by Unknown
Arthur Wheeler shook his head. “Making a person think every nuance of his or her life should be completely within his or her control is unrealistic. That can only lead to trouble, not to mention missing a few of life’s best surprises.”
Cade had absolutely no idea what his uncle was talking about but it made perfect sense to him. He wanted to live his life like that, not like his father and mother had lived theirs.
“Do you want to leave?”
Cade frowned. “Of course not. I’m not going anywhere.”
He felt his uncle’s hand on his shoulder. “Why do you do it, son?”
Cade grabbed a spoon and stuck it in the nearest pot on the stove. “Do what?”
“Spend your life doing what your parents think is right for you?”
Cade didn’t answer. Instead, he kept stirring the red beans and sausage simmering on the stove. His mother would no doubt have something negative to say about the food. She’d wonder why Arthur hadn’t brought in gourmet instead of plain old country food. He checked the cornbread in the oven, reminding himself that his uncle had asked him a question and he’d kept him waiting, longer than was polite. Cade hadn’t intended on unearthing the deep, dark secrets that had driven his everyday life until he’d returned here. He should have shrugged his shoulders, but he couldn’t. This time he wanted Uncle Arthur to know.
“I disappointed them with so many decisions that I kept trying to find at least one or two that would satisfy them.”
“You should be more concerned with making yourself happy.”
This time he did shrug, and tried to keep silent, but the words came on their own. “My dad never wanted me to become a doctor. He wanted me to go into business and finance, like he did. When I insisted on medical school he wanted me to be a surgeon, but I didn’t do that, either. I finally went to work at the clinic in Dallas because it was the only thing I could live with that he wanted.”
His uncle took the spoon from him and placed it on a saucer. “He’s gone now. You could stay here and work. I know it’s what you want. You can pretend to other folks, but not to me. You’ve wanted to be here since that summer before med school.”
“And my father felt betrayed because of it. I was his flesh and blood, but he saw me as more your child even though you were miles away. He always said, ‘You’re just like your uncle Arthur. I don’t know how that happened.’ He’d sigh and walk away like I had disappointed him.”
“It wasn’t only about you, Cade.”
“Who was it about?”
The man pushed a crumb around with his fingertip. “Me and your mother.”
“You’re talking about the relationship between you and my mother before she married my father?”
“That’s part of it. But the summer you came here your father was really upset that you might want to join me when you finished school. He made a lot of accusations about your mother and me having a relationship while they were married. He thought you might be my son.”
“Did he have reason to think that?” Cade tried to keep his hands from knotting and breaking into a sweat. He’d had enough revelations since he’d come to Cypress Landing to last a lifetime.
His uncle gave a wistful smile. “You’re the closest I’ll ever come to having a son of my own, but you’re not mine, and my relationship with your mother ended when she decided to marry your father.”
“Did my father believe that?”
“I think he still had his doubts. That’s why I didn’t have much contact with you or your family after you left here.”
“Is that why you didn’t bother to tell me Jody Mills died last year?”
Arthur Wheeler rubbed his forehead then sighed. “That was wrong of me and completely selfish. I knew I had to have this surgery soon, and I wanted to get you back here to fill in for me. I was afraid if you came and found Brijette here, I wouldn’t be able to get you to come when I needed you.”
Cade nodded. “You’re right. It was a rotten thing to do, but at least now I know why.”
Lights flashed in the window and his uncle shuffled across the room. “We’ll have to discuss that another time. That should be your mother, or Brijette and Dylan.”
Cade pushed his uncle aside getting to the door. “Please tell me you’re kidding. It would be a crazy thing to invite Brijette and my mother to a meal.”
“We’ll be seeing how crazy shortly.”
“Why would you do this, to Brijette and to me?”
“Because it’s time.”
His uncle opened the door and Dylan raced into the old man’s arms, then over to Cade as though she hadn’t seen him in months, when he’d gone fishing with her just the other day.
