Sea Breeze 03 While It Lasts (31 page)

             
Low took in my appearance and shook her head. “You look awful. You need to get a shower and shave.”

             
“Thanks. If that’s all you wanted to tell me I’m going back to bed,” I grumbled.

             
“No
,
you’re not. I came over here because we need to talk.”

             
I leaned against the counter and crossed my arms over my chest.

             
“Talk,” I replied.

             
Low pulled herself up to sit on the bar. “Why are you doing this to yourself? Why did you leave if you were just going to waste away in your apartment?”

             
Sighing
,
I ran my fingers through my bed head. “I told you Low, her dad made me.”

             
“When has anyone ever made YOU do anything? Hmmm? Because the Cage I’ve known all my life does what he damn well pleases and screw the rules.”

             
“Even if I had stayed she wouldn’t have ever wanted me. She didn’t want me for anything more than a summer fling. I was a way of moving on for her.”

             
Low shook her head, “I don’t believe that. I met her. I saw the way she looked at you. She isn’t the kind of girl who just messes around for fun.”
             
“She rejected me
,
Low. When it came down to it and she had to choose her family and friends or me she chose them. Yeah, I forgave that and took her back but she was extremely persuasive.
S
he rejected me once. She’ll do it again.
When t
hings get tough it will never be me she chooses.”
             

             
“And you know this be
cause she made one bad decision?
She was put on the spot and
panicked, Cage.”

             
I shoved off from the counter. I didn’t want to get angry
with
Low. I’d never been mad at her but she was pushing me.
I wasn’t going to be able to control my emotions over this.
.

             
“I. Love. Her.” I said in hard clipped words.

             
“Then take your own advice.
Take. A. Chance.”

             
Take a chance. I’d told her that about Marcus. She’d been worried he’d leave her
one day
. Like me
,
she was scared of rejection. I’d told her to give Marcus a chance.

             
“I knew Marcus loved you,
” I replied

             
Low took a step toward me, “And I know anyone yo
u let get close to you the way
you let Eva won’t be able to NOT love you. It would be impossible. You have no idea how special you are. You see the bad. You’ve always just seen the bad. But I see the good. There is so much that is good and wonderful about you. You let Eva see that. You’ve never let anyone else see it before
,
except me. But you let
her
. I know, that she can’t help but
love what she saw.”

             
Tears were streaming down Low’s face when she finished.

             
I closed the distance between us and pulled her into a hug.

             
“Thank you,” I whispered as I rested my chin on the top of her head.

             
“Don’t thank me. Just go get her.”

Eva

             
I stepped out of the barn just as Mrs. Elaine drove up. I hadn’t been expecting her but that didn’t mean anything. She used to drop by to see me often. With Jeremy gone off to school she
was probably just needing
to talk about him.

             
“Sure is good to see you with that guitar again,” she smiled brightly.

             
I walked up the porch steps toward her and opened the door.

             
“It’s nice to be playing it again. You want to come in?”

             
“Yes, I wanted to come talk to you for a little bit.”

             
Great. Another heart-to-
heart. The las
t one had caused a lot of heart
ache. This time I was going to remember I wasn’t a kid who needed guidance but an adult who knew her own mind.

             
“Of course, come on in.”

             
I set my guitar case on the table and went to th
e counter to get two glasses
of
sweet
tea. Mrs. Elaine loved sweet iced tea.

             
“I hear from your daddy that the boy
who
was helping out is gone,” she said from behind me. My stomach knotted up. I didn’t want to talk about Cage with her. I couldn’t. She didn’t understand. No one did.

             
“Yeah, he is
.”

             
‘That’s good. He just wasn’t the kind of boy you needed to be around. There are such good boys out there. Boys that will make good husbands and fine men.”

             
If she wasn’t Josh and Jeremy’s mother and if she hadn’t been there for me growing up I’d show her the door. I owed her respect for those things
and biting my tongue was best. I would j
ust nod and then get rid of her.

             
“You know Chad has been asking about you a lot. He talks to me when Jeremy comes home.
I think he is smitten with you.” S
he grinned
as if
she had just let me in on a big secret. I was aware Chad liked me. He wasn’t being secretive about it. The text
s
were getting on my nerves. I’d asked Jeremy to tell him to stop.

             
“
He is going to
inherit
all that land and
the
construction
company from his dad,
ya
know. He’s a great catch.”

