“Can you guys come get your women?” Tessa tries to support Winter while holding Paige back by the material of her shirt, but she breaks free and is halfway to us before Tessa can blink.
“Looks like someone had fun,” Adam says as he goes straight to Paige. “You feeling okay, cuddle lump?”
Paige throws her head back and laughs, then falls into Adam and whispers something to him. Except it’s not a whisper at all, and I cringe, scrubbing a hand over my face. I definitely could’ve done without hearing what she plans to do in their tent tonight. Before Paige can say anything else totally inappropriate, Adam lifts her into a fireman’s carry and hauls her off just as I get to Winter. She’s slumped against Tessa’s side, her eyelids droopy, but a smile sweeps over her face when she sees me. That’s good, right?
“Hey, baby,” I say, wrapping my arm around her and letting her lean against me.
“You’re so pretty,” she says—or slurs, anyway—as she reaches up and pets my face.
I glance at Tessa with eyebrows raised. “How many drinks did you let her have?”
“Let her? Have you met your fiancée? I tried to cut her off at five, but she kept sneaking off to the bar and ordering more.” She leans into Jase’s side as he presses a kiss to her head. Her features are pinched, and that only makes me worry more. Did Winter say something to her and Paige while they were out?
“What is it?” I ask.
Before she can answer, Winter slumps farther into me, her legs nearly giving out. Without thinking twice, I slip my arm under her knees and lift her to my chest. She sighs against my neck and presses a kiss there as she wraps her arms tighter around me.
“Tess?” I ask again.
She glances at Jase, then Winter, whose eyes are now closed. “She got kind of upset tonight. I think it started earlier when you guys were watching Haley and then tonight . . .” She looks over at Jase, then reaches for his hand before looking back at me. “I’m not sure how much she’ll remember, but we should talk in the morning.”
Fuck. My heart free falls to my stomach, and I can’t seem to swallow the gravel stuck in my throat. I manage a nod and turn, bringing Winter toward our tent while Jase and Tessa follow before veering off for theirs. Squeals and laughter come from Adam and Paige’s tent, but I block them out as I get Winter inside ours.
Once we’re zipped up in our small, two-person tent, I set her down on the sleeping bag I laid out earlier. She flops back with a sigh, wiggling to get comfortable. I slip her shoes from her feet, rubbing my thumbs into her arches. She moans, pushing her feet farther into my hands, but doesn’t say anything. The dress Paige laid out for Winter earlier is even more minuscule now that it’s on her body, the hem creeping up far enough to reveal her panties. I go to my bag and rummage around until I find one of my T-shirts.
“Baby,” I say, leaning over her and brushing the hair back from her face. “You want to change into this?”
Her eyelids flutter open and she sits up, hands straight in the air. With a chuckle, I help her out of her dress before slipping my shirt over her head. Once she’s covered, she lies back down, gripping the front of my shirt to pull me with her. As I lie down at her side, she snuggles into me, pressing her nose into my neck, her leg thrown over mine.
“Missed you,” she says through a yawn.
She’s awake, but not by much. She’s going to pass out any second, so I don’t want to get to the crux of what I need to know only to have her fall asleep mid-convo. Instead, I ask, “Did you have fun?”
“Mhmm . . . till Tessa broke my thunder,” she mumbles.
Broke her thunder? What the fuck does that mean? “What’d Tess do?”
Silence greets me, and I glance down. Winter’s eyes are closed, deep breaths passing through parted lips. Her arm is heavy against my chest, telling me she’s well and truly out for the night. Meanwhile, I’m rigid as hell, a hundred possibilities flying through my head at what Tessa’s—and now Winter’s—comments mean. Ten minutes later, I can’t take it anymore and slip out from under Winter, heading straight for Jase and Tess’s tent. It’s quiet, just some unintelligible murmurs drifting out. No moans, thank Christ.
“You two better be dressed, because I need to talk.”
