Page 61 of The Best Is Yet to Come

Chapter 17

Hope remained stunned. Without listening to a word of explanation, Cade had blocked her. His action infuriated and frustrated her. He was being judgmental and completely unfair. She wanted to stomp her foot and retaliate. The best way she could think to do that was to block his number, too. If, at some point, Cade wanted to apologize, he would feel the same annoyance she had.

Her little temper tantrum lasted for all of five minutes before she changed her mind and unblocked him. She wanted to talk to Cade, to explain that she hadn’t broken his trust. Maybe, she told herself, he’d realize he’d overreacted and would reach out.

But he didn’t. She waited, trusting and believing he’d realize his mistake, only to face disappointment.

“If that’s what he wants, then fine,” Hope told Shadow, as she slammed around the kitchen.

By now it was well past dinnertime, so she threw a few leftovers into a salad. Then she found she couldn’t eat it, and slapped her fork down on the kitchen table, startling Shadow. Her stomach was in knots, and she blamed Cade for the loss of appetite. Tossing the remains into the garbage, she determined if Mohammad wouldn’t come to her, then she’d go to Mohammad.

Although she had never been to Cade’s studio apartment, she knew the general vicinity of where it was. If she drove around long enough, she was bound to see his truck parked out front.

She brought Shadow with her and took off, doing her best to contain her irritation. It distressed her that he thought so little of her that he would cut her from his life, as if everything they’d shared meant nothing.

While she was driving around, her mind whirled with all the things she planned to say to him. She’d explain the situation, reassure him that he’d been wrong in whatever he had assumed. Being the forgiving person she was, she would accept his apology and they would move forward.

Cade’s truck was nowhere in sight. After an hour of driving around, she realized she was wasting her time. Cade had likely guessed she’d be unable to leave matters as they were and went out of his way to thwart her efforts.

With no way to connect with him, Hope decided to sleep on it and pray that by morning Cade would have a change of heart. If she didn’t hear from him, then she’d decide what to do next, if anything. Her one hope was that in time, Cade would realize he should at least listen to what she had to say.

While the different scenarios played out in her mind, sleep eluded her. She tossed one way and then another for what seemed like hours. Her thoughts drifted from Cade to her classes, to Spencer and Callie, bouncing from one thing to another and then back again.

“Come on,” she muttered, as she pounded her pillow into submission. “Go to sleep.” Her alarm was set early, and every time she glanced at the clock, she calculated how many hours she had left before it rang.

Not enough. Not nearly enough.

Sensing her mood, Shadow decided to sleep curled up in the living room rather than on the fluffy bed she’d purchased for him and kept in the bedroom. It seemed even her most faithful companion knew it was best to avoid her when she was in this mood.

Sometime well after midnight, when she was half asleep, her phone rang. She had it charging on her nightstand and blindly reached for it.

Glancing at the ID, she saw that it was Cade. She had half a mind to let it go to voice mail. It was what he deserved for the way he’d ruined her night. It was his fault she hadn’t been able to sleep.

She answered, though. As much as she wanted to frustrate him the way he had her, she couldn’t make herself do it.

Picking up on the fourth ring, she said, “Hello?”

“Did I wake you?” The voice didn’t belong to Cade. Earsplitting discordant music played in the background, making it difficult to hear.

“Who is this?” she asked, thinking it might be a prank. Only the number was Cade’s, and the voice was vaguely familiar.

“It’s Silas.”

“Silas?” she repeated. Her mind screamed to a halt. Her concern was instant, and she needed to know why Cade’s friend would have his phone.

Before she could ask, he said, “We met last Sunday, remember.”

“Of course I remember. Where’s Cade? Is he all right?”

He hesitated. “Ah…not really.”

“What’s wrong with him?” She sat up in bed now, fully awake, worried. Silas wouldn’t reach out unless it was serious.

Cade’s friend hesitated. “Did you two have a falling-out, a disagreement or something?”

She noticed he didn’t answer her question.

“Not exactly.” Cade hadn’t given her a chance to argue her point. He’d abruptly ended their text conversation long before she had a chance to talk to him.

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