             
He was also a momma’s boy who
whined
when he didn’t get his way. His chest was also scrawny and
thin. Once
you’d touched Cage York’s chest there was no settling for less.

             
“Hmmm,” I replied
,
taking a big gulp of my tea. Please let this conversation end soon.

             
“I’m having Chad and his parent
s down Labor Day weekend. Jeremy will be home too
.
I thought maybe you would like to come over and celebrate with us. It will be the same thing we do every year.
Ribs on the grill.
My potato salad you love so much and green bean casserole.”

             
“Um, well, uh, thank you Mrs. Elaine but I’m not sure yet what Daddy is planning on doing and—“

             
“Oh
,
he is invited to
o
of course. We haven’
t had a family gathering between
our families on a holiday since before Josh passed away. This will be good for all of us.”

             
A door slamming and yelling interrupted our conversation. I jumped up and ran out on the porch. Daddy was blocking my view
.
I couldn’t see
who
he was yelling at but I knew the car he was standing in front of. It was Cage. What was he doing here?

             
“Oh my. What is that boy doing here? Should I call the cops?”

             
“
Shhh
, no. Don’t call anyone,
” I snapped and turned my attention back to the driveway.

             
“I told you not to come back around here
,
boy. “ Daddy roared.

             
“I shouldn’t have left. I want to talk to Eva
. You should’
ve never made me leave without talking to her,” Cage replied.

             
What?

             
“I gave you a choice and you chose your baseball car
ee
r over her.
Ain’t
no boy good enough for my girl that would choose anything
else
over her.”

             
Cage s
lammed his fist down on his car hood.
“ I didn’t choose anything over her. You
threatened my life and my education. It was neve
r about baseball. Fuck baseball!
”

             
“Get in that car and leave. Don’t come back. I’ll call the cops next time and you’ll go to jail. Don’t mess with me. I protect what’s mine.”

             
Cage’s eyes shifted and
our gazes locked
. I didn’t understand what I’d just heard. I didn’t know what had happened between my daddy and Cage.
A
t the moment I didn’t care. I was getting to look at him again.
He was here and I could see him. He didn’t look like a guy who wanted to throw me aside.

             
“I love you, Eva Brooks. No matter what you’ve been told or what you think of me. I love you!”

             
Everything and everyone melted away. Cage was yelling for everyone to hear that he loved me.
Even w
ith my daddy breathing down his neck. I couldn’t move. I didn’t know what to do. He had left me. Without saying a word.
N
ow he was back and he said he loved me. What was the truth? Love didn’t just run off without an explanation. He’d broken my heart.

             
Cage turned and
to open
his car door and climbed inside. Numbly
,
I watched him pull out and drive
away.

             
I let him go. Why had I let him go?

Cage

             
Sitting at our table at Live Bay seemed empty. Everything seemed empty. I’d thought going to see Eva and telling her I loved her would do something. Low had got me to believe someone like Eva could love me. She was wrong. Eva had chosen her family over me
,
again. She always would.

             
“Smile, you’re depressing as shit,” Rock grumbled as he slammed a beer down in front of me.

             
“Thanks,” I replied.

             
“Never thought I’d see you with a broken heart. Out of all of the guys I never thought it’d be you. It’s like I’ve walked into the fucking twilight zone and can’t get out.”

             
I grunted and took a long swallow of my beer.

             
“
Wanna
dance
,
Cage?”

             
I didn’t even try to remember her name. She was one of the mistakes. I had so many. I just shook my head no and took another drink.

             
“Sorry honey but he
ain’t
real good company right now,” Trisha apologized for me.

             
“If you change your mind—“ she started

             
“I won’t,” I interrupted her.

             
She got the hint and walked off. I never even looked at her face. They all looked the same anyway.
They
all weren’t
Eva
.

             
“You think maybe you
could
be less scary?” Trisha asked.

             
“No.”

Rock chuckled, “Let it go
,
babe. He’s nursing a broken heart and you know that boy
ain’t
ever had one before. It’s a new experience for him.”

“You may want to warn
Krit
before they take a break. I don’t want Cage and him getting into it because he can’t keep his mouth shut.”

I didn’t belong here. I didn’t want to be here. I laid a couple twenties on the table and stood up. “I’m leaving, anyway. I’ve had all the fun I can handle for the night.”

“I hate for you to be alone. You want me to call Low?”