Page 74 of The Life We Left Behind

“And it is filled with so much love that it would definitely last until tomorrow,” Blake added with a small smile, knowing exactly what she was doing.

“We’d be supporting the economy,” Cade added, and I blinked in surprise, not expecting that to come out of his mouth.

“You can support the economy tomorrow,” I countered. “Tonight, you’re going to eat all of your mother’s pot roast and tell her what an amazing cook she is. And if you finish it all, you can have pizza tomorrow.”

Cade grinned. “It’s a deal.” I could already see the happiness radiating from him as he decided that he’d won this round of parental bargaining.

Amateur.

I had years of experience at this and brussels sprouts in the refrigerator with his name all over them. Revenge came in the form of small green spherical veggies, and now he’d eat every single one.

“Deal?” I smiled sweetly at Blake, waiting for agreement, knowing she was just as bad. Honestly, it was easier to get Cade to eat vegetables.

She slowly blinked. I could already see the suspicion on her face, but eventually she nodded. She saw the trap and knew she was powerless to avoid it.

Parenting win!

Cade shuffled nervously in the back seat as we turned off the road and headed down the driveway toward Booker’s ranch. I’d always known he’d find a way to settle here. He’d loved it back when we were kids, and I had no doubt that he loved it even more now.

“Doing okay back there, bud?”

Cade hummed in agreement, but I could hear the nerves in his voice.

“You want to talk about it before we get there?”

I slowed the car down to delay our arrival and watched him in the rearview. When Cade looked up and met my gaze in the mirror, I pulled the car to a stop.

Pulling on the parking brake, I twisted in my seat to look into the back, propping my chin on the back of my seat.

“What if he decides that he doesn’t like me?” Cade asked. “I’m not…” He looked out the windows at the rolling fields and the few horses grazing nearby. “I don’t know about all this stuff,” he added quietly.

I thought for a moment, knowing that just telling him it was going to be fine wouldn’t work. He needed reassurance that he wasn’t lacking in his father’s family’s eyes because he was a city kid. Cade had a small-town heart. He just didn’t know it. Looking at him now, I could see how much he’d flourish in this place, and that maternal guilt moms always carried around rose up strong. I should have brought him back to this place. I shouldn’t have hidden him away like I did.

“Do you want to know a secret?” I asked.

He nodded quietly, but I could see how much he needed me to tell him that it was all going to be okay.

I glanced out the window and then turned back to him with a smile. “I hate horses,” I blurted out. “I once tried to ride one, and it threw me off into a ditch which was full of stinging nettles, and I got a rash all over my…erm, back.”

Cade snorted out a laugh.

“I’ve never been able to look at one since and not cringe.” I looked out the window at the grazing horses and shuddered dramatically. “I can see the evil in their eyes.”

Cade followed my gaze at the same time that one of the horses lifted its head, chewing a mouthful of grass, and suddenly burst into laughter.

“Yeah, real sus mom.”

“Sus?”

He looked completely unimpressed by me, and it was the first time I realized that it wouldn’t be long until I’d have a teenager to contend with. It was not, however, the first time I realized it was better to pick your fights where they’d count the most, and this was not one of those times.

“Anyway, what I’m getting at is that it doesn’t matter if you don’t know about horses, or farms, or anything to do with small towns. Your father and your Uncle Booker are going to love you anyway. Besides, everyone knows that men like to be able to teach people things. They’re going to love that this is all new to you.”

Cade looked completely unimpressed, and the next ten years of not being a cool parent anymore flashed before my eyes. I was never going to survive this. Not even the satisfaction of making him eat brussels sprouts was going to help this time.

My time was running out.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

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