Chapter 6 #2
So many secrets, so many lies, and yet, it felt as if this one truth had changed everything once more and it didn’t make any sense to me. “Thank you. I’m just going to go drive downtown a bit. Walk downtown, I guess. The little shops. Walk around. The brothers won’t let me work today.”
“That sounds like them. Seriously though. I know you’re good at faking it for others, but if you need to scream into the void or some shit, call me.”
“I’ll be fine. I promise,” I lied.
And then I said my goodbyes and left the lake behind me before I got into my SUV.
I assumed my tires were fine, so maybe Hudson or someone should check them out.
But my hands shook as I drove down the winding road around the lake toward the main town area.
It wasn’t really downtown. It was just farther south and a lower elevation.
The place was adorable, with its similar facade on each building.
As if there was a building code that somebody paid attention to and was very strict about.
But there was still a little bit of individuality in each thing.
And there really were way too many Cage names on this place. Cage Italiano had to be the worst culprit. They didn’t even try with that one. At least the so-called dive bar I had driven past on the way here didn’t have Cage in the name— they had just gone with Lake Bar.
The main street had many of the tourist businesses and eateries of town.
Cage Street was the main road that got you into the town and toward the lake before you turned onto Main Street.
Because of course the Cages would name their own road that.
I didn’t know if it was Dad or someone else who had gone with the naming, but I knew Flynn and the others probably wouldn’t stamp their face all over everything. At least I hoped they didn’t.
I parked in an easy spot near the market, and put my crossbody bag on, and tried not to hold my pepper spray too tight. Blakely had even given me bear spray to add on to that, and while I would always choose the bear over the man, I didn’t like the fact that I had spray to ward off both of them.
“You must be Isabella,” an average-height woman with richly dark hair pulled into a bun on the top of her head said.
She wore a wool vest over outdoor pants and hiking shoes and had on a scarf as well that looked fancy.
Somehow, she mixed rugged and ladies-who-lunch together, and I wasn’t sure how she did it.
“Excuse me?” I asked, a little scared that this woman had recognized me, and I had no idea who she was.
“Oh I’m sorry. I’m Ms. Patty. Aston sent a note over saying that you were coming to stay at his place.
It’s so good to meet one of his sisters.
The town cannot wait to get to know all of you.
I’m the mayor’s wife, and well I suppose the welcoming committee.
” She laughed, and it didn’t sound condescending or rude.
Instead she sounded welcoming. It was not what I was used to.
“Anyway. If you need anything, you just let us know. He said you would be working remotely up here, and also you have the power of attorney to sign a few pieces of paperwork. Which I know my husband will very much be wanting to talk to you about.” She winked.
“You Cages sure take care of us. You should head up to the resort as well. The resort manager, Scarlett, really knows what she’s doing.
And she doesn’t really need Cage oversight, which I’m sure you all appreciate.
Your resort is in great hands with that one.
Anyway, you should try the Caged Bean, they have a lovely coffee flight.
Although as you can tell, I’ve had a little too much espresso for the day.
” She laughed again, and my lips couldn’t help but form into a smile, even as I struggled to keep up.
“Anyway, Aston told me to let everyone know that you’d be in town, and to keep an eye on you.
Just so you didn’t get lost or if you needed anything.
So don’t worry, we’ll be around for you.
” She reached out, squeezed my hand, and left before I could even get a word in.
Well, apparently the town would indeed be watching out for me while I went on this forced sabbatical.
He let the mayor’s wife know I was in town, as well as everyone else.
So I was going to get the true small-town welcome.
Where people kept waving at me, as if I was supposed to know who they were.
Maybe he was right, I wasn’t going to truly be alone in this place, even though I only somewhat knew Hudson. I swallowed hard. And Weston.
Countless people introduced themselves, and I tried to keep up, said hello, and then told me that they’d be keeping an eye on me, making sure I didn’t find my way down a dark alley— not that Cage Lake had those.
In other words, my brothers had found a way to keep me in a bubble without clipping my wings.
I didn’t know how the hell they had done that when they didn’t even know me that well, but they sure had.
Maybe it was Blakely, and that did sound like her as well.
Or maybe I was figuring out exactly who these Cages were.
I turned the corner, heading toward the Caged Bean when I ran into a hard wall. Strong arms reached out and gripped me by my shoulders, and I flinched, that memory hitting hard before I looked up. I stared into those familiar eyes, my mouth going dry.
“Bella,” he muttered, and I tried to pull back, only it was a lost cause. Because there he was, the man I told myself not to think about. Only he was the only person I could think about.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I blurted.
His eyes widened. “I was about to ask you the same damn question. What the hell are you doing here when some stalker is out to get you?”
I hissed under my breath at that, annoyed that Hudson must have told him. Because apparently, they were best friends.
“Just yell it for the whole town to hear why don’t you.”
He cursed under his breath and pulled me toward what I thought was an alley.
“Don’t you dare,” I bit out, but he was so much stronger than me, I couldn’t fight back. Panic began to fill my lungs, memories assaulting me, but then we weren’t in an alley. Instead we were in a small park between two buildings.
“Breathe. Fuck. Did I scare you? I just wanted to get you out of the eyes of everyone else. You know how they are. Fuck. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I lied. I wiped the sweat off my brow, once again annoyed that here I was, stressed out and sweaty over a man.
I rubbed my hand over my chest and glared at the man.
