Page 55 of Caden's Situationship

“Sandra Rose will never be anyone other than herself. I could tell she was sincere in how sorry she was, but it won’t be the last time my mother does something insane. We still have a lot to work out, but we needed that talk today. It was the start of us trying to build a real relationship.”

“Did you ever get in touch with Lance or your dad?”

She nodded. “Turns out, Lance had important business out the country for Red Rose. Which, of course, I knew. But with all the craziness, I completely forgot about it. And apparently, my dad refused to go to the funeral, so he’s on a golf trip in Florida with his buddies. He won't be home for a few more days.”

I kicked off my boots and joined her on the bed. “Do you think your mom will tell him everything that happened today?”

“No, I doubt it. At least not all of it. The one thing my mom and I have in common is that we both keep my dad in the dark about as much as we can. It’s just easier to deal with him that way.”

I couldn’t help but observe her, wondering if she really was doing better after talking with her mom. It seemed like she was, but the worry lines around her eyes proved it was going to take more than a conversation for her to heal from what happened.

Wanting to do nothing but comfort her, I pulled her into my arms, burying her head under my chin. She was a strong woman, but since she was my woman, I felt so damn protective of her. I didn’t need to spend another day in Dandelion Hills to know she didn’t belong here. “Did you make plans to see your mom tomorrow?”

“No, I was sort of thinking I could fly back with you and stay for a little while longer.”

I swallowed back the need to tell her how I felt. She’d already had a heavy day and I didn’t want to add to that. “You can stay for however long you want.”

Cuddling closer to me, she whispered, “Thanks.” But thanking me wasn’t necessary. Didn’t she know I’d do anything for her?

“How can I help?” I asked when she began getting restless in my arms.

“Sorry, I was trying not to fidget, but I have a headache that hasn’t gone away since I got that call from my mom’s friend.”

“Here, lean up and scoot towards me.” She did as I’d suggested and moved back until she was in between my legs. “Now relax.”

Gently, I tapped her shoulders until she dropped her elbows and leaned her head against my stomach. Once she was where I wanted her, I began rubbing her head to relieve some of her tension.

“That’s amazing,” she murmured after a few minutes.

“Shh. Just relax baby.”

Instead, she glanced back at me. “You just called me baby, not darlin’ or Cordy.”

I smiled. “You’re my darlin’, my Cordy, and my baby. It just depends on how I’m feeling.”

“And how are you feeling right now?”

I rubbed her temple in a way that made her moan. “Right now, I just want to take care of you in whatever way you need.”

By the time she nodded off, there was a smile on her face and even then, I didn’t stop massaging her head until I knew she was in adeep, relaxed sleep.

Twenty-One

CORDELIA

Waking up, I had a strange feeling that I couldn’t seem to shake. After a fun weekend with his family and an insane day with mine, I’d spent the past few nights in Caden’s bed the same way I had before everything had happened.

Mornings with him were my favorite because I usually woke up around the time he came inside from working on the ranch for a mid-morning snack. Yet today, I couldn’t help but feel like something was a little off.

Leaving Caden’s bedroom, I walked down the stairs in hopes of finding him in the kitchen. Although he was there as I’d suspected, someone else was there, too.

“Father, what are you doing here?” I asked.

“Cordelia, I’m here to bring you home.”

Uh. What?“You came all the way to Arkansas to bring me home? I’m a grown woman and you knew I’d be home soon.”

“Did you forget you called your mother and I a couple days ago to say that you would never be coming back home and you wanted to run a Red Rose office from Arkansas?”

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