“Knew that sad bastard wouldn’t let me get lucky tonight,” Jase mumbles as Tessa laughs. She undoes the zipper and then steps out, Jase behind her.
“We took bets on how long it’d take you to come over here.” Tessa leans back into Jase’s chest as he wraps an arm around her shoulders from behind. “I won, by the way. I think Jase was optimistic.”
“I knew you’d be over here this soon, too, but my ‘loss’ isn’t exactly a hardship, if you know what I mean,” Jase says, wiggling his fucking eyebrows.
I take a deep breath, rubbing my finger and thumb against my eyes, not even bothering to snap at him for that comment. “I just need to know what’s bothering Winter. Was she upset all night?”
Tessa blows out a deep breath. “Well, no, not exactly, but she wasn’t herself. She didn’t want to talk much until she got a few drinks in her, then she kept telling us she just wanted to keep us a while longer. I have no idea what she meant, but thought you might?”
Keep them a while longer? I shake my head. “No idea. She also said you broke her thunder. No clue what she’s talking about there either.”
Tessa stiffens, her fingers white-knuckling Jase’s forearm, and he presses a kiss to her temple. “Just tell him, baby,” Jase says. “It’s okay.”
I divide my attention between the two of them, narrowing my eyes. “Tell me what?”
“I didn’t break her thunder,” Tessa says. “I was worried about stealing her thunder. We wanted to wait until after the wedding to tell everyone.”
Stealing her thunder . . . waiting until after the wedding . . . ? I shoot my eyes to Tessa’s left hand, which is still clutching Jase’s arm. No ring, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. And even though Jase didn’t ask me to go ring shopping, I wouldn’t put it past the bastard not to ask me as payback for finding Winter’s ring on my own. “Did Jase propose?”
“Not yet,” Jase says, and there’s the tiniest bit of challenge in his voice, like he’s expecting me to fight him on it.
“Then what . . . ?”
But then I notice his hand spread out almost protectively across Tessa’s abdomen at the same time she says, “You’re gonna be an uncle again.”
“Holy shit,” I say. Then louder, “Holy shit.” For the briefest moments, my concern over Winter recedes as I bring Tessa into a hug before doing the same for Jase. While I’d rather not think about my best friend knocking up my sister, I can’t deny that he treats both her and Haley like princesses. He’d do anything for them, and I know it’ll be the same with the baby. I can’t ask for anything more for my baby sister and niece, despite all the grief I gave Jase and Tess when they first got together.
“When’s the baby due?” I ask.
“February twentieth,” Tessa says, leaning once again into Jase, her eyes studying mine. “You’re not mad?”
“Why the hell would I be mad about getting another niece or a nephew?”
She shrugs. “I don’t know . . . We’re not married. I’ve been here before.”
“You have not been here before, Tess. Totally different circumstances.”
“Well, yeah, I know that, but . . .”
“You thought I wouldn’t see it like that?” I shake my head and tell her honestly, “If I had to pick someone for you to have more babies with, it’d be Jase. Married or not. I’m happy for you guys.”
“Thank you,” Tessa says, her shoulders visibly relaxing.
“Happy for you, but I’m still going crazy over here. I need to know what the hell happened with Winter tonight.”
“Right . . .” Tessa nods, tucking her hair behind her ear. “So she kept talking about not wanting us to be family so she could keep us. I have no idea what it means, and after I told her about the baby, it only
got worse. She just kept repeating that she didn’t want to be an aunt because she wanted to keep us a little longer.” She shakes her head. “I thought it might mean something to you.”
Whether or not she wants to be an aunt is irrelevant, because Haley loves her to death. She’s been Aunt Winter for months and months, but today was the first time Haley’s ever said it directly to Winter. I wonder if that’s where it stemmed from? It doesn’t take a genius to figure out she doesn’t have the best outlook when it comes to family. And despite attempting to show her otherwise, that our family means something different, I’ve been leaving her to fend for herself while I focused on the restaurant.
