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For the third time that day, Caine wished he’d convinced Emma Carr to schedule the cookout for sometime other than right after one of his baseball games. He didn’t even have time to run home and shower or change out of his grubby jeans and jersey. Sure, he’d known Mel’s family all of his life, but he hadn’t been over to their house for dinner in years, and never as Mel’s boyfriend.
Boyfriend. He still couldn’t get used to how good that sounded.
Luckily, Gage was just as grubby as he was. “Did you really have to drive us over here in this ridiculous thing?”
Caine pulled the Mayor Mobile up the Carrs’ driveway. “Well, we would have looked stupid showing up on your bike, and my truck was at Town Hall.”
“This is seriously the least dignified method of transportation known to man,” Gage grumbled, levering himself out of the cart.
Caine began to walk up the driveway. “Nah. Unicycles are way worse.”
He knocked on the door. Growing up, he and Gage used to come and go as they pleased, but it felt weird to do that now. He’d visited the house a few times since Micah had come back to town, but this visit was different than all of the others.
“Caine! So good to see you, honey.” Emma Carr greeted him with the same warm hospitality she had since he’d shown up with Micah when he was a scrawny six-year-old. She even leaned up and kissed his cheek, after she hugged Gage. “Micah and Melody are already in the back. Now that you’re here, we can toss the chicken on the grill.”
“Thanks for inviting me, Emma.” Emma led them through the house. Not much had changed. The furniture was updated, but the atmosphere was the same as he remembered. Warm. Open. You knew the minute you walked in that a family who loved each other lived here.
“Please. You’re family. We’re always happy to have you here.” The backyard looked like something lout of a movie. Neatly cut grass. Flower beds brimming with colorful blooms. Tree house still up in the tree even after all these years. In one corner of the flagstone patio stood an umbrella-shaded picnic table. Mel, looking fresh and lovely in khaki capris and a floaty blue top, threw a baseball to her nephew. Jax wore the same look of intense concentration Mel did when she wanted to do something exactly right the first time. He’d first seen it when helping her ride her bike for the first time.
“Caine!” A big smile broke across her face. While they’d talked on the phone every night before bed, he’d been too busy with several deals at Town Hall to see her. He hadn’t realized exactly how much he’d missed her until now.
He took long strides toward her until he could wrap his arms around her and kiss her. “Hello, sunshine. Been too long since I got to do that.”
Leaning in again, he would have stolen another kiss if there hadn’t been a dramatic gagging sound behind Mel. Gage joined Jax in sticking his finger down his throat. “Gross,” Jax said. “Why are you kissing her? Girls have cooties.”
Mel pulled away, reaching out to ruffle the boy’s hair and shove Gage. “As a medical professional, I can tell you without a doubt that the type of ‘cooties’ you think I have are not real.”
Micah stood by the grill, not looking thrilled to see him. Out of the corner of his eye, Caine saw Mel and Gage start up another game of catch with Jax.
“Micah. How’re things at the bakery?”
“Fine, I guess.” Micah turned to check the chicken breasts sizzling over the coals. “Been busy? Didn’t see you around town much this week.”
Caine accepted the beer his friend held out, hoping it was a peace offering. He didn’t want bad blood between them because of his relationship with Mel. “Yeah, we’re working on finalizing budgets and planning the town museum Jemma’s been pushing for all these years. Wrapped it up yesterday, actually.”
They stood in silence, both of them staring at the grill for several moments, drinking their beers. “Jax settling in okay?”
“It’s a big change for both of us, but I think he’ll be all right in a few months.” Micah faced him, arms crossed. To anyone else, the stance might have been intimidating, but Caine had learned a long time ago not to back down. Micah had always outweighed him and Gage, but he was all talk. Well, mostly. “I meant what I said at your house, Caine. Don’t hurt my sister.”
Caine sipped the beer, studying his friend. “I don’t plan to. Get used to having me around for family dinners.”
Micah let out a bark of laughter. “What’s one more? Gage already eats enough to feed an army.”
