Rough Terrain (Vista Falls #1) (23 page)

She released a long slow breath. “You’d be willing to do that?”

“I’d be honored. I know how hard it can be to finance college, especially if kids aren’t eligible for scholarships. The last thing I’d want is for him, or you, to amass debt. Especially when it’s not necessary.”

“That’s very generous of you. Thank you.”

“It’s the least I can do.” The very least. “And if there’s anything else I can do, anything he might need, please let me know.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“So if you’re okay with him spending the summer with us, I’ll give him the good news?”
Just as soon as I can find him.

“I’m sure that would make him very happy… and that’s all I want for him—to be happy. If developing a relationship with you and Sage would fill a void in his life, I’m all for it.”

“Thank you.” Wes knew how lucky he was that the woman who’d adopted their son was kind and generous enough to share him with them all these years later, when they were finally fit to be the kind of role models he needed. “I’ll have him home late tomorrow afternoon, if that’s okay?”

Wes didn’t even want to think about the possibility that they may not be able to find him by then.

“That sounds great. Thanks for calling.”

“My pleasure. Thank you for giving us a chance to spend more time with him this summer.”

Sage’s jaw dropped when he disconnected the call. “Wes, how could you not have told her that Nick’s missing? She deserves to know that.”

“I don’t think he’s missing. You know how many times I wandered off at his age after getting into it with my folks? You did the same. I’m sure he just needed some time by himself. In the meantime, I’ll scour the streets. If I can’t find him, I’ll pass by the police station. You should stay here in case he shows up.”

“Okay.”

She walked him to the door but didn’t try to hug or kiss him, so Wes wasn’t sure if she was still angry with him. He knew it wasn’t the time to ask.

“Good luck,” she said.

“Don’t worry. I’ll find him.”

***

Nick was sitting on the dock at Rush’s inn when his uncle came down to meet him. Rush seemed like a cool guy, and since Nick had no money and nowhere else to go, he’d come back to the only place he knew in town, hoping Rush would help him get home.

“Hey.” Rush sat beside him on the end of the dock, their feet hanging just above the surface of the water. “I hear you and your old man got into it.”

“He’s not my father. He’s just…”
A deadbeat loser.
But he couldn’t insult Rush’s brother if he expected to borrow some coin or hitch a ride from him. “Some guy.”

“Hmmm.” Rush slipped his sunglasses in place. “He’s a pretty good guy, you know. For the record.”

“Maybe to you. You’re his brother.”

“And you’re his son.” Rush raised a hand before Nick could argue. “I know it doesn’t feel that way. You barely know him. But I know that’s the kind of relationship he wants with you, a real father-son connection.”

Nick bit his lip, trying to keep a lid on his emotions. All he wanted was for the almighty Wes Davis, business icon, to deem him worthy of his time and attention. “He should have thought of that before he sent me away again.”

“You want to tell me what happened?”

“You already know, don’t you?” Wes had obviously called Rush whenever he’d figured out that Nick had taken off.

“He didn’t go into specifics with me. Why don’t you tell me what happened? Maybe I can help.”

Talking to him sure as hell couldn’t hurt. “You know what it feels like to lose someone you love?”

Rush cleared his throat. “Yeah. My dad was my idol. I still think about him every day.”

Nick nodded. “My dad and I probably weren’t as close as you were with your dad, but it still hurt to lose him.”

“I bet it did.”

“And then everything started changing all at once. We moved back to Brock. I had to start a new school, make new friends. All in the same year, I lost my dad. It sucked.”

“I’m sure it did. But you had to know your mom was only doing what she thought was best for both of you. I’m sure she was hurting too.”

“Yeah, I know she was.” She’d tried not to cry in front of Nick, but in the tiny house they shared, it hadn’t been hard to hear her crying through the paper-thin bedroom walls. “I thought things were finally going good for us. But then she met my stepdad and—”

“Everything changed again.”

“Yeah.” Nick smoothed his thumb over a protruding screw in the dock. “I know it sounds selfish, but if she wanted to get remarried, why couldn’t she wait ‘til I went off to college?”

Rush chuckled. “You can’t always decide when you fall in love, buddy. Sometimes it just happens when you least expect it. Maybe that’s what happened with your mom. She wasn’t looking for it, but it found her.”

