Chapter 1-Home
Nathan was the kind of man people noticed without him ever trying to be noticed.
At twenty-six, he stood tall, with a lean, athletic build shaped by years of training. His dark hair was slightly messy, falling naturally across his forehead, while his sharp jawline and faint stubble gave him a rugged, effortlessly handsome appearance.
His eyes were perhaps the most striking thing about him—deep, intense, and impossible to read.
There was always something hidden behind them.
Something that made people wonder what he had been through.
Nathan rarely smiled.
And when he did, it was usually brief, disappearing before anyone could hold onto it.
There was a quiet confidence in the way he carried himself, but beneath it was something harder to define.
A distance.
A guardedness that made it clear he didn't let people get close easily.
But the people who knew Nathan now had learned that beneath his quiet exterior was a surprisingly dry sense of humor—and, occasionally, a softer side he tried very hard to hide.
To them, he was simply Nathan.
An architect.
A friend.
And, when he wasn't busy designing buildings, the unwilling part-time employee of the busiest café in the heart of Bellmere.
The café belonged to Mary.
Anna's grandmother.
And Nathan had somehow become part of the place.
"You're doing it again."
Nathan looked up from the coffee machine.
Anna was standing on the other side of the counter, watching him with an amused expression.
At twenty-four, Anna was the youngest of their little group, though she rarely acted like it.
"Doing what?" Nathan asked.
"Staring at the clock."
"I'm not staring at the clock."
"You've been staring at it for five minutes."
Nathan glanced at the clock above the counter.
"Three."
Anna raised an eyebrow.
Nathan tried not to smile.
Failed.
"See?" she said triumphantly. "I knew it."
Nathan shook his head and turned back to the coffee machine.
The café was unusually busy that afternoon.
Actually, it was always busy.
Mary's café had been a favourite in Bellmere for as long as anyone could remember. It was warm, welcoming, and always smelled of freshly brewed coffee and whatever Mary had decided to bake that morning.
It had become more than just a café.
For Nathan, Anna, Ivy, Ryan, Mira, and Tom, it was home.
Or at least, the closest thing to one.
Mary had practically raised Anna.
Anna had never known her parents.
As far as she knew, they had died in an accident when she was eight.
She barely remembered them.
Whenever Anna had asked about them as a child, Mary had always answered gently, telling her that they were good people who loved her very much.
Anna had never asked for more.
Not because she didn't want to know.
But because she had seen the sadness in her grandmother's eyes whenever the subject came up.
And Anna couldn't bear to make Mary hurt.
So she had learned to live with the little she knew.
Mary was all she had.
And Anna was all Mary had.
Together, they had built a life around the café.
Anna worked as a wedding planner, spending most of her days running between venues, meeting clients, and solving problems that seemed to appear out of nowhere.
Ivy worked alongside her, helping with the wedding planning business, while Ryan occasionally joined them when they needed an extra pair of hands.
Mira worked with Mary at the café.
And Tom?
Tom was a police officer.
He was also the reason Ivy had suddenly developed a very mysterious interest in visiting the café whenever he happened to be around.
"Are you coming tonight?" Anna asked.
Nathan glanced at her.
"Where?"
Anna stared at him.
"The dinner."
"What dinner?"
"The dinner you promised you'd come to."
"I did?"
"Yes."
"When?"
"Yesterday."
"I don't remember that."
"Because you weren't listening."
"I was listening."
"You were staring at your phone."
"I was checking something."
"You were playing a game."
Nathan looked away.
Anna smiled.
"Exactly."
He sighed.
"Fine. I'll come."
"Good."
"Where is it again?"
Anna's smile disappeared.
"Nathan."
"What?"
"You're impossible."
"I've been told."
Anna shook her head and walked away.
Nathan watched her go, a small smile lingering on his lips.
Four years ago, he wouldn't have imagined himself standing behind a café counter in Bellmere, arguing with a twenty-four-year-old wedding planner about a Saturday night dinner.
But then again, four years ago, Nathan had been a completely different person.
The building above the café had three floors.
The ground floor belonged entirely to Mary's café.
The first floor was home to Mary and Anna.
Ivy and mira shared an apartment on the second floor
The three men shared the apartment on third floor, though Nathan often wondered how he had survived living with Ryan's constant noise and Tom's habit of bringing his police work home with him.
Every Saturday night, they gathered at Mary's home.
It was their tradition.
No matter how busy Anna was with weddings, how tired Nathan was from work, or how exhausted Mary became after a long day at the café, Saturday nights belonged to them.
There was always food.
Usually too much food.
Arguments over games.
Laughter that echoed through the building.
And, more often than not, someone falling asleep on Mary's couch before the night ended.
It was their little family.
A family they had chosen.
Nathan had found them four years ago.
Or perhaps, they had found him.
Either way, they had become his life.
His friends.
His home.
And Anna...
Nathan stopped that thought before it could go any further.
He glanced toward her again.
She was busy talking to a customer, completely unaware that he was watching her.
Nathan looked away.
Some things were better left unspoken.
For four years, he had built a quiet life in Bellmere.
A life where no one knew his real name.
No one knew where he had come from.
No one knew about the kingdom he had left behind.
No one knew about the family he had abandoned.
And no one knew why he had never once looked back.
Here, he was simply Nathan.
An architect.
A friend.
A man with a quiet life.
A man with a past no one knew about.
And for four years, that had been enough.
