by Addison Cole
“Oh my,” Jenna whispered.
“Shh.” Tony held a finger to his lips. He was sitting on Amy’s bed with his back propped against the headboard and Amy snuggled beneath his arm. Her hair was in a ponytail, and she looked a little green.
“What happened?” Jenna lifted her knees up high as she tiptoed overdramatically around the bed.
“She got a little sick, so I pulled her hair up. Every time she lay down, she felt sick again.” Tony shrugged.
Bella’s heart melted. He was so compassionate, but come morning, if Amy remembered that he’d taken care of her, she’d want to run away as far and as fast as she could.
“We’ll take it from here. Thanks, Tony. It was so nice of you to stay with her.” Bella climbed onto the bed. “And if by some miracle she doesn’t remember you taking care of her when she wakes up in the morning, you have to promise to take this to your grave.”
“I hear you cut off people’s balls. I’ll never tell a soul.” He kissed Amy’s forehead and held her up while Jenna climbed into his spot. With Bella on her other side, they wedged Amy between them. “I’ll get you guys her barf bowl just in case.”
Tony went into the other room, and over Amy’s head, Jenna mouthed, Barf bowl? Bella shrugged.
Tony came back with a big plastic bowl that Amy kept on top of her refrigerator and set it on the bed next to Bella. Bella turned it over in her hands. She’d never known Amy to throw up in this particular bowl, but Tony having tied back Amy’s hair and designating the bowl as a barf bowl were such compassionate gestures that she went along with it.
“Thanks, Tony.”
“If you need me, you know where I live. Take good care of her.” He looked thoughtfully at Amy before leaving through the sliding glass door.
“What was that all about?” Jenna whispered.
Bella shrugged and brushed Amy’s hair from her forehead. “Look at her. How can he not fall for her? It kind of pisses me off, actually. She’s everything a man could want. Why can’t he see that?”
“Because he’s all a woman could want. Why would he ever tie himself down to one woman?” Jenna leaned back and kicked off her flip-flops. “Besides,” she whispered. “She can’t get hooked up with a man before me. I’ll be all alone, and I hate that.”
Bella sighed and reached for Jenna’s hand. “We’ll always have each other.” The comfort she took in knowing her friends would always be there was exactly the comfort she knew Evan drew from his father. She closed her eyes, and the disappointment she’d felt earlier in the night subsided.
“Jenna?”
“Yeah?”
“I feel a little guilty because when Evan needed Caden, I was bummed to lose out on spending time with him.”
Jenna squeezed her hand. “That’s okay, sweetie. That’s because you care. If you weren’t bummed, it would be a bad sign.”
“But it was a selfish thought. Of all people, I know how much teenagers need their parents, and I’d never want to come between them.”
“Bella, honey, you weren’t competing for Caden’s attention or trying to take him away from Evan. You have to honor your feelings of missing the man you’re involved with and separate that from the rest. There’s no guilt involved with missing someone. I would bet that Caden’s feeling the same way.”
She smiled to herself. “Yeah, you’re probably right. I wasn’t mad or anything, just a little sad to leave.”
“It’s okay, Bell. Close your eyes. Barfy here will be up every hour.”
Bella curled onto her side and draped an arm over Amy. “I hope she doesn’t remember how she got here.”
Jenna curled around Amy’s other side. “I hope you guys still make time for me when you’re both in serious relationships and I’m alone.”
They heard the sliding glass door open and then close. Leanna peeked into the bedroom. “Do you have room for one more?” she whispered. “I miss you guys.” She climbed onto the bed behind Bella.
“What about your man?” Jenna asked.
“My man knows how important you guys are to me. He loves me no matter where I sleep.” She draped her arm over Bella.
“We do, too,” Bella said. “You guys?”
“Hm,” they mumbled in unison.
“I think I love Caden.”
“We know,” they said at the same time.
“We do, too,” Jenna said. “He makes you too happy for us not to, even if I’m green with jealousy.”
Bella drifted off to sleep, feeling safe and happy and on the right track.
