His Greatest Treasure (Greatest Love #4)

Chapter 27

27

OLIVER

It’s easy to learn the important things about a person when you dial in and pay attention to them. With Nova, I’ve found it impossible to ignore the subtle wrinkle that grows between her eyebrows when Avery mentions frozen yoghurt instead of ice cream or the pout that forms when she’s told that she has to earn her way to a pet frog.

She might only be seven, but she’s highly intelligent for her age. Her homework is harder than I remember it being when I was in the second grade, and she flies through it without asking for help with a single question. When Avery asks her to load the dishwasher after every meal, she doesn’t complain before doing it. There are no arguments as Avery reminds her not to put the bowls on the bottom rack, only a slight nod and grin of thanks. She’s proud of the night lights plugged into the outlets around her room and shows them off to me with innocent excitement.

Avery’s raised her all on her own, if we’re being honest, and she’s done a phenomenal job. While there are still questions I want to ask about her life before she came to Vancouver, I’m happy soaking up these moments.

Watching Avery and Nova together, just the two of them existing doing regular things, makes me feel like I’m a real part of their lives. It’s a front-row seat to the workings of the family I hope to join one day.

Leaning a hip against the counter, my offer to help scrub my dishes gets turned down for the third time, so I finally relent. Adalyn left as I was striding up the sidewalk, and with a flick of her hair over her shoulder, she slid into her Jeep.

She’ll probably never notice that I filled her tire for her, but I wasn’t going to let her drive home alone with the risk of it popping.

“Can we do my hair now, Mom? Auntie Addie never finished it,” Nova says in between sips of her juice.

“Oh, shit—I mean, oh no .” Avery wrings out the dishcloth and drops it into the empty sink. “Yeah, sweetie. Can you go get your hair basket from your room?”

“Okay, Mom.”

I watch Nova skip out of the room, her ballet tights and bodysuit already on. I’m half a second from calling Adalyn and scolding her for not finishing her hair when Avery sighs, turning to rest her back against the counter.

“We’re going to be late.”

“No we’re not. It’s only a fifteen-minute drive to the studio from here. How long does it take to braid her hair?”

“I’m the world’s slowest braider.”

I chuckle and trap her against the counter with my body. Gripping the counter on either side of her, I say, “I’m fast at it.”

“You know how to braid hair?”

“Your doubt in my abilities hurts, princess.”

She leans back, head tilted. “You have one brother.”

“Jamie liked his hair braided beneath his football helmet when he was fourteen. Mom taught me how to do it.”

“You know, I think I actually might remember him talking about braiding his hair,” she says with a soft laugh. “Well, knock yourself out, then. I’ve got to grab Nova’s bag and make sure she actually packed it properly before we go.”

“Before you do that,” I mutter, resting my hand on her hip. She inhales and waits with parted lips for my next words. “I wanted to ask if you’d go to dinner with me this weekend. Just us.”

“Like a date?”

I lean down, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “It’s a little overdue, but yes, a date.”

Her pulse flutters, and I don’t bother hiding my smile, knowing that I affect her the way she does me. Our eyes hold, neither of us wanting to be the one to look away. A small smile toys with her mouth, and my fingers itch to reach up and touch it.

“I need to find someone to watch Nova, but if I can, then I’d love to go on a date with you.”

“You have at least six people who would offer to take her off your hands for one night.”

“This all feels very high school, you know? I haven’t been asked on a date in years,” she admits.

I stand a bit taller. “Good. I don’t like competition.”

Her laugh comes out her nose. “Addie made this big deal about you being the grumpiest guy in the Bateman family, but I think you’ve been putting on a show for everyone. Am I right, butternalle ?”

“Tell me what that name means, and I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

She blows a raspberry and slips beneath my arm, escaping my hold. “Nope. Not yet.”

“I’ll get it out of you, Avery.”

“Try harder, then.”

“Brat,” I grunt at the same time Nova comes back into the kitchen with an overflowing basket of hair accessories in her arms.

“Got them!” she shouts, grabbing a seat at the table.

