Authors: Tawny Weber
What was he talking about?
Cade was approaching burnout? She gave a tiny grimace, noting that he looked more like he was battling fury rather than exhaustion.
“Eden, will you excuse us?” Cade asked, not taking his eyes off his uncle.
“Sure,” she said, her own gaze huge as it sprang from one man’s tense face to the other. “I’ll mingle. It was a pleasure to meet you.”
Other than Seth’s absent nod, neither of them acknowledged her. Instead, after Cade gestured toward the open patio doors, they both strode out like they were going to strip down and beat the crap out of each other.
Eden’s heart raced, nerves jangling.
Cade was a big boy.
He’d cut his teeth on society events, and this one was sponsored by his grandmother. He wouldn’t do anything to cause a scene.
And he definitely wouldn’t appreciate any interference on Eden’s part.
Now that she had all of those reasonable, well-thought-out details solid in her mind, Eden gave a satisfied sigh.
Then looked around for Cade’s grandmother.
She was going to need some backup when she went out to interrupt that little talk.
There
.
She saw Catherine across the room, holding court in a Valentino gown and a diamond necklace and holding a tiny dog in her arm.
Aww, Alfie was here? Even if she didn’t want, desperately, to congratulate the elderly woman on breaking rules with such panache, Eden would have rushed over just to see the dog.
She was almost there when someone called her name. Frowning, she glanced over to see Robert, his usual glower in place, beckoning.
“You bellowed?” she asked with a friendly smile as she approached his table. He sat in the corner, away from the dance floor, where it was quieter. With just the flick of his fingers, he sent his buddies away and gestured to the now vacated seat for Eden to join him.
“I can bellow if I want. I just had surgery,” he said, chewing his unlit cigar.
Eden slid into the seat opposite him and gave his hand a sympathetic pat. “You’ve always bellowed, though. But you did, indeed, just have surgery. So why aren’t you in bed resting?”
She couldn’t help it. She knew Robert was a curmudgeonly old grump, a vicious businessman and a complete social snob. But she sort of liked him. Probably because his eyes were that same piercing green as Cade’s.
“I’ve got business to take care of,” Robert said, giving her a gruff look under his brows. As if she’d done something wrong. Eden frowned, wondering what it might be, other than having a brick wall inconveniently placed in the path of his car.
“Business? At the biggest social event of the season?” Eden noted his glass was empty and gestured to one of the waiters, then gave a tiny shake of her head when he headed for the bar.
Water
, she mouthed.
“More business is done at social events than in an office,” he said, leaning forward and folding both hands together, as if preparing to prove his point.
Clueless about what kind of business he could want to talk to her about, Eden lifted her brow.
“So what’s Seth doing here? Is he going to help the boy out? Did he give any indication about what he wanted to talk to Cade about?”
Was this fatherly concern? Worry over his son’s recent loss? Nerves did a little dance up her spine. She wanted to help Cade, but Eden didn’t think talking to his father about personal issues—any issues, actually—was a good idea.
“I’m not sure why Cade’s uncle is here, or what they are discussing,” she finally said.
“And you wouldn’t tell me if you knew.”
Eden’s lips twitched but she didn’t say anything. Just gave a slow shake of her head.
“You and my son, you’re a thing now, right?”
Nerves were chased away by joy. She and Cade were a thing. The town thought so. The mean girls thought so, if Janie’s glare on the dance floor was anything to go by. Now, even Cade’s father thought so.
That meant something, right? Even though Cade was probably leaving in the next couple of weeks, this meant there might be some kind of future for them. Maybe?
The nerves were back, this time beating around inside her belly like giant bats. She’d only counted on the fantasy. The intense excitement. She hadn’t let herself think about—hope for—anything after Cade left.
“It’s bad enough he ran off to play hero all these years, but now he’s going to give it up? For what? To be a glorified teacher?” Robert glared at the garden. Then he shifted his steely gaze back to Eden. “If he’s going to drop out of the SEALs, he might as well come home and take his place at Sullivan Enterprises. You talk to him. Convince him to come back.”
Drop out of being a SEAL? Shock ricocheted through Eden. Cade was leaving the SEALs? But, that’s what he was. Who he was. How could he leave? Was that what his uncle was talking about? A million questions flew around her head, all of them moving too fast for her to focus on.
