“Tomorrow?”
Kade inhaled through his nose as he released his perfectly sculpted arms and rubbed his hands on his thighs as he pushed off the counter. “Yeah, I was going to talk to you about that. Actually, I have a few things I need to talk to you about. Can we sit?” He motioned toward the dining room table.
“Okay…,” Ali wasn’t sure what was going on, but after today at least she felt ready to hear what he had to say. Last night when he’d tried to talk to her it had been too much, but after her day with Jess, she had some currency in her emotional bank account to draw on.
Kade pulled out her chair and she sat and stared up at him expectantly.
“So, today I—,” He was suddenly interrupted by the sound of clicking coming from behind them. She glanced over her shoulder, and though she wasn’t sure what she expected to see, she definitely didn’t expect to see a dog trotting happily toward them.
“That’s a dog,” she said, pointing at the animal.
“That’s one of the things I wanted to talk to you about.”
“You got a dog?” she asked as she bent down and opened her arms, allowing the dog to trot up to her and lick her face.
She felt like she was living in The Twilight Zone version of her life. She’d had a relaxing day with her best friend to come home to a clean house, the twins’ safe and asleep, Kade prepping food in the kitchen, and the cutest dog in the world was there greeting her with kisses.
“Yeah. I guess I got a dog.”
“What’s his name?” Ali chuckled as she tried to avoid the slobbery licks that the dog seemed hell-bent on giving her.
“Dumbass.”
“Ha ha.” She was used to middle-school-boy humor since her nephews were that demographic but she was hoping it was something they would grow out of. Of course if her brother and Kade were any indication, her hopes were in vain.
She kissed the dog’s head and slid back into her seat. “Seriously, though. What’s his name?”
“Dumbass,” Kade repeated as he circled the table and sat across from her. The dog dutifully followed him, wagging his tail as he went. She got it. There was a time she would’ve happily followed Kade, wagging her tail the entire way. “I didn’t name him. My father did.”
“You saw your dad?”
“I wanted to let him know that I was moving back. For good. He was taking care of this little guy—,” he bent down to rub the dog’s head.
“Wait, what do you mean, you’re moving back?” Ali’s heart slammed into her chest.
Kade nodded. “I’m moving back to Whisper Lake. That’s also one of the things I wanted to talk to you about.”
“How many things are there?”
“A lot. There are a lot of things I need to tell you.”
Ali blinked, trying to process all of the information she’d taken in in the past sixty seconds. Kade willingly went to see his father. He adopted a dog. And he was moving back. To Whisper Lake.
Now she really felt like she was in The Twilight Zone.
***
Kade figured he’djump right in. Ali was here, she was listening to him, and this conversation was long overdue.
“First, I want to give you this,” Kade said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a bronze medallion.
Her fingers grazed his as she took it and he tried to ignore how soft her skin was and how good her touch felt.
She looked down at the coin. “What’s this?”
“It’s my one year sober chip.”
She lifted her head and recoiled slightly. “Sober?”