Chapter 7
GRAE
I pulled into a makeshift parking spot in front of my parents’ house and let out a long breath. There was always a mixture of emotions when coming home. Their property was truly one of my favorite places on Earth, with its acres of forest and magical mountainside views of the town and lake.
The house itself felt like it blended in with the landscape—a mix of dark wood and stone that stretched across the slope.
A glass walkway joined the two halves of the structure.
My mom always used to joke that having so many kids meant they needed a kids’ house and an adults’ house.
But the truth was, she had always been right in the middle of the mayhem because she loved us so much.
Turning off the engine, I climbed out of my SUV and took in the other vehicles. It looked like I was the last one here. Then, my gaze caught on a familiar G-Wagon, and my stomach flipped.
I hadn’t known Caden would be here. Why hadn’t he texted me? I needed time to come up with a plan. Would he act as if nothing had changed? Or were we supposed to pretend to be a couple?
I cursed him seven ways to Sunday as I walked up to the house. Suddenly, the front door flew open, and my six-year-old, bundle-of-energy nephew barreled out. “Aunt G!”
I laughed as he launched himself at me. I had to shift so he wouldn’t knock either my glucose monitor or insulin pump free on contact, but I managed to avoid a fatal blow. Lifting him onto my hip, I ruffled his hair. “How’s my favorite kid?”
He threw his arms around my neck and hugged me tightly. “Better not tell Luke or Drew that.”
I chuckled. “It’ll stay our little secret.”
I let Charlie down, and he immediately took my hand. My heart squeezed. How many more months of this did I have? Time when Charlie wasn’t embarrassed to show his aunt affection. However long it was, I didn’t want to miss a second.
Drew and Luke had grown up way too fast. The best I got out of Luke now was a grunt on a good day, and Drew was thirteen going on twenty-one. I missed when I could cuddle them close and read them bedtime stories. I couldn’t imagine how Lawson felt. His eldest would be driving before long.
Charlie tugged me toward the front door. “Grandma made Boston cream pie for dessert, me and Uncle Nash’s favorite. Uncle Nash already tried to steal some, but Grandma smacked him with her spoon.”
“Why am I not surprised about that?”
Charlie smiled up at me with his gapped-tooth grin. “Gotta get it while you can.”
“Sounds like a Nash-ism.”
Charlie bobbed his head up and down.
As we stepped inside, voices sounded from the living room. That cacophony of chaos always warmed my heart. Moving into the space, I took in my family scattered about.
Luke sat in the corner, entranced by his phone.
Drew shamelessly flirted with Maddie while Nash scowled at him, and Maddie laughed.
Wren was pressed to Holt’s side as they talked to Dad.
Lawson was helping Mom chop veggies for a salad in the kitchen.
And Roan sat off to the side, staring out the window as if he longed to be back in nature.
“Aunt G’s here! Can we freaking eat already? I’m starving.”
An array of heads popped up, and people began to laugh.
“My man!” Nash agreed. “Let’s get this party started.” Then he turned to Drew. “You do not get to sit next to my girl.”
Drew grinned. “I told you that you were gonna have to bring your A-game if you wanted to keep a babe like Maddie.”
Nash wrapped an arm around Maddie and kissed her hard and deep. “How’s that for A-game?”
Charlie made an exaggerated gagging noise. “No kissing around the food! That’s illegal. Right, Dad?”
Lawson chuckled. “I’m afraid that’s not in our town’s bylaws, bud.”
Charlie’s brows furrowed. “Who do I talk to about that?”
Everyone laughed.
I jumped as an arm slid around my shoulders. Looking up into mischievous hazel eyes, my heart hammered against my ribs. Caden grinned down at me. “Hey, babe. Missed you today.”
As his lips brushed my temple, everyone froze.
I counted from one beat to two, and the entire room erupted.
“What the hell?” Nash barked.
“Why are your lips touching my sister?” Holt growled as he pushed to his feet.
Lawson strode out from the kitchen. “This is a joke, right?”
But Roan stayed sitting. He simply stared, a thoughtful expression on his face.
Caden didn’t seem especially worried and showed no signs of releasing me as three pissed-off guys charged toward him. I, on the other hand, immediately started sweating.
“Explain,” Nash growled.
Caden rubbed a hand up and down my arm. “Gigi and I are dating.”
Lawson’s jaw dropped open, then closed, then opened again. “You two hate each other.”