“Cade isn’t going to change his career for me,” was all she finally came up with.
“The boy just wrote a check for ten grand for you, girlie. He’ll listen. But you’d better talk to him quick. He’s heading back to San Diego in a couple of days. If you let him get back to that base, all bets are off.”
Changing jobs?
Heading back?
Cade was leaving?
Eden’s head buzzed, tears filling her eyes.
Why hadn’t he told her?
She opened her mouth to ask when Cade was going. The closed it again.
What the hell did Robert mean by ten grand?
“I don’t understand.” Baffled, Eden shook her head again. But before she could ask what he meant, the waiter exchanged Robert’s empty glass with a full one.
Without looking at it, the older man tossed back his drink. All of a sudden, his face turned red, his eyes bulged and he started coughing like crazy. He glared at the glass, then at the waiter. The man, looking terrified, pointed at Eden.
“Are you okay?” she asked, hurrying around the table. Before she got halfway, Robert’s personal physician cut her off.
“It was just water,” she protested, horrified that she might have sent Cade’s father into a relapse.
Dr. Shaw shook his head and gave her a reassuring look.
“He should have been drinking water all along. It was just the shock of putting something healthy in his system. Don’t worry, he’ll be fine,” he said. “He just needs to rest for a bit. C’mon, Sullivan. Let’s visit the clubroom. You need some downtime.”
Eden watched them totter away, her head spinning as a feeling of loss and pain wrapped around her like a tight shroud. The glow of her magical evening gone, she wanted to leave. To go home and cuddle with her animals until she came to grips with the pain that Cade was leaving.
Pressing one hand against the nausea churning in her belly, Eden tried to process the fact that the impression everyone had of the two of them being something special was a total lie. Clearly, Cade didn’t think what they had was important. If he did, he’d have told her that goodbye was looming.
Not sure if she should go find Cade, or dive face-first into the chocolate fountain, Eden slowly made her way toward the garden.
She didn’t make it halfway across the room before she was surrounded by a giggling gaggle of women. Even though she wanted nothing more than to talk to Cade, she knew that wasn’t how the game was played here at the country club. So she forced herself to smile at the five faces circling her and greeted each by name.
“What happened to your date?” Janie asked, her tone mirroring the green of her eye-watering dress. “Cade got bored already?”
“Don’t be silly. There was nothing boring about that dance. Whew, girl, you and Cade were heating up the dance floor,” Crystal said, her tone teasing. Eden had to smile. Ever since the blonde had adopted those kittens, she’d been super friendly.
“Right. Not boring at all,” Janie repeated with a subtle eye roll for the other women. When only one of them giggled, she quickly added, “So where is your hot date?”
“Cade’s visiting with his uncle.” Eden cast a quick glance at the patio, but couldn’t see anything. Were they talking about the job? Was he really thinking about leaving the SEALs? Eden had a million questions. Which made standing here all the more frustrating.
“So the rumors are true?” Janie asked, crossing her arms over her chest and giving Eden a narrow look.
What rumors? Who had time for rumors and gossip and games at a time like this? Eden was about to brush Janie off, to push through the crowd so she could continue her search for Cade. Then one of the women shouldered in front of Janie and held out her hand.
“Hi, I’m Mia. I don’t think we’ve met. Crystal and I are cousins.”
“Um, hi.” Eden gave her a quick smile, but before she could offer her excuses, the woman continued.
“I know this is a lousy place to talk business, but I was hoping you had a second?”
“I hear more business is done at these social events than in an office,” Eden murmured, forcing her feet to stay still. But she didn’t care about the business of rumors, or the latest gossip about her and Cade. She cared about reality. And finding out just exactly what that reality would be.
“Oh, I won’t go into a big spiel,” Mia said with a laugh, tucking a long strand of jet black hair behind her ear. “I just wanted to make an appointment to come into your clinic.”
Eden’s feet stopped twitching. “The clinic? Sure, did you want to bring in your pet? I don’t have my book with me but you could call tomorrow morning and I’ll let you know what openings I have for Monday.”
