Page 146 of Broken Strings

Jesse’s face lights up as he hugs his grandfather around the waist. “You’re the least cringe, Pops. That’s whyyou’remy favourite.”

Mine and Cade’s mouths drop open wide as Sutton belly laughs. “As it should be, Jess. As it should be.”

They disappear further into the studio, leaving Cade and me to turn disbelieving eyes on one another.

I roll my eyes. “Teens.”

Caden snorts a laugh, pulling me closer. “You’re going to need to excuse my ignorance, Bambi. I can barely parent Bella, and she’s not long turned four. Fourteen is…shit.” He slams to a stop, his big blue eyes blowing wide as the realisation strikes. “I was thinking about your boobs at four-fucking-teen!”

I shake my head slowly while taking hold of Caden’s left hand with my right. Then, smirking, I lead the love of my life from his father’s studio in the direction of the main house as Caden’s features freeze almost hilariously.

“Oh. My.God. You were two years older than Jesse when…when….”

He trails off as he turns to face me with sorrow painted across his beautiful face. “Christ, Bam. You were little more than akid.” His brows crease as he exhales, reverence engraved on every beloved feature. “I—I’m inaweof you.”

As we reach the expansive pool area, I stop in my tracks, tugging his hand roughly to make him look into my eyes. “It makes me so angry to think of all the time stolen from us, Cade.” I step closer, angling my body, so our fronts are flush together.

“I want to be this close to you forever and a day. And even then, it won’t make up for what we’ve lost…but…” My eyes dip down and to the side before flitting back to his extreme depths. “But I want to try.”

Cade’s eyes flash bright blue fire, startling me in their fervency. He glances around us before turning back to pierce me with his gaze once more. “This way.”

I follow him as he ducks behind a small water feature to reveal a hidden grotto, lit up by the lights inside the small plunge pool held within. The waterfall we’ve passed by shields us from view, and the whole place is surreal, like something from a movie.

My eyes take in my surroundings greedily before Caden’s voice centres me.

“Summer St James.”

My eyes shift around…and down to find Caden on one knee, staring up at me as though I’ve hung the moon and all the stars in the night sky.

My breathing accelerates, and I blink rapidly to dispel the sudden dizziness that has overtaken me.

Cade clasps my hands in both of his, sending me a lazy half-smile. He chuckles deeply at whatever he sees on my face before clearing his throat.

“The light left my world with you, Bambi. I have spent so much time wandering in the dark. Unknowing. Lost andsofucking alone. The last fifteen years have been hellish, not only because I craved you with everything I have inside of me. But also, because every single night, I would dream of you. Ofus. I would dream of loving you in my waking moments, not just in the depths of my wildest dreams. And every morning was like stepping into a nightmare. Life without you….”

He glances away as he huffs a dark laugh. Tears fall down my face, knowing precisely how he felt.

Except I had Jesse. I had a reason to live.

“It wasn’t until Bella was born that I felt anything. She brought the sunshine back into my life, but thenyoufound your way home. And you brought Jesse, too. It was as though everything was lit up from within. Life had a new purpose. New meaning. Life hadyou.”

“Oh, Cade.” His name escapes my lips on a sob and answering tears fill his own expressive blue eyes.

“When you came back, you unlocked my heart. You set it free because youalonehold the key. You have since the day we first met. And you will until my last day.”

He reaches into his back pocket while I inhale sharply, my words escaping in a high-pitched exclamation wholly unlike me. “Oh. My. God!”

“Calm your tits, Bam.”

He shoots me a shit-eating grin, entirely at odds with his tear-stained face, and I throw my head back when a yelp of almost deranged laughter erupts from my mouth.

When I look back at Cade, his heart is in his eyes as he pops open a small navy box to display a platinum band with a solitaire diamond in the centre. It’s simple, elegant, and understated. And perfect.

“They say the heart knows when the search for its other half is over. Mine knew it since the day you arrived at my house with blonde pigtails and flushed cheeks. You walked into my life and stole my heart, and I’veneverwanted it to be anywhere else.”

He stops and swallows roughly before his nostrils flare with emotion. “You have my whole heart for my whole life. You’ve had it since the start because it was made to be yours. Just like you were made to be mine.”

Taking my left hand in one of his, he slides the band onto my ring finger, where it sits perfectly. “I had this made the same day I got my tattoo. I’ve carried it with me every day. I never lost hope, even when I had no reason to believe.”

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