The Best of Me: a Hope Valley novel

by Prince, Jessica

  One of Hayes’s eyebrows arched toward his hairline. “Thinking you might need to expand on that just a bit, Trick.”

  “We went home together that night. After the wedding,” I admitted, speaking about that night for the first time in more than a month and a half.

  The energy around Hayes changed, and not a good way. “Please tell me you didn’t,” he said in a low, ominous voice. “Please, Christ, tell me you didn’t.”

  “I didn’t mean for it to go down like it did.”

  “Jesus, man!” he exclaimed. “The fuck were you thinking?”

  “You think I’m not beating myself up enough as it is?” I snapped back. “I don’t need your shit piled on top of it.”

  “Obviously you do if you’re playin’ games with a woman like Nona,” Hayes returned.

  My top lip curled up in a sneer as I quietly seethed, “I wasn’t playing any games, asshole.”

  “Really?” He let out a bitter, sarcastic laugh. “So you’re tellin’ me you didn’t fuck over a good woman—a good woman who’s already been fucked over once by that piece of shit she was married to—by screwin’ her while your head was still jacked up over that bitch of an ex-wife?”

  “Watch it,” I warned, my fingers clenching into painfully tight fists on the top of my desk.

  “See? That’s my point exactly. Emma dragged your ass through the ringer for the better part of a goddamn year, playin’ games with your head, twisting your shit into knots, and the moment I call her a bitch, you jump down my throat. Tell me, partner, when are you gonna stop defending a woman who’s proven time and time again she doesn’t deserve it, huh?”

  “It’s not about that. She’s the mother of my kids.”

  “She’s manipulative and selfish. She played you until she got bored. That’s not a woman who deserves your respect or loyalty, Trick. You’ve spent all this time holdin’ on to a memory of something that just isn’t there anymore. So I gotta ask, you still want her?”

  “No,” I answered resolutely. “It just took me longer than it should’ve to realize that.”

  “Then it’s time you let the past go so you can move the fuck on,” he stated bluntly.

  “Shit.” Resting my elbows on my desk, I dropped my head into my hands and gave my face a vicious scrub. “I fucked up.”

  “Yeah,” he grumbled in return. “You already said that, and you know I got your back in all things, but I’m not gonna disagree with you on this one. Nona’s one of the good ones, one of the best. Now you gotta figure out how the hell you’re gonna make it right, brother.”

  That was exactly what I was trying to do.

  Chapter Nine

  Nona

  My phone rang from inside my purse just as I picked up the humongous trays of cupcakes from the back of my Pathfinder. Thanks to that kiss days ago, I’d reverted back to my avoidance tactics and had been stress baking like crazy, ignoring my kids’ questioning looks as I stuffed my face with carbohydrates and sugar.

  If I didn’t find a healthier way to cope with the drama that was my life, I was going to pack on a good fifty pounds in no time.

  Maneuvering the double stacked cupcake trays and my camping chair, I sifted through my purse with my free hand and grabbed my phone, propping it between my ear and my shoulder, “Hey, Temp,” I answered, “I’m kinda in the middle of something. Can I call you—?”

  “You hooked up with Trick after my wedding and didn’t tell me?”

  My whole body froze at Tempie’s high-pitched question. “I—what?”

  “So it’s true!” she yelled so loud I nearly dropped the phone and the cupcakes.

  “Look, Tempie, now’s really not a good time.”

  “I cannot believe you didn’t tell me! I’d be pissed if I weren’t so happy for you. I caught him staring at you at our reception, you know. Then I found out he moved in across the street from you, and I was totally geared up to play matchmaker, but seems I don’t have to now.”

  Ignoring the crushing ache in my chest, I brushed her excitement to the back of my mind and asked, “H-how did you, um….” I swallowed thickly. “How did you find out?”

  “Hayes told me. Apparently Trick spilled the beans earlier in the week, but Hayes only just told me today. I’m in the middle of a pretty dramatic silent treatment right now. You don’t hold onto gossip as juicy as this for days. Pretty sure that was in our vows right between him honoring and cherishing me.”