He had the sleeves of his Henley pushed up to his elbows, so his tatted forearms showed, and he brushed his hair back from his face so his eyes brightened even as he glared at me.
“Bella. Did I hurt you? Fuck. I just wanted to talk to you, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“You didn’t scare me.” A total untruth. Then I swallowed hard and shook my head. “Okay, maybe. Did Hudson tell you?”
“Of course Hudson told me. He’s my best friend.”
“I wasn’t aware you two were best friends until like twenty minutes ago.”
“Well, there’s a lot of things we’re not aware of. It’s been eight years, Bella.”
“I really wish you would stop calling me that. I’m Isabella. Nobody calls me Bella anymore.” Not since you left me.
“It’s hard for me to call you anything else.” He ran his hands through his hair, the muscles in his biceps bulging. “I’ll try, but I’m not good at it.”
“I can’t handle this right now.”
“You should have texted. Called. I’m sorry you went through that. Everything. Are you okay?”
“Did he tell you everything?” I asked, my voice low. The entire family knew about the attack now. Both of them. They had needed to, and frankly, they deserved to know. Secrets weren’t good for us anyway. Though, then again, my mom didn’t know yet. Because I didn’t want to talk to her. I couldn’t.
“He told me about William.” I flinched at the name, and he sighed. “I’m sorry. I don’t know if he was supposed to tell me all of that, but he and the rest of your brothers wanted me to keep an eye out for you. He didn’t know. That I knew you. About everything.”
“They don’t know that this world is so infinitesimally small I can’t get away from people connected to the brothers I never knew about? How are you here? How are you Hudson’s best friend?”
“He would visit, the same with the rest of your brothers, and we just got along. Then he moved back to stay after he got out of the military, and things just happened. He’s just as much of an asshole as I am, so we get along,” he said dryly.
I studied his face, trying to see the man I used to know and thought I loved.
He had been twenty-seven, I had been twenty-one.
A baby now that I thought about it. But he had been everything to me.
A flash, heat, a spark so quickly ignited that it had been everything.
Yet it hadn’t been a fling. I knew that. Only...
“Why didn’t you tell me about your family.”
He stiffened, his face paling. “Hudson told you that too. Seems like he’s talking a lot more than he usually does.”
I raised my chin, not letting him get out of this so easily.
“He doesn’t know that we know each other.
So he didn’t realize that he changed everything.
Why? Why didn’t you tell me that your parents died, Weston?
And you had to come back here and raise your sisters and brother.
I know you told me about them. And I remember their names, but I don’t know anything else about them.
There wasn’t time back then. I thought we would have more time. Why didn’t you tell me?”
Anger shocked me, and my hands shook. I moved forward and put my palms on his chest. His heartbeat vibrated against my hands, and I let out a breath. “You just left. A single note by my pillow. And you didn’t answer my calls. You did nothing. I don’t understand. Why couldn’t you tell me?”
He was silent for so long I was afraid he wasn’t going to say anything. I was ready to take a step back, to walk away once again, but then he lowered his head and put his hands on my wrists. Over the bruises settling there.
“I didn’t know how. I really wasn’t thinking.”
“And after?”
“After there wasn’t time. I couldn’t come into the city and start my own business or work for someone else.
I couldn’t expand Caldwell’s. I couldn’t do anything that we planned.
Because I had to be the one to step up and watch two ten-year-old girls who were shell-shocked and scared.
I had to figure out how to keep my brother in college because he was ready to drop out.
To try to figure out how to help out with money.
Because life insurance only goes so far, and I had no idea how to raise three kids.
So I didn’t think. I wrote a note, wondering if I was going to figure out how to come back, and I just left.
I left you sleeping in your bed, and I had to somehow be a dad.
So yes, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for being an asshole. ”
Emotions clawed for purchase within me as I tried to come to terms with his revelations.
I wanted to reach out and hold him, tell him that I was sorry.
But I wanted to scream and shout because nothing made sense, and I felt as if I were three steps behind.
I needed to sound sure. Sophisticated. Not as if I were still broken remnants of the woman I’d once been.
“You had a good reason to leave. I get that. But I don’t understand. ”
“There’s not much to understand.”
My breaths came in ragged pants, matching his.
He had lied when he’d said forever, he had hurt me, and I hated the fact that the man that I hated, that I resented, wasn’t that man anymore. Now there was a glimmer of reason. Of the why of it all.
And I couldn’t think.
“Bella. That man hurt you. I don’t know what I would do if you got hurt again. Please, stay safe here. Let us help you.”
“Weston,” I whispered.
“Just for once let us keep you safe.”
“Don’t get angry with me,” I snapped back. “I’m trying. I’m letting people take care of me. And you know how much I hate that. The man who attacked me is in jail and I’m fine.” Another lie. “But you keep changing the subject to me when I want to know why .”
“I don’t have a reason. But there’s still this.
” And then he crushed his mouth to mine, and I groaned into him, flashes of memory of before slamming into me.
Of his taste, of his need. He kept his hands on my wrists, my palms on his chest. But his tongue lashed along mine, deepening the kiss.
My body tensed, needing him as his rough kiss sent shivers down my spine.
And when I pulled away, gasping for breath, he let my hands fall.
“That’s why I needed to leave. And that’s why I can’t stop thinking about you.”
And I just stared at the man who I thought I had known, wondering what the hell I was doing in Cage Lake.