Chapter 15
Cade
After making sure Marcus’s pulley system was working properly, I laid out the fairy costume in the green room, and was on my way out to find the community project coordinator about River’s wall unveiling when the green room door opened, and Sapphire stepped in.
“What are you doing here? I asked.
She looked at me, and then at the costume, and smirked.
“Aren’t you a bit too large to play a fairy?”
I looked at her. “If you have something important to say, make it quick.” I said. “I have to make more preparations before the show starts.”
She frowned. The smirk dropped for just a second. Then she switched to the sweet voice. “Cade, what happened to you? This is not the Cade I’ve known. Since when have you become so serious about a stupid kids play?”
“You have not known the real Cade, Sapphire,” I said. “That’s the whole irony of it. And I don’t owe you any explanation about my life.”
She stepped back. Her eyes went hard.
“I’ve invited the entire media entourage,” she said. “And a few extra local influencers to make vlogs.” She looked at the costume. “They should be there when you’ll make a fool of yourself in front of the whole town.”
I had always expected Sapphire to go to lengths to show someone she despised what she thought about them, but I no longer cared what she thought.
“Excellent,” I said. “Make sure they’re all seated in front when I come down on the pulley. That’s my favorite part of the role.” I smiled at her.
She turned white with rage. “Don’t think,” she said, her voice dropping, “that we can’t take you down. Kyle is on the phone right now with your investors. We plan to bring the entire Sonnenberg Industries to its knees, Cade. You wait and—“
“Whatever,” I said. “Enjoy the show.”
I walked out and left her standing in the green room alone with the tutu.
Outside, last minute preparations for the Fall Festival were in full swing.
The air was cold and crisp. I could see my breath but the sun was warm on my face.
The maple trees along the festival grounds were every shade of red and gold, dropping leaves in slow, unhurried spirals.
Hay bales and pumpkins were arranged at every corner.
The whole place looked like a freaking autumn postcard.
I had never seen Chestnut Ridge look so pretty before.
Maple had texted me early that morning.
Need to discuss some changes before the performance. Can we talk when I arrive?
I had looked at it, worried that another kid might have fallen sick and unable to perform.
In that case, I made mental plans to adapt our lines and steps accordingly.
I made mental changes to the script for filling in for any of the kids.
I had been running the lines long enough that I knew every cue and every position.
Whatever she needed, I could work around it.
I spotted Maple and River coming through the entrance.
She was wearing a burnt orange dress, a cream cardigan, and a wide-brimmed hat.
She was looking breathtakingly beautiful.
River was walking next to her in a brown sweater and jeans, talking animatedly.
He said something to which Maple laughed, and then held his hand.
He looked at her and kept walking with a smile on his face.
I walked a few steps to get in their direct line of sight.
Maple was looking at the big entrance as she walked and River saw me first. His smile got bigger, and he waved.
I could see his lips move to say my name, and Maple’s eyes quickly moved and landed on me.
She gave me a beautiful smile and kept walking, her smile intact on her gorgeous face.
“Hope we didn’t keep you waiting too long,” Maple said, covering the few steps between us.
Maple, the way I feel for you, I would wait for a very long time.
“No, you didn’t. I got your text, hope everything is fine.” I said.
Maple nodded. “Yes, everything is fine. We can talk later.”
“Hey, bud,” I said to River. “Hey Cade,” he said and looked nervously towards the wall.
“Nervous?” I asked. He nodded. “I saw you work so hard on this, buddy. I have been the lucky one to see the entire process of this wall becoming a piece of art. You did a great job, River.” I said.
Maple put her hand on his arm. “I am so proud of you,” she said quietly.
“For seeing this through. All of it.” River looked at me.
“Thank you, Cade,” he said. “For helping me. For making the whole thing actually — fun.” He shrugged.
“I didn’t think community service was going to be fun. ”
“Any time, bud,” I said. “I mean that. Any time.”
He nodded once. And then — without any warning, without any preamble — he stepped forward and hugged me tight.
I hugged him back and patted his back. We both remained like that for a few more seconds, and I felt as if River was not wanting to let go of me.
Then again, maybe I felt what I wanted to feel at that moment.
Over his shoulder, I could see Maple watching us and smiling.
When River pulled back, he spotted Brody near the wall and pointed. “I’m going to go check on the unveiling setup.”
“All the best, River.” I said.
“You’ll do great, River. I am so proud of you.” Maple said.
River looked at me once more. “All the best for your performance too, Cade. You’re going to be great today.”