  I thought I heard Hayes cursing in the background, but I was too busy, what with my head exploding and all, to pay attention.

  “Tempie, listen to me,” I said seriously, closing the hatch with my free hand while trying to keep the cupcakes from toppling over. “It didn’t go how you think. You can’t tell anybody. Promise me.”

  She met my demand with several seconds of jarring silence before lowering the boom. “Would it work if I promised not to tell anybody else?”

  Oh god. “Crap,” I hissed. “Please tell me you didn’t say anything to—”

  “I thought Eden would know!” she cried in defense. “I called her right after I found out to yell at her for not telling me. How was I supposed to know she didn’t know? I mean, you guys tell each other everything! And what the hell do you mean, it didn’t go how I think?”

  Just then, my phone beeped with another call. “Shi—oot” I whisper-yelled, catching myself before I let a cussword fly around a bunch of kids.

  Pulling the phone from my ear, I saw Eden’s name pop up on my screen. “That’s her.”

  “Damn. I’m really sorry, honey. I didn’t know.”

  “Not your fault, doll. But I better get this before she breaks up with me for good. I promise I’ll fill you in when I can, okay?”

  “All right, babe, you better. Because I want all the details.” I could hear Hayes cussing in the background again right before she disconnected.

  I switched to Eden’s call, and started slowly and cautiously toward the soccer field, careful so I didn’t drop the baked good weighing me down. “Sweetie, I know I should’ve told you—”

  “Ya think!” Eden snapped into my ear. “Besties tell each other everything. I can’t believe you kept this from me. We could’ve had a girls’ night and dished all about you getting some from the sexy cop after scraping off your loser ex, but noooo. You deprive all your girls of that chance!”

  Stopping to blow out a sigh, I closed my eyes and steeled myself to tell her the truth. “Honey,” I tried in a soft, quiet voice so as not to be overheard by the swarm of parents and kids rushing toward the field. “It was anything but a fairy tale. I didn’t tell you because I was embarrassed.”

  “What? Why?”

  “Look, I’m standing in the middle of the soccer field parking lot balancing two dozen vanilla bean cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and chocolate drizzle in one hand. I’ll tell you the whole story, but if I don’t get off this phone, we’re gonna have a cupcake catastrophe.”

  “You baked two dozen vanilla bean cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and chocolate drizzle for Tristan’s soccer team?”

  I chewed on my bottom lip before answering. “Yeah,” I lied. “Thought they might like a nice surprise.”

  No way in hell was I admitting the truth, which was that I spent all last night baking four dozen cupcakes, and that I ate six for dinner while standing over the kitchen sink.

  After a few seconds, she blew out a defeated breath. “Just answer a question for me and I’ll let it go. For now.”

  “Shoot.”

  “Are you okay?”

  The weight of the trays in my hand was starting to wear on my arm. But Eden was my best friend, so I’d give her the time she deserved. “I honestly don’t know. I mean, I will be, but right now, I’m just not sure.”

  “Oh, honey. Now can I… well… there’s one last thing. It’s kinda driving me crazy.”

  “Just ask, babe.”

  “How was it?”

  Sweet merciful Lord, deliver me. “Eden, I’m not tel
ling you how the sex with Trick was.”

  “Oh come on! Please? I swear, I’ll never ask again. He’s just so big. And handsome. And, well… big.”

  I felt that tremble between my thighs that happened every time I recalled our night together, and I found myself relenting. “He was… incredible,” I finished on a breath. “I can’t even describe it. The way he—”

  The sound of a throat clearing startled me, and I spun around so fast the trays would have gone flying from my hand if Trick hadn’t been standing right behind me to catch them before they hit the ground.

  “Um, Eden, I have to go.”

  “Wait, what’s—”

  I hung up before she could finish her sentence and stared up at Trick while silently praying for a hole to open up at my feet and swallow me. The corner of his mouth trembled as he fought a smile, and the burning in my cheeks had nothing to do with the bright sun beating down on me.

