His Greatest Treasure (Greatest Love #4)

Chapter 8

8

AVERY

“So, you’re married now,” I say in a terrible attempt to break the ice.

Addie sits on the chair to my left while Cooper takes the one beside her. It’s not exactly quiet in here with all the excited voices and chit-chat, but it’s better than silence.

“We got married twice, really. The first wasn’t on purpose nor legitimate,” she explains with a wink at her husband.

Rubbing the thick black band of the tattooed ring on his finger, he keeps his eyes on Addie, the warmth in them enough to make me jealous. Not of her but of the love they so obviously share.

It’s palpable, and I’ve never felt love that strong before in any of my past relationships. I thought I was close with Chris, but I know now that I was wrong.

I fold my hands in my lap and look away from them. “Did you go to Vegas and get Punk’d by an Elvis impersonator?”

Cooper chuckles. “Something like that. We were drunk in Ireland but got Punk’d nonetheless.”

“So, you came home and got married for real?”

“Not right away, but soon enough. Cooper’s too obsessed with me not to be my husband. He has a fetish for telling everyone I’m his wife,” Addie teases.

I snort a laugh. “There are worse fetishes.”

“You’ve got a point. He could like sucking on my toes like lollipops or something.”

Cooper tugs on her earlobe. “You’d love me anyway.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. My toes are too ticklish for you to be macking on them.”

He shakes his head, the half-smile on his face not moving an inch. “Alright, love. Stop creeping Avery out with your toe talk.”

“I’m not creeping her out. Am I creeping you out?” she asks me, flustered.

“You’re not creeping me out, but toes do.”

She winces, smiling apologetically. “Right. Okay, well, tell me about you. How have the last ten years been? You look incredible, but I do miss the black hair. When did you get rid of the nose ring? And O-M-G, your little girl! Tell me all about her. How old is she? Is her father here somewhere? I didn’t see him when you arrived, but I had to drag Cooper here, so I wouldn’t blame him for not?—”

“Breathe, Addie. One question at a time,” Cooper murmurs, his hand steady against her back.

Addie sucks in a long inhale and slows her roll a bit. “I’m sorry. I’m just . . . I’m just really excited. I feel like I know you so well but also like I don’t know you at all. Does that make sense?”

“Yes. It makes a lot of sense.” I unclasp my hands and slide them over my thighs. “I wasn’t sure what you guys knew about me, if anything at all. It’s not like I’ve been around to ask.”

“We know some. Little bits and pieces that trickled down from our parents. We knew you were in BC but not where until your mom called mine and Aunt Gray to tell them you were going to be bringing your daughter to the studio. I think everyone just thought that you didn’t want us to know much. When you didn’t answer any of my messages . . .” She trails off, biting down on her lip .

“You thought I was cutting you out,” I finish for her.

“Yeah.”

“Life is hard on everyone, Avery. We understood that. You didn’t grow up here like we did. There was nothing forcing you to keep in contact with us,” Cooper says.

I know he means well with his words, but the honesty in them only makes me feel worse. These people were my family, and I just cut them out.

“That doesn’t mean I still shouldn’t have. I did want to keep in contact with you, but it was hard being so far away all the time. Everyone was so close to one another, and once we got old enough, I felt like a hang-around most of the time. When I decided to move to Canada, I didn’t know if it would be awkward to pop up out of nowhere and hope that you still wanted me around, so I never reached out. I’d always felt like the odd one out, and I think I just got so used to expecting you guys to forget about me that I convinced myself it was easier to just . . . let it go,” I admit, relief following soon after.

Keeping my feelings inside has never benefited me, yet I tend to lean into the habit. It’s easier than baring your insecurities to someone in hopes they don’t take advantage of it and hurt you deeper than before.

Adalyn reaches her hands out for mine, and I give them to her. With gentle squeezes, she parts her lips on a sincere smile and leans forward, our shoulders touching.

“You were never a hang-around. I always wished we were closer in age because then we would have had a real chance at becoming good friends back then, but I’m up for it now, if you’ll have me.”

