Chapter Twenty-Nine
Cade
After a lunch meeting with my agent, I swing by the office of my accountant to go over a few things before heading for the gym to get in a workout. I’m heading out to my car when I pull out my phone to check for missed calls or messages, only to see Serena’s name on the display. I missed her call during my workout, and I can’t help the smile that crosses my face as I return her call.
“Hey, sorry I missed you; I was at the gym,” I say when she answers.
“No worries. Are you busy?”
“Not now. What’s up, how was your day?”
“Mostly uneventful. I went out with Gus and his boyfriend, Tommy, for a couple hours after I finished at the office this afternoon. It was nice to get out and talk about something other than Legos.”
I chuckle. “That does sound nice.”
“I don’t normally socialize with my TAs outside of school, but Gus is different. I have no doubt he’ll be working alongside me some day.”
“That’s cool. What else did you do with your free time?”
“Why don’t I tell you about that when you get here? Ashley has Alan until after dinner, so I was about to make dinner for myself. I have enough for you to join me.”
“That sounds great,” I say. “I’ll see you in about thirty, okay?”
“Perfect. See you soon.”
“Bye.”
I hang up and set my phone aside as I get into my truck. There was something evasive in Serena’s words, and I wonder what might be going on. I have a mild panic attack thinking she’s going to break up with me, but I just as quickly push the irrational thought aside. Everything is great between us, and I saw her the night before. What could have possibly gone wrong in less than twenty-four hours to change that? But even still, I stop at a flower shop to grab a bouquet of daisies before I make it to Serena’s house. Just in case.
When Serena opens her door, my smile stretches ear to ear. “Hey, baby,” I say, stepping inside and pulling her to me, holding the flowers behind my back. “I missed you all day.”
“Mmm, I missed you too, especially when Tommy and Gus were giggling over shirtless pictures of you, and I got to think about how much better it looked in person.”
“Wanna see if your memory is correct?” I ask as I kick the door closed and nuzzle her neck.
She giggles. “Tempting, very tempting, Cade, but I was hoping we could talk over dinner.”
My heart thuds. She wants to talk. “Uh, yeah, sure. It smells good. Dinner, I mean.”
Serena looks at me and begins to laugh. “It’s nothing bad, Cade. I’d just like to have a little more to drink before I tell you about the rest of my day. Now come on.” She grabs my hand and tugs me forward to the kitchen. “Wine?”
“Yes, please.” I pull the flowers out. “Oh, and these are for you,” I say with a wink and hold them out.
“Awww. They are beautiful. That’s so sweet.” She wraps her arms around my neck and kisses me again before taking the flowers, holding them to her nose and smelling them. “I’m just going to put these in some water.”
She moves around the kitchen as I take a seat at the breakfast nook and watch her put the daisies in a vase, then finish dinner. She pours me a glass of wine and brings it over, kissing my cheek before turning away. She grabs a bowl of salad and brings it back, setting it down near me. She makes two more trips, one carrying dishes and silverware, and the other a plate of garlic bread.
“Let me get that,” I say, hopping up and grabbing the bowl of spaghetti as she starts to make her third trip.
“Thank you, Cade,” she says as she sits down. I set the bowl down on the table and take my seat again as Serena begins to serve herself. I follow suit, filling my plate with food. We eat in in relative silence, which is both comfortable and welcomed. An image flashes through my mind of doing this every night with her, and I smile at the thought.
“What was that smile for?” she asks, breaking my thoughts.
“Nothing,” I reply. “Just thinking about how nice this is.”
“It is nice,” she agrees. “And quiet.”
“Maybe a little too quiet. When does little man get home?” I ask.
She glances at the watch on her wrist, “Actually, it should be any minute now.”
As if on cue, we hear the front door open and then little feet running through the house. “Serena! We’re home!” Ashley calls out.
Alan enters the kitchen before her; he has a streak of orange paint dried on his cheek and another streak of green in his hair. “Mommy!” he shouts, skidding to a stop at Serena’s side and hugging her. Serena laughs as Ashley enters the room.
“He wouldn’t let me try to clean him up after class,” she apologizes. “Said it was his war paint. Wonder who taught him that,” she adds while giving me a look.
I shrug. “He wanted to know about the eye black I used to wear when I played,” I explain.
“Mommy, look!” Alan shouts, holding up a small canvas. He points at the squiggly lines and shapes. “That’s me and Cade, and we playing football! And, that’s you and Aunt Ashley cheering for us!”
Serena stands and hugs Alan properly, stooping down to kiss the top of his head. “It’s beautiful, my sweet boy. Do you want to put it with the others?”
He shakes his head. “I want Cade to have it.”
I look up with surprise as Alan turns to me, thrusting the picture out to me. “Thank you, Alan. This will look fantastic in my house,” I grin.
“Cade, you wanna play cars with me?”
