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My chest tightens at the mention of Caden’s late brother, who he doesn’t talk about much, but it is common knowledge of his passing. I glance at Caden and he is absently staring at his plate of food, and the tightness in my chest only intensifies when a subtle, ghost of a smile touches the corners of his mouth. Caden’s brother, Sean, passed away when they were just kids, but it is obvious the pain of his loss still lingers on both Caden and his dad.
My gaze slides to Elaine next to me as she happily eats some mashed potatoes, her cheeks slightly messy from the food, and a sharp pain stings through my chest. The idea of losing her. . . it’s unbearable. A kind of loss that I know I would never recover from, God forbid something happened to her. If I were to ever lose Elaine, it would be the same as losing a big part of myself. I can’t even begin to imagine the pain Jacob must have gone through, losing his younger son.
And my hearthurtsat the knowledge of Caden suffering such a profound loss, to lose his younger brother the way he did. He doesn’t talk about Sean much, but there are pictures of Caden with his brother around his apartment. There is a lot of love there, it’s obvious, and Ihatethat Sean was taken from his family way too soon. To lose his brother—and then I remember him telling me that his mom abandoned their family, too. I don’t know if it was before or after Sean’s death but, either way, those kinds of losses are too much for any family to handle.
The silence in the dining room is suddenly broken by Elaine tapping my arm and saying, “Mama—potatoes, please.”
Jacob chuckles softly and even Caden smiles a little, and I fight the urge to pull Elaine into my lap to keep her close to me. Instead, I just give her some more mashed potatoes, and she digs in enthusiastically.
“So how much longer are you here for?” I ask Jacob. I feel like a coward, only talking to him and not Caden, but it’s not like he has made an effort for conversation. All he does is look at me and make my skin heat up. What am I supposed to do with that?
“I’ll be heading back Saturday,” Jacob says. “Can’t be out of the office for too long. Plus—” He looks toward Caden, who arches a confused eyebrow and Jacob lets out a chuckle that, I think, sounds kind of nervous. “I have someone waiting for me to come back.”
My own eyebrows rise as I see the confusion on Caden’s face. He glances at me, as if I have any idea where his dad is going with this, before looking back at Jacob and asking slowly, “And by that you mean…?”
Jacob cracks a smile, leaning back in his seat. With a lift of his chin, he announces, “I’ve been seeing someone. I was trying to find the right time to tell you so it didn’t feel too out of nowhere.”
A surprised smile dances on my lips, though I do flick my gaze over to Caden to catch his reaction. I can see Jacob eyeing his son closely as well, to see how Caden would take the news. My muscles relax when I see the beginnings of a smile tugging on the corner of Caden’s mouth. “Oh, yeah? Who is she?” he asks, genuine curiosity dancing across his features.
Jacob seems to relax as well. Did he think Caden truly wouldn’t react well to this news? “Her name’s Amelia. She’d brought her niece in a few months ago for a checkup, and then a while after that we ran into each other at the grocery store, of all places. It kind of just went from there. We’ve been seeing each other for a little over a month now.”
Caden takes this in for a moment, head turned to look at his dad for a few long seconds. I quietly chew my food, watching him with Jacob, as Caden runs a hand along his scruffy, sharp jaw. Finally, he asks Jacob, “You happy?”
A smile spreads across Jacob’s face as he nods. “I am.”
Finally, Caden smiles as well, and he claps his dad on the shoulder before saying, “Then I’m happy for you, Pops. You didn’t have to be so nervous to tell me,” he adds with a slightly wider grin, teasing.
I suppress a laugh, the air feeling lighter, as Jacob rolls his eyes. “I wasn’t nervous to tell you, kid.”
Caden nods somberly, though the amusement is too bright in his eyes. “Of course, not,” he says, making Jacob shake his head.
We finish up eating, the conversation lighter afterward. It’s mostly Jacob and I talking, and Caden occasionally contributes, but not too much. The air doesn’t feel as tense as it did before. When we’re done, Jacob refuses to let me help clear the table, so I take Elaine to the bathroom to clean up her face.
“You’re so messy,” I grin as I wet my hand to gently wipe at her face.
Elaine giggles, eyes squinting shut as she squirms in my arms. When I dry her off, she runs off out of the bathroom, and I follow at a more leisured pace. I feel my phone buzz in the pocket of my dress—which is one of the main reasons why I bought it—and when I pull it out, my eyebrows pull together at the text from Logan.
Logan:I’m heading out of town for a trip with friends this week, so I can’t take Elaine for the weekend.
That’s all he says, not even an apology for skipping out on his weekend to have her. My tongue presses to the back of my teeth, annoyance sparking through me. Honestly, this isn’t the first time he’s done this, call out of taking Elaine for his weekend at the last minute. It pisses me off because he’s so blasé about it, like he couldn’t care less about not seeing his own daughter.
Whatever trip he’s going on with his friends, I doubt it’s a last-minute thing. To go on a trip, especially a weeklong one, you have to plan everything way beforehand. There is no doubt he knew about the trip for a while, so why tell me at the last minute? It’s irresponsible and fucking annoying. I don’t bother responding to him. Instead, I just exit out of the conversation with a huff, clenching my phone tightly as I roll my gaze up to the ceiling, trying to breathe through my aggravation.
“Everything okay?”
My gaze snaps forward, heart jumping at Caden standing there. He watches me with eyebrows furrowed together a little in a concerned expression, lips turned downwards. He takes up all of this space in the hallway, all six feet two of him, towering and broad yet. . . I have never once felt intimidated in his presence.
God, if anything, Caden has always felt like such a solid beam of support, no matter what the circumstance. No matter what is going on between us. The man is protective by nature, and he never shies away from showing that. It’s one of the things that always attracted me to him.
“Uhm, yeah,” I say with another sigh, smoothing down my dress. When he arches an eyebrow, unconvinced, my throat works as I shrug. “Logan just texted saying he’s going on a trip with his friends, so he can’t take Elaine for the weekend.” I roll my eyes. “Which, I mean, I’d rather have Elaine with me but it’s just annoying, you know? The way he acts, like he’s got no sense of responsibility for his daughter.”
Caden’s frown deepens at my words, his jaw clenching. I see the irritation sparking in his eyes, like he’s aggravated on my behalf, and it makes my stomach flip in response. Eyes locked on me, Caden says, “He’s a piece of shit.”
It’s very matter of fact, a blunt statement that he says so firmly. It almost makes me laugh despite the circumstances, but I suppress the urge. “He is,” I agree dryly. “But unfortunately, I can’t change who Elaine’s dad is.”
I don’t mean to say that with my gaze locked with Caden’s, the look between us a little too meaningful. My skin heats up and I wouldn’t be surprised if I resembled a tomato right now. Fuck, what am Idoing? I quickly cut my gaze away, heart thundering right in my throat as I look past him towards the living room.
Caden asks, “Ready for some cake?”