“Hey, now.” Gage ambled over the game of catch. “I only eat enough for a platoon. Maybe a battalion. And it’s your fault I eat so much. Getting to eat the best food in town? For free? Makes my lonely frozen dinners look like dog food.”
Underneath the big tree, the game of catch had deteriorated to Mel chasing Jax in circles, threatening to give him cooties. Caine smiled at the sight, imagining a tiny version of Mel joining the game, brown curls flying around her chubby cheeks. Through the kitchen window, they could see Emma puttering around with the side dishes. This was how things were supposed to be.
“Those frozen meals are dog, man,” Micah said. “It’s a good thing Unknown isn’t a hotbed of crime. With the nourishment you get from those things, Jax could probably take you.”
“Whatever.” Gage leaned his long body against the porch railing. “So, you two still trying to intimidate each other, or can we all go back to being friends again?”
Caine waiting for Micah to respond. Finally, Micah shrugged. “As long as there are no more secrets, I think we’re good. Oh, and I call dibs on your help if he does something stupid.”
“You’d use my own brother against me? Ouch, man. That hurts.” Caine put a hand to his chest in mock pain. He expected Gage to take Micah’s side, though. If situations were reversed, he’d beat the crap out of Gage for hurting Mel. She was his girlfriend, but she’d been their girl first. “Good thing I don’t plan to let her go.”
“She’s here to settle down, you know.” Micah pulled ears of corn off the grill, putting them on a plate Gage held out for him, then moved to the chicken. “Might be your chance. Don’t waste it. And don’t hurt her.”
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Mel watched Caine carefully as they sat down to eat. He sat across from her, right next to Jax. In true Maddox fashion, he conversed easily with her family. He and Micah argued back and forth about the Texas Rangers’ chances at the playoffs this year, with Gage tossing in color commentary between mouthfuls of food.
“Emma, how are things that Education Foundation? Plans for the fundraiser coming along?” Caine’s question obviously pleased her mother.
“Things are going well, considering who’s in charge of it.” Emma’s tart reply brought a smile to Caine’s handsome face. His whole face lit up when he smiled, really smiled. He had his company smile and then he had his real smile. The real smile curled Mel’s toes and reminded her why she’d first become attracted to him. But when the company smile came out, he became a true Maddox. And that side of him worried her a little.
“Mrs. Holloway is certainly opinionated. I’m dealing with her on the museum project.” Caine winked at Emma. “Let’s just say I’ll be happy when the museum is open. So will my secretary.”
Emma chuckled. “I’m sure Maisie has practically taken up residence in your office, trying to make sure every detail is perfect.”
“Well, I certainly would prefer you or Jemma as the head of the committee. High maintenance women like Mrs. Holloway give me flashbacks of all those meetings Mother held at the house when I was a kid." Caine gave an exaggerated shudder.
Mel laughed at him, throwing a chip. "Like you ever had to suffer through too many of those. You and Gage might as well have lived here when we were kids."
He threw the chip back. He looked so relaxed and comfortable, the sun glinting off of a bad case of hat hair. It really was unfair for him to be this attractive even in the midst of this awful Texas heat. "I still had to run the gauntlet to escape. It was worse w
hen I came home from boarding school. They all grilled me for hours."
“You went to boarding school?” Jax wrinkled his little nose. “What for?”
Caine looked over at her nephew. "Well, my dad and my mom weren't very happy people, and they decided that they didn't like me growing up in Unknown, so they sent me away to a fancy school up north. But you want to know a secret?"
Jax nodded, almost eagerly. Mel hadn't seen him show this much interest in anyone besides his dad since he’d moved here. Caine had obviously made an impression on her stoic nephew.
“Boarding school sucked. The food was lousy, the boys were jerks. But the absolute worst part? My brother, your aunt, and your dad weren't there." Caine met her gaze. Would she ever stop getting this warm tingly feeling every time he looked at her like that? "Life without your best friends is miserable."
Jax frowned at him. "You're best friends with a girl? Why? All the girls at my school are stupid."