“Maybe.” Nick shrugged. “I guess it doesn’t matter now. He’s in our lives, and he’s not going anywhere.”

“Would you want him to?”

Nick considered whether he would want it to be just the two of them again. “No. He makes her happy, and she deserves that.”

“From everything I’ve heard about her, your mom is a great lady.”

Nick nodded. “Yeah, she is.”

“But?”

“I don’t know.” He felt guilty for even thinking it, much less saying it out loud. “It might be kind of cool to live here with Sage and Wes. Not that it’d ever happen. They don’t want me around.”

“What makes you think that?”

“I asked Wes if I could spend the summer with them, and I could tell he wasn’t into it.”

“He told you that?” Rush asked, sounding surprised.

“Not exactly, but he didn’t have to. I could tell he wasn’t stoked about the idea.”

“Wes is one of those guys who keeps his feelings under wraps, kid. It’s not easy to read his mind even when you know him as well as I do. It could be you read him wrong. Maybe if you give him a chance to explain—”

Nick turned around at the sound of gravel crunching beneath tires. “I can’t believe you ratted me out, man. I thought you were cool.”

“I am cool.” Rush put Nick in a headlock, making him laugh as he gave him a noogie. “That’s why I’m forcing you two to hash this out—because I care about both of you.”

Wes walked slowly toward the dock, his keys in his fist. He nodded at Rush as they passed each other. “Hey.”

Nick looked away, pretending to watch two fishermen in a small aluminum boat wrangle a smallmouth fifty feet away.

“I’m glad I finally found you. I was worried.” Wes claimed Rush’s spot, hanging his head. “You gonna go on giving me the silent treatment, or you think we can talk about this?”

Nick had already stated his feelings. He didn’t think there was anything left to say.

“I’m sorry I didn’t react the way you wanted me to when you asked if you could spend the summer with us.” Wes threaded his hands, looking down. “It’s not that I didn’t want you to. I did. But I had to talk to your mom and Sage about it before I told you it was okay.”

Nick glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, trying to decide whether Wes was telling the truth or just trying to cover his ass because he’d pissed off his girlfriend. Assuming she knew or cared that Nick had bailed. “You talked to my mom?”

“Yeah, I just got off the phone with her before Rush texted to let me know you were here.”

“Did you tell her that we got into it?”

“No, I wanted to talk to you first, see if we could work this out.”

Nick didn’t know what to expect, so he held his breath waiting for Wes to say something. When he couldn’t stand the sound of the birds chirping any longer, he said, “And…?”

“Your mom’s okay with you spending the summer with us.”

“She is?” Nick didn’t know whether to be hurt or relieved. Apparently she
didn’t
want him around, but he wasn’t sure Wes and Sage did either. So where did that leave him?

“Yeah, but I don’t think it was easy for her. She’s gonna miss you, you know.”

“Maybe,” he said, shrugging. “But I doubt it.”

Wes pushed his glasses back on his head, glaring at Nick. “Let’s get something straight, Nick. We may not have been mature enough to raise you, and I’m sorry about that. Believe me, you’ll never know how sorry. But your mom was there for you when we couldn’t be, and we all owe her a debt of gratitude for that.”

“I know, but—”

“I’m not done.”

Nick swallowed, wondering what it would be like to be the guy who’d crossed Wes Davis. “Okay, I’m listening.”

“From everything I’ve seen, she’s a good woman. Can you tell me I’m wrong?”

“No, but—”

“She was there for you when you were growing up, when your dad died. And I’m sure she was going through her own hell, but that didn’t prevent her from supporting you, did it?”

“No, sir.” Nick suddenly felt as though he was talking to his school principal, not the guy who gave him up for adoption.

“And when she met your stepdad, she asked you how you felt about her dating again, I’m guessing?”

“Yeah, she did.”

“And? What did you say?”

“I told her I was cool with it. I didn’t want her to be sad anymore.”

“Is she happy now, with your stepdad?”

“Yeah.”

“So when did her happiness stop being important to you?”

Nick knew what Wes was getting at, and his questions were hitting their mark. “It is important to me, but sometimes I feel like she doesn’t care whether or not I’m happy.”

“Are you happy?”

