MITCHELL

"That sucked," I told Nash, like he hadn't just been a part of the epic shit storm that took place at the house as we walked away from it.

"Yeah," he agreed.

We were quiet for a few minutes and I took in the old neighborhood where I'd grown up. It looked the same except for some minor changes, like a new fence, or a new color. None of the other houses were in the same poor condition as my family's were, and that was embarrassing. But also out of my hands, at least at the moment.

"What the hell do I do now?"

Nash sighed. "I say we give them a couple of days to figure things out. Let them search for a will and go through his bank account. That's things they have to do."

He was right, and it was probably the best thing to do, but I hated the fact that I had to leave Maria in that house. What the hell was wrong with Marshall?

"I think she'll be alright," Nash said, once again knowing what I was thinking without me saying anything out loud.

"I hope so."

A car drove past us and two high school kids hung out of the window and shouted, "Hey Mr. Evans and Mr. Reed."

Nash grinned, and I raised my hand in a hello gesture. Everyone seemed to know we were in the town. And they were excited about it. Everyone except for my siblings. Well, Maria might be a little happy about it. At least it felt like there was a chance we could work things out.

"You know where she works, right?" Nash asked.

"I know where the daycare is," I agreed.

"Okay, so if you don't hear from them, you could stop in there."

"Yeah. I probably want to do that anyway, because I'm not sure she has my number, and I seriously doubt Marshall will give it to her."

"Good point."

We turned into the parking lot of the hotel and I spotted my rental car still parked in a spot. Either Bryce was already back from his shopping trip, or he hadn't left yet.

"Did you ever call the bank?" Nash asked.

"Yeah, they wouldn't give me any information other than confirming that the money I transferred went into the account every month."

Nash nodded. "I guess that makes sense. Your asshole dad probably didn't have you listed on the account."

I snorted. He'd written me out of the family. "I hope he at least had Marshall on there. It would make things easier."

"True."

We walked through the small lobby and were greeted by the concierge.

"So, what do we do now? For today, I mean." I asked Nash and reached my hand out to press the button for the elevator.

"Go check in with Bryce, I guess. If he didn't go yet, we could always go with him. Kennedy said her and Sammy took Ethan out for a stroll."

"Okay."

Bryce hadn't left yet, so the three of us drove to the store in the next town over and bought way more stuff than we needed, but we had fun. We signed some autographs and posed for some pictures as well.

"You know those photos will go up on social media, like right away," Bryce said as we were on the way to the car with all our purchases.

"Yeah." It had only been a matter of time, anyway. That was always the case when Nash was around.

"As long as there're no paparazzi, we're good," Nash added, and I had to agree with that too.

Ethan and Kennedy were napping once we got back to the hotel. So after I told Sammy about the disaster that morning, I spent some lazy time watching tv with her in my arms and that was a definite upswing to the day.

"I think I'd like to meet her," Sammy said while she interlaced our fingers and my thoughts immediately went to the engagement ring I had bought for her. It was still at the jewelers, because I'd asked them to change the setting. I wanted a round diamond instead of an oval, and a little bigger than the one that was already in the setting. I couldn't wait to present it to her and ask her to be my wife.

"Mitch," Sammy squeezed my hand and gave me a curious look.

"Ehh, yeah. You'd probably like her."

"As long as she's not like your brother, I'm sure we'd get along just fine."

"No," I laughed. "He's something else."

"Isn't it strange that two brothers can be so different?"

"God, I hope I'm nothing like him."

"You're not," she said and leaned in and pressed her lips to mine. The kiss was over before it got good, but her smile was just breathtaking.

"You are the best man I've ever met, Mitch, and I mean that. I love how thoughtful and caring you are. You helped your family for years, even though they showed no appreciation."

"I didn't really work out the way I planned it."

"But you tried, Mitch, and that's what I mean. You're always so willing to help. I mean, look what you did for Jackson when he needed a place to stay. And now here we are trying to help your family even though your brother is being a real shithead, but I know you want to help Maria."

