Chase knew him a little too well. “Look, I get that you’re angry that I can’t let this go.”
“Angry? I’m not angry. I’m terrified. Terrified that this obsession of yours, your need for revenge at any cost, is going to get you killed.”
“I love you too, bro.” Nate grinned and went to hug Chase but he shoved him away.
“Knock it off. I’m serious. This is your life we’re talking about.”
“That’s the point, Chase. I won’t be able to live with myself if I don’t avenge Brodie’s murder. I owe him. And just FYI, I don’t do goodbye tours because I’m not planning to die. I came to check up on you guys and to touch base with Gina.” He left before I go undercover again unsaid.
“Brodie’s widow?”
“Yeah, she’s having trouble with the kid. She asked if I’d talk to him. I don’t know if it’ll do any good, but she seems to think it’ll help.”
Chase studied him. Then he said quietly, “You have nothing to feel guilty about, you know.”
He did, but that wasn’t something he’d share with Chase. He’d just make excuses for him because that’s what friends do, and Nate couldn’t ask for a better one. He caught a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye and looked out over the water. Ellie lay back in a red canoe in the middle of the lake.
Chase followed the direction of his gaze and frowned. “What’s she doing?”
Nate smiled. “It looks like she’s taking a nap.”
“For someone you’re supposedly fake-dating, you look pretty happy to see her.”
Damn straight he was. He couldn’t have asked for a better distraction from their conversation. Nate returned his gun to his ankle holster—ignoring Chase’s raised eyebrow—and then leaned back to open the cabin door. “Joe, you better wrap up your game. Ellie’s on her way over.”
“No can do, son. The judge practically cleaned me out. I gotta win my money back. Three more hands should do it. I’m sure you can think of something to keep my granddaughter busy.” He smirked.
Nate bowed his head. Mrs. M strikes again. “It’s not what it looks like,” he muttered.
“Whatever it was, keep doing it. We’re just glad Agnes finally found our Ellie a man she likes, and she seems to really like you, son.” Again with that smirk. “She sure didn’t like any of the men we set her up with, did she, Judge?”
“No, and I’d had high hopes for the last one. He seemed like such a nice young man,” Chase’s grandfather said.
“Not according to Ellie. She said he was a serial killer in the making, remember?”
“How could I forget? She threatened to make us cook for ourselves if we set her up again.”
“What do you expect when you found her dates online? I told you to let me vet them first,” said Colin Murphy. The former CIA agent was dating Mrs. M.
“They didn’t want to lose their bet,” said Ed, the fourth member of their poker party.
“No. The bet wasn’t the issue,” the judge objected. “We wanted to prove to Agnes and her friends that we know Ellie as well as they do and that we’re perfectly capable of finding her a nice young man.” The judge leaned back in his chair to give Nate an up-and-down look. “And I’m not convinced Mr. Black is the right man for our Ellie.”
“On that we agree, Judge. So you’ll be relieved to know we aren’t dating. We were just going along with Agnes’s plan to convince Ellie’s parents she had someone like me looking out for her.” Seriously. How could he have been so stupid? And why did it bother him that Joe and the judge had been setting Ellie up with other men? Because it sounded like they’d been setting her up with a bunch of asshats, he told himself. Ellie deserved better.
Colin and Ed laughed like the joke was on him, and Joe grinned. “Keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better, son.”
“I can see Agnes’s point, but all Ellie needed was the papers I drew up to put that mother of hers in her place.” The judge winced. “Sorry, Joe. I shouldn’t speak about your daughter that way.”
“No need to apologize, Judge. I’ve said and thought a lot worse. I just hope me giving Ellie power of attorney is enough to stop this foolishness. Imagine, my own daughter turning on me like that.” He shook his head. “I don’t know what I did to deserve this.” The words came out slurred, the cards trembling in Joe’s shaking hand.
Colin and Ed shared a telling glance. They were clearly worried about their friend, and just as angry at Miranda MacLeod as Joe and the judge. As the three men comforted their old friend, Nate closed the cabin door and joined Chase at the foot of the steps.
Nate glanced at Ellie. The canoe had drifted closer, but she hadn’t moved from her prone position. “I’m guessing the meeting with her mother didn’t go well.”
“That’s an understatement from what Sadie just texted me. Everyone in the dining room heard Ellie’s mother and brother-in-law yelling in the office. It got so bad that Ellie’s father intervened, which I gather is a pretty big deal. They left five minutes ago with a threat that it wasn’t over. Ellie was out of the inn and on her way over here before anyone had a chance to talk to her, so you’re up.”
“I’m up for what?” Nate asked distractedly, angry at himself for not following through with his earlier thought that he should head back to the inn.
“Boyfriend duty. Sadie and Agnes are counting on you to comfort Ellie.”
Nate narrowed his eyes at the smile Chase tried to hide. “You know, it wasn’t that long ago you warned me away from Ellie. I think your exact words were, ‘Don’t mess around with her. She’s not your type.’”
“That’s exactly what I said. The women you ‘date’”—Chase made air quotes—“are exactly like you. They’re up for a good time but not for a long time, and that’s not Ellie.”
“I’m glad we agree.”
“You didn’t let me finish. Ellie might not be your usual type, but she is exactly the kind of woman you need in your life. Don’t roll your eyes. I have personal experience to draw on, and you don’t. Take me and Sadie for example. Not only were we—still are, I guess—total opposites, never in a million years did I see myself leaving DC and giving up on my career aspirations for a woman. Yet it was the best decision I ever made. It took Sadie for me to realize I wasn’t living my life. I was just going through the motions.”
Nate sighed. “You’ve turned into one of them.”
“One of what?”
“Everybody who’s been in love thinks that you can’t be happy unless you are too. But despite what you think, love is not the end-all and be-all. And if you think the love of a good woman will keep me from avenging Brodie’s murder, you don’t know me that well.”
“Wanna bet?”
Chapter Four
No. I don’t want to bet,” Nate said to Chase, more irritated than he should be. But he was tired of defending himself. Tired of people not getting why avenging Brodie’s murder was important to him.