by Cindy Kirk
“I don’t mind the cold.” Izzie smiled, a mass of kinky brown hair hanging down her back. “When I’m dressed for it, I barely notice.”
Her down-filled puffy coat hit just below the knees. The red-checkered hat she wore, earflaps down, made him think of a lumberjack.
Though he wasn’t dressed as warmly and felt the cruel bite of the wind, Cade didn’t mind. The rawness kept his mind off Marigold.
“I wanted to review K.T.’s work firsthand. He’s so young, and I worried he might not be able to deliver. But,” Izzie gestured with her head back to the alley, “his art hits the mark on all counts.”
Cade’s blood froze. “Are you saying K.T. is responsible for the graffiti?”
Something in his tone must have alerted Izzie. A wary look filled her eyes. “Graffiti?”
“It’s a crime.” His tone was curt. “Defacing personal property.”
Izzie’s large, brown eyes went huge. Distress formed a dark cloud over her face. “But that’s one of the walls the alley art project will be painting.”
Cade paused, considered. In Detroit, it didn’t matter how old a perp was or what the circumstances. They broke the law. You hauled them in. It was up to the lawyers, the social workers, and the judges what happened next.
But this wasn’t Detroit, and K.T. might stand a chance of having a good future if he didn’t have any bumps on his record.
Cade considered, gave a curt nod. “I’ll speak with Mr. Potter. He owns the building.”
Izzie closed her eyes. “Thank you.”
“I’ll do my best.” Cade couldn’t make any promises, but he had no doubt Potter would go along. Neighbors helping neighbors was the Good Hope way.
“You and Marigold have big plans for Valentine’s Day?” Izzie smiled as she asked, as if she already knew the answer.
“We went to the dance on Saturday.” As the last thing he wanted to talk about was Marigold, he shifted focus. “How about you? Big plans?”
“I’m in a not-seeking-Mr.-Right phase of my life.” She grinned. “Right now my priority is building my career.”
It was Marigold’s priority too, Cade thought bitterly, then immediately felt guilt at the thought. There was nothing wrong with wanting to achieve your potential, nothing wrong with wanting to find your place in the world. He only wished he fit into her plan.
Cade continued his patrol of the business district. He thought about stopping at the bake shop for a doughnut and coffee but kept walking. Marigold could be there, or another of her sisters. He didn’t want to make conversation, see the pitying look in their eyes.
He was the poor sap who’d fallen in love with their sister, a woman everyone knew was destined for bigger and better.
At the far edge of the row of Main Street businesses, he paused in front of the Daily Grind, a coffee shop that had opened last fall. As franchises and chains weren’t allowed in the community, this was a mom-and-pop operation, begun by guy who’d tired of the big-city rat race and had come home.
Too bad Marigold didn’t feel the same way. Too bad she couldn’t see all Good Hope had to offer. Too bad she couldn’t see all he had to offer.
Chilled to the bone and more than a little bitter, Cade stepped inside and let the warmth envelop him. He inhaled the rich scent of coffee and saw, with some relief, there were bakery items in the case. He could go for something sweet.
When he lifted his gaze, Cade blinked at the sight of the woman who straightened behind the counter. “Cassie?”
“Hi, Sheriff.” Cassie, dishwater-blonde hair pulled back in a low tail, smiled. “Bet you didn’t expect to find me here.”
“You’re right about that.” He gave a little laugh. “How long have you been—?”
“A couple of months. I’m part-time right now, until the season starts. My boss is willing to work around my child care arrangements.”
“That’s good.” Cade hoped this opportunity was just what the woman needed to jump-start her life.
“If you’re looking for Mr. Bloom, he’s at a table around the corner.” Cassie smiled. “I was just telling him how much I appreciated him volunteering to be a Big Brother for K.T. and Braxton. They’re getting together next week for the first time.”
Neighbors helping neighbors.
“It’ll be a good fit.” He recalled his conversation with Izzie. “Say, could you have K.T. stop by my office sometime this week?”
Wariness, coupled with a flash of worry, filled Cassie’s eyes. “Is there a problem?”
“No problem.” He smiled and kept his tone easy. “It has to do with the alley art project.”
The tense set to her shoulders eased. “K.T. is very excited about the possibility of participating.”
The boy was a minor. Protocol demanded he tell the boy’s mother what was going on. But Cassie had dealt with so much and her life appeared to be finally back on track.
As Cade felt certain Potter would go along with his plan, he simply focused on the bake case. “Are those pastries from Blooms Bake Shop?”
“Hadley brings a supply by every morning.” Cassie smiled. “They’re very popular.”
Cade wanted the chocolate cake doughnut, but he needed to stop being so predictable, so boring. “I’ll take a cherry Danish with black coffee.”
“To stay?”
Cade nodded.
Once he paid, Cade picked up the plate and cup and strolled to where Steve sat reading the newspaper. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”
Steve looked up and smiled, carefully folded the paper in half, and set it aside.
“Join me.” Steve gestured and Cade took a seat. The eyes that met his were kind. “How are you doing?”
