You'll Think of Me (11 page)

After a pause, Rusty raked his fingers through his sandy brown hair. “She’ll have a blast when she meets our friend Asia. Asia used to model until she became a music video producer. By the way, I look forward to your working on the Lear. ”

Emotions Cade couldn’t quite name rocked through his system. He stuffed his clenched fists in his pockets. “Thanks. I’ll do my best to do my job.” Frustration welled to the surface. He bit his tongue and still the words poured out. “I don’t get it. You have some of the greatest photographers at your beck and call. Why choose someone from across town? Mel’s the best, but she’s not big time like I assume you run with.”

“Oh, I don’t know. The magnitude of her talent speaks for itself. With the right connections—Jojo’s—I’m sure she’ll go far.” Rusty shifted his feet and chuckled. “Besides, the big time isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be.”

Whipping his hands from his pockets, Cade opened his palms to the sky. He gulped air and willed his tirade to stop. “I hate to tell you, but no one from Butler ever gets a chance to make something of themselves, and if they do, it gets yanked out from under them in a fucking instant.” Like his dreams of retiring from the Air Force after a long career of serving his country. He squeezed his eyes shut and prayed Rusty wouldn’t take offence at his irrational answer. God knew he deserved to be put in his place.

Rusty’s brows knotted and he folded his arms. “I appreciate your concern, but I think you’re wrong. Are you sure there’s not something else eating you?”

Cade’s anger got the best of him. “Bullshit. You leave to make something of yourself and the world kicks you in the ass. You can’t fight back and you can’t change what happens. Everything you worked for goes right to hell and you lose your friends in the process.”

Narrowing his eyes, Rusty nodded over his shoulder. “You’re not talking about Melanie, are you?”

Cade’s frustration warred with his embarrassment. “Just forget what I said. It’s nothing.”

“I doubt it. You’re a lit fuse.”

Lit fuse? The guy didn’t know when to quit. A growl built low in Cade’s throat and rumbled around his chest. He opened his mouth to rip into Rusty, but instead met Melanie’s confused stare. His heart clenched. Guilt and shame tumbled around in his brain. How did he let his emotions get the best of him? He needed to flee with what was left of his pride.

“I’m ready to go,” she said in a quiet voice that hitched his indignity up another notch. She rubbed his forearm and winked. A half-smile crooked the corner of her mouth. “Let’s head home. I’m getting tired.” She dropped her tone to a whisper. “It’ll be okay.”

Climbing behind the wheel of his truck, Cade stared at the speedometer. Maybe a trip to the head shrink would do him good. Bottling and giving Mel bits and pieces of information wasn’t doing him any favours. His actions towards Rusty spoke volumes, despite the half-assed apology. And what had Rusty done? Nothing. Shit.

Through his peripheral vision, he watched Melanie. If she didn’t kick or dump his ass for acting like a child in front of her boss, he’d be shocked, even if she said things would be fine. Yeah, he needed to find Dr. McCoy’s card and give him a call.

Melanie hugged Jojo. “I’ll develop the black and white film tonight. If I get time, I should be able to email you some proof shots. I’m sorry about Cade.”

Cade stared at the stamped pattern on the steering wheel. Embarrassment and shame seeped through his body. Sure, she’d apologised for him, but he didn’t deserve it. He shouldn’t have lost his cool in the first place. He shoved his attention back to Melanie in an attempt to mask his self-loathing.

Rusty waved his hand and chuckled. “Work on the pictures tomorrow.” He glanced at Cade, who wanted to melt into the crack of the seat. “Take tonight to rest and regroup. No hurries, Melanie.” He nodded and hooked his thumbs in his belt loops. “Cade, it was nice talking to you.” Implied understanding laced Rusty’s voice. “We’ll have to hang out and talk NASCAR or something.”

Melanie gave Rusty a one-armed hug and scurried around to the passenger side of the truck. Once she climbed inside, she waved at the group by the race car. Cade forced his attention to the gravel road leading away from the track. If he looked back, Rusty just might give him the finger instead of a wave goodbye. That’s what Cade would do if an asshole had rubbed him the wrong way.

A few miles down the road, Melanie broke the silence. “Thanks for replacing my camera. Made this day so much easier.”

Cade flicked his turn signal and headed north. Just thinking about the know-it-all clerk insisting Melanie loved the red filter made him smile—almost. “You need a camera to take pictures. I had the cash. Everything worked out for the best.”

