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Cade
“I’m just saying, maybe you shouldn’t have had sex with her yet.” Rose plunked a plate in front of me. The scent of bacon and eggs wafted into my nostrils, making my mouth water. “Getting physical too early in a relationship will make you both get twitchy and insecure. Like, your bodies are all in, ready to fall in love, but your brains are still stupid with doubt. Ask me how I know.”
“I don’t want to know how you know. Please don’t tell me. And who says we had sex? Don’t make assumptions.” I folded a piece of bacon into my mouth and dodged my know-it-all sister’s eyes.
Her left eyebrow tipped up as she filled our mugs with coffee then sat down in the chair across from mine at her kitchen table. “Yeah, because you always show up at my house at six in the morning smelling like Charlotte’s perfume. Give me a freaking break, Cade.”
Trevor kissed the top of her head as he entered the kitchen then stole her mug, sipping it as he crossed to the stove to fill a plate for himself. “Don’t bother arguing with her. It will be fruitless,” he remarked.
“Fine, okay, I agree it was too soon but we—sorry, but I can’t talk about this topic with you here, Rose.”
“I get it. I know it’s weird for you now. Trevor and I are married, you two are partners. Whose secrets get kept? Whose get spilled? Who even knows?” She shrugged and stuck her tongue out at me.
“Let’s not forget the fact that you live in Gram’s house,” I added. “Which is pretty weird. I can’t imagine being in her old room with a woman. I don’t know how you two do it.” Trevor had rented our grandmother’s house when he moved to Sweetbriar and now that they were married, they were in the process of buying it from her.
“It’s not weird for me because I have no memories associated with this place—and just saying, we do it the normal way,” Trevor quipped. “Most of the time, anyway.” He winked at Rose over his shoulder, and she turned bright red. I was glad she was happy, but this was the very definition of too much information. I was beginning to regret stopping by.
I chuckled in response and shook my head.
“Okay, okay, no more sex talk,” Rose insisted. “Can we talk about something else? Anything else, please.”
“Fine by me,” I agreed. “We don’t need to know these things about each other. It’s not natural.”
Trevor sat next to Rose, and she stole her mug back with a grin. “Is everything else with her going okay?” he asked me.
“Not really. She isn’t staying in Sweetbriar. I guess I was stupid to assume she was—”
“What?” Rose was surprised. “I thought she was staying too. She rented a townhouse this time. Mom said she goes to Vi’s shop for coffee almost every day, and she’s been getting reacquainted with all of us. I mean, we’re supposed to have lunch together next week, I have her number, she’s back in Mom’s girl’s group text—”
“I didn’t even have her number. I had to get it from Violet.” I raked a hand through my hair in frustration. Damn, it really was a mess. I should have gone home or stayed and waited for Charlotte to wake up. The feeling that I had royally messed things up by leaving was starting to weigh on me.
“Give it a day or two to let the hormones die down, then talk to her about it,” Trevor suggested. “Tell her how you feel. Maybe it will change her mind and she’ll stay.”
“That’s what I was thinking too. I left a note on her counter explaining how I feel and that we should talk later after we both settle down. It’s a long note. Maybe too long? I filled up a whole page. Shit, now that I think about it maybe I should go get it back before she wakes up?”
Trevor was sympathetic. “No, leave the note. You should always be honest with your feelings. Don’t learn about that the hard way.”
“Yeah, plus, it’s no use trying to talk about anything serious when neither of you can keep it in your pants,” Rose added.
“I thought we were changing the subject.” I laughed. “And I don’t get why you’re assuming we slept together. I haven’t actually said a word about it.”
Rose rolled her eyes at me. “Dude, go look at your hair in the mirror. And check out your neck while you’re there. You’re a walking hickey fest and she clearly still wears the same perfume she always did because you smell so much like her she might as well be sitting here instead of you. It’s just like being back in high school all over again. Remember when you used to sneak in the hallway window after curfew? Flashback!”
I cleared my throat. “Oh. God.” I had come straight here. I guess I should have gone home first. “I didn’t know you knew about that.”
“Are you serious? We knew everything. Well, not Mom and Dad. They had no clue. But the rest of us did. Why do you think you never got caught? We covered for your loud ass all the time, jeez. It’s a miracle you became a cop because you were so not stealthy back then. And next time you’re trying to keep your nightly activities a secret, shower before you go out visiting people. Or buy some more of that cheap ass body spray you used to hose yourself down with.” Her laughter made me smile despite my embarrassment.
“Give him a break, princess,” Trevor chided teasingly. “He only has one hickey, and this is a huge deal for the two of them.”
“Yeah, princess.” I smirked. “This is a big deal. And you need at least three hickeys in order to have a fest.”
Rose rolled her eyes. “Don’t ruin my pet name, Cade. I worked hard to earn that.”
“Yeah, you did.” Trevor planted a kiss on her lips then grabbed their apparently shared mug of coffee and took a sip, winking at her over the rim. “The kids are still asleep, Rosalie.”
“Uh, I have to go.” My chair scraped back as I stood up to leave. I knew how to take a hint. “Thanks for breakfast.”
“Bye, Cade. We’ll talk later.” This was Trevor’s day off. I should have known better than to stop by.
“Later.” I booked it to the door, turning the lock on the knob before letting myself out.
I stopped in the driveway when I heard my name called.
“Hey, Cade.” Gwen had moved into the house next door a few months back. She was on her porch, a steaming cup of coffee in her hand.
I wasn’t surprised to see her; I knew she was an early bird and got up at the crack of dawn to enjoy some alone time before she woke her kids and started her day. The fact that she was sitting on the lap of Charlotte’s brother, Brody’s? Now, that was a huge surprise. I wondered if Charlotte knew about them.
“Cade,” he greeted and waved me over.
“Hello, you two.” I had to school my surprised expression. Should I ask what was going on? Was it even my business?
“No, Charlotte doesn’t know.” Brody informed me with a smirk once I reached the porch.
“Not yet, but she will soon.” Gwen confirmed. “How are things?”
“Fine . . .” I hedged. “Hey, can I borrow your snow shovel? I want to clear the front of her place before I go home. Charlotte said she was going to text old man McMillon to do it, but I doubt it will do any good.”
“He’s a cheap ass, for sure. Go for it – the shovel is propped against the side of the house. You’ve always been such a sweetheart, Cade.
“Ha, thanks.”
“Look, Brody and I aren’t a secret, so you don’t have to keep it from her. We’re going to tell her whenever we can all be in the same place at the same time. We’ve barely had a chance to catch up since she’s been back.” She gestured behind herself toward the house. “Kids, work—you know how it is.”
“I get it. I doubt it will come up anyway. I’ll bring the shovel back on my way home.” It wouldn’t come up because I was going to do what Trevor said and wait a day or two, which was what I had intended anyway. I needed time to get my head straight so we could talk and not let past hurts get in the way of the future I hoped we could rebuild together. I really messed up with her last night when I saw Trent on the news.
“Later, man.” I waved at Brody as I headed to the side of the garage for the shovel then took off for Charlotte’s.
I pulled up in front of her townhouse. “Huh.” Her place was cleared of snow, the driveway, up the path, and including the porch steps. She must have sent old McMillon a text after all. Good for her. All she needed was for him to clear out the garage. Then she wouldn’t have to worry about slipping and sliding her way up to the front door.
I dropped the shovel back at Gwen’s and headed home with Charlotte on my mind.
