Page 6 of Silver Sanctuary (The Silver Springs #3)

Four

N ash pushed the door to Petals open, the adorable bell chiming over his head, announcing his arrival. Lacy’s head popped up out from the door he assumed led to her office.

“Hey! You’re early today!”

Something jumped inside his chest. She knew he would be in because it was Monday.

Was she waiting for him? Did she normally keep an eye out, waiting for him to stop by?

His time spent in the shop on Monday was normally his favorite part of the week, and lately he’d been looking for any excuse to stay there longer than it took her to put together a few bouquets for his friends and their office spaces.

He held up the bag by his side, and watched her face shift to confusion.

“What’s that?” she asked.

“I wanted to drop off some new gear for Embrie.”

Her face fell.

Fuck. He’d completely overstepped.

“She has gear,” Lacy said, her eyes dropping to the ground .

“Of course she does. I just talked to Sebastian about how silly it was of us to drop down the registration fee for the league and then not provide the kids with what they needed to play. He totally agreed…” He in fact did not agree, because Nash in fact did not speak to him about it, but he would be calling his friend up as soon as he walked out of the shop.

“I should have said it differently. This is the gear that all the kids are getting, and I figured I’d just drop Embrie’s off today since I was going to stop in anyway for flowers. ”

She eyed him suspiciously, so he gave her the full razzle dazzle of his smile, making sure it was big enough for his dimple to pop out. That was his tried-and-true trick as a boy growing up with his Nanny, and from the smile that blossomed on Lacy’s face, he knew it worked.

“Well, that was awfully nice of Sebastian. I’ll have to thank him.”

“I’m sure he’ll tell you that no thanks are necessary.”

“Mm.” She sighed, taking the bag from Nash’s outstretched hand and set it on the counter. “All right, what flowers are you thinking today?”

“What did you get in this week? Anything that says, ‘This is a therapist’s office. I’m a serious lady, but also want you to feel comfortable’?”

“That is oddly specific, and yet… I think I did.” She laughed, the sound settling right next to his heart as she moved to help him pick out his flowers for the week.

One hundred dollars for cleats?!

She was going to be sick.

Seventy-five-dollar shin guards?

A mouth guard for forty-five! ?

Lacy’s eyes had to be deceiving her, because there was no way Nash would pay that much for Embrie’s gear.

He hadn’t even been reasonable about it!

This was professional level gear for kids.

It was more than her grocery budget for the month.

If she was going to pay him back, she’d need to drive into Bell Ridge to access the food pantry, and she hated to do that.

There were families in worse positions than she was.

But still… she would never let Embrie go hungry. And she would pay Nash back.

It took the entire walk from her shop to Montgomery Defense to calm down. Because if she was being honest with herself, as she needed to be with Nash, she knew Sebastian had nothing to do with that gear. It was written all over Nash’s face—how happy he’d been to do something for her. For Embrie.

She squared her shoulders and pushed through the doors. Mae sat at a large desk between the gym and a hallway that looked like it led to the guys’ offices.

“Lacy? Hey! What are you doing here?”

Her eyes drifted behind Mae, to the vase that was overflowing next to her phone.

The flowers.

The ones she’d helped him pick out.

They weren’t just for Sloane. They weren’t just for a friend who she knew was already seeing someone else. They were for Mae.

Oh, god. Had they always been for her? Of course. Nash was just a genuinely good guy—she’d read into it all wrong. Lacy forced her smile to stay bright and plastered on her face as she pulled her checkbook out from her purse.

“Oh I, uh, I need to see Nash. It’s not personal, or anything like that.

” Mae’s eyebrows furrowed, but her body language didn’t change, so she must not have thought of Lacy as a threat to her relationship with Nash.

Why would she? Everyone in Silver Springs knew Lacy was trash.

A respectable man like Nash Caldwell wouldn’t see anything in her other than a charity case.

There was no way Mae would see her as competition—not that she was.

Because Lacy would have never flirted… flirted back … if she’d known.

“Give me one sec and I’ll call him up here.”

Lacy nodded, finally allowing herself time to look around Montgomery Defense.

She’d done some light online research about the business after moving back.

It wasn’t every day a handsome man stepped into her shop, protected her from an aggressive customer, left his business card with her, and told her to call if she ever needed help.

