Gage shifted in his chair, putting one foot up on the edge of the bed as he turned the page of Diane Capri’s thriller novel. He loved this take on the Lee Child series—
Cady groaned and moved around a little in bed, and Gage snapped the book shut, jerking forward, both stockinged feet landing hard on the oak floors.
“Water,” Cady murmured, and Gage hurried to grab her water bottle from the nightstand, holding it up against her lips as she sucked down the liquid.
“How are you feeling?” he asked her, stroking some stray strands of hair off her face. Her hair was curling and springing every which way; he knew that she would think she looked horrible if she saw herself in the mirror, but he’d never seen a prettier sight in all his life.
He’d almost lost her. If it wasn’t for a forgotten cell phone, what would’ve happened?
He felt sick at the thought.
They had to put that man away. Cady had to be willing to testify against him. Gage didn’t care how much it terrified her – letting Dickwad roam free was not an option.
“Better now,” she said, finally pulling her mouth off the built-in straw of the water bottle. Her hand moved up to her neck and she patted her necklace, a habitual checking to make sure that it was still there.
“I’ve been meaning to ask you,” he said casually, wanting to keep away from the fraught topic of testifying for a moment. “Where did you get that necklace from? I’ve noticed you only take it off in the shower.” She didn’t take it off anywhere else – not to sleep, or go out hiking, or even while having sex. It stayed around her neck no matter what.
“Mom and Dad.” For the first time, her eyes fluttered open and she smiled sadly at him. “Eighteenth birthday present. I love emeralds – green and full of life, you know? Diamonds are so colorless and boring, and rubies are like blood…” She shivered a little.
Creamsicle came bounding into the room just then, having heard the voices and realizing Cady was awake. The dog propelled herself up onto the bed, the height of it no match against sheer willpower, despite her short, stubby legs. Nothing would hold her back from giving Cady the face bath she so obviously deserved.
“Hi, goofball,” she said, laughing between strokes of the pink tongue. “I’ve missed you, and I can see you missed me, too. Hey, just a second.” She looked at Gage with panic in her eyes. “Where’s Skittles? He’s probably freaking out—”
“Rochelle is taking care of him,” Gage broke in, before she could wind herself up into a true frenzy. “She lost her cat just a month or so before you moved to Sawyer, and I think she’s been missing the companionship. I didn’t want to bring him over here; I didn’t want him and Puffers fighting and tearing around underfoot with you in a cast.”
“Thank you,” Cady said gratefully.
Cream Puffs, obviously feeling neglected, began nudging her side, hoping for more pettings. Cady lifted her right arm to pet her and then dropped it back down to the mattress with a groan. “This,” she said through gritted teeth, “is really going to suck.” She switched to her left arm and scratched Creamsy behind the ears, and then looked at Gage, her eyes haunted. “How am I supposed to make smoothies and run a cash register when I only have one arm? And it’s my right arm. If it’d at least been my left…”
Gage picked up her right hand and squeezed it softly.
“You really can’t,” he said bluntly. It was best if she just faced the truth now. “Your whole arm is in a fixed cast from shoulder to wrist. There’s no way you can work. I already asked Sugar to put a sign up on the front door of the Smoothie Queen, and to tell anyone who asked what was going on. Dickwad isn’t exactly a popular man around town – no one can stand him, to be honest. Driving drunk everywhere you go, especially after your own sister and niece died in a drunk driving accident…” He shook his head.
He could almost see the gears whirring as Cady tried to decide which topic to tackle first. Finally, “His sister and niece died in a drunk driving accident? I didn’t know that!”
“I keep forgetting that you don’t know all of the dirty secrets of this town,” Gage said with a small chuckle, holding the water bottle back up to her lips, encouraging her to drink more. “It’s kind of refreshing, honestly.”
