“He must have cared about you at one time.”
“Or maybe I was a decoy or something.”
“Oh, no, he’s not gay. That man’s not gay. Didn’t you say he slept with every skirt in Hollywood?”
“He did, but he says he still loves me, even after the divorce was final. He said he’s letting me go, because he wants me to be happy.”
“Huh, he’s playing a sick game, as if you need his permission to be happy.” Sylvia shoved her swirl of melted red and nuclear orange ice cream to the side. “I fail to see what all this has to do with Cade. That man is true blue.”
“I know, but …” Andie cracked a piece of waffle cone and nibbled on it. “Why me? He could have his pick.”
“And he picked you.” Sylvia pointed a bright pink nail extension at her.
“What if I’m not enough for him?” Andie’s stomach lurched as Bonnie did gymnastics inside her womb. “I’m ending up like my mother, taking care of others. Did you know my mother wanted to write mysteries? She showed me some of her work last night, and she’s really good.”
That comment of Roxanne’s niggled in her mind. Maybe Cade was only with her because she was too pathetic and naïve. She was the perfect mother for Bret, and with a baby coming, he’d have her tied down at the family homestead while he flew all over the country playing ball and doing endorsements, commercials, and charity events to draw praise from the media.
Sylvia sighed and sat back in her chair, tipping it backward. “You’ve got a baby coming and another one you’re adopting. Seems kind of late to wonder what you want to do with your life.”
“I’m sort of stuck, don’t you think? Babies, burping, diapers. I’m going to miss out on all the exciting things you and Leroy are doing with the summer theater, and then when summer’s over and you guys go back to LA, what will I do?”
“Whatever you want to, girl. You’ll be married to Cade, and I’m sure he can afford for you to take up a hobby. How about painting or yoga or I don’t know, learn a musical instrument?”
“I love history.” The words blurted from Andie, and everything came back. “My father and I, we love history.”
“Then you can watch the History channel together. Sounds like fun. Didn’t you used to do reenactments?”
“Yes, we did, but now he’s unable to crawl on his belly in a mock battle.” Andie pressed her lips together. “Besides, there’s got to be more. I don’t want a hobby. I want to do something unique, something that means something.”
Sylvia tapped her hand. “Actually, I overheard Ronaldo. He’s got plans to expand the theater so it operates all year. Of course, the crowds are gone in the winter, but you might be able to use the stage and sets for other purposes. He doesn’t want it to sit unused and boarded up for more than half a year. If you come up with a business proposal that makes sense, he might put you in charge of it.”
“We’ve already got plenty of restaurants and hotels in the area,” Andie said. “Coming to plays is an offshoot of vacationing here, not the main reason people come.”
“I’m sure you can think of something that puts Canandaigua Lake on the map year round. Keeping the tourists coming would be great for the economy.” Sylvia’s mouth elongated in a smile. “Ronaldo wants to make this area a destination on its own. He’s got big plans.”
Blood shot through Andie’s veins, and jitters danced in her gut. Big plans. Ronaldo always had big plans. But if she got in the ground floor of them, who knew if she could someday be a business leader the way Dinah Silver was?
“Great, I’ll think about it, but I’m not sure Cade would approve of me working outside of the home.”
“What is this, the nineteen-fifties?” Sylvia gave an indignant huff. “I say you do what you want.”
“Yes, but if I didn’t take care of the babies, he wouldn’t want to marry me. I mean why else would he marry me? He’s got everything going for him. Super Bowl MVP, fame, fortune, great looks, and plenty of attention.”
“I get it,” Sylvia said, nodding. “You still think Cade’s out of your league. But you’re using the wrong measuring stick. If we look at fame and salary, then yes, he’s miles ahead of you, but you are out of his league when it comes to family. Look what a mess he has.”
“I know, and I’m trying to fix it for him.” Andie’s shoulders drooped. Even her friend thought the only reason Cade was with her was family. “Do you think Ronaldo can really get Cade’s mother into a witness protection program?”
Sylvia leaned forward, interest glittering in her eyes. “You think she’d take the bait? My suggestion. Set a date and we’ll lure her back.”
