“Running,” I said.
“Ah,” she said. “Say no more.”
I chuckled. “Don’t worry. I won’t.”
“Did it help?” she asked after several seconds of silence.
“I suppose it did a little,” I said. “Your voicemail mentioned you have some news to share?”
“Yes,” she said excitedly. My heart skipped a beat. “I have a new best friend.”
“Awesome,” I said, voice falling flat. My heart sank. “Congratulations.”
“Don’t be a sour puss,” she said. “I have some news for you too.”
“The suspense is killing me,” I muttered. Despite the anxiety eating holes through my body, my lips tugged into a smile and my heart skipped a beat. The emotional rollercoaster was exhausting. The sooner this shit was behind us, the better. I wasn’t sure how much more of it I could take.
She laughed. “Awe… Don’t die just yet. Cadence understands what happened now and what is really going on between us. So, far as I can tell, you’re good. However, I would give her some time though. She’ll come around eventually. My guess is she is trying to figure out a clever way to make up for everything.”
I let out a breath I hadn’t been holding. “Thank you.”
The sudden urge to jump into my truck and race into town to find her came over me and I was struggling with keeping myself put. I needed to do what Cassidy had said and give Cadence a few days to get over everything.
“Let her come to you,” she said, and I groaned. “I’m serious. She needs some time to fully process everything.”
“All right,” I grumbled.
She giggled. “Don’t worry, my furry friend. I have a feeling that things will turn out exactly how you want them to. You just have to be patient first.”
“We shall see,” I said.
“You took the words right out of my mouth,” she said.
We ended the call and I continued to stare at the cold fireplace. The longer I sat, the more my body seemed to calm, and excitement took place of the anxiety and moroseness. I could wait a few days. Hell, I probably could wait longer than that, not that I would want to. But for Cadence… in order for her to come back to me? I would wait as long as necessary.
* * *
One month passed by,and I still hadn’t heard anything from Cadence. Cassidy continued to encourage me to wait while Cadence figured things out, but it was becoming harder with each day that passes without a single word from her. I was losing hope. And I started to believe her conversation had done little help after all, especially with the lack of anything from Cadence.
Though I had agreed to let her come to me, I thought about stopping by her job to check on her on my way into town for some supplies. Another storm was heading our way, according to the weather app on my phone, and it was predicted to be worse than the last. I had to make sure I was stocked up better than ever. Especially since there was some talk about storms rolling through back to back.
But I figured popping into her store wouldn’t have done me any good. If she didn’t want to see me, I needed going to respect that. Not that I didn’t accept it about as well as I would swallowing down a large, jagged pill.
Of course, over the span of the past month, my mind was never fully free from thoughts of Cadence for long. I spent the better part of the month trying to do anything and everything to keep myself occupied and give her the space that she needed. I even fished at a river during one of the warmer days, soaked in Rin’s favorite hot springs pool, and did some minor repairs on the cabin.
Okay… I did a lot of minor repairs on the cabin.
But it didn’t matter what I did or how busy I kept myself. No matter where I was or what I was doing, I was reminded of her. Everything always reminded me of her.
While in town, I ended up driving past the hotel. I remembered the night we spent together. The night when she surprised me with her conversation and whiskey.
That was a great night. One of my favorites, and one I would always remember.
The grocery store sign when I pulled into the parking lot matched the logo on the plastic bags I had helped Cadence carry in when she surprised me yet again the morning after visiting me in the shitty hotel room. I couldn’t escape her if I tried, and her constant presence in my life—despite her absence—only further instilled the fact that she was might mate.
Hell, every time I was in the cabin, I was reminded. Luke’s room still carried her scent, albeit faint and almost undetectable, it was still there.
And for the longest time, her scent saturated the couch. I spent quite a few nights curled up on it wishing I could hold her again.