winced. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring him up again.”
Troubled by her response, he studied her. Scattered beams of sunlight slipped in from the window, enhancing the blondness of her hair and the fairness of her skin, making her look far too touchable.
Instead of caving in to the silence bouncing between them, he played devil’s advocate, asking her a hypothetical question. “Just for argument’s sake, if I would’ve offered to marry you, would you have even accepted my proposal?”
She frowned. “What kind of question is that, especially when you said it wouldn’t have happened?”
“I just want to know how you would have reacted if I’d done it.”
“Truthfully?” She answered him head-on. “I probably would have accepted.”
He shifted in his seat, realizing the blunder he’d made. He’d expected her to say that she wouldn’t have become his wife, not in any shape or form. “What about your distrustful opinion of me? How would that have factored into it?”
“If you’d offered to marry me, that would have made you seem more trustworthy.”
He tried another tactic. “Even though you barely knew me?”
“Yes, but it doesn’t matter.” She glanced away. “It wouldn’t have worked anyway. Besides, our focus is supposed to be on you getting to know Cody, not on how idealistic I would have been to marry someone who was practically a stranger.”
“Lots of people get married because of babies.” It was the reason his parents had ended up in their disastrous situation, with Kade being the kid they’d conceived. Of course, they’d gone on to have more children before they’d gotten divorced. “It happens all the time, even if it shouldn’t.”
“I know, but what’s the point of talking about it? It’s water under the bridge now.”
“I shouldn’t have brought it up. I have the tendency to speak my mind, even when I should keep quiet. I used to get in trouble for it when I was young. I spent half of my adolescent life in detention. But I acted out purposely because I didn’t want to go home after school, especially when my dad was around.”
“Was your father mean?”
“Yeah. He was demanding as hell, and a lot of his anger was directed at me. I used to stand up to him, and that made him even madder. But I don’t have anything to do with him anymore. None of us kids do now that we’re older.”
“I didn’t even know there were other kids. You didn’t mention them last time you and I were together. Other than saying that you were originally from LA and that you get your Native American blood from your mom’s side, you didn’t tell me about your family.”
“I have a younger brother and sister.” He would’ve preferred to leave his sister out of it, but he couldn’t evade the truth. “Tanner is thirty-three, and Meagan is twenty-five. Both of them are still in California. But it’s not all sunshine and roses out there, not for my sister anyway. She got into some trouble with the law and is serving time.”
Bridget’s eyes grew wide. “She’s in prison?”
He nodded. “She embezzled from the place where she worked. It’s just so hard for me grasp. She was such a sweet and spunky kid, and now she’s a criminal.” He heaved a thick sigh. “I had another baby sister, too, who came along about eight years after Meagan. But she died of SIDS.”
“Oh, Kade, I’m sorry.”
“Our mom is also gone now. She had a heart attack a couple of years ago. Thankfully it was before Meagan got arrested. That would have destroyed Mom.”
“Grandpa is the only person close to me who ever died, and his passing still hurts.”
“Losing someone you love is painful.” He still mourned his mom. He still said prayers for his infant sister, too. “You never really get over it.”
“You’re right,” she said somberly, and they finished eating. When they were done, he helped her clear the table. While she was rinsing the dishes, he stood off to the side, wishing their conversation hadn’t been so serious.
Finally she cut into the quiet and said, “I’d show you Cody’s room, but he wants to bring you in there himself. He worked really hard to clean it up. Normally it’s a mess.”
“Then, I certainly won’t sneak a peek.” He wouldn’t spoil it for the boy.
“I can take you outside if you’d like.” She dried her hands on a plain white towel. “Cody won’t mind if I give you a tour of the barn and the yard.”
“Are you sure?”
“I already checked with him.” She laughed a little. “We had a big discussion about what I was permitted to do.”
Kade laughed, too, amused by their son’s rules. “That’s quite a bossy kid we’ve got.”
“That’s for sure.” She turned to look at him and suddenly their gazes locked, their humor quickly fading.
He held his breath, feeling as if he was getting sucked into a vacuum. He wasn’t sure how he was going to sleep at the motel tonight and not think about her. If he could kiss her, he would, just for the much-needed pleasure it would provide. But he couldn’t let something like that happen, so he followed her outside, fighting the feeling.
* * *
Bridget led Kade through the back door, wondering how they could talk and laugh one minute, then stare longingly at each other the next. It was like being in one of those carnival fun houses, where you couldn’t find your way out of the mazes and mirrors. Between his penchant for speaking his mind and her desperate admission that she might’ve actually agreed to marry him, the past was coming back to haunt her in ways she’d never imagined.
But she didn’t want to think about that, not while they were standing in her yard, surrounded by her favorite wildflowers.
Determined to stay centered, to draw strength from the environment, she said, “When I was a kid, this neighborhood was part of a planned community, so most of the houses were built on one-and two-acre lots, rather than being too spread out. They never did get around to paving all the roads, though. Or maybe they never really meant to.” She pointed to the side of her property. “That road leads to where my mom and grandma live. They’re on the same street, just a few houses apart.”
“It’s convenient that you live so close to them.”
“When Mom and I are at work, Grandma keeps an eye on Cody. But it’s different now that Grandpa is gone. He and Cody spent a lot of time at the river. I love it there, too. It’s the area this town is known for, where the farms and ranches and recreational spots are.”
Kade shifted his stance. Behind him, the sky stretched like a big blue canvas. “That’s why I came here all those years ago and gave that clinic. I wanted to establish a presence with the horse breeders out that way. I never really did, though.”
“I’ll bet you’d impress the heck out of them now.”
“Yeah,