She made a motion like a fisherman reeling in a catch.
“It might be dangerous,” Andie countered. “Cade said to leave her out of it. He thinks the bad guys are watching us and will eliminate her if she shows up at our wedding.”
“Hmmm … that is a problem.” Sylvia tapped her fingers on the tabletop. “Why is it so important for you to have her back? Didn’t she almost get you killed by stealing the chips from you?”
A rock lodged in Andie’s throat. She put her hand over her belly and rubbed where her baby was kicking. “She’s double-crossed everyone and she needs to pay for what she did to me. I hope to God my Bonnie doesn’t have birth defects from the drugs they shot me with.”
Sylvia’s mouth gaped and she sucked in a sizzling breath. “So you want to put her away? This entire ‘let’s ask Barb to come to the wedding’ is a ruse?”
“No, not a ruse. Cade needs closure. He’s got abandonment issues, but now everything’s more complicated. I don’t want her walking into a trap. If only she could turn herself in, she’d be safe. Then she could pay for her crimes and if the witness protection thing works, she could come clean, eventually.”
The unfashionable woman at the next table coughed into her napkin. Andie held her breath, waiting. She really didn’t want to do the Heimlich on a stranger. Please, please, please be okay.
The stranger cleared her throat loudly and pushed her chair back, scraping the floor. Good. She was okay. Andie returned her attention to Sylvia. “What were you saying?”
Sylvia shook her long spoon. “You’re too naïve. People like Cade’s mother will never turn themselves in. You know. I know. I’m sure Cade knows it, too.”
“We’ve got to figure out a way to trap her safely.” The gears and cogs turned in Andie’s mind. “I’m thinking this lakeside theater could work out great. What if we staged two weddings?”
“You’re brilliant! One could be part of a play, and the other could be real.”
“Exactly, and once we spot her, the FBI can move in and whisk her away to safety. I actually think she’s in more danger out there, wherever she is. I’m sure she left a trail somewhere.”
A sneaky smile creased across Sylvia’s face, and she rubbed her hands. “Oh, I’m sure she left plenty of track marks. We’ll catch her yet.”
# # #
Cade couldn’t believe Ronaldo Silver, his playboy friend and onetime mentor, would follow him to Bret’s doctor’s appointment. What did that guy really want?
The baby checked out healthy, and his growth was off the charts. A big boy. Cade texted the stats to Roxanne, Bret’s biological mother, and shot a picture of Bret sleeping in his stroller.
“You sure Andie’s okay with you texting your baby mama?” Ronaldo put his sunglasses on when they exited the medical building.
Cade held the door for another patient who’d walked into the wrong office, confusing geriatrics with pediatrics. The woman who wore thick dark glasses nodded, but did not say “thanks.” Strange, he thought small town people were friendly and chatty.
“Roxanne’s on probation, and she’s going forward with the adoption. I don’t see why she should be shut out of Bret’s life.” It wasn’t as if he had any feelings for Roxanne other than disgust at the way she and his mother colluded to get her pregnant from a discarded condom.
“You don’t think sh
e’ll renege on it, do you?” It was just like his friend to pinpoint the one or two things which worried Cade.
“Not if I keep her happy.”
“You’re paying her off?” Ronaldo lowered his sunglasses, dropping his jaw.
“I’m not admitting to anything.” Cade pushed the stroller to the side of his car. The woman with the thick dark glasses almost fell over Bret’s stroller.
“You okay?” Ronaldo gave her a hand.
She nodded and turned to read a poster tacked to a store window.
“All I want is for Andie to be happy,” Cade continued. “She loves Bret already, and I don’t want any flies in the soup.”
“Understood.” Ronaldo flexed and unflexed his fingers. His eyelid twitched, and he pursed his lips.
Whatever was going on, he was up to something. Cade could always read Ronaldo’s tells, no matter how cool he seemed to be.
“So, tell me, why are you and your crew really here in New York?” Cade unlocked his car and transferred a snoozing Bret from the stroller to the car seat. “I can’t imagine you taking your aunt’s orders to revive theater by the lake.”