Nick rubbed his eyes when they became blurry with unshed tears. He wouldn’t cry in front of Wes. He was too old for that shit. “Most of the time, I guess.”

“Then I’d say you’re better off than most teens.” Wes smirked. “God, I remember that being the hardest time in my life. I was so confused about everything. I didn’t know where the hell life was going to take me or even where I wanted to end up.”

“Guess you figured it out, huh?”

“Yeah, when Sage told me she was pregnant, I think that’s when I finally realized it was time to grow up.”

“In her book, Sage said you wanted to keep me,” Nick asked, his voice cracking. “Is that true?”

“It sure is.” Wes shook his head. “But I’m not sure that would have been the best thing for you. I didn’t know a damn thing about being a parent. At that time, I couldn’t even take care of myself. But I vowed if I ever found myself in that position again, with the opportunity to be a father, that I would do right by my kid.” He looked at Nick. “You may not realize this, but I wouldn’t be where I am without you.”

Nick swallowed, cursing the burn in his throat. “Really?”

“Really.” Wes sighed. “I didn’t want that sacrifice to have been for nothing. I wanted to make something of my life so if I ever had the opportunity to meet you, maybe, just maybe, you’d be proud of me.”

Nick closed his eyes before dropping his head. He’d bragged to all the guys at school that
the
Wes Davis, owner of Backwoods Outdoors, was his biological father. Half of them didn’t believe him until they saw Wes at the football game in Brock. “I am proud of you.”

“You mean that?” Wes asked, disbelief echoing in his tone.

“Come on, man. You can’t be surprised to hear me say that. You’re like the richest guy I know.”

Wes shook his head as a fish broke through the water. “No, I’m not, Nick. I’m sure you know guys a lot richer than I am.”

“No, I—”

“My dad was the richest guy I knew. People loved him. He had a lot of good friends, a wife who adored him, kids who looked up to him, his faith…” Wes drew in a deep breath, running his palms over his denim-clad thighs. “He’d be the first to lend a hand to someone in need. He may not have had much money in the bank, but he was rich in all the ways that mattered.”

“I guess I get what you’re saying, but you can’t deny you are rich. By most people’s standards, I mean.”

“That’s only because most people don’t get it. They figure if you’ve got a few millions bucks in the bank, you’ve got it all. That’s not true.” He wiped sweat off his brow before leaning back on his palms. “I came back to Vista Falls to see if I could build real wealth here. I’m not talking about my business now. I’m talking about the relationships that mean the most to me.”

“You mean Sage?”

“Sage. My mom. My brother. You.” He smiled. “My sister’s halfway across the country, but her too. I have a lot of good friends here, people I left behind when I swore I’d never come back.”

“So that’s why you came back, ‘cause you were missing everybody?”

“I came back because there was a void in my life. A huge void. I had some idea that void was tied to you and Sage, but I didn’t know for sure until I had both of you back in my life.”

Nick smiled slightly, honored to be a part of the group who meant the most to Wes.

“I’m happier than I’ve ever been since getting to know you, Nick,” Wes whispered, glancing at his son. “And it would destroy me to lose you now.”

Nick didn’t know what to say. Though he loved his adoptive parents, he’d never told them so. He didn’t think he had to. He just assumed they knew. But listening to Wes made him question whether it was better to say it.

“I’m glad you’re in my life too. I’ve wanted this for a really long time.” When they shared a smile, Nick said, “I’m sorry for acting like a d-bag earlier.”

Wes laughed. “So am I. I could have handled things a hell of a lot better than I did. But I’m new at this, and I’m going to need you to be patient with me while I figure it out. You think you can do that?”

“I think so.” Nick felt better than he had in a really long time. Something told him that everything was going to work out the way it was supposed to.

“Good. So about this summer…”

“Don’t worry about that. I know it was a lot to ask. We don’t know each other all that well yet.”

“I can’t think of a better way to get to know each other.” Wes grinned. “Can you?”

“You mean you really want me to come stay with you?”

“Of course I do.”

“And Sage is okay with it?”

Wes chuckled. “She was ready to smack me upside the head when she found out I didn’t agree to it right away.”

Nick was glad to hear that. “Cool. And my mom’s really okay with it? You don’t think she’s just saying that?”