While I shopped for the things I needed, I was reminded of her again. She had been so thoughtful when she shopped for me, I wished I had paid more attention to the things she put away. I tried to recall everything, but the things that stuck out to me the most were her eyes and her smile, and her laugh. She had such a beautiful laugh.
It was so strange how many of the details mattered now. Things I would have taken for granted and probably forgotten by now had things not gone the way they had.
Everything I did somehow kept leading me back to her.
I wondered if she was doing better now. If she had moved on and that was why she hadn’t come around.
My body went into autopilot as he finished his shopping. My mind focused on what I would do if the worst-case scenario managed to come to pass. I didn’t come out of my daze until I had pulled up to a gas pump at the station Cadence worked at.
I continued sitting in the cab of my truck as my attention settled on the woman working inside the store.
It was her.
Cadence.
My mate.
She was fiddling with some holiday decorations for the store. Her face was pale and focused as she examined and judged every inch of tassel she had carefully put up. My heart lurched at the sight of her. I wanted nothing more than to rush to her, and I realized I probably should have stayed away, to begin with… but it was too late to leave now.
I sighed as I stared at my fuel gauge. Less than a quarter tank of fuel remained. I needed the fuel. Plus, I needed some other snacks and sweets that I could only find inside her store. As much as I hated to force myself into her life, I had to.
I could probably wait on the snacks and just pay at the pump for my fuel. Even still I probably could wait until the storm passed by and then come back… but I couldn’t seem to make myself move either way.
Just before I opened the door to climb out of my truck, my phone rang. I stared down at it. Ezra’s name glowed brightly against the black background.
A pinch entered my forehead. He never called me unless he wanted something. I couldn’t fathom what all he would want since he was with his woman and his home was being cared for by me.
I continued staring at the thing until it stopped ringing. But sure enough, it started ringing a couple of minutes afterward.
I huffed and picked it up, pressing the red phone icon on the screen. “Yeah?”
“I need your help with something,” Ezra said.
“Is that so?” I asked and huffed out a sigh while staring at the fuel gauge.
“Yes, is now a good time to talk?” he asked.
I shrugged and my eyes fell onto Cadence. She covered her mouth and ran out of sight. I didn’t even catch half of what was said by my cousin. I was more concerned with what was going on with the woman I belonged to.
19
CADENCE
I was convinced I had some sort of strange, long-lasting stomach bug because there was no way in hell food poisoning lasted for almost a month. Though I probably should have gone to the doctor, I couldn’t afford to take any more time off. Besides, I was walking on a thin line as it was considering I had missed so much work thanks to being stuck at the cabin with the last storm.
However, I still couldn’t keep anything down for very long, and that had me worried. If I kept up at this pace, I would be nothing but skin and bones before the end of the year, and that didn’t sit well with me. But it wasn’t like I had found the miracle cure or anything. None of my old tricks were working anymore. I was rapidly becoming stuck between a rock and a hard place.
I needed something to give.
After spending most of the day tangled with red and green garland and scotch tape, decorating the store for the holidays per my boss’ instructions. I was also ready for a break.
I started to head to the office to sit down for a few minutes when my stomach clenched and a sour taste filled my mouth. I had seconds to hit the restroom before I started to dry heave. And that was mostly what my nausea had been resulting in. I had to become used to taking small sips of water and tiny nibbles on crackers. Otherwise, I would be merciless retching. As it was, me and the toilet were becoming close friends, and I hated that.
While I was in the restroom, the front door chimed, alerting me to someone having entered the store. I rolled my eyes. I had just a few minutes to wrap this up or I would have hell to pay. There had to be an end in sight. I couldn’t go on like this forever. Once I was able to, I tried my best to rinse my mouth and clean myself up before walking toward the register.
A had been standing at the counter. She stared at me with concern. She even took a half-step backward as though I was contagious.
“Are you okay?” she asked, voice filled with concern.