“I’m glad you remembered.” She gave his thigh a squeeze and leaned against him. “Although I wish you’d kept your mouth shut, it’ll be okay, Cade. Rusty’s a good guy and he wanted to help.”

She paused and drummed her fingers on his leg as if she had something else to say.

“Whatcha thinkin’, Mel?”

She sighed. “The hospital gave me some numbers for psychiatrists. If you want to talk to someone other than me or Rhett, why don’t you give them a call? It won’t hurt anything and it will help.”

“I’ll take care of it.” He wanted to kick his own ass for acting so ridiculous and not seeking help before. He wrapped an arm around her. Melanie deserved a man who wasn’t fucked up. “As long as you’re happy, I’m good.” God knew he wasn’t, but he’d deal once he made a few calls.

* * * *

Down in her dark room three hours later, Melanie glanced over her shoulder, hoping to see Cade. Instead, Rhett fiddled with the dry roll of negatives. She slapped his hand away from the film. “Don’t touch that. You’ll crinkle it.”

He curled his lip in response and held the negative up to the light. “Who’s the babe?”

“Corinna.”

“She got a boyfriend?’

Scrunching her nose, she closed the screen on the laptop. “The baby is Corinna, but the woman is Jojo Morris, my
boss
.”

Rhett rolled his eyes. “I got another couple days. I could be staring at my destiny. Hook me up. What’s her number?”

“No.”

When Rhett turned, he cocked his head. “Why? You’d rather have me to yourself?” He arched one brow. A smile crinkled his lips. “I can handle the idea, but you’d better restrain Cade when he finds out. He’ll be pissed, for sure. Better yet, let me restrain him. I can’t let him have all the fun.”

She punched him in the arm and took the negative strip off the clothesline. “Cut it out and get this straight. Jojo is married to Rusty and they are happy.” As for her and Cade… Time would tell.

Leaning his elbows on the long wooden table, Rhett crossed his ankles. “By the way, Deputy Marcum called. He wanted to talk to you about the fire one more time. Sounded like he had a break in the case.”

A break? She didn’t want to discuss the damned fire, but if he knew who caused it…then maybe rehashing once more would let her heal. “Okay, I’ll call him back when I come upstairs.”

“Copy that.” Rhett opened his mouth like he needed to say something, but shut them before he uttered a word. Didn’t want to talk? Fine. She’d break the heavy silence. A frown tugged at the corners of her mouth. “Did you hear him scream?”

“I heard Cade scream around three in the morning. I thought it was part of round four or five, but I think I’m wrong. The nightmares are back, aren’t they?”

Melanie toyed with the earrings in her left ear. “Back? I’m not sure they were ever gone and I can’t figure out why. I suggested he talk to a psychiatrist, but I don’t know if he will. Do you know what happened, Rhett? I don’t want to force him if he’s not willing to come to terms with whatever took place.”

An uncomfortable silent clouded the room. Rhett leaned on his forearms and folded his hands. He hung his head and sighed. “I…I can’t tell you because I really don’t know. I mean, we were stationed in different places. I’m not sure what he went through. He’s gonna have to come to you when he’s ready.” He looked up. The corners of his mouth curled again. “Although, I suppose there are a few details I remember.”

“What?” Melanie crossed her arms. “Tell me.”

Rhett stood at his full height and grinned. “I could go on for hours about the sexy German nurses. Damn.” He held both hands out in front of his chest. “With titties a man would die to—” he grunted, “—you get the picture.”

Groaning, she checked the time on her cell phone. “Go. I need to douse the lights and print a proof sheet before five. I need something to show the Gayle family when we meet next week and I have no idea which shots will serve their purposes best. They want a formal family portrait.”

Rhett wiggled his brows. “You sure you want me out? I’m fantastic in the dark.”

“Beat it, lover boy.”

He shrugged again and headed for the door. “He had nightmares in Germany, too.”

Melanie whirled around. “Did what? Wait. When did he…?”

Leaving her in stunned silence, Rhett bounded up the basement stairs. She looked at Tracker, who yawned and jumped out of the empty box of photo paper. He scampered up the stairs, no doubt in search of food.

With a sigh, Melanie contemplated the proof sheet along. “Cade, what
did
happen to you over in Afghanistan to make things fall apart in Germany?”

