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No matter what she says to Jake, she must be finding it difficult with what has happened to Tom. I know she went from Tom back to Jake really quickly on Jake’s arrival home, but there must have been some feelings there for Tom, otherwise, why agree to marry him? Unless she’d been bullied into agreeing with the engagement, it makes me wonder with him hitting her. Was she frightened of him before, and that’s why she said yes? She did mention to me in town that she was afraid to talk to Tom about Jake.
The more I think about Elise’s situation, the more upset I feel myself getting, worrying over my friend. I don’t want Cade knowing how concerned I am for her, so I close my eyes and finally let sleep pull me under.
The last thought I have before I fall asleep is that I hope to get the chance to talk to Elise later today.
Chapter 23
Rona
After my morning snooze, I refused to stay on the sofa and ate my lunch in the kitchen. But the slow walk around the downstairs of Cade’s home has me feeling sleepy again, and I’m back on the sofa ready to go to the land of nod. I probably overdid it some with the walking, as I made it around three times before Cade decided I’d done enough. I had to agree.
Just as I feel myself about to slip into sleep again, the doorbell chimes. Popping my eyes open, I watch as the girls arrive.
“Hi, Dad, how’s Rona?” Beth asks hugging Cade, followed by Anna and Elise.
I’m so relieved to see Elise with them.
Still feeling groggy, and unable to move that well, I stay put on the sofa.
Seeing Elise holding back as Anna and Beth take a seat, I hold out my hand to her. “Elise, come here.” I pat the seat to the side of me. As she approaches there are tears in her eyes, which probably match the ones in mine. I blink them away. “Elise, under no circumstances do I want you to blame yourself for what happened to me. The only people responsible are Tom and Nick, not you.” I pull her into my arms.
Her silent tears turn to sobs of relief and I find myself giving in to all the hurt, all the fear and all the emotion that I’ve been keeping bottled up inside. We sit together, hugging as tears run freely down our faces.
This is probably what we both need to get it out of our systems. And right here, right now, I’m promising myself I won’t cry again over what happened to me. I’ve done enough of that already. I’m also not sure Cade can cope with much more either, although I know he’d support me if I needed him to.
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I move slightly away from Elise and dry my eyes on the tissues Cade passes to me. “What about you, Elise?” I ask. “Are you doing okay? None of this must be easy for you.”
She takes a few, deep breaths and pulls herself together. “I’m doing okay. Jake is helping, but I’m not sure how I’m supposed to feel. By the time I got away from him, I hated him for what he said about me and Jake and for what he did to me.” She dabs at her eyes with a tissue.
Cade moves over to Elise and taking her by the hand, he pulls her in for a hug. “You’ll be fine.” He kisses her on the forehead. “Jake will always be there for you. I think he’s learned his lesson.”
“Thanks, Cade. I think he has as well.”
Relief washes over me as I watch them and I know Elise is going to be all right. Perhaps the cry has helped. I hope so anyway.
Trying to get into a more comfortable position while the others hug Elise, I watch as they pull her onto one of the opposite sofas. I can’t hide the wince of pain that comes over me just as Cade spots me struggling.
“Rona, wait. Let me help.” He’s by my side, his strong hands comforting me.
His arms encircling my waist, he lifts me further up on the sofa. When he turns around he freezes and as I look, there are three pairs of eyes watching us, all smiling.
I’m hoping, Beth, as well as Jake and Anna are okay with my relationship with their father because this is the first time Beth will have seen us together.
Cade sits down on the sofa with me, and placing my legs in his lap he takes my hand. Lacing our fingers together, he brings them up to his lips and kisses my knuckles.
I just hope Beth doesn’t hurt her father if she isn’t happy with his display of affection.
“Rona, I didn’t see you yesterday.” Beth shares her attention between the both of us. “How are you really?”
“I’m in pain with mainly my left hip, but my thigh hurts occasionally. Otherwise, I’m fine.” I smile to reassure everyone that I really am doing okay, before asking, “Does anyone know how Grace is doing? I feel partly responsible for what happened to her.”
“Sweetheart, what happened to Grace isn’t your fault. Nick was already a friend of Tom’s before you even met so for all we know, Grace already knew him. Please don’t blame yourself for what happened to Grace,” Cade says to me.
“Grace is doing well,” Anna confirms. “I called in to see her first thing this morning and I found her sitting up in bed, blushing away, while that hot DEA guy, Josh, asked her questions.” Taking a much-needed breath, Anna continues, “Actually, when he was leaving, he gave her one hell of a hot look, and if she’d been standing up, she would have ended up a melted puddle at his feet.”
“Anna. Does Justin know you look at other guys like that?” Cade’s not looking happy.
