Page 108 of Trouble

The words are like a punch to the gut. They hold so much more meaning. More time today. More time after. To talk about where we go from here. How we can make this work.

“Yeah, well, I don’t,” Declan says. Though his tone is brusque, it’s laced with hurt.

Confusion engulfs me, and pain lances my heart. How the hell did we go from being so in tune with one another’s needs tothis?

I stare at Cade, silently urging him to push Declan to stay. Then I turn back to Declan, wishing like hell he’d stop closing himself up. Neither understands my unspoken pleas, and I’m too scared to voice them. Too scared I’ll say the wrong thing and lose them both.

Track 15

BACK TO YOU

CHAPTER 45

Cade

“I’m soglad you could make time for me before heading back to Boston,” my mother says as she pulls me in for a hug. She’s good like that, chiding me gently while wiping away my annoyance by hugging me. My mom gives the best hugs, and I’m most certainly in need of one after the way I left Declan’s house.

“Of course, Ma, and I brought gifts.” I rest a hand on the small of Mel’s back.

Beside me, she’s wearing a coy smile and holding the gifts I bought in town, including the bouquet Amelia set aside.

“Oh, a girl? This really is a good gift,” my mother says with far too much delight.

I chuckle, ignoring her teasing. “I mean the flowers and the limoncello. Brought one for Andrea too. She here?” I crane my neck to look past her, but she’s not having any of it.

“Introduce me to the girl,” she hisses, side-stepping to remain in my field of vision. Her glare quickly turns into a smile, and then she’s focused on Mel. “I’m Cade’s mother, and you are?—”

“Is that Melina Rodriguez?” Declan’s mom asks as she materializes in the dining room behind my mother. My parents built this home when I was a kid, and I’ve helped Ma keep it up over the years.

“It is,” I say, pulling Mel closer. “Mel, this is my mother, Janine Fitzgerald, and this is Declan’s mom, Andrea Everhart. Moms,” I say, not bothering to fight my smile, “this is Mel.”

“It’s so nice to meet you both,” Mel says, holding out the bouquet to my mother.

Mom takes it, but with a shake of her head, she stuffs it into my arms. Then she pulls Mel in for a hug.

“Never thought I’d see the day that my son brought home a girl.”

I cough out a laugh as they embrace.

Andrea steps up and wraps her arms around Mel too. When they pull apart, she frowns at me. “No Declan?”

“He had to work,” I say, swallowing back my annoyance.

“The boy works too much,” his mother replies, though she seems to take the news in stride as she and my mom usher us into my childhood home.

“He’s got an important job,” Mel says, as if she feels the need to remind us.

I brush a kiss to her temple. “He’s right. You are a sweetheart,” I mutter. With a small smile, I step away, taking the flowers and bottle of limoncello to the kitchen.

“Has my son been a good host?” Andrea asks Mel as we settle around the kitchen island, where appetizers have been laid out. “He can be pretty reserved.”

My mother laughs. “That’s her nice way of saying that Declan talks in grunts.”

Mel’s responding smile is tight. “He talks to me.”

I bristle with annoyance. If Declan had come to dinner, our mothers wouldn’t be peppering Mel with all these questions.

Though it would have been a big step to show up together now that we’re?—

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