Chapter Thirteen

The next day, Melanie focused on the screen and grinned. The Butler Mudslingers glowed in front of the late model car. Rusty’s smile reached from ear to ear. She even got a lopsided smirk from Carrick Green, the surly crew chief. After a few editing details and reducing the shine on the hood of the car, it was finished.

“They’ll love this.”

She flapped the front of the soft tank top to circulate air around her body. August heat would be the death of her. “This calls for more than ice cream and Diet Coke,” she said to the otherwise silent room.

As she smoothed the thin top down over her frame, she caught a glance of Cade’s picture sitting next to her laptop and her nipples puckered in anticipation of a touch from him. Too bad. She could hope all she wanted, but it wasn’t coming. While she shared a bed with the man, his mind wandered somewhere beyond her understanding.

I need music…

She stood and crossed the room to the assortment of CD’s lining the far living room wall. Nine Inch Nails caught her eye.
No.
She scanned some more and noticed the dusty Godsmack disc exiled on a higher shelf. She bit her bottom lip and nodded. Thumping bass, dirty guitar licks, and growling vocals… Perfect.

She plucked the case from its hiding spot and hurried back to the laptop. Moments later, the strains of the first song crashed around the room. She bopped her head to the beat and finished the layout. “Done!”

Once she emailed the work for final approval, Melanie danced around the cavernous room. At the same time, she adjusted the focus on the camcorder. Thank God she knew the ins and outs of running the miniscule machine from fiddling with it earlier in the morning. All she had to do was aim the lens towards the living room and the miniscule machine could capture anything happening in the kitchen or living space. Just stand back and let the scene unfold in its own time. If Deputy Hayden Marcum’s hunch was right, then her arsonist would show up. Dancing away from the lens, she closed her eyes and sang along to the tune blaring from her computer. Hayden said he’d be by around two. What time was it? She didn’t know and didn’t care.

“Would your invisible partner complain if I cut in? I leave for Kansas tomorrow and I want fun memories to take with me.”

Melanie jumped and turned to see Rhett’s toothy grin. He wore a sloppy Air Force T-shirt with the sleeves cut off and baggy knee-length jeans shorts. She held out her hand and cocked her head. “We can’t exactly waltz to this, you know.”

When he spun her around in his arms, a laugh bubbled in his throat. “I thought I’d do my bad impression of a male exotic dancer and grind against you,” he murmured in her ear.

Giggling, she leant back in his embrace. “You’d make a great exotic dancer. You love being the centre of attention.”

“Among other things.” He raised her arms over her head and slid his fingers down her bare skin, sending shivers along her spine. Melanie liked attention, but not from Rhett. She longed for the closeness of Cade, but she wasn’t sure where he hid mentally these days.

“Oh, that’s rich.”

Melanie groaned. She knew the voice and wished Ginnifer would drop off the face of the planet. Easing out of Rhett’s embrace, Melanie blew the flyaway strands of hair from her eyes and turned to the woman who’d been a thorn in her side for far too long. Frustration surged within her body. “Ginnifer, what are you doing here?”

With a key dangling in her slender fingers, Ginnifer tapped her sandal-clad foot. “Cade gave me permission. He’s waiting for me.”

Rhett ripped the object from Ginnifer’s hand and snarled. “I know it’s a lie. There were only four keys reproduced and all are accounted for. I’m willing to bet yours is a fake.” He tightened his fingers around the key. “He’s not waiting for you any more than I am. Now get out.”

With a sneer and a loud huff, Ginnifer slammed her fists on her hips. “Not until I talk to Cade. I need the truth from him. The last time we talked, he told me he loved me and
only me.
I should be here. I should be his girl.”

“Are you kidding me?” Melanie swallowed past the bile in her throat. “You have no idea what he’s been through. You don’t know him anymore.” She wasn’t sure how well
she
knew the real Cade.

Ginnifer crinkled her nose. “Oh, I suppose you’re an expert on Cade Lloyd Nicholson?”

Frustrated, Melanie placed her hands on her hips, mimicking Ginny’s stance. She sneered. Okay, so it was catty and immature. “I am enough to know his middle name is Aaron.”

Stepping between Melanie and Ginnifer, Rhett held up his hands. “Snapping at each other isn’t going to solve anything.” He turned to Ginnifer. “Look, go home, Ginny. Forget about Cade and find a man who really does want you.”

“This is bullshit.” Crooking her brow, Ginnifer folded her arms. She stared at Melanie. “You made him hate me.”