After Nash had done that, she’d done some digging.

Montgomery Defense was a pet project for Sebastian Montgomery.

The same billionaire who invested in her flower shop apparently wanted a place for his SEAL team buddies to land once they got out of the military.

Or that’s what the bio on their website made it sound like.

The gym portion of the space was large, clean, and looked inviting enough.

Not that she’d ever have time to use the equipment.

But Lacy allowed herself a moment of whimsy, thinking about what it would be like to have an hour or two to herself. Just for herself.

She couldn’t afford a membership, which is why she hadn’t even bothered swinging by before. If she had, maybe she would have seen the flowers, and whatever shock to her system it was to see them there would have hurt less.

“He’ll be out in a sec.”

“Thanks. Hey, Mae? I remember seeing something about free self-defense lessons on your website. Do you guys still do them on Saturdays?”

“Why do you need self-defense lessons?” Nash’s voice boomed as he walked toward the reception area, making both women jump. “Is someone bothering you? Is that why you’re here?”

“Down boy.” Mae giggled. “I think the only person Lacy might be afraid of right now is you—stalking in here like that.”

“Sorry.” Nash studied her face, his eyes searing into her like he was ready for her to lay all of her problems at his feet. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong; I didn’t mean to worry you. I just came by to see if you had a receipt, or remembered the total cost for the gear you gave to Embrie. You would not believe what they are saying that gear costs online. It’s outrageous.”

A faint blush crawled up his neck and settled on his cheeks.

“There was no cost. Sebastian?—”

“Please don’t say Sebastian donated to the club.

I know he didn’t. I know you bought these for her because you saw that I was unprepared on Saturday.

But I will pay for what my daughter needs, I just need to know how much it was.

I tried to look it up online but I must have been doing something wrong because it kept bringing me to a professional line and I…

” Her voice trailed off as she looked up at Nash.

The truth was written all over his face.

“Please tell me you did not spend that much money on gear.”

“I don’t want you to pay me back, Lace. And I want Embrie to have the best protection. If she got hurt while playing for me…”

Lacy’s eyes drifted over to Mae, who was staring at Nash like she was trying to figure out a puzzle. She needed to get out of there. She was going to do something embarrassing like cry, and that was the last hit she needed to take.

“I’ll get the money to you. Bye, Mae.”

“Bye, Lacy. ”

She turned and pushed through the doors, stopping on the sidewalk to catch her breath.

How could he do that? How could he stand in front of Mae and still look so tenderly at her?

“Lacy, wait. You don’t have to?—”

“What are you doing?” Lacy asked as she whipped around, Nash only a step behind her.

“You just seem upset. I didn’t mean to overstep with Embrie.”

Her shoulders fell. “I know you didn’t; it was very kind of you.

I’m not used to people being kind like that—for someone to give without strings attached.

I don’t know… I don’t know how to accept it.

That’s why I want to pay you back. Because I don’t like being a burden, and I don’t want anyone to ever feel that way about Embrie. ”

“Whoa. I would never think that about either of you. I just want Embrie to be successful out on the field, and I don’t want you to have to worry about her gear.”

“You should go back, Nash. I don’t want Mae to get the wrong idea.”

Nash looked like she had slapped him. Confusion clouded his icy blue eyes for a second before a smile started taking over his features. His hand came up to rest on her arm, and she hated the way her body warmed to his touch.

No, she wouldn’t be like that. Lacy always yearned for female friendships, and Mae had been nothing but sweet to her since they first met. There was no world in which Lacy would let herself feel something for Mae’s man.

“What? Why is that funny?”

“Do you think I’m with Mae?”

“The flowers from today… they were on her desk. That’s who you’ve been coming in to get flowers for every Monday. For Mae. ”

Nash shook his head. “Come here.” His hand slid down her arm, his fingers slipping between hers.

“Where are we?—”

Nash pulled open the door to Dr. Donovan’s office and guided her through with his hand on the small of her back.

“Hey, Wings, I thought you were hanging at the office today?” Gage, Sloane's boyfriend, closed his laptop as they walked into the reception area.

“Yeah, I am. Just wanted to show Lacy where her flowers go each week.”

“Oh, the one for Sloane’s office is so nice. I really liked the blue theme.” Gage smiled.