Page 61 of Tapped

He shakes his head. “No, ma’am. I’m set. It’s what I do. I’m used to it.”

I’ve offered more times than I can count. I even offered my bathroom. Every guard insists their job is to watch their surroundings constantly. I’m not going to think about the bathroom situation. All I know is my father doesn’t mess around when it comes to things like this, so I’m sure he’s paying them well to pee in a bottle.

“If you change your mind, let me know.”

He waits for me to shut and lock my door before stalking back to his post. Honestly, does anyone get paid enough to put up with my sister?

Cadence has made herself at home in the kitchen. She’s wearing a tennis skirt with a cropped athletic top that shows two ripples of her six pack. She was not lying when she said she works out two hours a day. I don’t have to ask where she’s been. Pickleball might be her hobby, but she plays tennis every Saturday.

I go to the mountain of dirty pots and pans and start to load the dishwasher as I talk. “You don’t have to be so extra, Cadence. He’s only doing his job.”

“If you wouldn’t have sent me to voicemail twenty times in a row, I wouldn’t have to be extra. That was your fault, you know. You’re normally a loner, but that’s off the table when your husband is in jail and someone is after you and Chase. Get over yourself.”

I hear bottles hit the marble as she moves around the kitchen. “I was busy cooking and my hands were dirty. Only you would be selfish to tell me to get over myself when I’m the one dealing with a crisis.”

She huffs in disgust. “You don’t get to pull the loner card during a crisis. Why are you cooking, anyway? Your husband is in the slammer, and Mom told me Chase would be at their house until this is settled.”

At the mention of Chase, I pull in a breath and try to keep my shit together. We FaceTimed a little bit ago. Mom said they were busy most of the day. He never takes a nap anymore but does hit a wall later in the afternoon. They were going to watch a movie and let him catch his second wind.

He didn’t ask to come home.

I should be thankful for that.

I jump when I feel my sister’s arms circle me from behind for a hug, pinning my arms to my sides. She drops the Cadence attitude when she presses her cheek to mine. “If I could track down the beast that Jeff hired and kill him myself, I would. Jeff is lucky he’s behind bars, because if I could get my hands on him right now, they wouldn’t be able to identify the body, and he’d be gone forever. I can’t do that, but what I can do is keep you company. I told Denny I’m staying the rest of the weekend. He and the girls can fend for themselves until Monday morning.”

I flip off the water and grab the kitchen towel. “The weekend?”

She gives me a squeeze and lets me go. “Yes. I brought enough liquor to keep you chill and relaxed while I get some rare one-on-one time with my baby sister. Don’t you worry, Cadence is here to get you through.”

Counting the hours since Micah left is a new level of depressing that I refuse to focus on at the moment. I’ve done everything I said I would. Chase’s room is clean, I have three heaping bags to take to the Miami Women’s Shelter for donations. I was about to start on my closet, but seeing Jeff’s things on the other side of the space almost sent me into a tailspin. That’s when I came straight to the kitchen and started cooking.

But I haven’t heard from Micah for more than eight hours. Eight hours and forty-five minutes, to be specific. He hasn’t called or texted. I have no idea what to expect from the man. I’m blaming my current life drama on the fixation of the strange man whose arms I slept in last night.

I’m not sure what I’m going to do with Cadence when Micah returns.

IfMicah returns.

“What the hell is going on here anyway?” she asks.

I turn and toss the towel to the counter. As much of a pain in the ass as she can be, I love my sister and know what she’s trying to do. “I’m keeping myself busy. I usually wish time would stand still just to catch my breath. Any other time, I’d be happy for a break from life—a few hours to myself outside of work and being a mom and pretending my marriage wasn’t in the shambles it’s been for longer than I care to admit. But this is hard.”

Tequila, vodka, three bottles of wine, liqueur, and sparkling mineral water are arranged on my island along with bags of fruit. “We’re going to have a night of it. I was going to order food, but it looks like you’ve taken care of meals for the next week. I’ve got the makings for sangria, but brought the hard stuff in case you need it. I’m going to give you a pedicure and I brought stuff for facials. But first, I need a shower. I came straight from the club.”

“You really don’t need to spend the whole weekend here. Don’t the girls have stuff going on all weekend? You don’t want to miss that.”

Andrew and Cadence are close in age, only eighteen months apart. To this day my parents insist I wasn’t an accident, but I came along years later. It doesn’t take a mathematician to figure that out. My siblings and I don’t have the traits of normal kids in the birth order.

My parents basically had two families.

I might as well be an only child. My parents’ focus was solely on me by the time my brother and sister were off to college. My family accuses me of being too serious and a perfectionist.

Andrew is domineering and takes charge of any situation. He also takes himself too seriously.

Which makes Cadence the baby. She demands attention in everything. She’s outgoing and fun-loving. She’s also the most uncomplicated person I know. When it comes to Cadence, you always know what you’re getting.

I’m actually surprised it’s taken her this long to barge into my house.

Even as an adult, nothing has changed. My siblings are in different stages of life than me. My nieces and nephew are much older than Chase.

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