Avery stares at me while addressing Nova, as if she’s giving me a chance to change my mind. “Oliver’s going to braid your hair for dance. Be nice to him in case he’s been lying about his braiding skills. ”

Nova starts taking everything out of the basket and asks, “Really? Awesome.”

I don’t take back my offer. If I hadn’t wanted to make it, I wouldn’t have. Spending more time with Nova while proving to her mom that she can start to lean on me for things sounds like the perfect way to spend the next few minutes.

Once I’ve got myself and Nova situated at the table, Avery leaves us. Nova’s fidgety on the chair I’ve shifted in front of me, her head tilting side to side every few seconds and legs swinging. She’s nervous, and all I want to do is soothe her.

“Do you remember meeting my brother, Jamie, at Aunt Ava’s house?”

She hums. “The guy with long, messy hair?”

“Yes. He also has a pretty big scar on his forehead.”

“Yes! It’s gross.”

I snort a laugh and finish parting her hair straight down the middle. “Don’t tell him that. He thinks he’s a pretty boy.”

“He was pretty,” she says.

“Don’t tell him that either. He’ll try to be your favourite.”

“He can’t. You are, Ollie.”

My fingers stall as I weave the first of three strands into the braid. “Thanks, peanut. You’re my favourite too.”

“Even more than Mom?” she asks, voice a gasped whisper.

I lean forward slightly and lower my voice to match hers. “Can you both be my favourites?”

“I don’t know,” she hums.

“Think on it while I finish your hair and tell you why I asked if you remembered Jamie.” I reach for a tiny pink elastic from the table and wrap it around the end of the first braid. “He’s a professional football player, and he still gets the jitters before every game. He’d tell you that if you were nervous for your first ballet class, that means all you want to do is be the best you can be.”

She twists in the chair, staring back at me with wide, hope-lined eyes. “Do you get nervous, Ollie?”

“’Course I do, peanut. Every time a call comes through the station, I get nervous. I want to make sure I can be my best every time I go out there, and sometimes I worry that I’ll make a mistake.”

A single mistake or lagged response can cost me and everyone involved everything. I have to keep my decisions instant but thought out and safe for everyone involved. My nerves look a lot more like fear now than they did years ago.

“I think you’re the best firefighter ever! Thank you for braiding my hair,” she says, pushing onto her knees to smack a kiss to my forehead before sitting back down flat.

My heart pumps harder than it does the minutes before arriving on a scene, and I sniff to try and disguise the swell of emotion I feel taking over my body.

There’s a hand palming my shoulder when I take my next breath, and the scent of Avery’s perfume swirls around me. I don’t know what to say, or if I can even say anything at all to describe how I’m feeling, so I don’t. And she doesn’t force me to.

Glancing up, I watch as she nods, eyes watery and bright. It’s enough of a statement without either of us speaking aloud.

She pulls an extra chair beside me and leans close to watch my fingers as I work on finishing the second braid. Her hand falls to my thigh, and I stare at it for a moment before getting back to work.

The studio is full of moms and little kids Nova’s age. They bounce around the room in a flurry of pink tutus and excited squeals while the instructor has them gather in a circle to stretch.

Nova’s not shy around unfamiliar faces once she’s been introduced to them, and she’s already made friends with every single kid, her prior nerves be damned. My chest has been puffed for minutes now, and I don’t dare try to deflate it.

The moms are all sitting on slightly cushioned chairs along the wall, and Avery’s been chatting with the same one since we got here. Tasha, I believe her name is. Her son, Jacob, has been following Nova around like a hound with a scent.

I’ll be keeping an eye on him.

The dance instructor was my mom once upon a time but is now a woman named Lauren, whom she hand-picked years ago. She seems good enough but nowhere near as skilled as Mom. Nova would have loved being taught by her.

“So, which one is yours?” the mom on my left asks.

I brush my thumb over Avery’s knuckles and rest our linked hands on my thigh before looking to see if the woman was speaking to me.

“Mine?” I ask.

She smiles, nodding encouragingly. “Yes. You’re the only man here, so I’m assuming one of the students has to be your daughter.”