“A lot of girls are pretty stupid. But your aunt isn't. She was always pretty cool." He pointed to the big oak tree in the corner of the yard where an ancient tree house still sat amidst the branches. "She helped us build the tree house, remember?"
Mel jumped in. "He means they used me as cheap labor to bring them sodas and fetch nails. Jerks wouldn't let me do anything fun like use a hammer. And then they had the nerve to put up a sign that said 'No Girls Allowed.'"
“We had to have some place to escape to," Micah protested. "You were such a little pest, always following us around, begging to play with us."
“Hey, I always let you up," Caine said.
Gage snorted from beside her. “You were such a wimp.”
“Being nice does not make him a wimp," she argued.
Caine shrugged, his eyes all soft and tender. Warmth sluiced through her, mixing with a healthy dose of desire. "What can I say? Those big eyes would look up, all teary and sad, and I couldn't say no. That's lesson one of being a guy, little man. Girls will use tears to get what they want. And it works."
She stuck her tongue out at him, making Jax laugh. "Aunt Mel's cool, I guess. But I don't want a friend that's a girl if it means I have to kiss her like you did when you got here. Yuck!"
“You’ll think differently someday," Emma warned. "Caine used to think girls were gross and now look at him."
Jax didn't look convinced, but Mel was. Whatever their past, Caine truly wanted to be with her now. That thought kept playing over and over in her head even after dinner was over, even though she tried to distract herself by helping clean up.
“Careful, Mel-bell. You're drooling, and we used up all of the paper towels to clean up Jax's soda spill earlier."
Gage’s voice startled her. She had been standing at the sink, rinsing off some of the dishes while Caine and Micah worked with Jax on his batting stance. She'd gotten a little distracted, watching the way Caine's biceps pulled on the soft gray fabric of his t-shirt. "I wasn't drooling. That's just dish water."
“Right, sure. And you couldn't take your eyes off of him all through dinner." He snickered, picking up dishes and starting to load them into the dishwasher. "I can't remember the last time I saw him this happy."
Mel felt her cheeks flush. "It’s so weird. Having him here. The place is the same, the people are the same, but the dynamic is different."
Gage took a dish from her. His grey eyes didn't leave her face. This man. He’d always been there for her, was always supportive. "Good different or bad different?"
“Good different." She didn't hesitate. Aside from her dad's absence, the changes felt right. A natural progression. "The only thing that could make it better would be to see you and Micah get out there in the dating world."
That earned her a disgusted face. "True sign of someone who is completely smitten. Trying to inflict your happiness on everyone else."
“I'm not...smitten." Smitten sounded like a silly little girl's emotions.
Shaking his head, Gage crossed his arms over his chest, a knowing smile on his handsome face. If she looked closely, she could see the resemblance between him and Caine. The line of the jaw, the curve of his mouth. It wasn't overt, but it was still there. The years she’d spent trying to block her memories of Caine had dimmed the impact of how much the Maddox boys were alike. “Come on, now, Mel-bell. This is me. I know you. I know him. You're both so stubborn. If you'd just stopped fighting it, you could have been happy years ago."
“I've been happy." Mel sighed. "Maybe not as happy as I am now, sure. But as much as I care for him, I don't need your brother to be happy."
It was true. She loved being with Caine, but she wasn't about to have her happiness depend on him. She was home. She had a great family, a wonderful best friend, and the job she’d always wanted. Happiness had been around before Caine Maddox and it would be around after him. She looked back out the window in time to see him lift a giggling Jax over his head. Who was she kidding? God help her, Caine might be the only person who turned her happiness into joy.
Chapter 14
“Did you get a summons?” Caine demanded as he barged into the police chief’s office Thursday afternoon.
Gage glared at the paperwork he was filling out. “Of course. Mother said she’d heard that you’d gone to a family dinner with your—and I quote— ‘flame of the month’, and protocol dictated that she reciprocate immediately. Are they going to stay at the house?”
