Page 21 of An Unexpected Everything
“Anyway, just be careful. Especially on the bridges.” He paused, his face darkening. “Weston lost his parents a few years back on that bridge. I guess, what, eight years now? Came back to raise his twin sisters and his brother. Then we’ve had a couple of tourists have accidents on the bridge across town. The mayor and the rest of the town does its best to keep everything going, to keep it safe. But accidents happen. So check your tires. Or give me your keys and I’ll go over to Weston’s. You can take my truck.”
A dull ringing echoed in my ears as Hudson continued to speak, and bile rose in my throat.
Eight years ago.Eight years and he left a note. A note saying that he needed to go. And that he had had fun.
And this was why. Why he had come back to town. It was all making a sick sort of sense. And it was all I could do not to throw up right there.
“Isabella? What’s wrong?”
I swallowed hard and forced myself to put a pleasant expression on my face. Hudson didn’t know the connection, so I wasn’t about to let him in on the fact that my entire worldview had been utterly shattered for the second time in my life.
“Nothing’s wrong. My tires are fine. But I will stop by Caldwell’s if I feel like I need to.”
“Okay. Are you sure you’re okay?” He sighed. “Of course you’re not. You’re here in Cage Lake doing remote work and checking in on the businesses for Flynn because of some asshole down in Wyoming. And apparently in Denver too. So if you need me, you call. I know you are just as independent as I am, and I hate people, but I don’t want you to get hurt. And if you need to talk about whatever is troubling you...hell, I can send you over to the resort to talk to someone there. She never shuts up.”
I had no idea who he was talking about, but I wanted to reach out and hug him, or tell him I was fine, but I wasn’t. Because my world had just been once again rocked on its axis, and I couldn’t keep up.
So many secrets, so many lies, and yet, it felt as if this one truth had changed everything once more and it didn’t make any sense to me. “Thank you. I’m just going to go drive downtown a bit. Walk downtown, I guess. The little shops. Walk around. The brothers won’t let me work today.”
“That sounds like them. Seriously though. I know you’re good at faking it for others, but if you need to scream into the void or some shit, call me.”
“I’ll be fine. I promise,” I lied.
And then I said my goodbyes and left the lake behind me before I got into my SUV. I assumed my tires were fine, somaybe Hudson or someone should check them out. But my hands shook as I drove down the winding road around the lake toward the main town area. It wasn’t really downtown. It was just farther south and a lower elevation. The place was adorable, with its similar facade on each building. As if there was a building code that somebody paid attention to and was very strict about. But there was still a little bit of individuality in each thing.
And there really were way too many Cage names on this place. Cage Italiano had to be the worst culprit. They didn’t even try with that one. At least the so-called dive bar I had driven past on the way here didn’t have Cage in the name— they had just gone with Lake Bar.
The main street had many of the tourist businesses and eateries of town. Cage Street was the main road that got you into the town and toward the lake before you turned onto Main Street. Because of course the Cages would name their own road that. I didn’t know if it was Dad or someone else who had gone with the naming, but I knew Flynn and the others probably wouldn’t stamp their face all over everything. At least I hoped they didn’t.
I parked in an easy spot near the market, and put my crossbody bag on, and tried not to hold my pepper spray too tight. Blakely had even given me bear spray to add on to that, and while I would always choose the bear over the man, I didn’t like the fact that I had spray to ward off both of them.
“You must be Isabella,” an average-height woman with richly dark hair pulled into a bun on the top of her head said. She wore a wool vest over outdoor pants and hiking shoes and had on a scarf as well that looked fancy. Somehow, she mixed rugged and ladies-who-lunch together, and I wasn’t sure how she did it.
“Excuse me?” I asked, a little scared that this woman had recognized me, and I had no idea who she was.
“Oh I’m sorry. I’m Ms. Patty. Aston sent a note over saying that you were coming to stay at his place. It’s so good to meet one of his sisters. The town cannot wait to get to know all of you. I’m the mayor’s wife, and well I suppose the welcoming committee.” She laughed, and it didn’t sound condescending or rude. Instead she sounded welcoming. It was not what I was used to. “Anyway. If you need anything, you just let us know. He said you would be working remotely up here, and also you have the power of attorney to sign a few pieces of paperwork. Which I know my husband will very much be wanting to talk to you about.” She winked. “You Cages sure take care of us. You should head up to the resort as well. The resort manager, Scarlett, really knows what she’s doing. And she doesn’t really need Cage oversight, which I’m sure you all appreciate. Your resort is in great hands with that one. Anyway, you should try the Caged Bean, they have a lovely coffee flight. Although as you can tell, I’ve had a little too much espresso for the day.” She laughed again, and my lips couldn’t help but form into a smile, even as I struggled to keep up. “Anyway, Aston told me to let everyone know that you’d be in town, and to keep an eye on you. Just so you didn’t get lost or if you needed anything. So don’t worry, we’ll be around for you.” She reached out, squeezed my hand, and left before I could even get a word in.
Well, apparently the town would indeed be watching out for me while I went on this forced sabbatical. He let the mayor’s wife know I was in town, as well as everyone else. So I was going to get the true small-town welcome. Where people kept waving at me, as if I was supposed to know who they were. Maybe he was right, I wasn’t going to truly be alone in this place, even though I only somewhat knew Hudson. I swallowed hard. And Weston.
Countless people introduced themselves, and I tried to keep up, said hello, and then told me that they’d be keeping an eye on me, making sure I didn’t find my way down a dark alley—not that Cage Lake had those. In other words, my brothers had found a way to keep me in a bubble without clipping my wings. I didn’t know how the hell they had done that when they didn’t even know me that well, but they sure had. Maybe it was Blakely, and that did sound like her as well. Or maybe I was figuring out exactly who these Cages were.
I turned the corner, heading toward the Caged Bean when I ran into a hard wall. Strong arms reached out and gripped me by my shoulders, and I flinched, that memory hitting hard before I looked up. I stared into those familiar eyes, my mouth going dry.
“Bella,” he muttered, and I tried to pull back, only it was a lost cause. Because there he was, the man I told myself not to think about. Only he was the only person I could think about.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I blurted.
His eyes widened. “I was about to ask you the same damn question. What the hell are you doing here when some stalker is out to get you?”
I hissed under my breath at that, annoyed that Hudson must have told him. Because apparently, they were best friends.
“Just yell it for the whole town to hear why don’t you.”
He cursed under his breath and pulled me toward what I thought was an alley.
“Don’t you dare,” I bit out, but he was so much stronger than me, I couldn’t fight back. Panic began to fill my lungs, memories assaulting me, but then we weren’t in an alley. Instead we were in a small park between two buildings.
“Breathe. Fuck. Did I scare you? I just wanted to get you out of the eyes of everyone else. You know how they are. Fuck. Are you okay?”
