And it was at this moment, right then and there, I decided to do anything I could to win her back. Whatever it took. I would do it. Even if that meant running to hell and back. I would do that in a heartbeat.
“God dammit!” Ezra shouted, once again reminding me I was on the phone with him. He screamed, pushing every ounce of anger he had in his system into it.
“Sorry, cousin,” I said. “I told you I’m a bit distracted.”
“Well, get undistracted because I can’t take this anymore.” Ezra was practically yelling at me.
I cleared my throat and pulled my attention away from Cadence.
“I’m sorry, Ez. What’s going on? What can’t you take anymore?” I asked.
“Talk to Cadence, man. I’m tired of being brought into the middle of you two.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked as a pinch entered the center of my forehead.
“Damn near every night for the past month I have been asked one thing or another about you. Damn near every single night. Either at Cadence’s behest or Luke’s desperate need to protect his sister. I can’t do it anymore. Whatever is going on between the two of you, you need to fix. And please… for the love of God and creation, keep me out of your problems from now on.”
I listened to Ezra vent and nodded as I tried to make since of his words. By the time he finished explaining, I had figured most of everything out. Cadence was asking about me. She had told Luke about what happened between us, and he was going to Ezra to get information on me. I could see how living under such pressure would be irritating and wear on the nerves a bit after a while.
“First off, I’m sorry that happened to you,” I started. “I don’t know why they had done that, and I agree that they shouldn’t have dragged you into what has been going on between her and me. Second, there is one problem with what you request for me to do.”
“Oh, God, what now?” he asked.
“Cadence wants nothing to do with me,” I said. “And I’ve already tried to fix what happened. Needless to say, I failed, if not made things just a tiny bit worse. But if you have any suggestions, I’m all ears.”
“Figure it out! I can’t keep covering for you or vouching for your character, it’s ridiculous and causing a strain between Luke and me.” Ezra sighed. Someone on the other side of the line called out his name. His words were strained when he said, “Hold on a second.”
I raised my eyebrows. Ezra was naturally the epitome of calm. The fact that he just snapped at me only proved his words were true. He had been through something over the course of the month. He lost his peace.
“Sure. Why not,” I said to no one. “I’ll hold.”
While I waited for Ezra to return to the conversation, I returned my attention to Cadence inside the store. She was back in the front, near the counter, gathering all of the unused, leftover decorations and throwing them into a box. Once she was finished, she carried them out of sight.
A popular, romantic holiday song started playing over the radio and I got caught up with daydreaming about spending holidays with her. I pictured what that would look like. With her hair pulled into an updo, and a glittering, fancy dress hugging her hips. I could swirl her around a dancefloor surrounded by holiday themed decorations as she smiles and serenades me with her wonderful laugh.
I sighed.
“Guy,” Ezra screamed.
“Yeah?” I asked and then worked to catch my breath. “Dude, you need to find your Zen again.”
“Jesus, man. You have an issue that seriously needs to get worked out,” Ezra grumbled. “But first, Cadence.”
“What about her?” I asked.
“She is apparently very sick.”
My heart skipped a beat, and I sat forward a little more. “What do you mean by very sick?”
He ignored my question and continued. “Luke needs you to make sure she gets to the hospital.”
“I can’t make any guarantees. She’s wanted nothing to do with me for the past month,” I argued. My knuckles turned white against the steering wheel as I squeezed the thing as tight as I could. “Getting her to so much as say more than two words to me has been a fucking act of congress.”
“Guy, she’s been sick for the past month.” Ezra sighed. “She’s not listening to Luke and he’s worried. Can you do us a favor and please make sure she gets to the hospital to be seen?”
I sucked in a breath and rushed out of the truck. I didn’t need to hear anything else. It didn’t make sense that she was sick for so long, but that explained how pale she was. It had to be serious to affect her like that.
Without saying goodbye, I ended the call and stormed into the store. I held my breath, straining my ears to figure out where Cadence had gone. She should have returned to the front by now and she hadn’t. Then she rounded the corner, and the second her eyes fell on me, she stopped dead in her tracks and stared. Her eyes widened as they took me in.