“You’re family regardless of where you grew up or how often we saw one another, Avery,” Cooper adds gently.

I grip Addie’s hands tighter and look between the two of them. “Then I’d love to get to know you guys again. Nova and I are in Vancouver now. ”

“This is so exciting. I’m going to be all over you all the time now,” Addie gushes.

I grow warm both inside and out. “Is everyone else still here?”

“Well, Maddox and Braxton are in Ottawa, Noah and Tinsley live in Toronto, and Addie, me, and the Bateman family are still here,” Cooper answers.

“I remember hearing about Maddox signing with the Ottawa Beavertails. But Noah and Tinsley? He moved over there with her?”

Maddox, Noah, and Adalyn are all Huttons, while Tinsley is a Lowry and Cooper’s a White. It’s one hell of a complicated, extravagant group of friends around here, but after a while, it grows less confusing.

“Yeah, he left the Vancouver Warriors and found a good home in Ottawa. He loves it there,” Addie starts before her eyes take on a haunted appearance. “And Noah, well, it wasn’t a surprise when he went after Tinsley. You remember how attached those two were back when we were kids, right?”

Noah Hutton may very well be more famous than his NHL star brother. His name is all over the news and radio stations as one of the biggest up-and-coming names in rock music. It wasn’t surprising to hear about, considering how attached he always was to music, but I wasn’t expecting such an explosion of talent. Maddox might be one of the most well-known NHL players in the world, but he’s no rock star.

Tinsley Lowry is a pro boxer and has been Noah’s best friend since the moment they both popped out into the world. She, like me, didn’t grow up in Vancouver with the rest of them. Her family is from Toronto, and now, apparently, Noah’s there too.

“Oh, I remember. He’s on tour now, right? I thought I heard about it on the radio,” I say.

Addie swallows hard enough for it to be audible. Concern sizzles in my gut as I watch Cooper scoot closer to her, his arm folding around her back .

I tighten my hold on her hands, not wanting her to tug them free. “What’s wrong?”

“Noah was hurt pretty badly a few weeks ago. Everyone’s still a little on edge about it,” Cooper explains.

Queasiness fills me. “I didn’t hear about anything happening to him.”

Addie sniffles, thick lashes batting with quick blinks. “We did everything we could to keep it out of the media. He’s okay now. Both he and Tinsley will be at the house tomorrow. You should come and reintroduce yourself to everyone.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to intrude.”

“You won’t be intruding. You’re family, remember?” Cooper asks.

Adalyn nods in agreement, her eyes clearing a bit. “Please come. We do these family dinners every weekend, and I know everyone would love to see you.”

I push past my immediate want to refuse their kind gesture. It’s an olive branch. One I’ve been ignoring for years and probably don’t deserve at this point.

“Alright. Just tell me when and where, and we’ll be there.”

Both Adalyn and Cooper look pleased with my answer, and I let that settle me a bit. I search the front of the studio for Nova and Gracie, finding them a beat later. Nova’s nodding along with every word Gracie says as she shows her the massive corkboard hung on the wall and all the tacked photos scattered across it. Years of ballet performances and ballerinas are displayed with pride.

I remember Gracie loving ballet. It’s one of my core memories of her. Seeing her passion put to use this way is special. A full-circle moment.

Nova notices me watching and cracks a grin as she waves wildly. A couple of the girls close by watch her, looks of interest on their young features. There’s a boy hovering, his ears tipped with red and olive eyes wide. His arms are full of dance attire, but he doesn’t pay any of it half as much attention as he does my daughter.

“Ah, shit. She’s already snagged a boy’s attention. Poor Momma Bear,” Addie teases, knocking her shoulder against mine.

I scowl. “She’s only seven. There will be no crushes yet.”

“Isn’t it adorable, though? Look!”

The boy has shuffled closer while slipping a hand out from beneath his pile of things just long enough to push his curly brown hair from his eyes. Nova has spotted him now and has her head cocked while staring bluntly, curiously.

“She’ll tell him to leave her alone,” I say to myself.

But she doesn’t. Mortified, I watch as my daughter smiles in encouragement and brings him into her conversation with Gracie. I should be proud of her for being friendly, but why does she have to be friendly with a boy?