Chapter Sixteen
CADEN RAN AT a fast pace along the beach. It was only six o’clock Sunday morning, far too early to call Bella, but he’d been up half the night worrying about Evan—and his relationship with Bella—and he needed to blow off some energy. Evan hadn’t given him any insight into what was bugging him beyond having played a PC game with a group of jerks. He’d tried to get Evan to open up more, but Evan had clammed up, and Caden didn’t press the issue. He was glad Evan had told him as much as he did. They’d watched The Replacements, and by the time Evan went to bed, he seemed more like himself again. It had been a while since they’d spent any quality time together, and he realized that as Evan spread his wings of freedom, the opportunities to spend time together would become few and far between.
Caden felt horrible about Bella leaving early, and he’d called her before he’d turned in for the night, but he still hadn’t heard back from her, which made him worry that she was upset about their evening being cut short.
Bella’s comment about Evan not wanting to share him had also nagged at Caden. He’d asked Evan last night if he had an issue with him dating Bella, and Evan had been adamant about being fine with it. He’d gone so far as to say he was glad Caden was finally getting a life and that Bella was cool. But Caden couldn’t help worrying that adding his relationship with Bella to Evan’s list of stresses—moving from Boston, having to make new friends, going to a new school—might be too much. That reality cut like a knife, and rather than contemplate what it would mean and what the remedy might be if it were too much, he pushed the awful feeling away.
As he headed home, feeling no less confused than he had at the beginning of his run, the sun burned through the gray morning and smiled down on the beach with a promise of a glorious day. Caden could think of a hundred things he wanted to do with Bella today, and the truth was, even if they did nothing at all, it would be more than enough.
BELLA AWOKE TO the smell of eggs and coffee Sunday morning. Amy was sprawled across the center of the bed with her arms and legs splayed as if she’d fallen face-first and hadn’t moved since. Jenna was curled up along the headboard hugging a pillow, and Bella was so close to the edge of the bed that if she rolled over she’d tumble to the floor. How many mornings had they awoken in a similar fashion since they were little girls? Bella smiled at the familiar scene.
She padded softly out of the bedroom and was not surprised to find Amy’s counters covered with flour, sugar, eggshells, and other accoutrements of Leanna’s morning meal. Bella was greeted by the homey scent of warm baked goods. She put her arm around Leanna, who was busy cooking omelets.
“I think I love you.”
Leanna smiled. Her hair was still damp from a shower, and she smelled of soap and floral shampoo. “Because I’m messing up Amy’s kitchen instead of yours?”
“No. Maybe,” Bella teased.
Leanna pulled a tray of muffins from the oven.
“You are a goddess. I hope you know that.” Bella reached for a muffin, and Leanna slapped her hand. “I take it back. Meanie.”
Leanna laughed. “Can you get the jams from the fridge?” She put the muffins on a decorative plate. “Kurt’s down at the bay running, but he should be back soon. I thought we could eat out on the deck.”
Bella tried to sneak a crumb from the pan, and Leanna pointed a finger at her.
“Okay, June Cleaver,” Bella teased.
Jenna came out of the bedroom wit
h her hair askew, blinking the sleep from her eyes. “Something smells delicious.”
Bella pointed to the muffins, and Jenna reached for one. She got slapped, too.
“Aw, come on, Mom. Just a taste?” Jenna stuck out her lower lip.
“You guys always eat the tops and leave the rest. Can’t you wait just until Kurt comes back? Then you can tear them apart.” Leanna carried the muffins outside.
As soon as she was outside, Jenna turned to Bella. “She slapped my hand.”
“Mine, too. She just wants to do something nice for Kurt.” Bella grabbed coffee cups and plates, wishing she had woken up in Caden’s arms and made him coffee and muffins. She wondered what he was doing and how things had gone with Evan.
Jenna snagged jam and butter from the refrigerator, then gathered utensils and napkins. They brought everything to the table on the deck in front of the cottage, and Jenna went back in to check on Amy. She came back out with the coffeepot and creamer.
