In a Nightie, Cardigan and Socks
Coert
Present day . . .
“I’M NOT SURE PISSED IS the right word. The way Arnie describes it, after Stone stormed into his office yesterday afternoon, apoplectic is the right word,” Jake said in his ear.
Moving around Cady’s kitchen as she made him breakfast, something she made clear she was going to make a habit and did, even on a day like that day—a Saturday he had off—while he refilled their coffee, Coert didn’t bother to beat back his grin.
“So I take it Stone wasn’t a big fan of the injunction Weaver filed on behalf of the citizens in unincorporated Derby County to freeze proceedings on reclassifying Magdalene parkland for commercial builds until an assessment of conflict of interest for the board of governors can be made?” Coert asked, finding Cady’s eyes and watching hers taper in a smile.
“That and the Forecaster story followed up by the Daily News doing a three-part exposé on the shady machinations of Stone Incorporated to acquire land, some of it protected, and reclassify it for commercial or residential use across the state of Maine. Mick’s dad is still a member of the Magdalene Club and Mick got him to make a few touch-base calls with some of his old buds, and there’s some maneuvering going on with folks distancing themselves from Stone while this storm is hitting. So I’m thinkin’ that’s making Stone even testier.”
“It’s tough being a dick,” Coert muttered just as the buzzer went, telling them someone was at Cady’s gate.
He caught her eyes again and shook his head. So she stayed at the skillet frying bacon while Coert walked toward the console by her front door.
“Keep in touch, Jake,” he said into the phone. “Especially if you got news as good as this. But now I gotta go. Someone’s at Cady’s gate.”
“Right, let you go. But Amber and Ethan want you two over for dinner. Amber, because Josie digs your woman and has been talking about her so she wants to look Cady over. Ethan because he wants to impress you with some macaroni and cheese recipe he’s made up that Josie assures him is gonna be the bomb, and he’s decided you and Cady are gonna be his test subjects.”
“We’ll set that up when we got Janie back, sometime next week,” Coert told him as the buzzer right in front of his face went again.
He frowned at it.
He might not have raced to answer the damned thing but it was eight feet from the kitchen, so it hadn’t taken a year to get there.
“Next week,” Jake agreed. “Later.”
“Later,” Coert replied, took the phone from his ear and hit the button to open the line to the gate. “Yeah?”
There was nothing.
“Hit the button to reply,” Coert instructed.
“Who’s this?” a man’s voice asked.
Coert turned his head Cady’s way.
She was staring at the console.
“Cady?” he called.
Her eyes moved to him and she opened her mouth to speak but the voice came through before she got anything out.
“I need to speak to Cady Webster. Doesn’t she live here?”
Webster?
No one in Magdalene and no delivery person would call her Webster.
“You know who this is?” Coert asked his woman.
“I think . . . it sounds like . . .” She moved wide eyes from console to Coert. “Caylen.”
Coert’s neck instantly got tight.
Oh hell no.
He turned back to the console and hit the button. “Is this Caylen?”
“Again, who’s this?” Caylen demanded, like he was ascertaining who was at his own freaking door.
“Remove yourself from this property,” Coert ordered.
“Coert—” Cady started, and he knew she was coming his way so he twisted to her.
“Do not even say it,” he growled.
“But—”
“I need to speak with Cady Webster,” Caylen stated over the console.
Coert returned his attention to Caylen. “This is Sheriff Coert Yeager. And I’ll repeat, remove yourself from the property.”
He took his finger off the button and got nothing.
She didn’t have a fucking window to the front of the property on any floor but the observation deck, which would leave Cady with the console if Coert went up to check that her brother was complying and that wasn’t happening.
She’d talk to her brother if he left her with that console.
God damn it.
Fortunately and unfortunately, Caylen’s voice came back, letting Coert know he hadn’t left without Coert having to check, but also letting him know the asshole hadn’t actually left.
“Yeager, that’s the name of the undercover cop who—”
Coert cut him off by hitting the button. “You leave or I’ll call deputies to remove you.”
Cady’s hand fell on his arm so he knew she was right beside him.
He didn’t look at her because Caylen came back.
