Page 48 of Hidden Interests

Caden froze. He’d heard her, but it wasn’t until he saw her pained expression that he understood how serious she was. He knew about Orly’s gift, but he never in a million years thought there were other people with other gifts. And then a fine sheet of cold sweat covered his skin as the words from her first FBI interview came rushing back to him. I’m psychic. She’d said it so nonchalantly, almost as a joke. No wonder no one had taken her seriously. He’d even brushed it off, thinking it was her way of throwing off the other agent in the room. But watching her now, he knew that hadn’t been a joke or a copout. He wasn’t exactly sure what she meant by “glimpses,” but even as thousands of questions flooded his mind, he didn’t want to interrupt her, so he just waited for her to continue.

“They don’t last long enough to make anything out,” she said. “They’re useless as far as showing me where or when or why. I always just get ‘the what.’ When we were at that restaurant together, I got one while you went to answer your phone message. It was glass shattering. That’s it. No other clues. No dates, names, or faces to go with it. They hit me randomly. It can take days or weeks to come to fruition, sometimes even months. I never know. But they always happen eventually. Always.”

The emphasis she placed on that last word sent shivers down Caden’s back. Always. Hallie could predict the future, but didn't have the ability to stop anything from actually happening. He couldn’t imagine how terrifying, confusing, and frustrating that must be for her. He drew in a ragged breath, his heart wanting to beat out of his chest. He reached for her, but she stepped back.

“Not yet,” she said, drawing her arms around herself. “I’ve had these glimpses since I was a kid. I wasn’t allowed to watch television when I was young, so I had no idea what they were. When I got older - I’ll never forget the first time I saw a news story and remembered how I’d seen an image of it before it occurred. I started writing them down, keeping track. Not that I needed to. I never forget a single one of my glimpses. Nor did I forget how they transpired. It stays with me. Haunts me. They keep me awake most nights until it happens, and then I’m usually able to sleep again until another one comes.”

Caden tried to reach out to her again. He was dying to take her into his arms, but she held up her hand asking him to wait. He’d wait forever. He just wanted her to know he was there for her, ready to comfort her, be there for her, whenever she needed him.

“I have never been able to help a single person. I’d come to think of these glimpses as some cosmic punishment for something I'd done in a past life. They were just there to scare me, torture me, show me the awful things that would happen at some point in the future.” Hallie took a breath. “Until Blake.”

Caden’s eyes widened, his breath hitching in his throat. He closed the distance between them in one long, quick stride and took her hands in his, gently squeezing them. This time she didn’t resist him, so he crushed her to his chest, holding on to her with everything he had. How could he have missed it? After everything he and his friends had gone through with Orly, how could he have not even considered that Hallie’s involvement in Blake’s shooting was paranormal.

Still pressed up against him, she cleared her throat and continued. “When it happened, I didn’t see Blake. I saw a snippet of a search warrant with an address on it, and Blake’s badge, revealing his name. It was on the ground in a pool of blood. I only saw it for like two seconds and I couldn’t really see his photo, so I had to look him up online to make sure my mind hadn’t made a mistake. But it never does.”

Caden let out a broken and haggard sigh that felt like it came from the depths of his soul. “That’s how you knew. I was right all along. I never thought you - God, you saved his life, Hales.” His knees wanted to give out. He wanted to beg her forgiveness for assuming the worst about her, but instead, when she tried to pull away, he just pleaded. “Please, let me hold you.”

She relaxed into him and he felt the moment she gave him her weight. He took it easily, and gently rubbed a hand up and down her back.

“I swear, Caden, I didn’t have anything to do with Blake’s shooting,” she said. “I was just -”

“Shhh,” Caden soothed. He didn’t need her to defend herself. There was no doubt in his mind she was innocent. If only he’d listened to his gut instinct weeks ago, they wouldn’t have been apart, and maybe he could’ve been there for her tonight when her shop was vandalized. Maybe he could’ve stopped it.

“But the agents that are watching me, and your boss…” her voice cut through his mounting regret like the shards of glass he found scattered on the floor of her store. “I’m scared they won’t stop until they find something that connects me to Blake’s shooting. If they ever found out the truth...” Her body shuddered, and he tightened his hold on her.

“Let me worry about them.” He had no idea how he would close the case against her, but he’d find a way, even if he needed some help from his friends. They had all banded together for Orly. He had no doubt once they knew how special Hallie was, that she had saved Blake’s life, they would do anything they could to help her too. “No one is going to find out, and I will never let anyone hurt you or separate us again.”

She’d been innocent this whole time and he’d stayed away from her, torturing them both. The worst part was that if he hadn’t decided to come back to her store tonight, he’d probably never know about her gift or just how innocent in all this she really was. He hadn’t told her back at the store, but Blake hadn’t come when Garrett messaged the guys because he still thought she was dangerous and didn’t support the guys going to help her.

That would forever be left unsaid, because the minute he told Blake how she knew about his shooting, everything would change, for Blake, and for the rest of their friends.

Caden had no idea what she and Orly had talked about in her back office, but he’d have to thank his friend yet again, this time for helping Hallie trust him with this incredible secret.

He stood in the bright ray of his headlights, holding Hallie in his arms, listening to the creek just a few feet away. He couldn’t imagine anything more perfect. “Caden?” Her voice pierced his thoughts.

“Right here.” He lowered his head until his mouth touched her soft hair. Savoring her in his arms, he placed a soft kiss on the top of her head and gave her a reassuring squeeze.

“I think you should buy this house,” Hallie said. “I mean, I would if I could. It’s so peaceful out here. Like you can escape the whole world just standing on this very spot.”

Caden smiled. That was exactly what he planned to do, and escaping the world with Hallie by his side sounded absolutely heavenly. From the moment he first walked into The Mystic Cow, Caden had felt an undeniable attraction to the woman in his arms. He had no idea how much she would change his life, but now that he had her back in his arms, all he could think about was keeping her there for as long as he could.

“Caden?” She whispered, looking up at him. Her emerald eyes shone with unshed tears. “Are you mad?”

Caden shook his head. “Never.” He forced a reassuring smile. He could never be mad at her, but he was more than pissed off at himself for not trusting his gut when Avery had first made him doubt her.

“Then can you take me home now? I’m so tired, I could fall asleep standing up.”

Caden sighed. “Of course.” He kissed the top of her head again, inhaling her sweetness, then scooped her up in his arms.

She let out a little surprised squeak as he held her with one arm behind her back and the other under her knees. “Caden, what are you doing? Put me down,” she protested.

He smiled at her, taking stock of the playfulness in her tone. “Not a chance,” he retorted. “These arms have been empty for far too long without you in them.”

Hallie made a contented sigh and rested her head against his chest. It was exactly where she was always meant to be. “I missed you too,” she whispered.

His heart squeezed at her soft admission. “I meant what I said back at your store, Hales. I’m not leaving you again.”

She looked up at him then, a glimmer of doubt shining in her beautiful emerald eyes. “Not even after what I just told you?”

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