Cade glanced down at the pastry and coffee. “I’m out of the cold and wind and about to take a break to enjoy one of your eldest daughter’s fine pastries, so I’d say I’m doing okay.”
Steve didn’t ask about Marigold. Cade knew he wouldn’t. That’s why he’d come over instead of heading straight for the door.
Cade lifted the pastry to his lips and took a bite. The taste of tart cherries, butter, and sugar came together in a delicious explosion of flavor. “Cassie tells me the Big Brother thing is all set.”
“The paperwork is done.” Steve’s hazel eyes held satisfaction behind the thin silver wire frames of his glasses. “I hope we have a connection. You and I both know that connections are what life is all about.”
Connections, Cade thought, like the one he and Marigold had shared. Correction. Like the one he thought he’d had with Marigold.
Steve lifted the ceramic mug, studied Cade over the rim.
Here it comes, Cade thought. Daddy bear coming to baby bear’s rescue.
“What’d you think of those cards?”
Cade paused in the act of popping another bite of Danish into his mouth. “Cards?”
Steve grinned full-out. “Max mentioned Prim had given the deck to Marigold.”
Oh, those cards.
Cade shook his head. “How Vanessa Eden could have thought those were a good gift for her son is beyond me.”
“Vanessa is a free spirit kind of woman.” Steve shook his head, his smile indulgent. “Women like that kind of stuff.”
“But the questions.” Cade grimaced, recalling a couple of the ones more focused on sex he’d read when he flipped through the deck before dinner that night. “Brutal.”
“I knew Marigold would have shown them to you.”
“She not only showed them to me, she made me answer a couple of them.” Cade chuckled.
Steve’s eyes sparkled with good humor. “That’s my girl.”
“Yeah, well.” Cade took a long sip of coffee.
“Do you recall the questions?”
Cade wasn’t really interested in discussing the cards, but what was the alternative? Chatting about Marigold with her father and musing about why she’d dumped him? “One was ‘What will matter most to you when you’re ninety?’”
“A sound question
.” Steve nodded. “One obviously designed to get at priorities. How did you answer?”
“Family.” Cade wrapped his fingers around the warm mug but made no move to lift it to his lips. “Wife, kids, grandkids, maybe even a few great-grands tossed into the mix.”
“Not where you’ve lived or what you’ve achieved?” It must have been a rhetorical question, because Steve continued on without giving Cade a chance to answer. “What was the other one?”
“What comes to mind when you think of your ex?” Because he knew Steve was going to want to know how he’d answered, Cade gave it to him without making him ask. “I told Marigold it was regret. That I didn’t care enough to fight for my relationship with Alice.”
“I suppose that’s what you need to think about, then.”
Normally, Cade didn’t have difficulty following a conversation. In fact, he prided himself on his ability to read between the lines while ferreting out the truth.
“I don’t understand,” Cade reluctantly admitted.
Steve pushed to his feet, pulled on his coat, and tucked the newspaper under his arm. “You’re a smart guy. Think about what you want. Think about what’s really important to you and fight for it. I have every faith in you.”
With those words, Steve strolled out of the coffee shop, leaving Cade nursing the words and a now lukewarm cup of coffee.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Marigold closed the art journal. For the first time in nearly three days, the path she needed to take, the path she wanted to take, was clear.
She started by composing a text.
Steffan,
I sincerely apologize for going behind your back to get the team lead position for Couture Fashion Week. Being in charge of hairstyles for that event was your gig.
I’m very sorry for my actions.
Marigold
She hit Send.
There were a few things she could have mentioned about his less-than-stellar behavior, but this was an apology for her actions.
Now she could focus on her and Cade. If there still was a her and Cade.
Marigold knew the wall she’d erected between them couldn’t be scaled by an e-mail or a text. Making him see that they belonged together was something that needed to be handled in person.
Today, on Valentine’s Day—ah, the irony—she would hunt him down and offer him her heart. She’d tell him how much she loved him and hope he agreed they shared the kind of love that would last a lifetime.
The buzz of the doorbell pulled her from her thoughts. As Ami planned to help Hadley with some last-minute orders, Marigold decided she must have decided to stop in and say hello first.
She’d told Ami it was okay to use her key, but her sister had winked and said she wouldn’t want to walk in on anything. But that had been eons ago, when she and Cade had been hot and heavy.
Lately, the only thing her sister was likely to interrupt was a crying jag.
She rose and strolled to the door, reaching it just as the buzzer sounded again. Marigold jerked it open. “I don’t know why you don’t use the key . . .”
Her voice trailed off. It wasn’t Ami standing there, but Cade.
“May I come in?”
Since Marigold was having difficulty finding her voice, she only stepped aside.
He filled the small room, taking up all the oxygen, making it impossible for her to breathe.
“These are for you.” He shoved a bouquet of red roses interspersed with baby’s breath into her hands.
She hadn’t noticed the flowers. Her gaze had been on his face, on those beautiful gray eyes.
“Ah, thank you.” Her voice sounded rusty, as if it hadn’t been used for a few hundred years, but at least it was steady.
