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“Yes, she needs lots of exercise. Where did Grandpa take you?”
“We went to a river and spotted some deer. That was totally cool. I’ve never seen deer out in the open before.”
Realizing everyone has gone quiet, I look up and find their eyes on me. Meeting Jake’s eyes across the table, he smiles, shrugs his shoulders and says, “Did I tell you about my trip with Rona on Big Red?”
I sigh in relief when all eyes move to Jake, although both Anna and Beth regard me for a moment longer. But once they’re engrossed in Jake’s tale, I grab a quick glance at Cade wondering what was so significant about what I said. Was it the fact that I was with Cade, and not Jake? I need to ask him later because it will play on my mind until I know.
“Don’t look so worried. We’ll talk later,” Cade whispers, squeezing my hand beneath the table.
Cade
When we arrive back home, Jake excuses himself and disappears down the hallway to his room, looking exhausted.
“Don’t worry, Rona.” When her eyes flick up to mine, I add, “He’s tired with all the questions Anna and Beth threw at him. He’s never been one to talk a lot about himself and he’s finding it even harder now.”
“He looks as though he has a lot on his mind.”
“Hmmm. Maybe . . .” I glance at the stairs my son took to his room and wonder when he’ll be willing to share his problems with me. Shaking my head, I turn toward the kitchen. “For now, how about a hot chocolate?”
“That would be great. Do you mind if I go and change first?”
“No, that’s fine. I think I’ll do the same.”
I indicate to Rona to go first up the stairs and really try to keep my eyes from straying to her bottom, but they seem to have a mind of their own. Rona is a wonderful combination of slim and curvy—delicate—and built perfectly for my hands to caress her body. I groan under my breath as my palms itch. It takes everything in me not to pull her into my arms when we reach the landing.
She turns and catches my eyes where they shouldn’t be, and smirks. “I’ll be down in a minute.” There’s laughter in her voice.
I grin and shaking my head, enter my room.
After changing into sweats and a tee shirt, I go downstairs to make some hot chocolate while thinking back over the evening with Rona and my family.
Rona appears not long after looking comfortable in her yoga pants and tee shirt.
We settle in the living room with our drinks, and without further prompting I decide to tell her why my family went quiet. “Rona, about the silence during the meal.” I sigh. “It was the fact that I took you to the river. They’ve only been to that spot once with me and they never asked to come again. We had other spots, but they know when their dad needed to be alone, that was my space, where I felt alone but not lonely. That’s why it was so significant.”
I gently caress her face as I try to read the emotion welling in her eyes. Gratitude? Shock? She’s definitely touched and stunned by what I’ve just admitted to her.
“I don’t know what to say. I didn’t know. I never would have said something in front of your family if I had.”
“Don’t worry. If I was bothered about anyone finding out, I would have taken you somewhere else, but having you with me, I knew my spot was where I wanted you.”
Rona stands, and I follow. I’d follow her anywhere.
Catching a few loose tears as they leave tracks on her face, I kiss her forehead before wrapping her up in my arms, against my chest.
She pulls back slowly before she meets and holds my gaze. Reaching up, she caresses my cheek. “Cade, I want you to know that in the short time I’ve known you, that you’ve come to mean more to me than Nick ever did.”
As she turns to climb the stairs, I long to follow her.
Chapter 7
Rona
The morning after our talk, I’m in the kitchen with Cade and it’s wonderful—just the two of us. He’s making breakfast while I get the coffee started. Eggs, pancakes and syrup . . . yum!
“What would you like to do today?” Cade asks while pouring the batter for the pancakes into the sizzli
ng pan.