The two had barely cleared the threshold when another set of lights flashed in the drive.
“What are you doing here?”
Brijette hadn’t noticed the other car yet because she’d focused in on him. Cade had been so worried that she’d have to deal with his mother, he hadn’t given a thought to the fact that she might not want to have dinner with him. The idea disappointed him, probably because deep in his subconscious he’d imagined the two of them having dinner together, alone, one day very soon.
“Uncle Arthur invited me—” he paused, trying to think of an easy way to say it, but he couldn’t find one “—me and my mother to dinner.”
She squared off with Doc Wheeler, anger contorting her features. “How could you do this to me?”
“I’m not doing this to you. This is my family and I feel like you and Dylan are my family, too. I wanted everyone together tonight. Is that too much to ask?”
“Yes, it is for me.” She reached for Dylan, who’d been standing next to Cade, holding on to his arm. “Come on, Dylan, we’re leaving.”
Cade felt slim fingers tighten against his skin and knew this fight had only just begun. “No, I want to stay and eat with Cade and Uncle Arthur. Why can’t we?”
“Because I said so.”
“That’s no reason, Mom. Why can’t we meet Cade’s mother? You act like she’s mean or something.”
Brijette glared at him as if he’d arranged this. God knows, he never would have inflicted this on them, himself included. His uncle must have lost his mind.
The possibility of leaving without a confrontation had passed. Mrs. Wheeler stood in the open door, confused.
“Are you Cade’s mom? That’s my mom.” Dylan waved a thumb over her shoulder in Brijette’s direction and skipped in front of the woman, her hand outstretched. Confusion transformed to pale-faced shock, but Mrs. Wheeler shook the child’s hand from pure instinct. Obviously, she had no idea Brijette had ever had a child. Cade frowned at his uncle, who grinned at the whole bunch of them. The guy had kept more secrets than a sleazy politician.
“Brijette and her daughter, Dylan, are having dinner with us,” Cade informed her.
At least his mother had the good grace not to protest in front of the child, though Brijette seemed ready to break and run at the first opportunity. His uncle herded them to the kitchen. Mrs. Wheeler sat at the table, and Dylan, always the conversationalist, sat down beside her. Brijette filled glasses with iced tea, while he and his uncle put food on the table. At last they were ready to eat.
Thirty seconds. Cade smiled to himself. That’s how long it had taken Dylan to completely wrap his mother around her little finger. The woman laughed at something the girl said, glancing toward him with a smile he couldn’t quite put a name on, but he liked it. They might even pull this evening off.
He’d finished his last spoonful of red beans and rice when the peace ended. Thus far, Dylan had kept his mother entertained with the inner workings of small-town life in Cypress Landing, right down to the number of domino games played by the old men at the local country store. He and his uncle had participated in the conversation. Brijette sat stirring her food aimlessly.
“You seem to have a good head on your shoulders, Dylan. I’ll never know how your mother did it on her own, as bad a decision-maker
as she was.” His mother spoke the words and he wondered if she heard how callous they sounded or even if she’d meant to say it, though she didn’t seem the least bit regretful.
Brijette’s chair skidded on the tile floor, but Dylan only stared at Mrs. Wheeler before responding.
“My mom says it’s not nice to say things like that. And she makes good decisions. She’s practically a doctor. Well, once when she was younger she wasn’t so smar—”
“That’s enough, Dylan. We’re going.”
“But, Mom, we can’t eat and leave. We haven’t helped with the dishes or had dessert or anything. That’s rude.”
Brijette caught Dylan’s wrist, her mouth in a tight line. “It’s my turn.” She pulled the protesting child from the room and to the front door. They were gone before the other three could move.
Cade pushed his chair back with a loud groan. “Nice job, Mother.” He went to the sink and began rinsing his bowl.
His mother followed him. “Why didn’t one of you bother to tell me she had a child?”
