Deceptive Cadence (42 page)

I dared to look up at him. He stood stiff with his hand in his hair staring down at me with a horrified expression. Our eyes met, and his hand slid down over his face. “I didn’t know you felt so lost. You’ve always been so with it and in control.”

He knelt in front of me and grasped my knees. “If that’s how you feel, I’m not going to stop you. I love you, and more than anything, I want you to be happy. I guess I’ve been so focused on trying to manipulate circumstances so you’d marry me, I’d forgotten to pay attention to what you need.

“Am I hurt by this? Yes.” He stroked my cheek. “But watching you cry like that in the car was far more painful. You’re my world, Cadence.”

I sobbed, and pulled him in to kiss me.

Dad barged in, startling me as I cooked dinner. He marched across the room and shoved his finger in my face. “
Western Australia
?”

He then went on a twenty minute rant about it, only stopping when James came home and hollered, “Hey! Don’t yell at her.”

Dad swung to him. “You let her do this!”

“I didn’t even know about it until after it was done.”

“So you’re not even going to fight for her or try to make her stay?” Dad scoffed and folded his arms. “You don’t deserve her.”

“Of course I’m going to fight for her!” James advanced on Dad and met his gaze. “But I’m not going to force her to stay. She needs to do what she needs to do, and I’m not going to stop her.”

I smiled at James, loving him more than ever.

Dad looked at me and I stopped smiling. “At least she won’t be living here with you.”

James raised his chin, but didn’t respond.

Dad turned back to me. “Cadence, if you leave, you better be back for your breaks so we can see you.”

“Of course,” I answered.

“Good. Well . . .” He glanced between James and me uncomfortably. “I’ll be going.”

“Dad!” I rushed over and wrapped my arms around him. “Thank you for looking out for me.”

He stroked my hair. “Oh, Cadence, you make it so hard for me to be angry at you.”

He kissed my head before he left.

As I closed the door behind him, James stepped up behind me and flicked the lock. “Wow, your dad is so indecisive. One minute it’s ‘fight for her, boy,’ and the next it’s ‘how dare you live with my daughter.’”

I giggled, but stopped abruptly as his hands slid under my shirt. “So, Tom is with Nicki tonight, and Sam is at his sister’s birthday . . .” He lifted my shirt and unclipped my bra. “And I was thinking we should take advantage of that.”

“Dinner’s in the oven. I don’t want it to burn,” I responded softly as he pulled off my shirt.

“We have a few minutes, then we’ll eat, and then fool around some more.” His hands ran up over my waist and ribs. I shuddered. He chuckled and wrapped his arms around me. He had complete control of me.

Much later, we lay in bed with the bedside lamp on. He lay facing me, propped up on his elbow as his other hand stroked down my face, neck and shoulders. I shut my eyes and sighed, completely content.

He softly kissed my lips. I smiled. “James?”

“Mmm?”

“I’m going to miss you like crazy.”

His fingers paused their motion and lifted to clasp my face. I opened my eyes and found him staring down at me. “Well, you’ll have to come back to me whenever you can, because I’m going to miss you like crazy, too.”

I wrapped my arm around the back of his head and pulled him down to kiss me.

THIRTY-NINE

The morning of my departure arrived. I awoke to James kissing my shoulder. I smiled and leaned back into him, pulling his arms tighter around me. His lips found my ear, making me giggle, and his leg wrapped around me. “If only I could never let you go.”

I relaxed into him. “I wish that, too.”

The door cracked open, and a little brown furball dashed across the room and up onto the bed.

“Cane!” James sat up and grabbed the puppy as he licked at our faces.

Sam chuckled in the hallway and shut the door again.

James jumped out of bed and tossed the puppy into the bathroom. He turned back to me.

“I’m not ready to . . .” He eyed me over in my sports bra and short striped pajama shorts. “I think I just died and went to heaven.”

I grabbed the sheet and pulled it back over me.             

He rushed at me and knocked me back. “Oh no! You’re not getting away with that!”

He tickled me. My screeching made Canis yip at us while James laughed menacingly at me.

He attached himself to me all morning. I couldn’t even take a shower without him right there beside me. He watched me dress, do my hair, eat my breakfast, and brush my teeth.

“Can’t you leave me alone for one second?” I asked as I put on my mascara.

“No. I want to absorb as much of your beauty as possibly before you leave me for several months.” He stepped forward and rested his hands on my hips. “If you have a problem with that, then too bad.”

I turned to face him. “I’ll be back for winter break, and that’s a whole month, maybe even more depending on when my exams are. I’ll let you know my flight details as soon as I get them.”

He softly kissed my lips. “You’ll stay here for that time, won’t you?”

“I thought I’d give my parents and Dusty a week, but yes, I’m planning on staying here with you.”

He grinned and kissed me again. “Good. I want to spend every moment I can with you.”