  “How much did you just hear?” I demanded to know.

  “Enough.” He lost the battle and let his lips pull into a full-blown sexy-as-sin smirk. “And just so you know, you were pretty damn incredible yourself.”

  “Seriously?” I snapped, throwing my arms wide. “Don’t be crude. And that conversation wasn’t what you think,” I added quickly, narrowing my eyes and lacing my tone with accusation as I continued, “You told Hayes about us.”

  “I did.”

  “Why would you do that?” I cried. “Now everyone’s gonna know.”

  “Didn’t know I was supposed to keep that a secret, beautiful.”

  “God!” With my hands now free of the cupcake trays, I was able to rake my fingers through my hair in frustration. “Will you stop calling me that?”

  “Why?” He shrugged casually. “It’s the truth. You’re fuckin’ gorgeous, sweetheart.”

  My heart started beating rapidly as a million butterflies took flight in my belly. I glanced around to make sure no one was listening in before looking back to Trick and hissing, “Stop it. Did you listen to a single word I said the other night?”

  The humor in his expression washed away, and his face got hard and serious. “Believe me, darlin’, I remember every fuckin’ thing.”

  One of the moms walking by just then stuttered to a stop at Trick’s curse and shot a hateful look in his direction.

  I mouthed a quick apology and whipped back around to smack him in the arm. “Will you watch your mouth?”

  “I’ve been tryin’ to talk to you for days,” he continued like I hadn’t just scolded him. “But you’re back to blowing me off. Again. There are things we need to talk about.”

  “No there aren’t.” I reached to take the cupcake trays back, but he shifted them away with ease.

  “Yes there are.”

  My eyelids narrowed into slits as I slammed my hands down on my hips. “There. Are. Not. Now give me my cupcakes.”

  Ignoring my demand, Trick started walking, balancing the trays on his humongous hand like it was nothing. “Where are your kids?” he asked, scanning the parking lot in search of Blythe and Tristan.

  “They’re with their dad this weekend, so my guess is at the field already. If Chris isn’t late,” I grumbled, feeling that familiar pain in my chest that happened every time my babies went to stay with their father. “Now, please. Give me the trays. I’m more than capable of carrying them myself.”

  “I got ’em. Now let’s go. The game’s about to start.”

  I had to jog to catch up as he started through the parking lot. “I don’t need your help, Trick. Gimme.” Good god, I was acting like a child because of this guy.

  When I went to reach for them again, he lifted them high above his head. Grabbing my extended hand with his free one, he all but pulled me the rest of the way to the field, our fingers linked together in a grip tight enough that I couldn’t shake it off.

  “Let go of my hand,” I whisper-yelled as we hit the grass. The field was only a few yards away, and the last thing I needed was for everyone to see us walking up together hand in hand.

  “In a second, baby. We’re almost there.”

  Baby?

  Baby?

  Doing my best not to let that endearment affect me—so that my head didn’t explode—I gave my hand a jerk as we grew closer. “I’m serious, Trick. Let go. People will see.”

  “Let ’em.”

  What the hell was going on?

  I opened my mouth to argue further when I heard my son’s shout of “Mom!” Tristan came loping up with a big goofy grin on his face that I couldn’t help but return.

  “Hey, baby cakes.” Tristan’s arms looped around my middle, making warmth bloom in my chest, and with no other choice, Trick finally released my hand. I knew I didn’t have much longer of this. He’d eventually be too cool to hug on his mom in public, so each embrace like this one was special to me. Returning the gesture, I bent my neck and placed a kiss on the top of his head, pulling in his scent just like I’d done every single day since he was born.

  I felt him start to pull away and reluctantly let my arms drop, scanning the area in search of Blythe. I didn’t see her anywhere, but as I looked down the field, I spotted Chris watching me with an ugly scowl on his face. Letting my eyes drift by him like he didn’t exist, I asked Tristan, “Where’s your sister?”

  “Over at the refreshment stand with Hannah and some other girls.” His big blue eyes got even wider as he turned his attention from me to the trays in Trick’s hands. “What’re those?”