"I want to get her out of that house," I admitted.

"Believe me, Mitch. I get it. But you may need to give her some time to come to terms with things. She just lost her father. Yeah, he wasn't a very nice man, but he was someone she had to take care of every day these last few months."

I nodded, so she continued, "and then there's your nephew that she's caring for. What do you know about him?"

"Absolutely nothing."

"That's kind of sad. I hope he turns out more like his mom."

That made me chuckle. Anything would be better than turning out like my asshole brother.

"I do too."

Sammy snuggled closer. "I have something to tell you that you're not gonna like."

That made all the tension that had disappeared over the last hour rush right back in. "What?" I asked.

"I have to go back to New York in the morning. We have a wedding cake order and that's my specialty. I have to be there to finish it."

"Okay. I can't go yet, Sam. I need another day or two."

"Oh, I know, Mitch. That's okay. You need to stay here and work things out. Kennedy and Ethan are coming with me. Her parents are moving in to their new apartment and she wants to be there for that."

"Do you think Nash will stay here?" I realized I desperately wanted him and Bryce to stay. I needed someone to lean on, and Nash had always been there.

"Of course. Kennedy and I can manage to get back to New York on our own with Ethan. I didn't think there is any way he'll leave you here in the middle of everything."

"I hope so."

"Mitch," she smiled and used her hand to turn my face towards her. Her hazel colored eyes swirled with soft browns and greens. "He dropped everything he had going on at home to come here, for you. I doubt he'll leave you in the middle of it."

"But Kennedy and Ethan..."

"Will have me, her parents and Jackson," she finished for me. "They will be fine."

Turns out she was right. Nash and Bryce were going to stay with me. Bryce grinned and said, "we'll have like a dude vacation."

"That sounds a lot like trouble," Kennedy said with a small laugh.

Nash chuckled. "I'll be on my best behavior, babe."

***

We had dinner again, but this time in the hotel restaurant, like one big family. The food was not as good as it had been the night before, but it was convenient. Then we tried to get back in to the large rental car to head over to the high school arena, only to figure out that there was no way we'd all fit because of all the stuff we'd bought.

We ended up having to take both rental cars. Sammy and Kennedy were hysterical laughing as we moved things around to fit Ethan's stroller in the back. They made fun of us and said that we were never allowed to complain that they shopped too much ever again.

That was probably a fair point.

Coach Laughlin had been overjoyed when I talked to him earlier in the day and told him we wanted to come back.

"You're only in town for a few days," he said. "They want as much practice with you as you are willing to give them."

He was right about that, too. The players all showed up, even though it was technically their night off.

I could understand that. I would've loved to have a couple of practices with UAHL players while I was still in high school. Especially ones that gave pointers and suggestions. That was what I wanted to be for those kids.

Coach Laughlin got teary-eyed when he saw all the donations we brought in. And that somehow made up for how shitty the day had started.

"We can probably squeeze in one more practice if you want, I told him."

He chuckled. "They're all here. I don't think I could stop them if I wanted to. They'll show up anytime you come back. They may be young, but they do realize what a rare and special chance this is for them."

"Thanks, coach."

"Don't thank me," he chuckled. "We're the ones who need to thank you."

We spent a couple of hours on the ice. Bryce had come up with a practice plan that we sort of followed. I'd never realized how into the coaching thing he was, and how great he was with the high school kids. He'd make an awesome coach once he decided he'd had enough of playing.

Nash took young Soderstrom to the side and practiced with him, while Bryce and I worked with the rest of the kids. Soderstrom was good, and while Nash wanted to challenge him, I had a feeling he also wanted to encourage him to practice more and party less. Coming from Nash, that was probably an excellent lesson.

We ended with a scrimmage, and by that time the kids' parents had arrived and there were loud cheers and hollers when one of the kids got by us, or especially when Soderstrom stopped one of our shots. Even Sammy and Kennedy cheered along with the parents.

Traitors.