“Apparently. They’re even hiring staff from the club to come and serve dinner.” Caine looked at the wall, wondering how much it would hurt if he punched it. Olivia Maddox qualified for hurricane status. With only a few hours’ notice, she expected her every whim to be catered to. And from the barely concealed disdain in her voice, he knew this dinner would be hell for everyone involved.
“Have you told Mel yet?” Gage looked as worried as Caine felt.
He shook his head, tugging his hair. “No. I wish I didn’t have to. Mother’s never been a big fan of the Carrs.”
“You’re going to have to do some serious groveling to get her to agree to this dinner. Especially on such short notice.”
“No shit.” Caine had already started to formulate a plan. “I’ve got a present stored up for a special occasion. I’ll break it out to soften her up and then hit her with the dinner.”
“It better be one hell of a present,” Gage warned.
No kidding. Caine got in his car and drove out to his house. Hating his parents was a waste of energy, but that didn't stop the bitterness of memory from souring his mood. As a kid, part of him had always wanted to please his parents, even when he wanted to escape them. They were family. His grandfather had kept them from being too full of themselves and their own importance. Grandpa James. God, he missed him. The Maddox family patriarch had made Fortune Hill truly feel like home. When he died, everything had changed.
Turning into the drive, Caine remembered the day he’d left Fortune Hill for boarding school. It had been a hot summer day, about a month after Grandpa James's funeral. He’d come in after spending the day swimming in the river with Gage and Micah. Mel had gone to the clinic to help Doc Booth. Even back then, she'd been determined to be a doctor. Olivia and Joseph, his picture-perfect parents, sat in the living room and told him that his bags were being packed. It was high time he went to a proper school, they’d said. One meant for boys of his position in life.
His first question had been why, of course. They’d just given him the standard parent response of “because I said so.” He’d wanted to argue, to stomp his foot and tell them to go to hell. But he couldn’t. Rule number one, his grandfather always told him, was to respect your elders. That day, he’d almost forgotten that rule. Every part of him wanted to act like a little kid and scream and slam doors and tell them he wasn’t leaving. He’d even briefly considered running away to the Carrs’ house. He knew they'd bring him home, though, and that his parents would get their way. So he’d said goodbye to his brother and left for Ardsmore Academy. That day had ended any real re
spect he’d felt for his father and only increased his dislike of his mother. They focused only on appearance, something he vowed never to do.
And now he had to tell Mel that they were being summoned before the king and queen of darkness. Swell. Luckily, he’d ordered the present right after their first date, intending to take Mel to New York or Boston for a long weekend and maybe a trip to the theatre. He hadn’t intended to use it as bribery, but in this case, he needed all the help he could get.
Later that night, present in hand, Caine climbed the stairs to Mel’s apartment. He’d grabbed a box of chocolates for good measure.
“Hey, you,” Mel said, pulling him inside before giving him a kiss. “Those aren’t for me, are they?”
He handed her the boxes. “Yes, they are. But before you open them, I have to confess that they’re a bribe.”
“A bribe? Hmm.” She set the boxes on the table. “Let’s see how bad the situation is.”
He shoved his hands into the back pockets of his jeans to keep from helping her rip the paper off. Tessa had laughed when he’d confessed everything to her. He'd told her all about Mel years ago and she'd been happy to send the dress. Her only price in exchange was that she got to meet Mel ASAP.
“Oh, Caine. It’s gorgeous.” She held the aqua-colored dress up to her shoulders, admiring it. “This isn’t a Tessa Styles dress, is it?”
Time to come clean. “Yeah, it is. She and I went to boarding school together and are still pretty close. I ordered it a few weeks ago, hoping I could convince you to go to New York with me for a weekend.”
“A weekend in New York? Oh, I'd love to, but I can't right now. Not with the clinic and the hospital." Mel continued to run her hand along the silk.
“Yeah. See, that’s where the bribe part comes in.” He took a deep breath before plunging in. “My mother heard about my dinner with your family last weekend and is pretty insistent that you have dinner with my family this weekend.”
Need You Now (Love in Unknown) Page 16