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He tapped lightly on her door, then pressed his ear against it. Silence. He knocked louder before hearing her telling him to come in. Parker slowly turned the knob and stepped inside. She was sitting on the bed with her legs crossed in front of her. She looked wide awake although her expression appeared shuttered. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were red and swollen. It didn’t look as if she would be getting much shut-eye anytime soon.
“Are you all right?” he asked, not knowing what else to say.
“I’m fine,” she said in a low voice.
“You’re far from fine,” Parker said. “Your eyes are red. You’ve been crying.”
Cadence let out a sigh. “I never stopped really. It’s been a regular sob fest.”
“I’m sorry about what you overheard. I’m not being pessimistic about finding Logan. I promise.” He shoved his hands into the pockets of his pants. He shifted from one foot to another. “I just…don’t want to get blindsided if something goes wrong,” he admitted.
Saying those words to Cadence didn’t come easily to him. He didn’t like to admit his fears or worries. As a PI, Parker tended to be the strong and silent type. He let his actions speak for themselves.
Cadence looked at him with deadened eyes. “If something goes wrong, the bottom will fall out of my world. I don’t have anything to live for if I don’t have Logan.”
The way she spoke sent chills down Parker’s back. It sounded fairly ominous. It struck fear deep into his heart. Even though he’d believed he was well past caring about her well-being, he now knew how wrong he’d been.
He made his way over to the bed and stared down at Cadence. “Don’t talk like that. You’re going to see Logan again. You’re going to hold him in your arms and rock him to sleep at night. You’re going to raise him to be a fine young man and it’s going to drive you crazy when the girls start coming out of the woodwork and flocking around him.”
Cadence wiped away tears. She made a strange sound—somewhere between a laugh and a snort. “Oh no. I don’t think I can handle girls buzzing around Logan. Not until he’s at least thirty-years-old.” She swiped underneath her eyes with the back of her hand.
“Thank you, Parker. I’m sorry for the way I acted earlier. I had no right to say those things to you.”
Parker’s heart constricted at the wounded expression on Cadence’s face. She looked utterly ashamed. “I understand, Cadence. This situation is unbearable for you. You’re Logan’s mother.” He shook his head, trying to find the words to say how he felt. “Knowing Logan is my son is monumental for me. I don’t know him the way you do, but
he’s my flesh and blood. My boy. And as I told you before, I’m going to do whatever I need to do in order to bring him back to you.”
She pressed her hands against her chest and blinked away her tears. “Oh, Parker. I know you’ll fall in love with Logan. And he’s going to love you in return.”
For a moment they simply stared at one another as thoughts of their son hung in the air between them. Parker felt a wild urge to reach out to Cadence and take her in his arms. He wanted to brush a kiss across her temple and soothe away her fears. He wished he could make a guarantee to bring their son back safe and sound. They both knew such a promise wasn’t possible.
Dear Lord. He needed to get away from Cadence before he surrendered to nostalgia and made a huge fool of himself.
“Jason got some intel on his whereabouts. You were right on the money. He took a private flight to California.”
Hope flared in her eyes. “Does this mean we’re going to follow him out there?”
“Yes, it does,” he said with a nod. “I’m going to go scout around on the Internet for some flights right now. Make sure you get some rest, okay? Tomorrow is going to be intense.”
With a grim nod of his head, Parker turned around and headed toward the door.
“Parker.” He turned back around at the sound of Cadence’s voice.
“I’m really sorry I didn’t tell you about Logan.” A look of shame crossed her face. Her lips trembled. Parker felt a surge of sympathy surge up inside him. Cadence had faced an impossible choice.
“I can’t think about that right now. I need to stay focused. Trust me, Cadence. After we get Logan back, I’m going to have plenty to say to you on that subject. Get some sleep.”
He turned back toward the door and made his way into the hall, firmly closing the door behind him. His heart was thumping wildly in his chest. His palms were moist. For three years he’d told himself she was nothing more than a memory. He’d tried to erase her from his heart and mind. Parker thought he’d accomplished that goal. Until tonight. Until she’d come crashing back into his life like a runaway train.
Cadence had gotten under his skin in a serious way. His heart was supposed to be off limits, but he feared he was wearing it on his sleeve at the moment. Cadence had the power to break through all of his defenses and make him feel things he hadn’t felt since she’d been his lady. And it scared him to death.
**
Cadence had barely plopped her head on the pillow and drifted off to the land of slumber when she heard a heavy knocking at the guest bedroom door.
“Cadence, we have to head to the airport in forty-five minutes or so.” The low rumble of Parker’s voice caused her to sit up straight in bed. Logan! They were going to be flying to California to find him. Please, Lord. Let this journey not be in vain. I’ll do whatever it takes to get my son back!
She scrambled from the bed and went to the bathroom that adjoined the guest bedroom. After taking a quick shower and brushing her teeth, Cadence felt ready to roll. She wasn’t going to worry about wearing yesterday’s clothes. Once they landed in California she could pick up a few things to tide her over. She didn’t much care about her appearance at the moment.
