Chapter Six
CADE
"Oh, you two are making me so happy," Grandmother exclaimed the next Saturday.
We were all gathered at my grandparents’ house again, except for Colton. Jake and his fiancée, Natalie, had just informed us that they’d decided on a wedding date next summer, and Grandmother was over the moon.
"I do wish it was sooner than next summer, though," she continued.
"There's no pleasing you, is there, Grandmother?" Jake asked.
"I might croak before then. Neither I nor your grandfather are getting any younger."
There was a collective groan around the table.
"That’s a low blow," Spencer said. "You can't use the age card on us every time you want something."
"Yes, I can," Grandmother said, winking. "Besides, that means you won't give me any great-grandkids any time soon."
"That's a private matter," Jake said.
"You’ve been in New York for too long," I informed him. "Grandmother doesn't understand the meaning of the word private."
"Oh, and the rest of you do?" Grandmother retaliated.
"She has a point," Grandfather said, backing her up as always. It was nice, though. I was grateful that we had an example in our lives of what a healthy relationship looked like.
"Okay, everyone. Dig in," Grandmother said.
I looked appreciatively at the table. It bugged me that she was still spending so much time in the kitchen when we got together.
She definitely didn't have to cook so many meals, but she was determined to please everyone.
Whenever I confronted her about it, she said they would have leftovers for the whole week after, which made sense, I supposed.
But still, I didn't like the idea of her being on her feet for so many hours.
She could more than afford a private chef, but Grandmother had never wanted any of that.
“By the way, for Thanksgiving, I'd love for all of you to come here to celebrate. I want to be surrounded by all my grandchildren." Jake cleared his throat. "Oh, yes. Jake, I already invited your half brothers. I don't want to hear anything about it.”
“You won’t from me. Have you told Colton yet?” I asked.
“No, but he’ll come around,” Grandmother replied.
Colton and Jake were the most distant from our half brothers, although Jake had interacted more with them ever since Natalie started working for Maddox. Colton was another story.
"So, Cade, tell us about the contest. And how is Meredith? I heard she’s participating too," Grandmother said.
I stared at her. "The jig's up. You name-dropped her last time, and I thought it was a coincidence, but clearly you know something. What is it?"
Jake was looking in fascination at Grandmother. Natalie was chuckling, and Gabe looked stunned. Spencer shook his head when Natalie glanced at him, and when he frowned, I realized he knew something.
"Whatever's going on, I want to know," I said firmly, pointing at him. “I invoke twin privilege.”
Spencer held up his hands. "I don't even know that much. But when we were at Martha's Vineyard, it was obvious that Grandmother was planning something from the way she mentioned Meredith."
"I think planning is too strong a word," Grandmother said in an innocent tone of voice. "Several things just fell into place the way I wanted them to at the right time."
"And what are those things?" Jake asked.
She cleared her throat. “Her mom and I met two months ago when I joined a new book club. It was lovely catching up with her. Imagine my surprise when she told me Meredith was in the coffee industry too. Now, let’s all focus on this delicious meal I've prepared. We don't want it to get cold."
We were all silent as we ate. Clearly I wasn't the only one blindsided by our grandmother's craftiness. I also admired it.
After we finished eating, we each took as many plates as we could and carried them to the kitchen.
"You’re not mad at your old gran, are you?" she asked as I put the plates in the dishwasher.
"I'm just surprised that you openly admitted it. I know you schemed when it came to Jake, but you were more subtle about it." I winked at her. I couldn’t be mad at my grandmother.
"Ah, yes, but that was different. I knew your brother would fight me if I admitted to him that I was matchmaking him and Natalie."
My eyes bulged. "Matchmaking? That's what you're trying to do here?"
"Yes." Her grin was huge, and she put her hands on her hips. "I always thought you and Meredith could’ve had something going on in high school."
"Grandmother, that was years ago."
"My instincts never lie."
She looked so excited that I chose not to contradict her.
Did I like Meredith? Hell yes. Was I attracted to her?
Fuck yes. But that didn’t mean Grandmother was right.
I was a flirt through and through, even though I’d been having a dry spell for almost a month.
I owned up to my reputation. That wouldn’t earn me any points with Meredith, I was sure of it.
As opposed to my father, I didn’t hide that I didn’t want to get serious about a woman.