“Told you already. I owe her for not telling her about you. She would have kicked Dick to the curb long ago had she known he’d screwed around on her.” Ronaldo put his hands in his pockets and shrugged. “By the way, are you getting a pre-nup?”
“A pre-nup? Why would I need one of those?” Cade realized he’d raised his voice when the confused patient from the pediatrics office stopped near them and proceeded to count the change in her purse while staring at a parking meter that took credit cards.
Ronaldo’s strident voice caught his attention. “As your mentor and buddy, I have to counsel you to get one. You never know what a woman’s really thinking.”
“I don’t need one. Not with Andie.”
“You sure?” Ronaldo raised an eyebrow. “This entire ‘we aren’t getting hitched until your mother shows up’ thing sounds as phony as Kobe beef bologna. Why do you think she’s so eager to get your mom to walk you down the aisle?”
“She wants closure for me.”
“There’d be a lot of people who’d want closure from your mom.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Cade slid into the driver’s seat while Ronaldo got into the passenger seat. He still had time on his meter if that woman wanted to move her car. Hopefully she drove better than she walked.
“Your mom hasn’t been an angel,” Ronaldo said, lowering the electric windows. “It’s freaking hot for April.”
A dark cloud descended over Cade’s head and shoulders, weighing his spirit down, as he switched on the air conditioning to push the hot air out the window.
“That’s exactly why I don’t want to have anything to do with her. She put Andie in danger. Andie could have been killed, and the baby …” Cade palmed his face with both hands and wiped it, sighing. “I want Andie to think well of Barbara. She did befriend her when she was new in town. I’d like to think my mom was watching over Andie at the sting, but now that she’s gone for more than half a year, I’m thinking she was in it for her own skin, as usual.”
“So, you’d rather she didn’t show up at your wedding?”
“I don’t want her to ruin my life any further.” Cade turned toward his friend. “I wish she’d stay away from us and never come back. So no, I don’t want her at the wedding. I don’t want to hear from her, see her, or pretend we care about each other. She’s probably using again, and once she goes through the money, she’ll be back trying to scam for more.”
Ronaldo slapped a hand on Cade’s shoulder. “Sure, dude. Let’s do the wedding in secret and not let her know.”
“Then we can’t let Andie know either,” Cade said. “She’ll announce it on social media, and if my mother happens to think there’s an advantage in her showing up, she might walk straight into a trap.”
“We’ll just have to set up a double blind wedding. Let Andie plan and announce a date in public, then marry her when she least expects it.”
“How would I do that?” Cade switched on the ignition.
“I’ve a plan, but I can’t tell you or you’ll give it away. In the meantime, I’ll have my lawyer draw up a pre-nup for her to sign.”
“She won’t sign, trust me.”
“She will if she thinks it’s part of the plan to bring Barb back.”
“I have no idea how you’re going to pull that off, but no pre-nup. Never.” Cade glared at his friend as he pulled from the curb, swerving last minute to avoid hitting the confused woman with the dark glasses jaywalking across the street.
Chapter 6
Spring arrived in the New York Finger Lakes region in fits and starts. The day broke sunny and nippy, but pleasant. Cade balanced Bret in one arm while holding Andie’s hand as they strolled through a giant greenhouse at the university.
Springtime meant flowers, and Itasca University was known for its agriculture and horticulture programs. Every year, the students put on a flower show with contests for the most stunning arrangements as well as displays of art combining floriculture exhibits against backdrops featuring street painting and graffiti art.
“Are you getting any ideas for your bridal bouquet?” Cade guided Andie to the section full of orchids. “What types of flowers do you like?”
“This is all so beautiful, I have no clue.” Andie lingered in front of a cascading display of white orchids. “I thought Ronaldo and Sylvia were planning the wedding.”
“I wouldn’t count on them,” Cade said. “I think you should get the wedding you want, and I don’t believe you should wait for my mother to appear.”