“Sleeping Beauty is totally zonked.” Jenna poured coffee for each of them. “Where’s Pepper?”
“Kurt took him with him on his run. I’ll get sugar.” Leanna went inside and returned a few minutes later. “I slept like a baby last night. Did Amy get up at all?”
“Not that I remember,” Bella said as she fixed her coffee.
“She kept grabbing my boob in her sleep and mumbling.” Jenna pulled off her sweatshirt from the night before. She tugged at the tank top she had on beneath.
“There wasn’t much room. It’s not like she could avoid them,” Bella teased.
Jenna put her hands under her boobs and pushed them up. “Jealousy will get you nowhere.”
Speaking of jealousy…Seeing Leanna and Kurt last night had twisted all sorts of jealous twines in Bella’s stomach. She knew she’d done the right thing by leaving Caden and Evan alone, but that didn’t stop her from wanting to be with them.
Jenna leaned across the table and squeezed Bella’s hand. “Your face is all pinched, so either you need to get laid or you need to get something off your chest, and given that you and Officer Hottie nipped that first one in the bud, what’s going on?”
Bella sighed and shook her head. “It’s nothing.”
“I wasn’t going to say anything, but I noticed it, too.” Leanna kicked her feet up on the chair beside her. “And you’d better spill soon. I have to be at the flea market early today.”
“By early you can only mean nine thirty instead of ten, right?” Jenna snuck a piece of a muffin. “Like late early?” Leanna would be late to her own wedding for sure. She arrived everywhere late, no matter how much she tried to be on time.
Leanna pointed to the muffins and glared at Jenna, but her smile told of her softening resolve. “Ha-ha. I want to get there by eight. Remember Carey?” Carey sold records at the flea market, and the previous summer he’d had the booth next to Leanna. Booth placement changed often at the flea market, and Leanna was glad when he’d texted and said he was going to be beside her again for the next few weeks.
“He’s that hot young guy, right?” Jenna asked.
“He’s not that young. He’s twenty-five,” Leanna said. “He has the booth next to mine this week, and we were going to try to catch up this morning before the crowds come in.”
“How does Kurt feel about you and Carey?” Bella picked at the muffin she’d snuck when Leanna was inside.
Leanna rolled her eyes. “You’re kidding, right? Remember last year when Carey kissed me? I told Kurt, remember? He trusts me. Besides, Kurt’s coming, too.”
“That’s another thing I don’t get.” Jenna kicked her feet up on a chair and leaned back. “How come you get a guy who changes his whole life to be with you, and Bella gets a cop who finally, after a million years, takes her up in the fire tower—which, by the way, I’m totally jealous of—and I can’t get Pete to look at me like a woman?”
“I thought he was coming fishing with us next weekend,” Bella said.
“He is. But you know what he said?” She lowered her voice. “’Fishing? That sounds great. It’s been a while since I hooked a big one.’”
Leanna and Bella exchanged an eye roll.
“You’re the queen of innuendos, Jen. How can you be so blind to Pete’s?” Bella shrugged.
Jenna drew her brows together. “You think…” Her eyes widened. “No.” Her face grew serious again. “Maybe you’re right. Oh my goodness. You see? Now not only can I not speak around the man, but my brain goes all wonky, too. Maybe I should just forget him altogether.”
That incited another eye roll from Leanna and Bella. Jenna would never forget Pete.
Bella turned at the sound of Caden’s voice. He and Kurt were jogging up the road from the entrance. His bare chest glistened with sweat, and when their eyes met, his easy smile sent her to her feet.
“Caden.” She hurried off the deck.
“I found him on the access road to the beach and we got to talking,” Kurt explained. Kurt joined the others on the deck, leaving Bella and Caden alone.
Caden went to Bella, and when she opened her arms, he held his hands up.
“Sweaty,” he warned.
“Don’t care.” She hugged him close, and when he leaned down and kissed her, her world righted once again. He was dripping with perspiration, but he still smelled like Caden, and that was a smell that she couldn’t get enough of.
“How’s Evan?”