I told my dates that up front—and usually pursued women who only wanted something casual.
"And there. Seed planted," Grandmother said triumphantly. "My job here is done."
I shook my head, laughing as she walked away from the kitchen.
Spencer came in. "Should I be worried? Grandmother was a bit too cheerful, like she already got her way."
"Yeah, that's what she thinks," I informed my twin. "For some reason, she got it in her head that Meredith and I should be a thing. She even used the word matchmaking."
Spencer winced, rinsing the plates before I loaded them. "She's really determined about it lately, isn't she?"
I shrugged. "It's important to her. I get it. Just won't happen when it comes to me."
"I wonder why she's so fixated on you. I mean, she could've chosen Colton to focus on."
"Hardly," I said, starting the dishwasher. "The dude won't come out of his lab."
"Yeah, what are we doing about that?" Spencer asked.
I groaned. "I don't know. I'll think of something."
Our brother was approaching burnout. While I didn't appreciate my grandmother's meddling, I did agree with Spencer that we needed to look after each other and interfere whenever we thought one of us needed it.
We hadn't been quick enough when it came to Grandfather. Last year, when Whitley Advertising was approaching bankruptcy, he insisted it was fine for him to go back to work. Deep down, I knew that wasn’t right.
The man was ninety, and he'd had a heart attack many years ago, and the doctor had told him he needed to rest. But he was stubborn and ended up getting sick again.
At least it hadn't been another heart attack, thank fuck.
But after we brought him home, I swore I would always follow my instincts. And Colton needed saving from himself.
"You two, I see that look on your faces. What are you planning?" Grandmother asked, coming back to the kitchen.
"Ways to get Colton out of his lab."
"Oh, good. I hope you come up with something. I've run out of ideas."
"Out of curiosity," Spencer asked, "does this matchmaking plan of yours extend to our half brothers as well?"
She grinned. "Of course. They just don't know it. Not that it's a secret, dear. You're welcome to share it with them. I don't have any specific plans for them as of yet."
"Just for me," I said sarcastically.
"Just for you." There was no trace of irony in her voice.
I wasn't going to tell her how I felt about it. I mean, the woman was ninety. If this brought her joy and peace of mind, then so be it.
I was the first to leave our grandparents’ house. I was heading to Colton's office and called him on the way. Ambushing him wouldn't help; knowing him, he'd just push me away.
"Let’s go for a round of boxing," I said instead of hello. He liked to do that in his free time. It was the best way to blow off steam. I joined him in the ring sometimes, though he was better at sparring than me.
"I don't have time for that."
Someone’s in a mood.
"It's Saturday afternoon, and you say you always concentrate better after boxing."
He sighed. "Fuck it. You're right. Okay."
I arrived at his headquarters fifteen minutes later. He was already in front of the building in his BMW.
His boxing ring was one block away from the company. We parked our cars in the underground garage. I took my workout bag from the trunk before joining my brother.
"I knew I could always lure you out for a good old brawl," I said.
"You're right. It relaxes me."
"Are you ever planning on taking it slower?"
"As soon as we get a breakthrough. It’s eluding us. I mean, it’s right there."
“You’ve got to start taking it easier or you’ll have a nervous breakdown. You've been talking about that ‘breakthrough’ for at least a year. Anyway, it’ll happen when it does."
He scoffed. “Pot, kettle. You’ve been terrorizing your team ever since you started preparing for that contest thing.”
I blinked. "Who told you that?"
"I called you a couple days ago. You didn't pick up. Then I called your office. Your assistant sounded like he was about to shit his pants."
"How did you get them to tell you what was going on?"
"I didn’t do anything. He just spilled his guts. No idea why."
“Me neither." It wasn't like Colton was a people person or someone who invited you to open up and tell him all your worries.
I had to review my management style. If my assistant had volunteered this information to Colton, it meant he was stressed out of his mind, and that wasn't how I did things. I respected my employees and certainly didn’t want them working under duress.
We went inside, and Darren, the owner of the gym, welcomed us. He was behind the reception desk, although he was a trainer too. He ran the place efficiently with only three others on the staff. My brother had brought him a lot of business over the years.
"I've got gloves for you two," he said, handing them to us after we changed. I never bothered buying gloves. Colton did, and he kept all his equipment here.
"Okay, give me your best shot," I told him as we stepped into the ring.