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Twenty-One.
Butch
“Are you sure?” Cassidyasks, biting her lip as she surveys the wide selection spread out at the local in-store bakery. “I thought you said Levi hates nuts.”
“He’ll live,” I grunt.
She glares up at me disapprovingly. And I’m a sucker for that little scrunch in her nose she does when she’s annoyed. “Just becauseyouwant the pecan pie doesn’t meaneveryonewants the pecan pie.”
The smile that splits my face has her looking more and more flustered. Tugging her into my arms in the middle of the cake and pie section of the bakery, I kiss her temple. “Fine. We’ll get the pecanandthe apple. Sound good?”
“No,” she mutters, tipping her chin up and pecking my lips before turning back to the same array of desserts. “You said yourmom asked for two pies. Which, to me, means she wants two of thesamekind so we can all enjoy it together.”
“But…” I sound like a whiny little bitch right now, but in my defense, this pecan pie looks damn good.
“I’ll tell you what,” she says, setting two apple pies in our basket and taking my hand. Her delicate, soft fingers thread through my rough, burly ones as she steers us away from my pecan pie. “My grandma had an old pecan pie recipe she used to make for my dad on Thanksgiving. I’ll see if I can find it in the notebook we brought home yesterday.”
It’s been a week since Cassidy and I had our firstsort of fight, as she likes to call it. Unfortunately, last week’s Sunday dinner got canceled since my nephew, Parker, was sick with a stomach bug. They didn’t want to give it to everyone since he and Lily are living there, too. Solid call, in my opinion. It gave me the day to focus on my girl and make sure she knew how much I loved her.
And I made sure I was very,verythorough in clearing any lingering doubts in her mind as to where we stand.
It ended with us making some big decisions. Together. Like cleaning out her trailer in Whitetail Park and moving all of her belongings to my house—ourhouse. She’s still hesitant to sell it, given her brother will need a place to stay once he finishes rehab, but we all agree that might not be the best move for him.
After seeing how upset Cass had been about not being able to speak to her brother, I was thankful the place I chose to take Garrett allows him to communicate via email with his family and friends. He told us he’ll be sending a video chat next week to give proof of life and that he really is doing better.
So, for now, the trailer is cleaned out until he decides what he wants to do—whether that’s come back to Whitetail or find some other new horizon to set his sails for. Either way, Cassidy is with me now, and that won’t be changing. Ever.
“You told me you can’t bake worth a shit,” I say as we walk hand in hand.
“Well… I did say that, didn’t I.” She giggles, stopping to open one of the foggy freezer doors and peering inside. “You’ll help me, though, right?” she asks all too sweetly as she plops a tub of French vanilla ice cream in the basket.
As if I could deny spending time with her? Or anything, for that matter.
“Cassidy?”
We both turn, a familiar face standing a few steps away. I recognize her from the bar the night I beat the shit out of Colt for laying a hand on my girl.
“Oh, hi, Madison,” Cass greets her, and the tense shift in both of them has me on edge. Their last interaction, as far as I know, didn’t go so hot.
Madison glances up at me with an awkward wave. “Hi, Butch.”
I grunt, wrapping a protective arm around Cassidy and tucking her into my side.
She catches the hint, lowering her gaze before returning her attention to Cass. “I, um…” Tears spring to her eyes and now suddenlyI’mthe uncomfortable one. “Sorry, this is just harder than I thought it’d be.”
Cassidy sighs, stepping toward her and allowing Madison to hug her. She starts rambling quickly between her hiccups and cries, and I can only catch pieces of it. “You were right…I’m so stupid. Please forgive me…I’ve been trying to get in touch with you for over a week now, but you have me blocked on everything…not that I blame you.”
Cass pulls away and steps back beside me, slipping her hand in mine. “Yeah, I’ve been…busy.”
Madison nods. “Totally fair, but…I was wondering if you wanted to hang out tonight, if you’re free?”
“We’ve got plans tonight,” she replies, and my chest swells at her including me in that statement. I glare at Cassidy’s friend—or old friend, I’m not quite sure—daring her to say anything negative about us being together. But she simply nods yet again, gazing between the two of us.
“Right, of course.” Madison takes out her phone from her back pocket. “Can I…text you, then?”
“How about I text you? Since I still have you blocked.” Cassidy gives my hand a firm squeeze.
“Let’s get going, beautiful,” I say, catching on. “We don’t want to be late.” The women exchange agoodbyeandtalk soon, but from the tone my girl says it in, I’m getting the impression she won’t be talking to her anytime soon.
