4. Kade
4
Kade
I haven’t said much today. I’ve been fuming since yesterday when Gia roped me into coming with her to Blue Flag. She’s not wrong that I’m contractually obligated, but I don’t respect her pulling that kind of stunt when she knows how much I hate this town.
The luxe car swerves down the mountainside road and rolls through downtown Blue Flag. It looks exactly the same, although a little more ritzy, thanks to Gia’s rise to fame and all the money she’s put toward public works in Blue Flag, not to mention her parents’ inn. Instead of being the lesser ski town in the Adirondacks, it’s on par with Lake Placid. Which… I guess is a good thing.
I have half a mind to remark about the snow. It’s just slush on the roads and dusty drifts on the sidewalk. Sure, it’s more wintery than Malibu, but it’s not pretty .
“Wow, the candy store is still here!” Bryn exclaims.
“Of course it is!” Gia replies from the bench across from me, an endearing grin on her lips.
Bryn looks at me. “Do you remember when we used to go for their penny candies? Ten for ten? I mean, do they even do that anymore?”
“Yup,” I reply with a simple nod. I do remember. Fond memories. With our mother. Bouncing from store to store, following her like two ducklings. Life in Blue Flag was beautiful at one time. But since she’s been gone, I haven’t been able to hold those memories without aching all over.
Gia pulls her sunglasses down so I can see her eyes. “Come on, Kade. Have a little fun.”
“I’m on the job if you’ve forgotten,” I say with an annoyed smile.
She snorts, pulling her sunglasses back over her eyes. Not sure why she needs them when the sky is as overcast and gray as it is. But that’s Gia. And not because she’s famous, no.
Fame really hasn’t changed Gia. Okay, other than holding my job over my head in order to bribe me into coming back to Blue Flag, sure. But she’s always been whacky. I say that lovingly. I remember her from school, even though Bryn and I were two years ahead of her. I’d pass her in the hall, and she was always utterly herself. She wore loud, clomping shoes and bright colors, always humming along to whatever she was listening to on her iPod between classes.
She didn’t have a lot of friends. Definitely an outcast type. Meanwhile, I was a three-season athlete. My circles thought she was a weirdo.
Now, I know they were just jealous that she didn’t feel compelled to fit in anyone’s mold.
Bryn reaches over and grabs my hand, imploring me with her eyes. It’s going to be good , they seem to say.
I shake my head and inhale deeply. I’m here to work a job, and that’s the long and short of it. That’s the only way I’ll get through the next week and change .
Downtown Blue Flag only lasts a few blocks before the roads up Blue Flag Mountain start to spill upward, defying gravity. One goes to the main resort, another to the state park, and the third toward the residential areas and bed and breakfasts, including the inn where Gia grew up.
My body remembers these twists and turns like they’re somehow programmed into me. It’s surprisingly nice to be somewhere this familiar. In my adult life, I’ve learned locations. Learned more maps and paths and roads than I can count. And sure, they become automatic. I know which way to go. But they never become innate—not like Blue Flag.
The car swings into a drive marked by an antique gas lamp hanging over a sign reading The Lantern Inn. It’s been painted, at least since the last time I was in Blue Flag, which was nearly a decade ago. I shouldn’t be surprised, but it does hurt a bit for the way things were to exist in the space of “were.” They’re only a memory.
The driveway is long, but once we pull through the tunnel of barren trees, we’re at the main house. Big, wide and white, with a red shingled roof and a columned portico over the front door, also red and adorned with the most bulbous wreath I’ve ever seen.
Before the car comes to a full stop, the front door opens, and Gia’s parents, Carlo and Antonia, emerge. They don’t look a day over forty and definitely don’t act any less in love than when they met as teenagers. They always seem to be touching each other in some way. Hands, shoulders, and even longing glances across the room.
I wonder if love like that is even possible anymore.
Gia leaps out of the car before it’s at a full stop, and I’m about to yell out for her to be careful, but Bryn grips my bicep. “Relax. She knows what she’s doing. ”
I huff and wait for the car to stop so I can unbuckle. “I’m here to protect her. It’s my job.”
