“She’ll be fine and it wasn’t Tom, but Nick who attacked her.”
“Wow! He has been busy.”
“Thanks Rona, we may need to follow up on a few things with you, but that’s it for now. We’ll leave you in peace.” Daniel starts to gather his things together. “I’ll be in touch. Take care. Catch you later, Cade,” he says, on his way out the door.
“Nice meeting you Rona, take care of yourself.” Josh offers me his hand to shake and passes me a business card. “If you should have any more problems or hear from Nick, please call me, anytime.”
“Thank you, I will.”
“I’ll make sure we get in touch if anything else occurs.” Cade’s voice sounds a little bit ruffled.
After Josh leaves, I look at Cade. “What was that?” I ask him.
“He’s a good-looking guy, and probably around the same age as you.”
I have to laugh, and after everything that happened, it feels good. “You can’t be serious. I love you and you alone, you idiot. Now just come and hold me.”
But he just stands there, looking ill.
After going through it all again, I just want to curl up and sleep with Cade. “Honey, come here.” He moves to sit on the sofa, where I’m lying. “Cade.” I pull him in close for a kiss. “I love you. I’m going to have a bit of a sleep. I want you to go get something to eat.” I can smell something delectable coming out of the kitchen.
“What about you?”
“I’ll try something after I’ve slept. I promise.” Relaxing on the sofa, I close my eyes and hope Cade feeds himself.
Cade
Hell, watching Rona sleep, I can’t bring myself to leave her just yet. It’s eight at night, but I feel drained.
“Dad,” Anna whispers.
She’s standing next to me. “Anna. Heck of a day, huh?” I run my fingers through my hair.
“Dad, she’s okay now. You need to eat.”
“That’s what Rona said.”
Anna looks worn out, too. I hold my arms out to her. “Come here, honey.” She walks straight into my arms and hugs me as hard as I’m hugging her. “I needed that.”
“Please come and eat, Dad. I need to get home, but I can’t leave until I know you’re okay.”
“All right, it sure smells good. Thanks for doing this. Rona will eat some when she wakes up.”
Moving to the dining table, Anna has organized, I sit down and eat chicken casserole and dumplings. Anna keeps an eye on me from the kitchen. After dinner, I talk to Jake on the phone to see how they’re doing and try assuring him Rona will be okay. Hell, I need to believe it myself.
Going back to the living room, I sit on the end of the sofa where Rona sleeps softly. I need to wake her. I don’t want to take her to bed without a small amount of food inside her. I gently wake her up and manage to persuade her to eat some casserole, before carrying her up to bed.
“Cade, I need the bathroom,” she tells me.
Changing direction, I carry her to the bathroom, unsure what to do when we get there.
“Just put me down in front of the sink, and stay while I take a few steps.”
“Take it slow.” Letting her go isn’t easy, neither is watching her struggle, but she manages.
“I’ll be fine now. Just leave the door slightly open.”
“Okay, sweetheart.” I kiss her tenderly and leave her alone in the bathroom.