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“So, what did you say to Shayla?” Cadence asked, turning toward him from the front passenger seat.
“What makes you think I said something?” he asked, his lips twitching with mirth. Cadence had always been able to figure out his moves a few steps before he’d made them.
“Did you?” she pressed.
He cast a quick glance in her direction, then turned back to focus on the road ahead.
“I might have told her to chill out.”
“I wish you hadn’t, Parker. We would have worked it out over time rather than you pushing her to be nice to me.” Cadence’s voice was full of irritation.
Parker gripped the steering wheel tightly. He clenched his jaw. “Are you really annoyed because I wanted to improve the situation?”
For a few seconds, there was silence in the car.
“I’m sorry. My emotions are all over the place,” Cadence said in a quiet voice. “I suppose I just wanted to fix things with Shayla myself, not because you shamed her into being nice to me.” She let out a sigh. “We used to have such a great relationship. She was truly the little sister I never had growing up.”
Parker steered the car into his driveway and parked in his pebbled driveway. He looked in the rearview mirror. Logan was sleeping peacefully in his car seat. The very sight of him resting so comfortably made Logan’s heart swell. He couldn’t get enough of him. It felt like he’d just learned to love, even though he knew he had been madly in love with Cadence. Although he’d always thought of that love in the past tense, he now knew it wasn’t true. He still loved Cadence. And the love he now felt for her was magnified by his son’s existence. It awed and humbled him to think of her giving birth to his son and bringing such a miracle into the world.
“You can’t get enough of him, can you?” Cadence asked. He turned toward her, drawn in by her warm, genuine smile. “It makes me happy to see the two of you bonding.”
“It’s the most incredible feeling in the world. Like falling in love.”
Her eyes lit up. “Exactly. It’s a love affair.”
“I wish I’d seen him come into the world,” he blurted out.
Once he saw Cadence’s crestfallen expression, Parker wished he could take back the words. She bowed her head. “I’m so sorry, Parker. You can never experience that moment. It breaks my heart. I don’t know how I’ll ever explain all of this to Logan when he’s older.”
Parker reached out and cupped in her chin in his palm. He gently turned her head toward him. He could see agony radiating from her eyes.
“I didn’t mean that as a criticism. It’s a moment I wish I’d been there for, Cadence. I can’t lie about it. But I understand what you went through and why you did the things you did. And I know I haven’t said it, but thank you.” He reached out and squeezed her hand. “Thank you for doing so much to keep me safe. Who knows what Mason might have done?”
She smiled at him through her tears. “Thank you for saying so. I did what I thought was right at the time.”
“I know you did,” Parker said in a crooning tone, his palm caressing her cheek. Their gazes locked. Something intense flared between them. The past and the present merged. Parker leaned across and placed a tender kiss on Cadence’s lips. Her lips were warm and inviting. They tasted like vanilla. She kissed him back. He cupped her face between his hands. The scent of flowers rose to his nostrils. It was a light, heady scent. It was pure Cadence.
How had he forgotten how it felt to kiss this woman? His soul was soaring to the stratosphere. He felt like he’d finally come home after a long, heartbreaking absence. Nothing in his life had felt half as good in the past three years as this one moment in time.
“Mama.” A little voice from the back seat called out, interrupting their tender interlude.
They broke apart. Cadence let out a sigh that sounded a lot like regret. He brushed a final kiss across her temple as she turned around to reassure Logan. Within minutes they were inside his house with Cadence quickly heading upstairs to put Logan to bed. He would have liked to talk to her a little bit to see how she felt. Did she regret kissing him? Perhaps there was too much water under the bridge for the two of them to ever get back to where they’d been three years ago. He hoped not. But was it a pipe dream to believe it was possible? Cadence didn’t even know that three years ago he’d wanted to make her his wife. He wondered what her reaction would be if he decided to tell her?
If he really intended to try to rebuild his relationship with Cadence, he needed to come clean with her about the night she’d broken up with him and shattered his heart into a million pieces. It would be painful to revisit the past, but he knew it was the only way of building a future.
“Trust in God. Especially during the times when you feel as you’re flying blind.”
Caleb Donahue
Chapter Nine
The following morning, Parker rose bright and early. He headed to the kitchen to make breakfast for Cadence and Logan, only to be greeted by the sight of them already sitting at the kitchen table. Cadence was feeding Logan some toast and Cheerios. Logan was shoving the cereal into his mouth at a rapid speed.
“Good morning,” Parker said, smiling at the way Logan mumbled a hello as he chomped on his breakfast.
“Morning, Parker,” Cadence said. “I was about to make some eggs and sausage as soon as I got Logan fed.”
“I can do it,” Parker said. “Just finish up with him. You want some tea?” he asked, knowing she drank more tea than coffee.
