Chapter Two
Nick glanced over at Ellie as they drove to pick up Henry. Something was off with her today. At first he thought she was upset because he’d brought up the Christmas decorations. But she seemed to have gotten past that, and now she was…he didn’t know.
She was twisting her fingers around like she had something on her mind.
“You nervous about something?”
Her head shot up. “Me? Nervous? No. Why? Am I acting nervous?”
He laughed. “You definitely are now. What’s up?”
“Nothing. I’m fine. “ She offered up a smile that was anything but genuine. “You know, just hungry. What kind of pizza should we have tonight?”
Yeah, she was definitely nervous about something. They’d lived together for almost five years now. They were relaxed around each other. They told each other everything. So for there to be something Ellie wasn’t telling him, it had to be a big deal.
But he wasn’t going to push her. If she wanted to talk about it, she would.
He’d wait.
As soon as they pulled up in front of Oscar’s house, Ellie opened the car door. “I’ll go grab him,” she said.
He nodded and waited, watching her saunter up to the front door and trying not to notice how her jeans hugged her ass.
He’d been trying not to notice her for the past couple of years. He hadn’t been too successful at it, because lately, that noticing thing was becoming more prominent.
Nick wasn’t sure when things had changed. The first couple of years after John had died, he’d been wrapped up in his shock and grief. Plus, he’d moved Ellie into his house. How could he not? She had no other family, and she was pregnant. And, okay, maybe he’d needed her at that time as much as she’d needed him.
She hadn’t been the only one to lose John. He’d lost him, too.
And then she’d given birth to Henry. He’d had to push past the grief and help Ellie raise an infant while adjusting to life without John.
It was all they could do to keep their heads above water. His parents, who lived in Arizona now, had been frequent visitors and helped with the baby when Nick couldn’t. He owned the garage and had people depending on him for their livelihoods. He couldn’t abandon them.
It had been a lot. But eventually, he and Ellie had settled into a routine. Thank God for Henry, who’d given them both a reason to keep going.
He wasn’t sure he’d have gotten through it without Ellie. He’d figured he’d be the one who was gonna be there for her, but the two of them had spent hour after hour, day after day, month after month talking about John. They’d cried together and laughed together telling stories about John.
Her living there with him had helped him heal from losing his brother.
Now, as he watched Henry dash to the car, he couldn’t help but smile. His coat hung open and flapped in the sharp wind, and his hair flew in all directions.
God, he loved that kid, who looked so much like John it made his heart hurt. But it also made him smile, because a part of John lived on through him, and that eased the pain.
Henry pulled the back door open, Ellie right behind to help buckle him into the car seat.
“Hi, Uncle Nick. Guess what I did today?”
“Hey, Henry. What did you do today?”
“We played soccer out back with Oscar’s dad and then we played games on his PlayStation and then we ate lunch and I ate spakettie—“
“Spaghetti,” Ellie corrected.
“Yeah. Spakettie. And then we played with Oscar’s dog, Duke, and then we wrestled with Oscar’s big brother, who’s in high school.” He finished that statement off with wide eyes.
“You did, huh?” Nick asked. “Did you kick his butt?”
Henry giggled. “Nuh-uh. But he let us jump on him.”
“I’ll bet that was fun.”
“It was. Mom said we’re having pizza for dinner.”
“Yup. What kind do you want?”
“Pepperoni.”
“Pepperoni it is. What do you think, Ellie?”
Ellie slid into the front seat and buckled her seat belt, then looked over her shoulder at Henry. “It’s my favorite pizza ever.”
“Is not,” Henry said. “You like all that vegetable stuff.”
Henry never let anything get past him, including his mother’s favorite pizza.
“Okay, maybe,” Ellie said. “But I like pepperoni, too.”
“Great. Can we play games, Uncle Nick?” Henry asked.
“You know it, buddy.”
“Awesome.”
And then Henry settled. Nick put the car into gear and they drove to the pizza place.
“I’ll get us a table if you want to order?” Ellie asked.
Nick nodded, so he went to order their pizza and drinks. He knew Ellie would want water, and Ellie required Henry to have a glass of milk before he could have any soda, so he figured he’d order milk for Henry and a soda for himself.
“You here to play the games or are you just into our outstanding pizza?”
He looked up to find a cute blonde, probably college-aged, grinning at him. And very clearly flirting with him.
“Oh, I’m here with my nephew.”
She gave him the once-over. “So…no wife or kid of your own yet, huh?”
Oh, yeah, definitely flirting. “Uh, no.”
“I see.”
She waited, no doubt to see if he’d linger and flirt back. Instead, he placed his order, much to the cute blonde’s disappointment.
But he smiled all the way to the table.
Nice to know he still had it goin’ on.
He found Ellie and Henry at a table near a group of kids that Henry was already chatting up. Henry wasn’t shy at all, which was a great thing. By the time he made it to the table, Henry had run off to the indoor slide with a couple of the kids who looked to be his age. Fortunately, they had a clear sight line to the area from their table, so they could keep an eye on him.
He slid onto the bench next to Ellie. “Already made friends, did he?”
She smiled, a real one this time, and it made his gut tighten. “You know Henry.”
“Yeah, I do. I swear that kid is either going to be a politician or the best salesman in the world.”
Ellie laughed. “Probably.”
He loved hearing her laugh. He hadn’t heard much of it the first year after John died. Every year since, he heard it more and more, especially as it related to Henry. He wanted to hear it often, because the sound of it was perfect.
She was perfect.
And she was totally off-limits because she was his brother’s widow.
He shifted his gaze to the cute blonde at the counter. Maybe he should consider getting out there and start dating.
Nah. The blonde was really pretty, and if he’d been interested in her, he’d have bantered back and forth with her and maybe made a date with her. Instead, he was thinking about Ellie. He’d been so focused on Ellie and Henry for the past five years he hadn’t even considered the idea of dating anyone.
Ellie had been the only person in his life. Plus, she was beautiful, with her shoulder-length brown hair and soulful brown eyes that captured him with their warmth. Those eyes had been filled with sadness for so long, but when she was happy? Damn, those eyes could melt the hardest steel.
Lately there had been a lot more happy days than sad ones. He had to admit, he wanted to be the guy to put a smile on her face, to make her laugh again, and to lace his fingers with hers and—
“What are you so deep in thought about?”
He snapped his attention on Ellie. He definitely didn’t want her to know his thoughts had been centered on her. So he turned his head and motioned to Henry. “I was just watching Henry. He’s having fun.”
“Doesn’t he always?”
“Yeah.” The one thing they’d always had in common—besides John—was Henry. Henry had been a connection between them through their grief, pushing the ache of loss to the background and forcing them both to function. And now Henry had bonded them as a—
Not a couple. They weren’t a couple. They were roommates. But damn if it hadn’t started feeling like a lot more lately.
At least to him.
Which was exactly the problem.