I’m going to age at least twenty years over the next several months.

“It’s cute, isn’t it? She’s already making friends,” Cooper says, his tone hopeful.

“You won’t think it’s cute when your daughter is accosted by a young boy,” I warn him.

He brushes me off. “Easy fix. We won’t have a girl.”

I smirk, shaking my head. “Yeah, okay.”

“What if I want a girl,” Addie says. “Then what?”

I laugh when he visibly glitches, too busy thinking about the right answer to keep his brave face. He’s in for a surprise when and if he and Adalyn have children. Just because I don’t like Nova making friends with a boy who looks at her like he just saw heaven for the first time doesn’t mean that I’ll do anything to stop it.

One of the first lessons I learned as a parent was that our children always come first. You have to put aside your own wants and needs when it comes to them. Your own opinions on their choices don’t matter when they bring them happiness. They need to experience life to the fullest. Have to forge their own path no matter what .

Nova may only be seven, but she’s been her own person for a long time now. I’m not sure me telling her not to converse with boys would even register anyway. Controlling isn’t the type of mother I want to be.

Cooper presses a kiss to Addie’s cheek and whispers something in her ear that turns her red. An answer to her question that I don’t want to hear.

“I better go introduce myself to this boy,” I say, standing from the chair. “Tomorrow, right? You’ll text me the information?”

Addie looks up, cheeks still flushed. “Tomorrow! Do you want my number first?”

“Oh. Right,” I mutter before handing my phone over.

We exchange numbers quickly, and after a tight hug, I leave them and head over to my daughter. She notices me when I step behind her and set a hand on her shoulder. Her closeness settles me, the mom in me happy with knowing she’s safe.

“Hi, Mom. I made a friend,” she gushes, lips spread in a wide grin.

“I see that. Will you introduce us?”

Gracie squeezes my bicep and steps aside to greet another family, leaving us alone for a minute.

The boy tips his head back to look at me, nervousness in his gaze. I try to make myself look as unintimidating as possible.

“I’m Jacob,” he stammers.

Nova tugs at my wrist. “He likes Jake better.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Jake. I’m Avery.”

His hand shoots out, and with a soft laugh, I shake it. Wetting his lips, he points to the woman walking toward us, her hair tied back in a neat bun and classy outfit, looking as though she must have come here straight from work.

“You sure know how to make yourself scarce in a crowd, Jake,” she says once we’re only a few steps apart.

I turn to her, keeping my expression light. “You must be Jake’s mom. I’m Avery Miller, and this is my daughter, Nova.”

“Tasha Rogers. It’s nice to meet you. ”

Jake settles into her side, and his cheeks lose some of their redness. Tasha is a short woman with the deepest brown eyes I’ve ever seen and a gentle aura about her that draws me in. I don’t want to scream in frustration at her company, so that already makes her better than Oliver.

Fuck, I have to stop thinking about him.

Nova interrupts my thoughts. “Me and Jake are friends now.”

“Is that right? Well, that’s great. My Jakey doesn’t make friends all that easily,” Tasha says.

I laugh at that. “Nova makes them a bit too easily.”

“Can we go for ice cream together, Mom?” Nova pokes at my side.

“What about next time? We’ve got to stop by the shop tonight.”

“My mom sells flowers,” Nova tells Jake and his mom.

My skin heats at the blunt info drop. “I will sell flowers. The shop is still under renovations.”

Jake gasps up at Tasha. “You love flowers, Mom!”

“You do?” I ask, interest piqued.

She waves off the question. “I like gardening. I’m not so sure it’s the same as owning a flower shop.”

“It can be. If you love flowers, then you love flowers. You should stop by sometimes. It’s a mess right now, but it has good bones.”

“I’d like that,” she says softly.

I make the offer to exchange numbers and inwardly laugh at how often I’ve done the same thing over the past couple of weeks. Before we moved to Vancouver, I don’t think I gave anyone my number in months.

Things are already changing so quickly, but I think I like it. A fresh start might have been what we were needing all along.