He drove me to the airport. The whole ride remained dead silent. I could feel tension emanating from him so I was afraid to speak, in case I made him lose control and break down.

At the airport, we met with my family, including Harper and Daniel. James greeted Daniel warmly, and Dusty gave him a knowing nod. We knew James would break down once I’d gone, and I felt glad he would have someone there to support him.

But I felt nervous while we waited after my check-in. I clung to James’ hand as the family chatted together. I wanted to wait until the last minute to go down to my gate so I could be with the people I loved.

I rested my head against James’ shoulder and took a deep breath. He shifted his arm around my waist and gave me a firm squeeze. He would hold on until the last moment.

“Cay-Cay!” An abundance of long, loose curls sprang on me. James managed to hold onto me as Geri squeezed me as hard as she could. “I’m so glad I didn’t miss you! The trains were all running late and I thought you’d be gone for sure!”

“Why didn’t you come down with my family?” I asked.

She glanced back at Dusty uneasily and he dropped his gaze. “I didn’t think about that. But it doesn’t matter because I made it!”

“Barely.” Harper pointed at the boarding screen. “Cadence, they’re calling for your flight to board.”

James pulled me tightly against him. His breathing became shallow, and his whole body tensed as he whispered, “It’s too soon. I’m not ready.”

I glanced around and saw everyone turn away. He brushed his hand over my cheek, turning me to face him. He fought back tears, and did a very good job of it. “I’m gonna miss you, Cadence Anderson.”

My own tears burst out and I lunged in for a kiss. His arms wrapped tightly around me as I ran my fingers through his hair, taking in as much as I could so I could carry him with me for as long as possible.

When I pulled away, he said, quietly, “Don’t forget how much I love you.”

“I won’t.” I caressed his face. “I love you, too, so I’m relying on you to keep an eye on these miscreants while I’m gone.”

He cracked a grin as our eyes met. “You should go now.”

It took a moment, but I pried myself from his arms. I gave everyone a quick hug and whispered to Geri, “Don’t be afraid to like Dusty. He likes you, too.”

She gasped as I let go and winked at her.

As I walked away, I glanced back to see Mum and Dad hand in hand, just like the first time. Tears ran down my cheeks as I felt my love for them burst out of me, and as my gaze fell on everyone else who came along this time, I knew I was so blessed. I truly had done it better the second time around.

To be continued…

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Born and raised in Australia, Katie’s early years of day dreaming in the “bush”, and having her father tell her wild bedtime stories, inspired her passion for writing.

After graduating High School, she became a foreign exchange student where she met a young man who several years later she married. Now she lives in Arizona with her husband, daughter and their dogs.

She has a diploma in travel and tourism which helps inspire her writing. Katie loves to out sing her friends and family, play sports and be a good wife and mother. She now works as an Acquisitions Editor to help support her family. She loves to write, and takes the few spare moments in her day to work on her novels.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The road to publication has been a long one for Cadence. The story came to me through piecing together a string of what-if’s in my own life. Because of this, the novels became a labor of love, and the characters took lives of their own. So first of all, I want to acknowledge the hints of people I know that filtered into the pages. To those moments from my own life that helped fill the plot with genuine emotion, whether embarrassing, hilarious, or sweet. I hope the people who helped form the characters will see themselves and know they touched my life.

Next I’d like to thank my family, my wonderful husband,
Landon
, especially for his patience with me. Although my books are a little too “girly” for his taste, he puts up with me telling him about them and does what he can to support me when times for edits and marketing come around. I’m also grateful for my daughter’s understanding that mommy needs “quiet time” to work.

I’d also like to thank all my writer friends who read these drafts for me. I feel like there were so many readers I can’t possibly remember all of them. But I’d like to mention
Stacey Nash
,
Anabel Gonzalez
,
Darci Cole
, and
Summer Wier
. They each went beyond a critique and helped me with discussions regarding the plot, and encouraged me to keep going when I kept being told Cadence wouldn’t fit anywhere, or didn’t work, or whatever other obstacle was thrown in my path. Summer even helped me line things up and connected me with REUTS, which I am so incredibly grateful for.

Last of all, a huge thank you to
REUTS
for taking a chance on Cadence. The team fell in love with the story and saw it exactly as I intended it to be. Every step of the way I’ve felt nothing but support.
Kisa Whipkey
helped me enrich the plot,
Michelle Hoehn
patiently put up with me biting at the bit through edits,
Ashley Ruggirello
made an absolutely stunning cover that is so perfect, and
Summer
who never stopped supporting me through the whole process.

Of course, I can’t forget to say thank you to all my
readers
who have followed me along since my debut novel, or who found me somewhere along the way and stuck around. Readers keep me going, and give me faith in myself to try despite the ridicule all authors face.

I am truly so blessed!