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“Gabe, I told you. My life is here now, not in Willow Valley. I’ve built it that way. I have friends here. I have a home here,” I said, looking around the kitchen.
Gabe looked around the kitchen and crossed his arms. “Cadence, you can’t be serious.”
“Why not? This place is perfect for me. I’m happy here.” The house was the same way it had been before Grandma passed. I hadn’t done a thing to it, because in my mind it was perfect the way it was. Just not perfect for a woman who was only twenty-six.
“Cadence, this place needs updating. Besides, friends move. Are you still seeing that guy you were dating? Fuck, what was his name…?” Gabe questioned.
“Daniel?”
“That’s it…yes. Are you still seeing him?”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but no, I’m not. I haven’t been for a while. Besides, what does he have to do with anything?”
Gabe shrugged. “Nothing. He has nothing to do with it. I was only thinking that it would be easier for you to move back home if you were indeed single.”
“My home is here, Gabe. I told you once before and I’ll tell you again. In fact, I’ll tell you every time you bring it up, I’m not coming back to Willow Valley.”
Gabe grew quiet while I once again rung out the mop and started washing the floor again. He cleared his throat, breaking the silence of the room.
“Cadence, I don’t think you’re understanding. I’m not asking.”
I stopped and looked at my brother. Irritated beyond belief, I shoved the mop back into the bucket, this time spilling water out onto the floor. “Well it sure sounded like a question to me.”
“It isn’t a question. I need you to return home.”
I stopped dipping the mop in and out of the water and turned away from my brother. Then my mind began spinning with horrible thoughts. Was he sick? Oh god, was he dying? Was it cancer? Not cancer. That’s what took both dad and Gramps, and it was horrifying to watch. There was no way I could do it again. I couldn’t watch that happen to him. He was so young, and he was the only family I had left. I looked over my shoulder at my brother, noticing a heavy look on his face. What on earth could cause that expression otherwise? Fear filled me as I silently prayed that he wasn’t sick.
“Why?” I asked as I held my breath, afraid to move.
Gabe let out a breath, then ran his hand through his hair. “I’ve been called to go back to the Army. I’m heading on a peacekeeping mission in a few weeks. I need you, Cadence. The farm needs you.”
“I thought you said you were done with the military.” Relief flooded me as I leaned the mop against the counter and put my hands on my hips.
“I was.”
“You were? Let me guess, it was, until the devil herself dumped you?” I looked at my brother, who averted his eyes. “I’m right, aren’t I. You’re going back in because of her, because of Mallory.”
“The reason doesn’t matter. What matters is that you come back home and—”
I turned my back on my brother and walked across the small kitchen and looked out the back door window. I didn’t want to go back. I’d fought so hard to leave that small town and the ghosts that I’d left there. My own ghosts and demons that every once in a while, appeared in my mind, haunting me. The most recent one from a year ago.
“Gabe, it’s not that simple,” I muttered. “This farm means a lot to me.”
I could see Gabe nod out of the corner of my eye. He understood, or at least I hope he understood. “I get it, but the family farm…it’s bigger. It produces a hell of a lot more than this. It can provide a much healthier income for you and—”
“This is all I need, Gabe. I don’t need a large operation, just like I don’t need a lot of things. I’m happy living this simple life. Besides, I promised them,” I said, tears filling my eyes at the thought of selling this place to return to Willow Valley, to the place where I’d had my heart torn into pieces. The opportunity to leave there hadn’t appeared until Grandma and Gramps needed help, and I’d been grateful for it. It came at a time that I couldn’t stand looking at my face in the mirror. I also couldn’t stand looking at my best friend or her boyfriend, a guy I’d had a crush on my entire teenage life. A guy who never even knew I existed.
Gabe turned around and made his way back to the front door. With his hand on the knob, he stopped. “Just tell me you’ll think about it.”
I said nothing. I just stood there. He didn’t know what it was he was asking of me. It had been hard enough going back there to say good-bye to Ella, who had once been my best friend. A friendship that I allowed jealousy to overtake. He also didn’t know it had taken me months to get myself back to a place of happiness after I’d returned from her funeral, especially after what had happened.
“Just tell me that. I’m going to go out to the barn and do some work. We can talk about it later.”
He didn’t wait; he opened the door and then closed it behind him, leaving me in the kitchen. I watched as he made his way out to the barn in the rain. There was something else in this ask. I just didn’t know what it was, but I prayed it had nothing to do with Connor Darling.
* * *
I pulled Grandma’s blue casserole dish from the oven and lifted the lid. The smell of delicious cheesy casserole filled the air. I’d taken the opportunity to make it, knowing that Gabe was here for dinner—at least for tonight. It wasn’t very often I got to have Grandma’s Cheesy Beefy Biscuit Casserole, and lately I’d been craving it. Plus, I’d needed something to occupy my mind, because once I’d started thinking of Connor, he’d invaded my thoughts the entire day.