Bryn rolls her eyes. “Okay, workaholic.”
“That’s the only reason I’m here,” I retort.
My sister, businesswoman extraordinaire, looks at me with a softness in her expression. “Sure, Kade.” She pats my shoulder and then climbs out of the car.
Sure? What’s that supposed to mean?
I follow my sister out of the car and duck around to the back to help the driver with our bags. Need time to collect myself and put on a happy face so I don’t look bitter over being forced back to Blue Flag.
“Kade, why are you hiding?” Antonia cries out.
I sigh heavily from the back of the car and emerge from my hiding spot.
For the first time since we landed at the Blue Flag municipal airport, the burden of my anger alleviates. The image on the front porch comforts me.
Carlo has Gia tucked under one arm and Bryn under the other, pulling them in close with a broad grin that makes his mustache look even bushier. Meanwhile, Antonia stands on Bryn’s other side, having interrupted her fawning to call me over.
They always do this, Carlo and Antonia. They fawn over Bryn and me before their own daughter. And I know it’s not a mistake. When Bryn and Gia became friends in high school, Bryn became a part of their family. And me by proxy. They know how much we’ve lost since our mother passed away when we were just thirteen years old. After she was gone… so was our dad, even though we lived in the same house. They know we need it a little bit more than Gia does. Maybe.
I smile as I approach Antonia, and it’s not forced. I actually want to smile. “Sorry,” I mutter .
“Why are you sorry?!” Antonia cries out but absorbs me in a big hug for such a small woman, kissing each of my cheeks. “You’ve grown, Kade. You’re the only boy I know who just keeps growing.”
My cheeks heat, and I look away.
“He’s trying to become the Incredible Hulk,” Gia says. “Don’t make him mad.”
I roll my eyes.
“I would never. Not after the way you dressed down that reporter,” Carlo says, then leans his head forward and darkens his eyes, if that’s possible for the congenial Italian. “‘Back off,’” he growls. He can’t keep a straight face, though, and bursts into laughter. “Very intimidating, Kade!”
I wince. I’ve been trying to avoid any press about the incident after Gia’s concert the other night. Part of being a bodyguard is not standing out—not like that. You need to be taken seriously, not have the internet swoon over you. “You saw that, huh?”
“All of Blue Flag saw it! And then some,” Antonia exclaims, patting my arm.
“What was my favorite headline?” Carlo asks his wife, snapping his fingers.
Bryn grins. “I personally liked ‘Big, Brawny, Beautiful Bennett.’”
“That was the one! Ha!” Carlo says, wicking away a tear of laughter.
I hate being so big sometimes. Would be nice to be small and disappear.
Gia waves a hand through the air. “Okay, okay, that’s enough. You’re embarrassing him.”
My heart leaps, and I give Gia a small, grateful smile. I might be angry that I was forced to come here, but I don’t know how long I can hold a grudge when it comes to her .
Especially when she smiles back so sweetly.
Antonia takes the change of subject to heart, yanking me inside. “Okay, you must be hungry, Hulk. Let’s eat.”
It’s the DeLuca way to have a full meal before settling in, and I have to say I’m grateful for it. I’m hungry most of the time, thanks to my size and line of work. I do what I can to maintain a balanced and filling diet. Protein, whole fresh foods, organic.
But nothing compares to a plateful of pasta cooked by Antonia DeLuca.
“That was amazing,” I say after polishing off the last bite of my food. “Thank you. I needed that.”
“Don’t get used to it,” Antonia says. “I gave Abigail the day off so she could get some things in order before the holidays and go down to town, but she’ll be cooking the rest of the meals.”
I quirk an eyebrow. “Abigail?”
“Abigail’s been the chef here for the past six years. It’s one of the first things I insisted on upgrading for my parents,” Gia explains.
“And I wasn’t happy with that idea at first,” Antonia says, lifting one finger in the air. “But I’m not too proud to admit when I’m wrong, and when I tell you not having to cook for guests has changed my life…”
Carlo puts his hand on the nape of Antonia’s neck and rubs it gently.