  Whipping around, I took the trays from Trick and held them out for Tris to examine. “I made some cupcakes for you and your teammates last night.”

  “Awesome!” He jerked around toward the field and shouted, “Hey, Shawn! Come help me with this!”

  Shawn came running over. “Hi, Dad!” He and Trick did a cool-guy fist bump before he looked to me and the cupcakes. “Ms. Nona, did you make those?”

  “Sure did, bud,” I said on a giggle at his barely contained excitement. “Just for you guys. How about you boys take those over to the rest of your friends, huh? You can have them after the game.”

  “As a celebration when we slaughter these guys!” Tris cheered.

  “Yeah!” Shawn shouted. Each boy grabbed a tray and bolted across the field to their teammates and coaches.

  Trick took the chair from my shoulder and unfolded it for me, and all I could do was watch him as a million different thoughts ran through my head. The first thought was that I loved hearing him call me baby. Another was how nice it was to have someone to help me do something as menial as carry trays of cupcakes and unfold a camping chair for me. But the most prominent of all the things running through my mind was the thought that this was so, so bad.

  What most men didn’t realize was that it was simple gestures like these that made women fall hard. And I’d started falling for Trick before we even slept together, so having him do little things that made me swoon was incredibly dangerous. The last thing I needed was to get used to these sweet little gestures.

  Trick pulled me out of my daze by grabbing my hand again and leading me toward my chair. “Sit, baby. The game’s about to start.

  I moved stiffly, letting him guide me down into my chair just as the whistle blew and the game commenced.

  All the while thinking, Yep. This is so bad.

  Chapter Ten

  Trick

  “That’s it, baby! You got this, now shoot!”

  The instant Tristan sent the ball flying past the goalie, Nona shot from her chair. Throwing her arms up, she let out a loud whoop of excitement. “Yes! Go, Tris!”

  My lips twitched in a small grin as I watched her cheer her son on, not holding anything back. I fucking loved that about her. She didn’t care what other people thought. She was damn proud of her kid, and she wanted him to know just how much.

  Spinning around, Nona launched herself into my arms to share in the joy. “Did you see that?” she asked animatedly, those Caribbean blue eyes shining like crazy.

/>   Smiling big, I wrapped my arms around her and held her against me. “I saw, sweetheart.”

  “My kid’s a rock star!”

  “He’s goin’ pro, no doubt about it,” I teased.

  She beamed up at me, and it was so beautiful my stomach clenched. Looking down at her just then, I had to fight against getting hard.

  As if sensing the desire coursing through me, Nona’s smile slowly fell and her chest trembled with a shaky inhale. Her eyes grew hazy as they drifted toward my lips, and the need to kiss her at that very moment was nearly all-consuming. However, before I could act on that desire in front of everybody, Nona seemed to jolt out of the trance. Clearing her throat, she put pressure on my hold as her gaze darted around. The last thing I wanted to do was let her go, but now wasn’t the time or the place to push my luck, so I let my arms fall. The moment she was free, she took two big steps back, running a trembling hand through her hair. She turned back to the game, and I knew she was instituting another freeze-out, but I’d be damned if I was going to let that happen.

  The past few days had been eye-opening for me. I’d been struggling to find a way to repair what I’d damaged so I could get us back to where we used to be. But everything had changed. Getting back the friendship we used to have was no longer the goal. Now I needed to find a way to fix us so I could finally make Nona mine.

  I knew I was going to be fighting an uphill battle, but there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that the reward would be worth it once I finally won.

  The feeling of being watched made my skin prick, and when I turned to investigate, I found my ex staring daggers in my direction. As usual, she was perched in the middle of her circle of friends—if that was what they could be called. Honestly, one of the things I didn’t miss when we divorced was having to deal with the bullshit that came with the women Emma associated with. They were nothing but catty, backstabbing bitches, and on the occasions Emma would have a few of them over, they’d do nothing but sit back, drink wine, and talk shit about the ones not there.