Page 29 of Return to You

“Are you trying to say the job market in Whisper Lake for high school dropouts whose special skills include drinking and fighting is not as good as I think it is?”

Ali’s face softened and she smiled as she shook her head. Kade felt like the ton of bricks on his chest had been lifted. Her smile meant hope to him. Hope that maybe, just maybe, he hadn’t royally fucked up his chance.

“No, I mean…MMA was your life, not just your career.”

You and the boys are my life now. He kept that piece of trivia to himself. “I made some good investments and had some profitable endorsement campaigns. I’m not rich, but I’ll be okay while I figure out what’s next.”

“Wow. Okay.” She wiped her eyes as Dumbass laid his head on her lap and she smiled down at him and reached to pet his head. “I’m kind of scared to ask what else you have to tell me.”

“Well, for starters, there’s going to be a barbeque here tomorrow.”

“What?” she shrieked.

“Yep, it’s a belated birthday party for the twins.”

“No!” Panic filled her golden eyes. “KJ doesn’t want—”

“I know. But I told them that I wanted to have a party to welcome me back home and I couldn’t exactly throw my own homecoming party, so I asked if we could call it a birthday party.”

Both of her brows lifted toward her hair line. “They bought that?”

“I doubt it. But they agreed to it and even seemed excited when they were texting or snapchatting or whatever they do now, to invite their friends. I think they just needed an excuse to have a party, and I gave them one.”

Ali stared at him for several beats before she started looking around the room in exaggerated movements, even bending down to look beneath the table.

“What?” Kade asked after she made a big show of picking up the centerpiece and looking beneath it.

“I’m looking for the microphones or cameras. I must be on Candid Camera or Punk’d, or some new prank show, right? This isn’t real. Ashton, you can come out now.”

“Sorry.” He chuckled. “You’re not going to meet Ashton today.”

She sat back in her chair and took a deep breath, inhaling and exhaling loudly before petting Dumbass’s head. “And how did you end up with this handsome, good boy?”

She sat back in her chair and sighed. Dumbass lifted his head at her movement and she scratched his head before looking back at Kade. “You know you have to change his name, right?”

He chuckled. The tension that had filled his body for so long dissipated and he felt a calm wash over him. They talked at that kitchen table until four in the morning. Kade told Ali about his visit to his dad’s and how strange it was to see his old man in such a frail state. They talked about Whisper Lake Rentals, and the twins. They talked about Patrick and their childhood.

For the first time in a long time he felt peace. Calm. Content. Three things he’d never even known he was capable of feeling, but being with Ali, looking at Ali, talking with Ali did something to him. It healed him. Now, he just had to figure out how to do the same for her.

10

Ali had been going a mile a minute since she woke up to Kade McKnight’s signature breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes, scrambled eggs, and hash browns, but now she stopped midway through restocking the ice chest to take a breath and soak in her surroundings.

The sun was shining. There was music playing. Everyone was laughing, talking, and eating. Some of the kids were playing kickball and there was a makeshift dance floor on the deck. Doris Weathersby—whose claim to fame was that she was one of the original Rockettes when they were formed in her hometown of St. Louis—was cutting a rug with young Dr. Hanover. Ali had to admit, Chris had some serious moves for a veterinarian.

And most importantly, she felt her brother smiling down on them all.

Today’s a good day, Ali silently told Patrick.

There hadn’t been a lot of good days over the last year and a half. Actually, come to think of it, there might not have been any good days since Patrick died. There’d been days that weren’t excruciatingly painful. There’d been days where she hadn’t been as terrified as other days. There’d been days when she didn’t feel quite as overwhelmed as other days. But there were no days, that she could think of, where the boys were happy. Where she was happy.

Her eyes naturally drifted to the man responsible for making this happy day. Kade was holding court at the barbeque, cooking up another round of hamburgers and hot dogs. He’d done all the heavy lifting today. The grocery shopping, the cooking, even the setting up. She’d tried to help set up the folding chairs but he’d stopped her and called the boys over. The three of them set up the chairs and their card tables, while she looked on.

She appreciated the help, but she told herself that this might not last. That it was too good to be true and she couldn’t depend on it. She believed that Kade did indeed intend to stay in town, but he’d hated growing up in Whisper Lake. Sure, a big part of that was because of his home life. But also he’d been restless in this small community. And what if he did stay, but was miserable?

As selfless and honorable as his intentions were, she wasn’t sure she trusted the follow through. Plus, even if he did, she knew better than most that life, and death, threw curve balls.

Ali watched, captivated, as Kade laughed at something Ethan had said and her entire body felt it. Her pulse quickened as a burst of arousal rocked her center and then spread out through her limbs in tiny aftershocks. His laughter was as smooth and sexy as a John Coltrane sax solo. His smile had enough wattage to light up Times Square. And his eyes…those eyes should be nicknamed the Bermuda Triangle because it was so easy to get lost in them.

---