That ends right now. I still have responsibilities there and always will. But I can take some time and show Winter exactly what being part of my family means, reassure her she’s the most important thing in my life. And that won’t change, no matter how much she fears it’s going to.
August 13
cade
This has been the longest goddamn week of my life, but I needed to get things in order at work, and make sure my sous chef, Kat, was confident running the restaurant on the busiest day of the week. If I plan to change how much time I’m spending at the restaurant, I need to get used to this. I don’t want to work every weekend for the rest of my life. Before this month, with the bachelor party, wedding, and now the little getaway I planned that Winter and I are currently en route to, I can count on one hand how many weekends I’d had off since I became head chef. That shit’s about to change. I’ll still have to work many—I want to, because there’s nothing quite like the rush of a good dinner service, and it’s almost guaranteed on a Saturday night—but I don’t have to work them all.
Winter’s hand is encased in mine over the center console, her lips moving along with the song playing on the radio. She’s been quiet since last weekend, more so than usual, and it’s killed me not to talk to her about it. The morning following the bachelor and bachelorette parties only reaffirmed my need to show her what it means to be part of my family. And let her know that whether or not she includes herself in that group, she’s in it. God, the thought that she didn’t put herself there about killed me. Before we packed up to leave, the six of us were sitting around in the circle created by our chairs when Baby Maxwell-Montgomery was brought up. As the rest of us talked about details—due dates and when they were going to tell Haley and if they were going to find out if it was a boy or a girl—Winter sat in my lap, stiff as a board, and no amount of back rubbing calmed her. No amount of reassurance on my part did anything to help her relax. And, as far as I can tell, those nerves haven’t abated at all in the past week. If anything, they’ve increased, no doubt because of the upcoming wedding.
“We’re sure driving far for dinner,” she says, glancing out the window.
I shrug. “John mentioned this place, and I want to check it out.” All true, fortunately. This place just refers to a bed and breakfast instead of a restaurant like she assumes.
Unsure what she’d need for the weekend, I filled a bag with everything of hers from the bathroom, then threw in a few different pieces of clothing. If I have it my way, we’ll spend most of the time naked and in bed, anyway, so she won’t need clothes at all.
“I can’t believe you got another Saturday off.” She looks over at me. “Are you sure that’s okay? That’ll be three in a row with the wedding next weekend . . .”
“John understands and trusts my decisions for the restaurant.” I squeeze her hand and glance at her before returning my attention to the road. “Like you said, I hired a sous chef for a reason.”
I feel her eyes on me, but she just hums in response, and she doesn’t say anything the rest of the drive. When we finally get to the small town a little less than an hour from home, her brow is furrowed as she looks out the window, no doubt trying to figure out where we are. When I pull into the parking lot of the bed and breakfast, she turns to me with narrowed eyes.
“Do they have a restaurant in here?”
“Not exactly.” I shut off the car, then get out before going over to her side and opening her door. Reaching for her hand, I help her out, then go to the trunk and grab our bags while she stands off to the side, mouth agape.
“Cade Brendon Maxwell, what did you do?”
“C’mon and you’ll find out.” I smile and tug her along behind me.
After checking in at the front desk, we’re shown to our room, complete with outside entrance, private bath, and fireplace. John outdid himself with this recommendation. Once inside our room, I drop our bags on the bed and turn to find Winter staring at me, arms crossed against her chest.
“What is all this, Cade?”
I walk over to her and tug her to me, pressing a kiss on her neck. “It’s me showing you how much I love you.”
Where she was stiff just a moment ago, she relaxes at my words, her arms going around my waist as she sighs. “You don’t need to bring me to a bed and breakfast an hour away to show me that. I already know it.”
“Do you?”
“Of course,” she says, stepping back, the irritation written plainly on her face. “What the hell kind of question is that?”
“The guys were talking—”
She groans. “For the record, I hate when you start stories like that, because they generally don’t end well. And your best friends . . . They’re great, but they can be idiots.”
“I’m definitely not arguing that, but what they said this time got me thinking. And worrying . . .”