I look up at Serena who smiles and nods. “Sure, buddy,” I tell him as I stand. “Lead the way.”
Alan and I play in his room for thirty minutes until Serena appears and takes him to get a bath. I help as best I can and after his bath, Alan gets into pajamas, brushes his teeth, and heads to bed. Serena sits beside him and reads him a story and then he begs for me to read one, too. After my story, Serena kisses him goodnight, and I follow her out of the room and downstairs. We head into the living room, and I take a seat on her couch. Serena falls into the spot beside me and I pull her under my arm.
“You’re really good with Alan,” she says after a moment of silence.
“I’ve always liked kids, but being with Alan is different; it just feels natural. Is that weird?”
A look I can’t quite describe crosses her face, but she forces it neutral again almost as quickly as the look came. I want to question it, but I know Alan’s dad is not a subject she likes to discuss and I don’t want to push her. Maybe in a few more months I will, but for now, I let it go.
“You never finished telling me about the rest of your afternoon. How was your day after going out with Gus and Tommy?”
“Yeah. Still probably need more wine,” she smiles. “But, I had a visitor after I got home.”
“Oh? An old friend or something?”
“Not even close to a friend. Josephine.”
“Josephine?! Josephine my ex-girlfriend?” I am floored.
“Yep, that would be her.”
“What the hell?! She was here, in your house?” I question.
“Showed up on my doorstep and barged inside.”
“That woman is obviously unstable. She showed up at the studio a few weeks ago thinking I was just going to fall back into the mess we used to have. And when I refused her, she threw a fit. I threatened her with security, but I should have threatened her with a restraining order. Jesus, Serena. I’m sorry. I don’t even know how she knows who you are.”
“You don’t have anything to be sorry for, Cade. And, I really don’t think you need a restraining order.”
“What did she say?”
“That I wasn’t pretty enough or good enough for you. That she is the love of your life, and that if I didn’t break it off with you tonight, I would regret it.”
My eyes grow wide and I’m positive I am turning red with rage. “No, we definitely need a restraining order. Do you think Ashley will come back over and stay with Alan? We can go right now. My lawyer can meet us at the police station.”
Serena reaches out and grabs my hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “Seriously, Cade, we don’t need to do all that. It’s fine.”
“It’s not fine. She showed up at your house and harassed you. It’s one thing for her to harass me, but she can’t show up here and do that to you. How can you be so calm about this?”
“You’re a good man, Cade, and she’s just upset about losing you. She can’t hit back at me the way she’s used to. I’m just a regular girl, not some Hollywood starlet with skeletons in her closet. There’s nothing scandalous she can leak to the press because the press won’t care about me. And there’s nothing in my past that would cause me to lose my job at the university.
“So, she can threaten as much as she might like, but she’s got no way to ruin me like she’s used to. I don’t have a shady past, my dad isn’t also my uncle, and there are no videos of me doing lines of cocaine. They’re empty threats, and she knows it, but she hoped it would intimidate me. She doesn’t. She’s hurt she lost you and that it wasn't her choice. It’s all about ego. I might not know a bunch of celebrities, but I do understand the way a woman’s mind works.”
“There’s no way in hell I could be this unbothered if some ex of yours showed up at my door. I’d throttle the guy.”
“I won’t lie: I absolutely wanted to punch her in the throat. But that would’ve gotten nothing but bad press, which is exactly what she wants, something to spin in her favor. I won’t give her that satisfaction.”
“I guess that’s true. Promise you’ll tell me if she comes over again, though, or if she finds some other way to contact you,” I insist.
“I promise,” she assures me. “If I even see her anywhere and she looks at me funny, you’ll be the first person I tell.”
“I just don’t want my crazy ex to be the reason anything goes wrong between us.”
“Trust me, she won’t be. We’re good.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah,” she says softly, moving to straddle my lap. “You and I are definitely good, Cade Thomas. You make me happy.”
“You make me happy, too. I haven’t felt like this about anyone before. Well, I mean, I thought I did, but now I know that wasn’t real. There’s always just been space fillers in my life, but you are so different than that – so much more. I hope that makes sense,” I add.
“I know what you mean.”
“I kinda wish you had a crazy ex, though, so I wasn’t the only one. You sure there isn’t anything you want to tell me about Alan’s dad?” I joke.
She tenses up and slides from my lap to sit beside me. I don’t understand why the mention of Alan's father always has her pulling back a little from me, and again, I want to push to learn more, to understand that part of her, but I don’t. Instead, I wait for her, to see if this will be the time she decides for herself to open up to me.
“Sorry to disappoint, but there are no crazy exes in my life. Josephine’s brand crazy is enough for both of us, anyway.”
“True, but for the record, whatever guy left you and Alan behind, that’s a whole other special kind of crazy. He’s gotta be to let a woman like you walk away and to not love Alan. If you ever decide to tell me about him, leave out his name, otherwise I might seek him out and punch him for being so stupid.”