“I want you to tell me that story – or I’ll get it from Sugar – but right now, we need to back this train up to the station. What do you mean, I’m not going to reopen the Smoothie Queen? I can’t just abandon my business a week after opening it! Hold on, what’s today?”
“Wednesday. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Everyone will be busy with preparations for Turkey Day – I promise you, business would be slow today anyway. You were already planning on being closed tomorrow, of course, and then it’s the start of the biggest shopping weekend of the year, which means everybody and their dog will be in Boise, scouting for the good deals, and not here in Sawyer, buying health food. That means you have until at least Monday before anyone will even think to wonder where you’re at. We can see how this weekend goes; play it by ear.”
He helped her sit up in bed, stuffing the pillows behind her back, fishing out two pain pills and handing them over along with the water bottle. Her groans of pain just from trying to sit up in bed…
He had a feeling that by Monday morning, it wouldn’t be so hard to convince Cady to stay in bed after all.
“Tomorrow is Thanksgiving?” she moaned, looking frazzled. “I can’t go eat dinner with your family like this. I can’t eat with my left hand – at least, I’ve never tried. I’ll probably miss my mouth half the time.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve already told Mom what’s going on; I’ll run over and pick up some plates loaded down with turkey and all the trimmings and bring them back here. I promise to point and laugh every time you spill gravy down the front of your shirt, and I’m sure Cream Puffs here will help you by licking it all off.”
She glowered at him. “I’ve decided to upgrade to balloons and flowers on Emma’s next birthday. I don’t think I need to wait another ten years after all.”
Gage bust out laughing. God, it was good to laugh again. After the scare two nights ago, laughter was a precious thing.
“I love you,” he said, still chuckling and wiping at the corners of his eyes. “I—”
They both froze. His casual admission hadn’t been on purpose but now that the words were finally out, he refused to take them back. Almost losing her…
Life was too short. He had to tell her how he felt and if it freaked her out, too damn bad. It was the truth.
“I love you too,” she whispered, her eyes glistening. She dashed the tears away with the back of her left hand. “I love you so damn much.”
“I love you,” he whispered, and this time it was sincere, not a flippant remark, his heart feeling a thousand times happier than just minutes before. “Watching Dickwad…” He shook the memory away, and then leaned forward to softly kiss her on the lips. She was still fragile, but he couldn’t hold the kiss inside any longer.
It didn’t take long for Cream Puffs to start nudging her nose underneath his arm, whining and reminding them that she was there too.
“Do you love us too?” Cady asked teasingly as she and Gage broke apart and she began scratching the dog behind the ears. Her tail thumped on the bed as her eyes closed in bliss, happy to be loved on. “I think that’s a yes…”
Just then, her stomach rumbled, and Gage grinned at her. “You don’t eat much, but you sure do eat often,” he told her. “C’mon, let’s go downstairs and I’ll make you some chicken noodle soup. My grandmother’s recipe. Your broken arm will be healed by tomorrow.”
He scooped her up in his arms as Cream Puffs jumped off the bed and pranced around their feet, happily barking as Cady laughed. “I broke my arm, not my leg,” she protested as he headed for the bedroom door.
She broke off then, yawning hard, looking exhausted. “I hate those pain pills,” she grumbled. “They keep putting me to sleep. No more of them. Only over-the-counter stuff from now on.”
As long as she wasn’t in pain, Gage didn’t care what she took. He just wanted her to be okay. Nothing else mattered.
He settled her down onto the leather couch and turned on a movie, then hurried into the kitchen to make soup. By time he was done, though, she was fast asleep, curled up on the couch with Creamsy tucked in beside her. They were adorable together, even with the thick cast of her arm in the middle of it all.
At least she’s okay – that’s what matters…
He went upstairs to grab Capri’s book. It looked like he had another couple of hours of Cady-watching duty, just making sure she was all right. After what she’d been through…
He eased himself onto the couch, careful not to wake her, and then opened up his book, flipping back to where he’d left off.
He would make sure that she was never hurt again.