been going through every time he’d seen one of the changes she’d made since their marriage.
The feeling was nearly overwhelming.
“You know I’ll help Billy. I’ll do everything I can.”
He smiled at her, a smile so warm and open, she could only stare at him. The spark was back in his dark brown eyes. His hair fell boyishly to his forehead. But that smile. Oh, that smile. She would have done anything to see that smile three years ago. It seemed to say that he was different. Happy. Easy to be around. If they didn’t have a past, if she didn’t have a secret, Cain would be the man she would actually consider giving her heart to.
But they did have a past. And she did have a secret.
She chugged her soda and headed into the house just as Billy came out.
“Hey! I didn’t even get a drink.”
“Go ahead and get one. I’m ready to get back to work, so I’m going in. You and Cain take all the time you need.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
CAIN JUMPED INTO HIS Porsche and punched the address on the invitation in his hand into his GPS unit. He’d been invited to a party being hosted by one of the women who’d been helped by A Friend Indeed. In a few minutes, he found himself driving down the street of the middle-class, blue-collar neighborhood.
He hadn’t wanted to attend this party. But it had been a real stretch for him to volunteer to help with the Friend Indeed houses and an even bigger stretch to have taken Billy under his wing and those things had worked out amazingly well. So attending an event for the families involved with the charity was simply another level of change for him. Especially since it would involve chitchat. No bankers or businessmen to schmooze. No business talk tonight. Somehow or other he’d have to be…well, normal.
But he’d decided to once again push beyond his own inadequacies to attend tonight because he couldn’t stop thinking about something Liz had told him. When he’d first arrived at Amanda’s, Liz had instructed him to accept anything any client offered because this might be the first time in a long time they’d had something to offer. He’d finally wrapped his head around just how demoralized and demeaned these women had been and then his thoughts had segued to the fact that Liz and her family had been abused.
Liz had been a child in a family just like this one. Alone. Scared. Usually hungry. He couldn’t bear the thought.
But that also meant he couldn’t refuse an invitation to anything connected to Liz. He didn’t want her to feel rejected by him, or that somehow she and her friends weren’t good enough. They were. He was the socially awkward one. So to protect her, here he was, driving in an unfamiliar section of the city, about to attend a gathering with people he didn’t know.
He parked on the street and headed up the sidewalk to Joni Custer’s house. As he climbed the stairs to the front door, he held back a wince of pain. He’d been so busy proving himself to Liz and enjoying doing the work he loved—the work that had nudged him in the direction of success and riches—that he’d forgotten he wasn’t eighteen anymore. Billy was probably stronger. And maybe he should be the one hefting boxes of hardwood, while Cain stuck to measuring and fitting.
He found the bell and within two seconds, the bright red front door opened. Liz stood on the other side. Dressed in shorts and a halter top, she looked amazing. Comfortable. Confident. Relaxed.
Their gazes caught and she smiled sheepishly. His heart did a cartwheel. She was smiling at him now, like a real person, not a person she was forced to socialize with, not a person she had to pretend to like. Her smile was genuine.
“Come on. Everybody’s outside on the patio.” She took a look at his attire and winced. “Somebody should have told you dress was informal.”
Cain immediately reached for his tie. Walking into the foyer, he yanked it off and stuffed it in his jacket pocket. “I can make do.” He removed his jacket and tossed it over a hook on a coat tree in the foyer. Following Liz to a sliding glass door at the back of the house, he rolled up the sleeves of his white shirt. “See, now I’m dressed appropriately.”
“Well, not exactly appropriately.” She turned and gave him another smile. “But better.”
“How about a little background before I go out there into a sea of people I don’t know.”
“Joni is one of the first women we helped. Every year she hosts a barbecue. Most of the people attending are also A Friend Indeed women, but some are parents and friends of the clients.” She hooked her arm in the crook of his elbow and headed for the door again. “I’ll introduce you around, but then you’re on your own.”
It felt so good to have her at his side that it disappointed him that she wouldn’t stay with him, but he understood. If they had just met, they’d still be in a friend stage, not behaving like a couple. He had to accept that.
“I appreciate the introductions.”
She hesitated another few seconds at the door. “You might get a critique or two of the work you’ve done.”
“Hey, you helped!” He opened the sliding glass door. “If I’m going down in flames, you’re going with me.”
She laughed and the second they stepped onto the stone floor of the small patio, Liz said, “Hey, everybody, this is Cain. He’s the new board member who’s been fixing up houses.”
A general round of approval rippled through the crowd.
Liz leaned in and whispered, “Get ready. Any second now you’ll be surrounded.”
Her warning didn’t penetrate. He was too busy analyzing whether it was good or bad that she hadn’t introduced him as her ex-husband. On the one hand it did point to the fact that she saw their association as being a new one. On the other, she could be embarrassed about having been married to him. So it took him by surprise when a middle-aged man approached him and extended his hand for shaking.
“You did Amanda’s house?”
“That was mostly painting,” Cain said, snatching Liz’s hand, holding her in place when it appeared she would desert him. “And Liz and I were equal partners on that one.”
“Don’t be so modest,” Ayleen said, ambling up to them. “I hear the whole house is to die for.”
“It is.” Amanda walked over. She unexpectedly hugged Cain. “Thanks again.”
Embarrassment flooded him at her praise. What he’d done was so simple, so easy for him. Yet it had meant the world to Amanda. “I guess that means you like the house?”
“Like is too simple of a word,” she said with a laugh.
Liz shook her hand free of his, as if eager to get away. “How about if I get us a drink? What would you like?”
Not quite sure what to say, Cain raised his eyebrows in question. “What do they have?”
“What if I get us both a cola?”
“Sounds great.”
The second Liz left, he began fielding questions