Caden shrugged. “I think that was really just flirting.”
Holt’s gaze narrowed on him. “Grae said she was going to murder you. Repeatedly.”
My fingers twisted in Caden’s shirt as the panic set in.
“Murder is apparently Gigi’s love language,” Caden explained.
Wren let out a strangled laugh as her eyes went wide.
Holt whirled on her. “Did you know about this?”
She held up both hands. “I certainly did not.” Her eyes narrowed on her fiancé. “But if I did and G swore me to secrecy, I would’ve been well within my rights not to tell you a danged thing.”
“Of course,” Holt quickly backed down.
Nash snorted. “Whipped.”
“Like you aren’t?” Holt snapped. “You can’t even handle your thirteen-year-old nephew flirting with Maddie.”
“Enough,” Lawson barked. “When did this start?”
Schnitzel. Schnitzel. Schnitzel. Caden and I hadn’t come up with a backstory to tell people. They were going to see through us in two seconds flat.
Caden’s fingers tangled in my hair as he gazed down at me.
“I’ve always known Gigi was special. It only takes a second in her presence to realize that.
But when I came home this time, I just couldn’t stay away.
She has this pull. Makes you want to lean in and get as close to that light as possible.
Makes you want to do better. Deserve her. I’m just lucky she gave me a shot.”
My throat tightened. Had Caden gone to acting school while he was in New York? That performance deserved a freaking Oscar.
My mom shoved through the wall of my brothers and beamed at us. Oh, crud on a cracker. She looked so dang happy. “Caden.” She pulled him into her arms. “I’ve always thought of you as one of mine. This just makes it official.”
Red danger lights flashed in my mind. My mom would be planning a wedding before we knew it.
“Mom, it’s new. Don’t go crazy,” I said, panic digging in deep.
She released Caden and turned to me. “Don’t you tell me not to be excited when my girl hasn’t ever once brought a guy home before.”
“Technically, he brought himself,” I argued.
Nash choked on a laugh. “Burn, dude.”
Maddie smacked him.
“You guys set the table,” Mom called. “I need a few minutes with my girl.”
“But—”
She cut me off with a look. And I didn’t protest as she dragged me toward Dad’s office.
I glanced over my shoulder to see my brothers descending on Caden with what looked like murderous intent.
He just grinned at me and winked. Freaking winked.
Who winked when they were about to get murdered?
I was starting to think that Caden had a bizarre death wish.
Mom pulled me into Dad’s office and shut the door behind us.
“It’s really not that big of a deal. It’s new and casual,” I said, hoping to stave her off.
“Sit,” she ordered.
I knew that tone and immediately sat on the sofa. My mom lowered herself to the seat next to me and just studied me for a moment. “Are you happy?”
I swallowed hard, trying to come up with an answer that wouldn’t be an outright lie. “There’s been a lot going on. Between the attacks on Holt and Wren, and then Nash and Maddie, the craziness at work, Dad still recovering from his heart attack…”
Mom’s expression softened as she took my hand. “We’ve certainly had our fair share of drama lately.”
“Understatement,” I muttered.
“But are you happy with Caden?”
I fidgeted with the edge of the sofa cushion. “He’s not what people think.”
My mom’s brows pulled together.
“He’d do anything for his family, even though his brother and dad don’t deserve it.
He has this gentleness with his mom unlike anything I’ve ever seen.
He cares about the people around him and wants to make their lives better.
” I’d known that just by the way he’d stepped in with Rance when he didn’t have to.
“You’ve always had a way of seeing the best in people.”
I shrugged. “Not always, but I think I see him. The good and the bad.” That was why it had hurt so badly to lose Caden. I just had to hope that spending time together now would get us to a new place—one where I could appreciate him as a friend but let him go as anything more than that.
Mom’s mouth curved. “I always knew you were half in love with him growing up.”
I jerked. “You did not.”
She laughed. “A mother knows these things. Your eyes would light up whenever he came around, and he just had this way with you. He could calm you when you were pissed off or upset, make you smile when you were hurting.” Her amusement melted into a hint of worry.
“I could never figure out what happened between the two of you that your friendship fell apart the way it did, though.”
My mom looked at me as if expecting an answer. But I didn’t have one. Because I had never been able to figure out why Caden walked right out of my life without a backward glance. All I knew was that it had left me in pieces that had never fit right again.