At the table, his uncle fiddled with the salt shaker. Cade set his bowl in the bottom of the sink. “What’s the difference if she has a child? She works with me at the clinic. The end. The past is done, now leave it alone.”
“Is it? Is it really behind you or have you not bothered to look at that girl?”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Cade watched his uncle slink from the room to safety. He was glad. He had no idea where this conversation was going but he doubted he’d like it.
“She’s you, in case you haven’t noticed.”
“Dylan has blond hair and green eyes, as do lots of other children. So what?”
“That child could be yours.”
“Brijette never said she was pregnant and never tried to get me to marry her. If she was willing to take money to stay away from me, don’t you think she’d have tried to get more if she’d been pregnant? She’d have told me. I’d have married her and she knew that. She’d have had everything she needed, unless of course you’d have cut me off financially for marrying her.”
“I damn well would have.” The look on her face told him the words had tumbled across her lips before she’d weighed them.
“Is that how it is? I dance to your music or no money for me? Just so you know, I don’t need Wheeler money anymore. I can do fine on my own. And to clear away the doubts you have about Dylan, Brijette has a birth certificate that shows the child was born too long after I left for her to be mine.”
“So she’s a trashy whore.”
Cade threw the dish towel he’d been holding on the counter. “I’m done here.” He left the room and his uncle’s house feeling a weight on him the likes of which he hadn’t felt since he’d left Cypress Landing the first time and left Brijette to shoulder her troubles alone. He’d been an ignorant, scared boy, ruled by his parents’ beliefs and judgments and, yes, even by their money. He’d left that boy behind and he never wanted to see him again. He was a better man than that. Brijette needed to know it.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
BRIJETTE SAT on the sofa, staring vacantly at the television. She’d seen Mrs. Wheeler’s face. The woman suspected the truth.
After settling Dylan in bed with a vague explanation of why she and Mrs. Wheeler didn’t get along, she’d bathed, but couldn’t sleep. Hugging a pillow to her middle, she assured herself that the birth certificate would fix everything. Once Mrs. Wheeler saw it, there’d be nothing else for the woman to say. Headlights flickered in the window and she wondered who would be coming to her house at—she consulted the clock on the wall—eleven-thirty at night. She groaned. It was probably the sheriff wanting her to go and track. Occasionally, he was good enough to bring help from his office to stay with Dylan. More often, she had to drag her daughter from her bed and let her sleep in the car while Brijette did her job.
But that wasn’t the sheriff’s car in front of her house. It was Cade’s truck.
She threw open the door and met him on the porch. “What do you want?”
“To apologize.”
“So apologize and leave.”
He smacked his arm. “The mosquitoes are having a feast on me. Can we please go inside? I’d like to talk to you.”
Cade Wheeler was the last person who needed to be in her house, but she moved and let him in, because part of her still wanted him to be her knight in shining armor, however tarnished that armor might be.
She sank into the sofa cushions while he lingered in the middle of the room, swaying from side to side.
“Oh, sit already. You’re giving me a headache with that rocking.”
He settled in beside her. Closer than she wanted, but she did sort of like it. “Why did you let your uncle invite Dylan and me to dinner with your mother there?”
“You think I knew? I heard what was going on when you drove up.”
She shook her head. “I don’t know what he was thinking. Maybe since his surgery, his mind’s not right. Surely he knew how horrible it would be.”
“Actually, it was much better than I imagined, except for my mother’s rudeness at the end, and I apologize for that. What she said was uncalled for, but I think Dylan put her in her place.”
Brijette felt herself smiling even though she didn’t mean to. “Yes, she did do a good job. You know your mother hates the fact that I’m at the clinic. She wants you to leave, right now.”
“I’ve already told her that’s not going to happen. She’s used to having her way, because my dad and I have always given in to her. That stops now. I never intended my being here to cause you trouble, and especially not pain.”
