But a month ago, when I told you I wanted to talk to you about a program I’d found for him, you said you’d get back to me. Said that to me each of the three other times I tried talking to you about it. Remember that?”
He drew in a stiff breath. “I was busy.”
“I was, too.” Now the charm had dissolved, and they were back to the same old problems. “But I made the time to investigate the program, and made the time to try and get you to listen to me about it. But you weren’t listening at all, were you? That’s why you’re here now. Because you didn’t hear a word I said, sort of like the way it was when we were married.” There was no disputing they both wanted what was best for their son, but that’s where the co-operation stopped. Cade had his ideas, which were, basically, more love and more involvement could cure anything. She had hers, which were to find her son the best available programs for children with Asperger’s syndrome. That didn’t preclude more love and more involvement. It merely gave Michael one more shot at having a better life. “So I hope you bought a round-trip ticket, because if you hurry, you can be back in Chicago by tonight.”
“Unenroll him. I want to spend the next few weeks with him.”
“No, I’m not going to unenroll him. You’ve got Michael six straight weeks at the end of summer, and that’s all you’re getting, so deal with it. Go home, leave me alone.” Arrangements had already been made for Cade to take Michael back to Chicago with him, which she didn’t like but which she hoped would be good for her son. Unlike Cade, she had no intention of stepping in and trying to upset things. Michael’s life was a precarious balance, and he didn’t need the disruption.
“And what I’ve been telling you is that six weeks aren’t enough, Belle. I miss him. It’s driving me crazy, knowing I can’t see Michael whenever I want to. Getting him for three-day weekends every other week and every other holiday isn’t cutting it. And half that time is spent in transit, flying down here to be with him and flying back to be home on time for my Monday morning surgeries. And, really, how much time do I get to spend with him when I’m here? Have you ever thought about it, Belle? Three, maybe four hours total, adjusting to his schedule and routines, as well as his attention span? Which is why I want to spend the whole summer with him, and not just part of it.” He drew in a ragged breath. “I need to connect better with my boy and teach him to connect better with me.”
She did have to admit Cade was the one who got cheated, especially as she was the one who’d moved from Chicago to Big Badger, breaking up a perfectly good custody arrangement, one much more conducive to Cade’s situation. But he was the Texas boy after all. The cowboy who’d spent every day of their marriage talking about how great Texas was, how he wanted to move back someday, how it was the best place in the country to raise kids.
Well, she’d listened. More than that, she’d believed. So now here she was, raising their kid in Texas. And here Cade wasn’t, except for his every-other-week visitations. “Look, it’s only a three-week program, Cade. You can have the three weeks after it’s over, here in Big Badger, though. And that would still give you more time than we’d originally planned.”
“But I want more than that,” he repeated, stubbornly.
“Without notice.”
“Because there was no notice to give. I decided to do this …” he glanced at his watch “… ten hours ago. Ten hours, Belle. I changed my life in the last ten hours because I miss my son. And I think spending the next few weeks with me will be better for Michael than sending him off into some program.”
Even if it was an excellent program, letting Michael spend time with his dad was the better situation. No argument there. And having Cade here would be wonderful for Michael. Still, one of the reasons she’d chosen to move to godforsaken Big Badger was to be close to Dr. Amanda Robinson. Sure, the town had made her an offer she couldn’t refuse, but it was one of three amazing offers that had come at her. The decision had come down to Amanda’s excellent reputation in autism. She worked miracles with kids no one expected miracles from, and to be so close to all that was why she was working in a town that didn’t want a lady doctor, and being on call to a bunch of hostile ranch hands. Yet nothing Amanda could or would do would substitute for the fact that Michael needed his father, and that’s what ultimately changed Belle’s mind. Not Cade’s need, but Michael’s. “OK. If you’re really going to stay here, I’ll pull him out of the program. But there’s a three-day trip he’s been begging to go on, and I’m not cancelling that, no matter what you say. Dr. Robinson is doing good things for Michael and I don’t want to cause problems with that.”
“You think that highly of the good doctor’s program?”
“I do. Michael needs that kind of professional guidance and I need that kind of personal support. With Amanda, we get both.”
“Good. Then I can live with that.”
But could she? Big Badger was a small town, there wasn’t much to do here. And she could envision herself bumping into Cade every time she turned around for the next six weeks. Bumps she didn’t want to be making. “It’s not about what you can live with,” she snapped. “It’s about what’s best for Michael. Dr. Robinson’s part of it, but you’re a bigger part.” He’d spent their married life staying away, and she’d got used to it. Got used to the distances in their divorce, too, and she wasn’t sure what having him around all the time was going to do to her. But for Michael … “And you’re not staying with me.”
“Didn’t intend to. I took a room at the boarding house. Paid for the full six weeks.”
He smiled, arched ridiculously sexy eyebrows—the whole Cade effect that had always been her downfall.
“Cade Carter, staying in a boarding house and not some luxurious hotel suite?” Belle raised her eyebrows over that one, because it told her, whatever his reason, he was dead serious about spending more time with Michael.
“Find me a luxurious hotel in Big Badger, and I’ll check in.”
“And you’re still not going to tell me what this is really about?” There wasn’t a casual explanation. Knowing Cade, there couldn’t be. But Cade honestly loved Michael, even though Michael didn’t give much back to his dad. So maybe it was about Cade feeling excluded or unloved? Certainly, that’s how she would feel if Michael was as unresponsive to her as he was to Cade. So she hoped that was the simple explanation after all.
But there’d been a time when she’d hoped so many things about Cade, and look where that had got her.
“I can tell you a thousand times a day for the next six weeks. My being here is about spending more time with Michael. That’s all, Belladonna.”
Nope. She knew Cade, and she didn’t buy it. But, as they said, forewarned was forearmed. Only she didn’t know against what. “Fine. You’ve got your extra six weeks. And don’t call me Belladonna.” Meaning beautiful woman, or deadly nightshade, take your pick. It used to be his pet name for her, used when he’d wanted to get his way. Which he’d just done, hadn’t he?
The charmer grin grew larger as Cade tilted his hat back down over his eyes. “Anybody ever tell you you’re a real pushover, Belle Carter?”
Nobody had to tell her. When it came to Cade Carter, she always had been. Looked like that hadn’t changed too much either. “All the time,” she said, opening her office door and gesturing him to leave. “All the time.”
Belle watched him amble down the hall and out the back office door, admiring that same swagger she’d
