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“I need to tell you something about Nick.” She hesitates. “He says he misses me and wants me back.”
I look at her with my heart in my throat, and whisper, “And?” I need to know her answer.
She smiles. “I told him there is no way I would ever go back to him.” She kisses my hand. “I figured out the only reason why he was with me was because of my money. My grandmother was rather wealthy and as I was her only living relative, she left everything to me, plus when I turned twenty-one, I came into my inheritance left by my parents. I only told him about the money after he proposed, when we were planning the wedding, but he had to have known before that. Everything seemed to click into place.”
“What a bastard. I really wish I’d punched him now. It would have made me feel good!” Jake snarls from the driver’s seat.
“Thanks, Jake. I wouldn’t have minded. I felt like punching him myself. He sure isn’t worth getting in trouble with the sheriff over.”
After a long silence, we arrive back at the house with Rona looking exhausted. I pull her close as she exits the car. “Why don’t you rest until dinner?”
She sighs, and lets me hold her close. “That would be good. I’m really tired.”
Rona
Back in my room, I throw my purse, coat and scarf on the sofa before collapsing on my bed. What a day. I can’t get over how I trusted Nick and all along he played me. At least Cade isn’t like that. I actually feel exhausted after dealing with Nick, but I want to be close to Cade. So, with some reluctance, I pull myself off the bed and head for the bathroom.
After having a soak in the tub with the cinnamon bath crystals, I pull on my yoga pants, tee shirt and my thick socks before heading downstairs in search of the man who has unexpectedly captured my heart in such a short time.
I discover Cade sitting on the living room sofa, watching for me.
“I thought you were going to have a rest.”
I walk over to him. “I thought that maybe I could rest with you.”
After a slight pause, Cade stretches out on the sofa. “Come here, darlin’.”
My panties practically melt hearing him call me ‘darlin’,’ like a hero in the romance novels I read. With no hesitation, I climb on top of him and settle down with my head on his chest. His arms go around me and our legs tangle.
I never want to move.
“Are you comfortable there?”
I snuggle deeper into him. “Oh, yeah.”
In fact, I’m so comfortable I feel about to drift off to sleep, although Cade feels wide awake as I wiggle around on top of him.
“Argh,” Cade moans, slapping my backside. “Stop moving.”
“You feel good,” I say, kissing his chin.
“Rona, please . . . I’m trying to be good,” he pleads.
“Okay. I’ll take pity on you for now. Will you tell me about your wife?”
He lets out a groan. “What do you want to know?”
I lift my head from his chest to look at him, caressing his face. “Whatever you want to tell me.”
Cade pulls me back down into his arms. “Okay. You have to know I love Jake, Anna and Beth, but I will always regret those three and a half years of my life. I was a lot different back then and obviously irresponsible. I was nineteen, celebrating a friend’s birthday, and I got drunk and passed out. The party was at Daniel’s house—my friend—and at the time, his parents were on vacation. He’s the sheriff now and we’re still friends.” Sighing, he shifts me slightly and I curl into his warmth.
“I don’t actually remember a great deal, but I do remember waking up in one of the guest rooms in bed with a girl. Janice. Having no recollection of what had happened in the room, I quickly dressed and left. Five months later, I bumped into her in Jackson Hole, and she was looking rather pregnant. Turns out it was me who got her that way. I don’t know why she didn’t tell me. Maybe she knew how things were going to end between us.”
Cade goes quiet, possibly reflecting about what happened back then.
“I assumed responsibility right away. I insisted we date, and eventually, we decided to get married before the babies arrived. I was panicking inside, but it was really the only thing to do, because I wanted the babies to have my name. Janice actually told me the babies would have her last name unless I married her.”
He sighs. “Jake and Anna arrived and I loved them at first sight. It was tough. I was just a kid taking on a wife and two babies, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Janice and I didn’t have a marriage. We were more like roommates sharing the responsibility for the twins. Half the time it was as though she hated them and me. She was on anti-depressants and on more than one occasion, she would mix them with alcohol.”