“You take calls on Sunday?” Mia exchanged a look with Crystal, who shot back a triumphant look. “Actually, I have a proposition for you. I’m a veterinarian, too. I operate a mobile unit out of Fort Bragg and would love to expand my territory. I wanted to discuss the possibility of us working together.”
Wow, Robert really knew what he was talking about. Eden blinked a couple of times, trying to process the proposal. A partner? A mobile clinic? Thoughts chased ideas in an excited circle through her brain. She was going to need a little time and space to sort through them all. Ready to offer a gracious social sidestep, she gave Mia a warm smile.
“Why?” She winced. Apparently her mouth hadn’t got with the program yet. Clearly, there was a reason she didn’t do these social things very often. “What I mean is, I have a lot of questions. Why don’t we meet tomorrow morning? My clinic, around eight?”
Mia’s eyes danced as she nodded. “That’s perfect. And you can thank Crystal for the why. She’s been raving about her kittens for a week now. I’ve heard good things about your work before, of course, but there’s nothing like a personal recommendation.”
“A personal recommendation?” Eden gave Crystal a grateful smile. “Thank you.”
Before Crystal could respond, Janie rolled her eyes and elbowed her way in front of Mia.
“Fine, fine. Pets will get care and all that great stuff.” She gave both women her patented fake smile, then arched a look at Eden. “What’s really important now, though, are the rumors about you and Cade Sullivan. Everyone’s talking about how the two of you are a thing. But I figure that’s probably as likely as The Rolling Stones showing up here to play tonight.”
Eden had known she’d face curiosity.
She’d known there would be questions. Innuendo. Speculation, gossip, prying.
What she hadn’t expected was hatred.
But that’s what was gleaming from the pretty brunette’s eyes.
“Rumors about Cade and me, hmm?” Eden said slowly, casting a quick glance around the group. Crystal looked uncomfortable, like she’d be happy to follow a topic change and Mia walked away with a show of checking her cellphone. The other surrounding women, however, looked like bulldogs. But Eden wasn’t about to throw them a bone.
“Well, there are the rumors about us running off to Tahiti together to live in a grass hut and drink umbrella drinks from coconuts. Mrs. Carmichael told me that one. Then there’s the one about Cade using my veterinary clinic as a base for a secret SEAL operation. Did you hear about that? I wonder if he’s going to let Jojo the goat help out?”
A few lips twitched. But Janie just glared.
Eden’s stomach clenched.
Nerves danced, making her ears buzz a little with stage fright.
This was it. Her chance to cement her spot in the popular hall of fame. To claim Cade-ette status and revel in adulation for the rest of her single days. This would wipe out talk of Kenny’s broken foot and at least three other clumsy debacles people brought up when they talked about her.
She opened her mouth to stake her claim, but no words came out.
“Oh, please,” Janie dismissed, dropping the society facade altogether in her irritation. “I knew there wasn’t any truth to the rumors. This whole dating thing is just another one of Cade Sullivan’s rescue missions. If you had anything real going on, you’d have applied to join the Cade-ettes.”
“Is that like applying for a job? Is there an interview? Do you think they need my social security number?” Eden asked, suddenly pissed.
And not, as she should rightfully be, at Janie. But at herself. What the hell had she been thinking? She suddenly felt like a total idiot. First, for letting herself fall so hard for Cade. Second, for caring so much what these women thought that she’d let herself get into this situation, with her heart at risk.
She couldn’t do it.
The words, ones she’d been wanting to say for years, stuck in her throat. She bit her lip, trying not to cry. Not because she couldn’t seem to admit having achieved her dream goal.
But because of why she couldn’t admit it.
What she had with Cade was special. It wasn’t a goal or a rescue or a game. It was magic. And even if it was only magic on one side and friendship on the other, or if it lasted a couple of weeks before fading into a glowing memory, it was still hers. It was still special.
She pressed a shaky palm against her churning stomach and tried to take a deep breath through the lump in her throat.
Well, this was a sucky time to realize she was in love with him.
13
“Y
OU
’
RE
QUIET
.” C
ADE
’
S
words were mellow over the gentle hum of the car engine. She could feel his gaze on her but wasn’t ready to face her Spring Fling epiphany. “Did I miss something while I was talking to my uncle outside?”