An older hippie woman decked out in a dashiki print over bellbottoms dashed across Andie’s path, forcing her to step to the side.
“Why don’t you want her at the wedding?” Andie said, as her protruding abdomen bumped into an intricate multi-colored glass vase.
Cade’s quick reflexes kept the vase from toppling onto the tile floor. “She’s wanted by the law. You heard what Ronaldo said. The FBI want to speak to her. She can’t just waltz in as if nothing happened.”
“True.” Andie turned toward a giant sunburst of fiery colored blossoms. Her large purse caught the side of a pedestal arrangement.
Cade dove forward, taking two big steps, while holding onto Bret, and caught the column. Andie seemed oblivious of the near disasters as she studied the pop art painted on the side of a faux-boxcar panel.
A little out of breath, Cade eased to her side. “Besides that, my mom could be in danger. Those crooks might want to silence her.”
Andie’s mouth dropped into an elongated oval. “Oh, that’s right. Did we ever figure out who kidnapped her?”
“No, and that bothers me.” Cade yanked Bret back when he swiped at a jeweled butterfly dangling from a flower stem.
The same middle-aged hippie waved at Bret in a childish manner, opening and closing her fingers. Why was she wearing a dark plastic UV protecting face shield, the kind Asian women in California wore to keep from getting freckles and age spots?
Cade shifted Bret to his opposite hip. One couldn’t be too careful with strangers, especially suspicious baby-snatching ones.
“You have a point there.” Andie’s brows creased, seemingly considering. “It seems awfully convenient that Ronaldo would pop up and offer to get your mother into the witness protection program.”
“Exactly. In my gut, I feel there’s a cat and mouse game being played, and I don’t want our wedding to be the bait.”
“What are you saying?” Andie put her nose to a spray of bell-shaped lilies of the valley.
“That we elope, along with your mom, dad, and Bret. You can have your Aunt Helen, too, if you wish. Let’s ditch all the reporters and take a trip together.”
Andie did that little head shake and frowned. “I feel you’re rushing things.”
“Rushing?” Cade couldn’t help staring at her pregnant belly. “Once Bonnie’s here, we won’t have
time. You’ll be busy taking care of her and Bret, and I’ll be going back to the city for conditioning camp.”
“Without me?” Andie’s eyes narrowed. “To that million dollar condo the team got you? Right in the center of nightlife and glamour?”
“You’re welcome to come, but I thought we agreed you’d stay in Itasca close to your parents. That was what you wanted.”
“Sure, it feels too convenient for you. Marry me in April. Bonnie’s born in May. Conditioning camp in June. Then training camp July and August, and the season runs from September all the way to next February if you get to the Super Bowl again.”
Cade took a step back as chills raised goosebumps on his skin. Andie wasn’t entire on board with getting married? Hadn’t she said “yes” in front of the entire world? She loved him too, unless he was misreading her.
But then, how was she going to say “no” in front of the world at his moment of glory? Cade felt eyes burning into the back of his head. A reporter could be snooping nearby, and the next thing he knew, their color pictures would be splashed on the tabloids at the check-out line.
Cade turned three-sixty, but the only person in the vicinity was the aging hippie who seemed to be praying with her love beads, fingering each one in her gnarly hand while hiding behind the face shield.
He reached for Andie’s hand. “Are we okay? Do we need to talk?”
“Watch out.” Andie lunged for a centerpiece set on a cream and silver veined marble table.
Bret had his fist closed around the stem of a rare saffron-colored orchid.
“Goo, gah,” he gurgled and squealed with laughter.
“Oh, no, do you know how much that’s worth?” Andie swiped the flower from Bret and tried to stick it back into the golden vase.
The proprietor, a rather large, owlish man wearing a pinstriped suit sauntered toward them. “What’s going on here?”
“Uh, the baby, sorry,” Andie said. “I’m putting it back.”
“This was my entry into the Herbert Van Roekens flower arranging competition.” He took the stem from Andie and frowned. “Your baby bent this. It’s ruined.”
Boxed Set: Intercepted by Love (The Complete Collection): Books One - Book Six Page 63