“So are you,” I said.
He grinned and took off.
And then it was me and Maple.
I looked at her. “You look beautiful.”
There were so many other things I wanted to say about how she looked. I kept them all in my head. She blushed slightly and said thank you and pushed a strand of hair back under her hat.
“You said you wanted to make some changes?” I asked.
She blushed harder. “What I wanted to make changes to,” she said, “was our relationship.” She paused.
“Only if you still want to. You said you wanted to win me back, but maybe you’ve changed your mind about it, and I would completely understand if you had.
But I thought — I thought maybe I’d like to give it another chance. ”
The entire Fall Festival of Chestnut Ridge continued happening around us. People walking, children running, fiddle music starting up somewhere on the main strip. None of it existed for approximately ten seconds.
Maple wanted to give us another chance.
That was all I was thinking when I realized she was slightly shivery and talking ten to the dozen without a pause. I took her hand. “Maple.” I kept my voice steady. “I’ve got you. Relax. Nothing has changed. I want this too.”
“Really?”
“Absolutely.”
“Because sometimes I thought maybe you were showing up out of guilt,” she said. “And maybe you weren’t actually sure about what you wanted—“
“Maple.” I held her hand a little tighter.
She stopped talking. I waited until she looked at me.
“I have been showing up because I wanted to show you that I’m in this for real this time.
We didn’t get very far before I blew everything up.
But this time—“ I paused. “This time I don’t want to leave anything unspoken. I don’t want any guessing games.
I want to be clear about my intentions, and my intentions are to be here. With you. I’m not going anywhere.”
“But what if I can’t fully accept you back, even after giving it another chance?”
“Then you tell me,” I said. “And I’ll listen. This time, I’ll actually listen. And we’ll talk about whatever’s bothering you and we’ll find a way through it.”
She was quiet for a moment.
“That would be nice,” she said.
“And Maple — there’s no hurry. I want to take this as slow or as fast as you need. I want to keep building things with River. There is no deadline here.”
I thought about my mother’s Christmas dinner invitation.
I thought about how to say the next part without making her feel pressured.
“There is one thing you should know,” I said.
“I spoke to my parents about you last night. About us. I told them that I love you and that I want to be with you and River.”
Maple’s eyes went wide.
“You told your parents?”
“I did.”
“And what did they say?”
“They realized how serious I am. They were — they were more supportive than I expected. My mother—“ I paused. “My mother asked if you could come to Christmas dinner.”
Maple stared at me.
“You don’t have to,” I said quickly. “We can revisit that whenever you’re ready. I just wanted to tell you, because this time I don’t want any secrets between us. Not a single one.”
She nodded slowly.
“I still don’t understand,” she said carefully, “the two versions of you from that night. The Cade who bought those parenting books. And the Cade who said those things about me.”
“That night,” I said, “It was both. Both of those Cades were real and they were fighting each other.” I looked at her.
“When I was with you and River, I was the happiest I had ever been. But when I was away from you, when I was around my parents and their world, the doubt would find its way in. I wasn’t even admitting to myself how close I was getting to you both.
” I shook my head. “When I bought those books, I didn’t even tell myself what they meant.
I didn’t want to admit that I already saw myself as a father figure to River.
And then Kyle started pushing me that night after too many drinks, and I got defensive about all the things I hadn’t admitted to myself yet.
And when I said those words—“ I stopped.
“At that moment, I even thought I meant them. And then you left, and my life felt completely empty.”
“And now?” Maple asked.
“And now,” I said, “even though I haven’t fully won you over yet, I already feel like I can breathe again.
Has that ever happened to you? Where stress makes it feel like something is sitting on your chest and you can’t get enough air?
That’s what that first week felt like. Every single day.
” I paused. “My mood ring app kept sending me warning sign notifications. At one point I genuinely thought I might have an actual heart attack.”
Maple laughed.
“I’ve heard some lines,” she said. “But that one is genuinely original.”
“I’m serious,” I said. “I have screenshots.”
She shook her head, still smiling.
I looked for words that could convey to her a little of what I felt.
“I should have told you all of this before,” I said. “I kept it to myself because I wasn’t ready to say it out loud. And I paid for that. But this time I want you to be part of every plan. Every thought. Every feeling — you’ll know about all of it. No more guessing games.”
She looked at me for a moment.
“And what’s the plan right now?” she asked.
“The plan right now,” I said, “Is to win your heart back. However long that takes.”
***