“I’m not on Cady’s property. I’m outside Cady’s property so unless you intend to abuse your authority, you can’t have me removed and I’m not leaving until I speak to my sister.”
“Right,” Coert muttered irately to the room, not through the speaker, and he turned to Cady. “Do not speak to him. I’m going out there.”
“Coert,” she whispered, her beautiful green eyes big, concerned, and already ready to forgive.
He knew it.
God damn it.
“A week and a half ago. Red Wedding. You asked me to trust you. I reminded you of the man who’s your man,” he began. “Now I’m asking you to trust me. And I know it upsets you, honey, but I gotta dredge up the past and say, this being about your brother, I need to do this for you so you need to let me.”
“Let me talk to my sister!” Caylen shouted over the speaker.
Cady looked at it.
“Baby,” he whispered.
She looked to Coert. “I trust you.”
Thank fuck.
He grabbed her head in both hands, pulled her to him, kissed her briefly, and gently pushed her away. “Do not talk to him over the speaker.”
Her head nodded in his hands.
Coert let her go and sprinted up the stairs, Midnight coming with him.
He had on a Henley, socks and pajama pants.
He only took off the pajama pants before he put on some jeans and tugged on the turtleneck he left at Cady’s house weeks ago that she’d washed and put in the drawer she’d cleared for him that was under the bed.
He pulled on his boots and then he sprinted back down the stairs, Midnight at his heels.
He gave her a look before he walked out the door.
“Jacket!” she called as he turned to hold Midnight back.
“Stay with your mom,” he urged the dog.
She whined but edged back from the door.
Coert looked at Cady. “I won’t be out there that long.”
He knew she was going to say something but he closed the door before she could get it out.
He took his time walking to a gate that was not close to the lighthouse.
He was halfway there before he saw Cady’s brother appear through the iron bars, walking in from the side as he came to stand in front of the Subaru that was parked outside the gate.
As he got closer, he saw the man had aged well.
However, Cady had already told him that.
Cady and Coert had had time. Time together. Time to binge watch TV. Mornings to share breakfasts. Afternoons to meet for lunch. Evenings to have dinner together. Nights to whisper to each other after they’d made love.
Running to catch up.
Sharing what was missed.
Relearning who they were.
Discovering who they’d become.
So Coert not only knew about the incident with Cady and Kath outside Caylen’s home.
He knew Caylen had not only refused to allow Cady to meet his children (and how he’d communicated that), he’d disallowed her to come to her own mother’s memorial reception.
And everything he learned, he thought that Caylen Webster had not changed. The man was not a dick and he was not an asshole.
There wasn’t a word for a man like him.
“Let me in to talk to Cady,” he snapped when Coert was within hearing distance.
Coert didn’t reply until he was four feet from the gate.
There he stopped and explained, “You’re in error. This is private property. That is public land. But as the sheriff of this county it’s within my authority to have someone removed from public land if he’s making a nuisance of himself by harassing one of my citizens, even if that citizen is the woman in my life. So my suggestion is, don’t test me.”
“I’m hardly harassing her,” Caylen spat.
“You and I both know you’re harassing her just showing here,” Coert returned.
“And I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t need to be here,” Caylen retorted.
“Yeah. And that’s why I’m out here. Because Cady’s gonna want to know why you’re here because she’s got a soft heart and you’re her brother, even though you’ve got no clue that’s a title you’re born with, but to keep it, you gotta earn it.”
Caylen’s lips thinned.
Point scored.
Coert continued, “But I’m not gonna let you treat her like dirt, so to get to her you gotta go through me and if I don’t like what you say, you’ll need to leave, or as I shared earlier, you will be removed.”
“You’re not gonna like what I say,” Caylen told him sharply.
“I already know that but for Cady I’m gonna listen anyway.”
“I don’t even like that I have to say it,” he bit out.
“This tells me you want something from her so let’s get this done because you interrupted Cady making breakfast and I’d like to put her mind at ease and let her get along with her day.”
“You’re the sharp one, Sheriff, deducing I want something from my sister.”
Not asshole. Not dick.
Something a whole lot worse.
“I’m five seconds from walking away from you,” Coert warned.
Caylen looked beyond the gates like he was wondering if he could jump them.
“Three seconds left,” Coert told him.