“Right. Nova’s mine,” I tell her, searching for Nova in the line along the mirrored wall. Finding her instantly, I point her out before I realize what exactly I’ve just said. “She’s not mine—well, not not mine. I’m not her father—he’s not here right now. Nova’s?—”

Avery, having heard every fucking word I’ve blabbered, reaches across my lap and offers the mom the hand I’m not gripping for dear life.

“Hi, I’m Avery, Nova’s mom, and this is Oliver, my boyfriend. Which one of these rug rats is yours?”

“Hope’s my daughter. I’m Lillian. It’s nice to meet the both of you.”

They shake hands before I offer her mine, and the two women fall into easy conversation. Avery might have a tendency to be just as grumpy as me if she wants to, but she’s also far more outgoing than I’ve ever been.

Maybe that’s a skill she learned after becoming a mother, but either way, I’m grateful that she’s able to jump in when I can’t manage to wrangle a single sentence together .

Nova’s busy chatting to the boy who can’t seem to leave her alone for all of two seconds while the instructor tries to show them a few basic stretches, and with one quick look to the other side of the room, I find my mom watching from the doorway.

“I’ll be right back,” I tell Avery, giving her hand a squeeze before leaving her talking to Lillian.

Mom’s backed out of the doorway and is waiting for me in the hall when I step out of the studio. Practically vibrating, she reaches for me and grips me tight.

“You’re here, Oliver! With Avery and Nova. Oh, my heart is going to explode straight through my chest,” she gushes, shaking me.

“It’s not nice to shake people, Mom.”

“Don’t get all grunty with me, Oliver Bateman. This is important.”

“It’s just a ballet lesson.”

“Just a ballet lesson?” She scoffs, shaking her head at me. “You’re here for them. Like a dad would be.”

I grow rigid, liking the sound of that and wishing it were closer to reality. “Slow down, Mom. Nova already has a dad.”

“I’m sure there’s plenty of room for another one in that little girl’s life. What did you think was going to happen once you’ve fallen in love with Avery and have grown to love her daughter as well? That you’d just be a random male figure in her life? Is this a game to you, Oliver, or are you serious about them? It’s easy to say you’re ready for this, but it’s far harder to prove it.”

I reel back at her words, so damn stiff she could turn my arm to dust if she keeps squeezing it so hard. I’ve avoided thinking those things because I didn’t want to move too fucking fast and scare Avery away. It’s not easy falling for a woman who’s tied to another man by a little girl who you can’t help but want to bundle in your arms forever. Avery might be open to me right now, but I have no clue if she’s ready for me to have a permanent spot in her daughter’s life.

I’ll never be Nova’s father, but I’ll love her like I am. And if that scares me, I can’t begin to imagine how terrified it will make Avery feel when I find the nerve to tell her. I might as well be asking her to marry me with the commitment I’ll be offering.

“Honey, you’re pale,” Mom murmurs, touching my cheek with the back of her hand. “Cold to the touch too. I’ve downright terrified you.”

“It’s still new,” I mutter absently.

She strokes the side of my head in slow swipes of her hand. “Alright. I know it is. What you two need is time alone together. You’ve got to talk some things through and lay it all out on the line. There’s no point in either of you continuing to grow your relationship if you don’t set boundaries or come clean about what exactly it is you both want. And not just for the right now, but for ten years from now. This isn’t the kind of casual dating you’ve done before. If you’re going to pursue Avery, it should only be for keeps.”

My nod is weak. “I was planning on taking her out this weekend. Saturday night.”

“I’ll speak with Avery and take Nova for the night.”

She sighs at my lack of reaction to her offer and, despite being so much smaller than me, tucks me in for a tight hug.

“You’ve never done anything half-assed in your life, Oliver. We’re the same, you and me, sweetheart. When we want something, we stop at nothing to get it, and that includes those we love. Don’t let Avery be any different. Not again.”

“Thank you, Mom,” I whisper.

There’s no point in explaining to her that I didn’t love Avery the first time I let her get away. Things were different then. I was different.

Avery managed to shake a teenage Oliver, but I’m a man now, and I’ll stop at nothing to call her mine forever.