AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Beside him on Natty’s doorstep, Tenley twisted her hair up into a messy bun that she secured with what looked like a lock pick. “Are you sure it’s not a problem for me to be here? I don’t want to interrupt your time with your…friend?”
Ah. That’s why she’d looked nervous since they got in the car. She thought Natty was an old girlfriend or something. He’d been thrown off guard with Tenley since the second they met. It was kind of nice having the roles reversed for once. So, instead of easing her mind, he just shrugged and said, “The more the merrier.”
Her nose wrinkled up as she frowned at him, and it was fucking adorable. But before she could say anything, the door was ripped open and Knox was dragged into the warm, rose water-scented embrace of his favorite person in the whole world.
Natty Evans was sixty-five years old, five-foot-nothing when standing on her tiptoes, and probably one-ten soaking wet, but she had the grip of a Grizzly as she rocked him back and forth. “My baby is home,” she cried.
Knox chuckled and patted her back awkwardly. He’d gone so long without physical contact with anyone that even a friendly hug felt weird to him now. But with Natty, he’d have to get over it. She was a hugger. Always had been. “It’s good to see you, too, Nat.”
Then she leaned back and slugged him in the arm, putting her full weight behind it. He rubbed the spot where her tiny knuckles had connected. “What the hell?”
“That,” she said, pointing a stern mom finger in his face, “was for refusing to put me on the approved visitor list.”
Right. Like he was going to let the person he loved most in the world see him in that shit hole. “I couldn’t let you spend all that time and money going there.”
I’m not worth it.
He didn’t say that part out loud, but it was true. And judging from the way Tenley looped her arm through his and leaned into him, she knew the direction his thoughts had gone in, too.
“It was for me to decide, not you,” Nat said sternly, then crossed her arms over her chest. “So, just say you’re sorry and we can move on.”
Arguing with her was pointless. He’d learned that long, long ago. “I’m sorry, Nat. You were right.”
She grinned. “My favorite words of all time.” Then her gaze shifted over to Tenley, taking her in from head to toe. “And who is this?”
Tenley pasted on her fake smile and thrust a hand at Nat before Knox could say anything. “Hi there. It’s so nice to meet you. I’m Tenley Snow. Knox’s fiancée.”
Nat ignored her hand and glanced over at Knox, one brow raised. “Knox, why is she lying to me?”
The look on Tenley’s face was priceless. Abso-fucking-lutely priceless. She was completely befuddled. It was like no one had ever called her on her bullshit before. He couldn’t hold back a chuckle at her discomfort. “Nat, this is Tenley. She’s a…friend. She’s helping me get my inheritance.”
Nat still eyed Tenley like a mongoose getting ready to grab a snake and give it a death shake, but she stepped out of the way and ushered them into her living room. “I’m guessing there’s an interesting story here, and you’re going to tell me the whole thing over tea. Besides, there’s someone in here who’s going to be very happy to see you.”
Since Knox quite literally didn’t have any other friends, he had no idea who Nat was referring to…until he crossed Nat’s sunshine yellow foyer and saw the most beautiful girl in the world in the living room, curled up on the sofa.
“Layla,” he whispered, immediately dropping to his knees.
Obviously, she looked different. It had been five years, after all. But Layla was still the most gorgeous black Labrador he’d ever seen.
Layla’s tail started swishing the moment she saw him. She’d only been a puppy when Knox went to prison, but she was all grown up now. A full seventy-five pounds, if he hadn’t missed his guess.
She jumped down off the sofa and came right over to him, greeting him with sloppy kisses and happy little whining noises, just like she always had.
When he sank his fingers into her silky, warm fur and she leaned into him, Knox relaxed completely for the first time since his release. “You kept her,” he said, not even caring that his voice cracked when he said it.
“Of course, I did,” Natty replied, wiping away her own tears. “She goes to the door every day, and I swear, she’s looking for you.”
And suddenly, the inheritance, Thadeus, his lack of prospects…none of it mattered. He’d been sure he’d lost everything when he went away. Turns out, what mattered the most—Natty and Layla—were still here, waiting for him, ready to accept him back home with open arms.
He looked up at Tenley, saw her furiously blinking away tears, and he did something he hadn’t done in five years.
He smiled. A real one. Not a smirk or a self-deprecating half smile. A full-on, joyous smile. And when she returned it with a teary one of her own, that’s when he knew.
Everything was going to be OK.
CHAPTER 11
Tenley hadn’t been caught in a lie since she was five years old.
