Forever N ever (Book 13 in the Forever Series)

Chapter 24

Demi

I must admit that seeing Lacey at Nick's parents' house on New Year's Day was a bit of a shock to me, but I wasn't upset until I heard Joe say, "And Nick told me yesterday that he was ready to move on this year." Joe's statement seemed to make Lacey happy & I knew this because my gaze didn't leave her face.

I cleared my throat as I stepped toward her, taking her attention away from Nick. When Lacey looked at me, I could tell she was surprised to see me, then I spoke, "So good to see you again, Lacey. Happy New Year."

Lacey shook my hand as her forehead creased with confusion. "Hi, Demi. I wasn't expecting to see you here. Happy New Year."

"Well, I'm part of the family so you're stuck with me if you're friends..." I looked over at Nick, rolling my eyes ever so slightly, "Or something more with Nick." I saw the fear in Nick's expression before I looked back at Lacey. "Jerry will be thrilled to see you."

I don't know if Joe sensed a tone in my voice or what, but he took Lacey's coat off then practically pushed her from the foyer. I could hear him introducing her to the people that didn't know her, then I heard Nick sigh. When my gaze met his, I could tell by his expression that he thought I was mad & up until that point, I was. After I took in a deep breath & let it out, I realized I had no right to be mad at Nick for wanting to move on when I had pushed him to do so. It had been a year since I found out about his infidelity & that was a long time to wait for me to forgive him. 

"I know what you're thinking." Nick finally said, but I didn't reply. Instead, I just pushed my eyebrows together as my head tilted a little, waiting to hear what he thought. He stepped closer to me, glancing around a little, then he spoke in a low voice. "I didn't really want to move on, Demi. I was just tired of explaining why to my mom or my brother."

I nodded my head, letting Nick know I understood. "I know. It's fine. I'm not mad & I am not thinking anything. I'm going to go in & say hello to everyone." I smiled at him, patting his arm as reassurance before I headed toward the other room. I greeted everyone & heard Nick behind me a moment later.

As I talked to everyone for the first few minutes, I avoided looking at Nick because I didn't want to give anything away to the family surrounding me. Mostly, I didn't want our kids to see something. I could see Nick in my peripheral vision & I could tell he was doing the same thing I was doing because he was avoiding looking at me.

At some point, Joe invited Nick to the garage off the kitchen to smoke a cigar & I made sure I sat near the open door so I could hear what they talked about. The moment their cigars were lit, I heard Joe ask, "What did you end up doing last night?" I strained my head so I could see them & thankfully they weren't paying attention to what was going on inside, so they didn't know I was eavesdropping.

"Nothing." Nick replied, looking at the floor.

"Did anyone come over?"

Nick chuckled as he puffed on his cigar, still not looking at Joe, since he was about to lie. "No."

"Did you watch your wedding DVD?"

"Yea, for a little bit." Nick finally looked up but not at his brother.

"So, you didn't get laid last night?"

Nick laughed, then looked at Joe, a scowl on his face. "What? No. Why would you think I got laid?"

"You seem happy. Like you're in a better mood than when I saw you yesterday." Joe shrugged his shoulders as he watched Nick closely.

My heart was racing in my chest, waiting for Nick to answer. "I just woke up with a new lease on life this morning. 2036 is going to be a good year."