“It’s not enough.” His expression went from soft to fierce. “And how no one can see that pisses me off.”
“Will it ever be enough, Nate? Once you find the head of this organization, once you bring them down, will that be enough? Or will you find someone else, no matter how tenuous the link to Brodie’s case, to go after?”
Nate speared her with a look. He was furious that she’d challenged him, that much was obvious. But she didn’t care. She was angry at him too. Angry that his obsessive need for revenge was ruling his life, his every decision. He couldn’t even see the damage he was doing to Ryder.
“I don’t have time for this,” he said, and got off the bed.
“You better make time.”
He fisted his hands on his hips. “Excuse me?”
She closed the distance between them, which was probably a bad idea because he towered over her and she had to tip her head back to look up at him. “I said you better make time. You’re not leaving here until you work this out with Ryder.”
“Yeah? How exactly are you planning to stop me, Ellie?” he asked in a low, rough voice she was familiar with.
“Not the way you think.” Was she tempted to? Of course she was. Anytime she was in a room with him, this close to him, all she wanted to do was kiss him. But she didn’t fool herself that anything she did would stop him from leaving.
His lips twitched. “No? So you don’t want to kiss me?”
“No, I don’t. At the moment, I’m more inclined to hit you than kiss you, Nate.” She took a step back, narrowing her eyes at him when he grinned. “It’s not funny. I’m serious. You’re not leaving until you make this right with Ryder.”
His expression sobered. “There’s nothing I can say that’ll make this right for Ryder. At least not now. He’s too angry to listen.”
“He’s more hurt than angry, Nate. He looks up to you. He loves you. For him, it must feel like your job is more important to you than him.”
“It’s not just a job. Why can no one see that? This is about Brodie.” He held up his hand. “Don’t say it. I hear it enough from Chase. I don’t need to hear it from you too.” He dragged a hand down the side of his face. “This isn’t just about me, you know. Ryder loves it here. He’s gotten close to you, Joe, and the judge. Not to mention Toby. The kid loves that dog no matter how cool he plays it.”
“And he’s had fun with Mallory and Gabe’s boys.”
“I know, and I hate that I’m cutting his time short. But I don’t—”
“I’ll keep him. He can stay until Sunday. As long as Gina’s okay with it.” She held up her hand when he went to object. “He’s no trouble, Nate. I enjoy having him around. Joe and the judge do too.”
“If you’re absolutely sure you’re okay with it. You’ve got a lot on your plate right now.”
“Like I said, I enjoy having him around. He’s a big help, and honestly, Toby will be lost without him.”
“I’ll give Gina a call. I’m sure she’ll be on board with it. You’ve probably saved me from her ripping me a new one, so thanks for that.”
“Good. Now all you have to do is make up with Ryder.”
“You didn’t hear him. The kid wants nothing more to do with me.” As much as Ryder tried to play it cool about his feelings for Toby, Nate did the same about his feelings for Ryder.
“That was just his hurt and anger talking. He’ll be more open to listening to you when you tell him he doesn’t have to leave. Stay for the ceilidh. Not all of it, just for a little while. Ryder’s excited about it, and you can spend some time with him doing something fun.”
He nodded, holding her gaze. “I meant what I said last night, Ellie. I wish things were different. I wish I could be the man you deserved.”
“I wish you realized that you already are,” she said, turning to hurry from the room before he saw the tears in her eyes.
Ellie didn’t have time to indulge in tears or wishes that would never be fulfilled. The minute she rushed from Nate’s room, she was swarmed by partygoers. They’d arrived earlier than expected. In the end it was probably a good thing that they had. Everyone pitched in to get the food on the table and organize the entertainment. As Spencer drove up to the inn with the other Happy Ever After executives, they were greeted by two men and two women playing the bagpipes. Then the dancers from a local troupe entertained them with a Highland fling.
“Join in, Ellie. You know you want to,” her cousin Sadie yelled from where she and Michaela clapped on the outer edge of the circle.
Ellie laughed and shook her head. “Too much to do.” She pointed to the tray of fizzy pink drinks in her hand. It was the signature cocktail for the event—Love Blooms.
“They’ll wait,” her grandmother said, handing the tray off to a man in the audience. He wasn’t someone Ellie recognized. She thought he might be with the production company. He was a little too suave and debonair in his bespoke gray suit with a purple square in the pocket to be a local.
“Off you go now. Show them how it’s done.” Her grandmother gave her a little push. Before Ellie could demur, two of the teenage dancers grabbed her, one by each arm, and pulled her into the circle. The steps came back to her quickly as the fiddlers played “Devil in the Kitchen.”
She’d learned to dance the Highland fling mostly so she could take part in the Highland Falls parade every summer. She’d had a crush on one of the boys in the band. If she wasn’t mistaken, he was one of the fiddlers. He winked at her, confirming her suspicion. Ellie laughed, whirling, kicking, and high-stepping with the much younger women.
As she performed one last high step and twirl, she met Nate’s smiling eyes. He stood with Ryder, an arm slung over the teenager’s shoulders. She bowed in their direction at the end of the performance, happy that Nate had stayed. Ryder laughed, and Nate whistled before turning to say something to the teenager. The laughter faded from Ryder’s face. His shoulders hunched, and he shoved his hands in his pockets. Nate pulled him in for a hug. Ellie turned away. He was leaving now. She didn’t want to say goodbye, especially with an audience.
She approached the man holding the tray of drinks and smiled. “Thanks so much,” she said, but he didn’t seem to hear her.
She followed his gaze. He was staring at Nate and Ryder. And maybe because she was feeling a little emotional right then, his thoughts floated to her on the warm spring breeze. He felt bad for Ryder losing his father, but along with the sympathy was something else. Guilt. Guilt and sorrow mixed with anger. His emotions confused her. She was trying to make sense of what he was feeling when his gaze moved to Nate as he walked away. There was no guilt or sympathy in the older man’s mind now. The only emotion she read was fear. Not for himself, but for someone else.
As though just realizing she was standing there, the man offered her a polite smile and handed her the tray.
“Thank you,” she said, working to keep the nerves from her voice. “I’m sorry to have you helping out when the party was meant to welcome you and your team to Highland Falls.” She no longer believed this man was with the production company, but she needed an opening to find out who he was. She dropped her barriers completely. After what she’d already read in his mind, she had no compunction about invading his privacy.