He wiped his forehead with his arm. “He’s good. He didn’t tell me much, just that he played a game with a group of jerks and it pissed him off. I’m sorry about last night, babe. I didn’t want you to leave, but he needed me.”
“I know. It’s okay.”
Caden lowered his voice. “Were you upset?”
“No.” It was a gut reaction, and she realized, not a completely honest one at that. “I wasn’t upset, but a little disappointed. I know that’s stupid and childish of me. I don’t begrudge Evan for needing you, or you for being with him, but I did miss you.”
He touched her arm, and his eyes warmed. “Me too. I missed you like crazy, and when you didn’t return my call, I thought…”
“Oh no. I’m sorry.” She shot a look at her car, where her phone, and her purse, were probably still on the passenger seat. “I’m still not used to carrying my phone. I got home and everyone was by the fire. Amy was hammered, and the girls and I slept here last night.”
“Here?” He glanced up at the others on the deck.
“Yeah. Like a litter of puppies on Amy’s bed.” She stepped closer and touched the waistband of his running shorts. “I’m so happy you’re here.”
He moved her hand from the fabric. “So am I, but if you do that, everyone will see just how happy.” He kissed her again and checked his watch.
“Do you have to get back home?” she asked.
“I promised Evan we’d go boogie boarding in the ocean today. I would really love it if you’d go with us. I know it’s not a very romantic date with a teenager around, but at least we’d be together.” He reached for her hand.
“Do you think I’d miss a chance at going to the beach with you? I’d love to, but if Evan would rather have time alone with you, that’s totally fine.” She suddenly realized that despite how she was feeling last night, she really was okay with being excluded. She’d miss him, but how could she feel anything but good about the man who was doing right by his son?
“I’m sure he won’t mind, but if it’ll make you feel better, I’ll check with him when I get home. But you’ll need to find your phone if you want to know the answer.”
“I’ve got muffins,” Leanna called from Amy’s deck.
Caden waved. “Thanks, but I’ve got a long run back.”
“I can drive you home,” Bella offered.
“That’s okay. Enjoy your friends, and I’ll text you when Ev gets up.”
He kissed her goodbye, and before she joined the others at Amy’s, she retrieved her phone and listened to Caden’s message from last night.
Hey, babe. Sorry about tonight. I miss you, and I wish you were climbing into bed beside me and falling asleep in my arms. Call me when you get a chance.
She texted a response. I would have given anything to fall asleep in your arms, but we did the right thing for Ev, and that’s what matters most. One day it’ll be our turn. Xox. She read the message again, then deleted One day it’ll be our turn before sending it. She didn’t want to seem too eager, even if her heart was already hoping for a future.
Chapter Seventeen
ONE DAY YOU’LL do just that. BTW, Evan said it’s cool. Meet us here around ten? Xox.
Bella read Caden’s text message for the tenth time in as many minutes. He was hoping for a future as much as she was. She sent him a text saying ten was fine. Then she showered and packed her beach tote, excited to spend the day with them.
An hour later, Evan answered the door wearing a blue bathing suit that hung to his knees. “Hey. Come on in.” Evan smiled as he stepped aside.
“Hi.”
“Dad’ll be out in a second. He’s on the phone.” He waved to the couch. “You can sit down if you want.”
“I’m okay, thanks. Are you sure you don’t mind if I come along?”
He flashed the same easy smile as Caden’s. “Nah. It’ll be fun. I’m gonna grab a shirt.” He disappeared down the hall.
“Great.” Caden’s voice came down the hallway. He stepped into the living room clutching his cell phone.
“Hi.” Bella crossed the living room, and the irritation in Caden’s eyes stopped her cold. “What’s wrong?”
Evan appeared behind him, arms over his head as he slithered into his T-shirt.
“Ready, Dad?”
Caden looked from Bella to Evan. “One of the guys called out sick today. I’ve got to cover his shift.”
“Man, that sucks,” Evan said. “I was looking forward to going.”
“I can still take Evan. I mean, if you want to go while your dad’s at work.”
“You don’t have to do that.” Caden’s tone softened.