Gia places her fork on her plate and folds her hands like she’s getting down to business. “So Bryn, you’re cool staying with me in my room, right?”
“Yeah, no problem. It’ll be like a sleepover!” Bryn says with a smile .
Gia pushes herself to standing. “Okay, Kade, grab your coat and meet me at the backdoor. I’m going to show you where you’re staying.”
“My coat?” I shoot back in return.
Gia leaves the room without replying to my questions.
Antonia chuckles. “Prima donna.”
I get to my feet, shooting Bryn a fleeting look of confusion, and head out of the dining room. Gia is nowhere to be seen. “Gia?”
I go to grab my coat and see my suitcase is already gone. What is going on? I turn around and head back through the house through the common room, where a fire is dancing in the fireplace, and a couple of guests are lounging and reading. Meet and greet can come later. For now, I’m a man on a mission.
The back door is wavering open when I reach it, and through it, I see Gia dragging my suitcase up the stone path that branches out into the forest surrounding the inn. She’s not wearing her jacket, only the chunky knit sweater that goes down to her midthigh.
I rush after her. “What are you doing?!”
Gia glances over her shoulder at me. “Taking you to your cabin.”
I catch up to her. Never a hard task. “My cabin?”
“Mhm. We’re out of rooms in the main building thanks to the guests and family, so?—”
I exchange my hand for hers on the handle of my suitcase, our fingers brushing lightly as we walk. I try to ignore how it makes my insides turn to jelly. “But you’re staying at the main house.”
“Correct,” she says before turning at a sign marked with the word “Noel.”
I stop in my tracks. “Gia. I’m supposed to be your bodyguard. ”
She shows no signs of stopping. “And?”
Why does she have to be so stubborn ? I run again after her. “And I need to be close to you to, you know, guard your body? That’s the whole point.”
Gia turns around and starts walking backward. I get a flash of fear that she might slip on a patch of ice. She points through the trees. “The main house is right there. And you can even see my window. The one with the curtains that don’t look like the rest. See?”
I glance over my shoulder, and… she’s right. All the inn’s curtains are dark green, except for one room, which has bright burnt orange ones. “That’s not good enough,” I say. I need to be close.”
“You sleep in the pool house every night.”
“On a property that is guarded by a security system and team,” I counter.
Gia laughs. What’s funny about this?!
At the end of the path is a mini version of the main house. White with a red roof and door. Another dramatic wreath on the door.
“This is it. Cabin Noel. Cute, right?”
It’s cute, but that’s not the point. “Gia, you brought me out here under the pretense that I’m doing my job.”
“Yeah, I did,” she says with a nod.
I blink.
“You can have privacy out here, at night, you know. The rest of the time, you can be at the main house, if you want.”
If I want…
“Look, I know you’re not happy I made you come. I get it that you’re upset with me. So here you can have space.”
I don’t want space. My job is the abject opposite of space. I want to be close. Want to protect her. But that want extends past my job description. I know it does. And I don’t like mixing personal with private. However, that doesn’t mean it hasn’t been mixed up from the beginning.
I’m starting to get the feeling that Gia’s trying to keep me at arm’s length. Her motive wasn’t to get me here—her motive was to bring Bryn. And Bryn wouldn’t have left me in Malibu—never. So now… now maybe Gia doesn’t want me interfering with her very merry Christmas.
I’m a downer. I always have been. I’d just be getting in the way.
“Right,” I say, clipped and curt. “Great.”
“Code is 2425. You know. Christmasy code.”
I would laugh if I wasn’t tying myself in knots over what’s going on. “Thanks.”
“Drop your bag and come back,” she says before heading back down the path. “If you want!”
“Is that what you want?” I call back in return.
She stops, shoving her hands in her pockets. “My mom will be disappointed if you don’t.”
Right. Antonia will be disappointed. Not Gia. “Got it.”
Gia gives me a smile that I do not return before disappearing down the path.