If I wasn’t paying close attention, I would’ve missed how her shoulders stiffen again as soon as the words are out of my mouth. Even with her tense body language, her voice is casual as she asks, “About what?”
I sit at the foot of the bed, then reach for her hand and guide her to stand between my knees. With my hands resting on her hips, I look up at her. “I need you to be honest with me, baby. Okay?”
Her throat bobs as she swallows, her eyes darting between mine. With a nod, she says, “Okay.”
I run my thumbs on the soft skin of her stomach, just above her waistband. “Do you feel like you’re second place?”
She’s frozen for about five seconds before confusion sweeps over her face. Her brow furrows, the corners of her mouth curving down in a frown. “Second place to what?”
“The restaurant.”
“What?” She jerks back, already shaking her head. “No, Cade. I’ve never felt like that.”
“Because it would be understandable, especially since I’ve been so focused on it.”
“Of course you have. You’ve been getting it up and running. We knew that going in.”
I nod, recalling the discussion we had back in Chicago, talking about what kind of sacrifices we’d have to make if we made the move, if I accepted the job. We both agreed to them, but . . . “Things change.”
“They do, but not with this. I don’t mind that you’re working so much. I love that you’re able to do what you love for a living.”
Hearing her say that lifts a huge weight from my shoulders, and I sag with relief, dropping my forehead to her stomach. She brings her hands to my hair and rubs in soothing strokes. It’s almost enough to make me fall back on the bed and pull her with me, then focus on getting her naked and under me, but I can’t get her words from last weekend out of my head. I’ve tried to puzzle them out over the past week, and I just can’t get them to make sense.
Pulling back, I look up at her. Her hair falls around her shoulders, the fresh scent of her shampoo surrounding me. She’s got a soft smile on her lips as she stares at me, and she’s so fucking beautiful it hurts. And in a week, she’s going to be my wife.
“Last weekend, you kept saying you wanted to keep us a while longer.” Squeezing her hips, I ask, “What did you mean?”
Her caressing hands freeze against the back of my neck, her body stiff under my hands. She parts her lips, then closes them again, shaking her head. “I . . . I don’t know.”
I raise an eyebrow. “You said you’d be honest with me. After two years, I can tell when you’re lying.”
She exhales a deep breath, her shoulders slumping as she does so. “It’s not a big deal.”
“If it’s been upsetting you, it is a big deal. And you should’ve talked to me about it. You promised me you wouldn’t push me away anymore, and keeping this to yourself is the same thing. I want to know what’s been bothering you.” I pull her a little closer. “Time’s up, baby.”
She pulls her lip between her teeth and bites down hard enough that I cringe. I grip the backs of her thighs and tug her up into my lap, her knees resting on either side of my hips. Her hands still have a death grip on the back of my neck, and while normally her body would melt into mine in this position, it’s rigid, the line of her back straight and her thighs bunched tight under my roaming hands.
When she doesn’t say anything after a several long moments, I ask, “Winter, do you still want to marry me?” It kills me to ask it, mostly because I’m scared shitless about what the answer might be, but if we’re going to work through whatever issues we’ve got, one of us has to ask the tough questions, and it’s sure as hell not going to be bury-her-head-in-the-sand Winter.
She stares at me, darting her gaze between my eyes, and gives a nod. “Yes.”
I don’t even realize how much tension I was holding in my shoulders until her answer causes me to blow out a relieved breath, my entire body relaxing as I do so. “Glad we’re on the same page there.” I smile, giving her a soft kiss. “So you want to marry me, and you’ve spent the past several months trying to figure out how to be a better partner . . . a better wife, right?” The words are ridiculous—were ridiculous when she told me the first time, and feel even more ridiculous coming out of my mouth. If I wasn’t completely happy with Winter as she is, why the hell would I have proposed in the first place? I still don’t understand why she hasn’t gotten that yet.
Our Love Unhinged (Reluctant Hearts Book 4) Page 6