Page 131 of Finding Forever

“So what do you think you’re going to do?” he asked, eyes boring into hers.

“I don’t know, Cade…” she said with a droll little shrug. “You make the whole meeting men and getting my dating groove on sound so appealing.”

He scowled at that.

“I just wanted you to know that I’d understand if that’s what you wanted.”

“What I want…”is for you to love me.

She cleared her throat and started again. “What I want, is some time to figure out what I want. Nothing has to change in the meantime. But Cade, if you’re serious about wanting to be part of this baby’s life, I think that would be wonderful. For both of you. I’m sorry if I ever made you feel differently. That was not my intention. I just didn’t want you to feel pressured.”

“I understand and, in the beginning, I was…” He coughed into his fist, seemingly uncomfortable as he shifted his shoulders restlessly. “I washappythat you didn’t want me involved. It was an unforeseen complication and I resented having to deal with it when there was so much else going on. And I’m not going to lie, Fern, it’s still a huge mental and emotional adjustment, but knowing exactly what my role in his life will be… it helps. It helps a lot. And it’s a relief.”

“Then maybe that’s enough for now, Cade. Baby steps. We’ll figure this out.”

He smiled, an unprompted, unreserved, genuine smile. It was equal parts relief and joy, and showcased those Hawthorne dimples to maximum affect.

He was quite simply stunning, and when he smiled, he took her breath away.

“That works for me, sweetheart.” He got up and held out ahand to her. He tugged her to her feet after she took his hand without hesitation. Barefoot, the top of her head didn’t even reach his shoulder, and she got a crick in her neck when she angled her head back to meet his eyes.

He linked his arms loosely around her waist.

“How about we seal our temporary deal with a kiss?” he asked her, his voice taking on a raspy note that she wasveryfamiliar with and she laughed.

“That’s not very lawyerly of you, Cade. What happened to pages long contracts that have to be initialed and signed in triplicate? And is there any fine print I have to be aware of?”

“Just this one little detail…” His voice dropped, and he lowered his head to whisper the rest directly into her ear. “I can give you forever, Fern, but only when you’re ready for it.”

She jerked her head back to meet his somber gaze.

Despite everything he’d said about trying to make the marriage work, it hadn’t truly sunk in that he was pitchingforever.

With her.

And Fern knew that she definitely didnotwant to spend forever with a man who didn’t love her.

She found herself unable to say a word in response to his whisper and he smiled again—only this time it was tinged with sadness—and kissed her.

Chapter

Thirty

“Hello, Cyrus,” Fern greeted her attorney cheerfully, on a Monday morning, three weeks later. She stayed in regular email contact with him but hadn’t really had a conversation with him in weeks. So, she’d been surprised when his name came up in her caller ID. “How’re you doing?”

“Hello, Fern. I’m good, thanks. How are you and Casper?”

“I’m fine and the baby’s growing like a weed.” She laughed, her hand going to her now-unmistakable baby bump.

To Fern’s chagrin, everybody had started referring to the baby as Casper too, thanks to Cade. Evenshehad started thinking of him as Casper. And she’d already privately acknowledged that it was probably going to have to go onto the list of potential names.

“That’s wonderful to hear,” Cyrus said warmly. “Uhm, so listen, I have to run something by you.”

Fern braced herself, pretty sure this call was about Granger. Cyrus’s voice always took on that particularly reserved tone when it came to her stepfather.

“What’s going on?”

“Abernathy has been relentlessly demanding to speak with you. He’s been bleating on about needing to see for himself that you’re okay. Saying that you left his house under cover of darkness, with two strange men, and since then there’s been zero contact except what he’s read in newspapers and seen on television.”

---