She tugged the pillow in front of her again. “It hasn’t.”
“Tonight that wasn’t true.” His voice hummed in the air and she imagined she could feel the words against her skin.
“It’s done now.” Her words slipped into a whisper.
Cade continued, leaning closer. Now, not only his words but his very breath touched her. “I know, but we were getting to the point where we could enjoy each other’s company without having the past hanging over us, and I liked it. I liked it a lot.”
When he stopped, his chest rose and fell as if he’d put much more effort into the statement than would have seemed necessary. Brijette understood. Her head whirled as though she’d been oxygen deprived. She wished Cade hadn’t said those things. Hearing, or even thinking about feeling enjoyment in his presence could lead to nothing but more trouble, the unearthing of lies she preferred remain buried. She’d lived with the lie long enough that it had become a security blanket and being uncovered was practically inconceivable.
She tossed the pillow aside and curled her legs under her. “Don’t say things like that, Cade. We can’t ever go back to how we were.”
His hand came to rest above her knee, his thumb moving across her skin. “I’m not thinking of what’s behind us. Now is the time I’m concerned with. Right now.”
She took a few deep breaths to control the pure hunger building inside her. It really stank that her own body could betray her this way. She’d always thought what she’d felt years ago was so strong because she’d been young and inexperienced. But she felt exactly seventeen again, nearly giddy with passion, and he’d barely touched her. She had to focus or she’d lose control. “Right now may be fine for you, but I have a child and her feelings to consider. What happens two months from now when you’re in Dallas? Will you be concerned about you and me, about Dylan, then?” She hated that her words sounded a little bit breathless, but what came next completely took her by surprise.
“I’m thinking of staying here.”
The statement sent a chill of both pleasure and fear along her nerves, but she struggled to hide it. “Yeah, right. I can tell by your mother’s behavior tonight that she’d be one hundred percent for that.”
“I don’t live for my mother’s happiness.”
She dug hard to find a bit of sarcasm to mask her building excitement. She absolutely didn’
t want Cade to make her feel this unsettled. Not because of his body. Not the thought of his staying in Cypress Landing. Nothing. “Oh, since when did that happen? I thought you answered to her for everything. Although I can’t for the life of me understand why, unless inheriting the Wheeler fortune is that important to you.”
His fingers tightened on her leg. “I don’t need the Wheeler money, and it’s not exactly a fortune. I’m an only child and I do have a responsibility to my mother, especially since my father died. I made—” Cade stopped and, releasing her leg, trapped her hand in his, holding it to his lips for a moment before pressing it to his chest. “I made promises to my father, to stay in Dallas and take care of my mother. He wanted her to be able to live there in the same lifestyle she’d always had with him. I’ve been keeping those promises, but I don’t know if I can do it anymore.”
“Why?” She clamped her teeth down on her tongue as the word escaped. Hearing Cade’s reasoning wouldn’t change things. She still felt that pull to be near him, to hold him and be held by him. A weakness she couldn’t give in to, could she?
“Because I’d rather do this.”
His mouth trapped hers in a kiss that she would have thought she’d want to stop but she didn’t. It lingered on, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, drawing him closer. He groaned and she remembered how wonderful the sound always made her feel, and that same fluttering soared into her stomach.
Cade pushed her farther into the sofa and she began to not care why they shouldn’t be together. When her back made contact with the cushions, his lips left hers to slide their way to the base of her throat, where he tugged at the V-neck of her T-shirt, revealing the gentle rise of her bare breasts. She fully intended to hold inside the feelings that threatened to crush her, but she couldn’t, and they burst free on a fervent moan that ended with Cade’s name on her lips.
She wound her fingers in his hair, hauling his mouth to hers again. He struggled to get a better position on the sofa, his foot banging the coffee table and sending the picture of Brijette and Dylan crashing over. She glanced at the table, realizing she desperately needed to take control of this situation. She gripped his shoulders and pushed him away.