She heard his sigh of relief. It was almost as if he thought she might toss the flowers in his face. But that wasn’t her style. She’d never been a drama queen.
Besides, she wasn’t angry anymore. Heartsick about the way things had ended between them, but not angry.
While she put the flowers in water, she watched Cade slip off his coat and sling it over a chair. Her heart twisted. How many times over the past few weeks had she watched him do that same thing?
“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking.” He gestured to the sofa. “I’d appreciate if you’d let me say my piece before you toss me out.”
“The flowers bought you ten minutes.” She’d meant the words to be light and teasing, but he must have taken them literally, because he gave a nod.
He waited until she’d taken a seat on the sofa before settling into the chair holding his coat. Cade leaned forward and rested his forearms on his thighs. “I told you once I regretted that I didn’t care enough to fight for Alice. I let her go because she didn’t matter enough to me.”
Marigold felt a tiny flutter in her chest.
“I love you, Marigold, and I’m here to fight for you. I’m here to fight for us.”
She opened her mouth to tell him she wanted to make it work, too. But he continued without giving her a chance to speak.
“You regretted that you and Jason never fought, that you kept things superficial. I regret keeping things superficial with you. I knew I was in love with you for weeks, but I never said the words. I never let you know how I felt. That’s on me, and that ends today.”
“I—I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything now, just listen.” His gaze dropped to the hands she had clenched together in her lap. “Is it okay if I hold your hand? You can have it back anytime you want.”
His attempt at a lighthearted chuckle fell flat.
In answer she held out her hand and felt the chill inside her fade when his strong fingers wrapped around hers.
“Somewhere along the way I forgot home isn’t a place, it’s having people you love in your life.” Cade’s intense gray eyes never left hers. “When I’m ninety, I want you beside me.”
“My career,” she began, the words she wanted to stay sticking to her tongue.
“I know how talented you are, and I won’t hold you back.” His thumb gently caressed her palm. “What’s important to you is important to me. I can work anywhere. With your dreams and goals, you can’t. Wherever you decide to settle is fine with me. All that matters to me is being with you, building a life with you.”
The words wrapped around Marigold’s heart like a hug. “You don’t like big towns.”
His eyes softened. “I can be happy anywhere, as long as I’m with you.”
He was speaking from the heart. She could see it in his eyes, hear it in his voice.
It was time she did the same.
“For so many years, I pursued success without really thinking what that word meant to me.” She cleared her throat. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, and it seems to me that success is liking what you do and being happy. Fin had to go away to find her success. Ami and Prim found theirs here.”
Cade nodded, his gaze firmly fixed on her face. He didn’t attempt to rush her. It was as if he realized she needed to spell this all out, not only for him, but for herself.
“I was looking through my art journal entries this morning and I realized something.”
“What was it?” His voice was as soft and smooth as freshly whipped cream.
“I’ve found my happiness here, too. I’ve been happier and more content in Good Hope than I’ve ever been in my life. Most of that has to do with you. With us.” Marigold paused. “Fin suggested we could move to a bedroom community outside a large city, preferably one with a good transit system. I could work in the city. You could be a sheriff in a small town.”
His eyes never left hers. “If that’s what you want, that’s what we’ll do.”
“It isn’t what I want.” Marigold leaned toward him. An urgency filled her tone as she tightened her grip on his hand. “I’m happy here. I like being close to my sisters and my dad. I want to be more than a face on a screen to my nieces and nephews.”
Hope flared in
the dark depths of his eyes, but his voice was calm. “What are you saying?”
“I can remain cutting-edge. It might take more work, but I’ll fly to hair shows and do what’s necessary to keep my skills sharp. But I can see clients here. I want to live in Good Hope with you. I love you, Cade. So very much.”
In one swift movement, she was in his arms. He held her so close she could feel the wild beat of his heart. “Are you sure?”
“About loving you?”
He gave her hair a tug, laughed. “No, about staying in Good Hope. I don’t want you to stay just because of me.”
“I’m sure. Now, if you lose the election, we may have to come up with Plan B. But wherever that plan takes us, you and I will be together. That’s what matters.”
“I want it all, Marigold.”
Her heart began to sing. “Yes.”
Cade held her at arm’s length. “You don’t even know what I’m about to ask.”
“I do. And yes, I’ll marry you. I want that more than anything.”
The look of delight that crossed his face emboldened her.
She continued quickly, not giving him a chance to speak. “I know it’s tradition for the guy to ask, but there has been nothing traditional about you and me. Starting with when I invited myself back to your motel room after Shannon’s wedding reception.”
“You didn’t ask me, Goldilocks.” His husky voice had everything inside her melting. “I asked you.”
“Really?” What had stuck with Marigold about that night was the attraction, the desire, and the sense of connection. She shrugged, smiled. “It doesn’t really matter who asked whom back then. I’m asking you to be mine now and forever. I’ll say the words so there’s no misunderstanding. Will you marry me, Cade Rallis? Will you share your life with me, have children with me, grow old with me?”
He didn’t hesitate. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
As she gazed into those steady gray eyes and heard the promise in his voice, Marigold made another promise.
They were going to be deliriously happy together.