AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Cadence Wiles.”
Mr. Stokes’ eyes briefly widened before he flashed me a friendly smile and nodded. “Well, let’s go. Calvin still needs to take a bath.”
“Daddy.” Calvin groaned. “I’m clean. I swear.”
“Are you now? When did ketchup become something you wear?”
Now it was Calvin’s turn to become embarrassed as we chuckled. Their dad was not holding back. It was amazing.
“Let me grab the bill while you finish up.”
“You don’t need to do that,” Seth said.
“Seth.” The hardness in Mr. Stokes’ voice had Seth shutting up. “You know better.” He walked away, leaving us to stare after him as he went to the cash register.
Paxon sighed. “Well, now you’ve met my dad.”
I laughed. “I like him.”
Paxon groaned. “No. You aren’t allowed to like him.”
“Well, too late.”
“Damn.” Paxon sighed.
I laughed, loving how the night ended on an upbeat note with people who actually wanted to be around. I needed more days like this in my life.
Chapter Nineteen
~Seth’s POV~
“She said ‘our’ didn’t she?” Justin said as I pulled my truck into the driveway in front of his house. Toby jumped out of the truck from the back seat as Justin turned to me. Justin’s eyes were wide and sad, the kind I hadn’t seen in a while on him. Unable to take that expression, I looked away and watched Toby as he tugged at his hair and stalked into his aunt’s house. He didn’t bother looking back at us as he disappeared inside. He needed space to deal with the news. It was just how he was. I couldn’t blame him either.
We had filled Toby in on what we thought was going on with Cadence on the drive back. His fury and confusion were understandable. Any kind of abuse was hard to deal with, and when it occurred to someone close to you, it was all the more heartbreaking to think they were in such a difficult and painful position. A feeling of helplessness tried to swallow me whole, but I pushed it away, needing to stay focused. It felt like we were discovering what was happening to Justin all over again.
At least we had the power to help him. But Cadence? We didn’t know her well enough and helping someone about to become an adult was different than helping someone when they were eleven.
How long had she had to go through it?
“ ‘Our,’ ” Justin repeated in a whisper, trying to swallow that one word and accept what it meant. He looked like he was choking on it instead. A storm raged in his eyes as he stared at the dashboard, his lips in a small frown, barely noticeable. Those who didn’t know him well enough wouldn’t even know he was upset.
“She did,” I finally said. “How sure are you that she’s being abused?”
I still didn’t want to believe it, but I also trusted Justin. He knew better than anyone about physical abuse.
“The signs are there. She doesn’t like to be touched. She didn’t have any friends at school before us. The Wright twins have been talking to her more this year, but it’s clear Cadence still doesn’t know what to do with them. She knows pain, knows how to hide. And she’s hurting now. I caught her at the nurse’s office.”
Justin’s jaw clenched. I reached over and squeezed his shoulder. “We’ll figure this out and help her. It’s just going to take time.”
“What if we’re too late? The longer it takes, the higher the risks. There’s always a chance that the next time it’ll go—” Justin coughed, blinking furiously as he fought for control. When he spoke again, it was in a whisper. “It’ll go too far.”
His hell felt like my hell, but I only got a taste of it. I knew him enough to know that a million different scenarios were flickering through his mind as he tried to figure out what Cadence’s situation was. None of them were good enough, none of them explained what was happening to her, nor did it give us a happy ending. Justin’s eyes darkened as his mood blackened.
Justin smacked the dashboard hard enough to make me think he was going to release the airbag, if that were even possible. “Why would someone want to hurt Cadence?” he whispered to himself.
“Why would anyone want to hurt you?” I asked him. “Or Cal or any child?”
Justin stared at his lap for a long moment. “This world is too fucked up.” He pushed open the door and hopped out. When he closed it, it was a soft click. Justin rarely showed his anger outwardly. Hitting the dashboard was about as intense as he got when it came to all the brewing anger inside of him. It was good for my truck, but unhealthy for him.
