Page 23 of Hers to Hold
‘Just because he says it doesn’t make it true,’were words Kady could hear her boss say. It wouldn’t have mattered that Kady believed both of them. She’d been lied to her face, and her gut was saying that her sister and husband weren’t lying.
Kady nonchalantly speared a few chunks of chicken. “I think I read something in the paper the other day about an investigation?”
“Ugh, please, not that,” Kori said around her food. “Drew is above board. His opponent is lying about campaign fraud.”
“I wish I knew who started that rumor,” Kat said glumly. “It’s causing us a lot of stress.”
“I’m sorry,” Kady quickly answered, worried about her sister’s pregnancy. Too much stress wouldn’t be good for either her or the baby. “I didn’t mean—”
“It’s okay,” Drew cut her off. “Anyone can ask me anything and I’ll give them a straight answer. I’m asking to represent them, after all.”
A hand closed over her right knee and squeezed. Kady looked at Wes, who winked and smiled. Kady laid a hand over his and their fingers interlaced. For a second, she thought she was about to burn her newly erected bridge and would never be invited back to the Callaghans. Worst yet, she could be fired from the bakery and lose all access.I should’ve chosen another way to ask that question.She rarely mistimed her questioning. She had just gotten so comfortable around them.
But Wes—who was still holding her hand—was her silent comforter. And that really made her heart sink. She didn’t want to use him or deceive her sisters. Not after sharing a meal with them and feeling, for the first time in a long time, that she was…home.
How could she be at home with a family she didn’t know? Who weren’t aware that she was their sister?
And she couldn’t tell them or risk blowing her own cover. She had a job to do. Keeping up pretenses was the cost of being a journalist.
And if she proved Drew was funneling campaign funds into his own pockets? Then she couldn’t possibly tell Kat or Kori she was their sister. It would be the ultimate betrayal. They would never forgive her. She’d never be invited back to this gorgeous cabin by the lake, never allowed back into Kat’s bakery. She’d have to move. Leave the state.
“Kady, are you working tomorrow?” Kori asked before taking a bite of pie and then sighing dramatically, leaning on Marshall for support. “Mmm, Kat. This is incredible.”
She giggled. “Well, I do hate to brag.”
“No, she doesn’t,” Drew responded quickly, then kissed his wife on the temple. “She brags on herself all day, and there’s no reason why she shouldn’t.”
“It’s incredible Drew hasn’t put on more weight than he has since he married you, Kat,” Wes commented lightly.
“Oh, I’ve put on at least five, and will probably add another five or ten as the baby grows,” Drew said wryly. He rubbed his belly and proceeded to slice another piece of his pie and eat it.
“Blaming the baby. Classic.”
“Are you working tomorrow?” Kori addressed her question to Kady again.
“I am.”
“Good. Then you can meet our mother.”
“Will Mom be there?” Kat asked. “She told me she might come. I’ll be there as well.”
Oh…great,Kady thought, forcing a smile while a storm raged in her stomach. Now she was meeting the mother.
I can never tell them who I am. I’m in too deep…
Chapter 10
Wes relaxed on the back porch swing, gripping the metal chain running from the armrest to the underbelly of the second story balcony. Silently, he tipped back and forth, sipping from the steamy mug of hazelnut coffee.
It was moments like this where he could feel completely at peace. His daughter was safe, well fed, and comfortable. He was gainfully employed, had friends who could stand his company longer than an hour, and he was out of danger. Far away from the battlefield, responsible for no one’s life but his and his daughter’s.
But his heart was steadily beating at a rhythm that caused his anxiety to creep up a notch. And it had everything to do with the clumsy bakeshop worker who invaded this thoughts, conquering ground little by little, demanding he surrender. He was a former Marine; he didn’t know the meaning of the word “surrender.” But the idea was so tempting.
As was she, in those fitted jeans that rose well into her midriff, showing off delicate curves his fingers itched to round.If Dr. Rafferty knew what I was thinking, he’d bring me in for an emergency session,he thought with a chuckle.
Wes didn’t feel like he needed one. Maybe at first, after shoving Kady to the ground inside the bakery he thought was a battle ground, but ever since seeing her at his job, kissing her, then having dinner with her, he felt a little less uneasy.
So why was he tensing up now?
