had a great morning.” Lacy watched Embrie slide off of Nash’s back, only to run straight for Nanny.

“Will you show me how to make apple fritters now?” Embrie asked, eyes as wide as her smile.

“I was just coming to ask your mama if it was okay to have you over for the afternoon. We can make apple fritters, and then I’ll show you how Pops and I make Sunday night steaks. The whole family is coming over for the goodbye cookout.”

Embrie’s eyes flew towards her. “Oh, Mom. Please! Can I go with Nanny?”

“Of course you can. Just keep your phone with you.”

“I will!”

Nanny held her hand out to Embrie, who helped her stand up from the swing. “Come on, sweetheart. Let’s go through the house. We can take the back path and see if there are any brambles or twigs we can force Pops to make into a centerpiece for us.”

Nash laughed as Nanny and Embrie went off, hand in hand, to create as much chaos for Pops as possible.

“I love the special bond they have already,” Lacy admitted as Nash sat on the swing. He reached over, wrapping his hands around her ankles to pull her feet onto his lap.

“It’s hard to believe we’re leaving tomorrow. Feels like we just got here.”

“Do you think we should be staying longer? Nanny just offered, but I said we needed to go back to Texas.”

Nash shook his head. “It’s time. We have to face it sooner or later, and I think we both know the longer we wait, the more anxiety there will be around it. Besides, there’s a very important date coming up…”