Caylen looked into Coert’s eyes and the new expression on his face made Coert immediately go wired.
“My son has leukemia. I don’t want something from Cady. No one’s a match. I need something from her. And what I need is for her to get tested for a bone marrow match.”
Coert closed his eyes and dropped his head.
Caylen’s voice sounded choked when he stated, “This is hard.”
Coert looked at him.
Caylen kept going.
“And I’m fully aware I’ve made it harder. But . . .”
Caylen shook his head and didn’t finish, and Coert had seen a lot of people in a lot of bad situations so he knew it wasn’t discomfort that was in every word, every action, tightening the line of Cady’s brother’s frame.
It was pain.
“It’s not good,” he whispered.
“Get in your car,” Coert ordered.
Caylen’s face instantly turned to granite. “I—”
“Get in your car. Get warm. I’m gonna go up and break this to Cady. When I’m done with that, I’ll open the gate and you can drive up. A warning, she’s got a dog and the dog is protective and can get intense when she senses someone’s around who Cady or I’ve got a problem with. She’s got a bad history so I won’t confine her. But I will contain her, though you gotta go in cautious.”
Caylen nodded.
Coert didn’t wait for him to get in his car.
He turned and jogged back to the house.
He got a woof from Midnight and Cady’s immediate attention as he walked through the door.
He gave Midnight’s ruff a rub down but she had to walk with him as he gave it because he didn’t delay in making his way to Cady.
“Is he gone?” she asked before he got there.
“No,” he answered, made it to her and lifted his hands to cup her jaw.
“Oh no,” she whispered, staring into his eyes.
“Yeah. It’s not good. I need to open the gate and let him drive up because, baby, I fuckin’ hate to have to say these words to you, but he’s here because he needs you because his son is sick and they can’t find a match, so they need you to get tested to give bone marrow.”
Her eyes filled with tears and her lips murmured, “Oh my God.” She looked like she was about to face plant in his chest right before she jerked from his hold and started toward the door. “We have to let him in.”
He hooked her at the waist but kept moving them toward the console and it was Coert who hit the button that would open the gate.
His other arm was engaged with curling Cady into his body.
When he got her there, her arms wrapped right around.
Midnight snuffled them.
“I don’t believe this,” she said into his chest.
“I know,” he murmured.
Her voice was deteriorating when she repeated, “I just don’t believe this.”
That was Cady. She hadn’t even met the kid and she was losing it.
Midnight stopped snuffling them and started barking at the door.
Caylen was there.
Coert bent his neck to get his lips to her hair. “He’s not good, honey, so you need to pull it together and I need to get a lock on Midnight.”
He heard and felt her draw in a big breath before she nodded and pulled out of his hold.
Coert caught hold of Midnight’s collar.
Cady turned right to the door to open it.
Caylen was already out of his car, slamming the driver door.
Midnight barked louder and Coert held her back.
And Cady was in a nightie, a cardigan and socks, but she raced out the door.
“Shit,” Coert hissed, but with Cady taking off like that he was having trouble containing Midnight, so all he could do was watch the shock freeze Caylen Webster’s face and body when he caught sight of his sister speeding toward him so the man was forced back on a foot when Cady hit him head on.
Midnight kept barking.
“Shh, girl, it’s okay,” Coert soothed as Caylen stood there in Cady’s arms for a full second before he lost it entirely, dissolved into tears and did it clutching his sister to him. “Shit,” he whispered.
Caylen. Her parents. Maria. Lonnie.
Him.
She didn’t give up on people unless her hand was forced.
To guard her heart, Coert might wish she was different.
But he knew there never was and there never would be another woman for him partly because of this.
So he wouldn’t have her any other way.
He gave them ten seconds.
Ten seconds he counted in his head.
Then he called, “Cady’s in her nightie, Caylen, get your sister inside.”
Caylen’s face was buried in Cady’s neck but at Coert’s call, he lifted it, took Coert in, Coert took in the red and wet of Cady’s brother’s face, and the man then disengaged just enough to turn Cady and walk her to the door.
Coert backed Midnight away, murmuring to her as they walked through.
He reached out and pushed the door closed himself as he demanded, “Crouch low and give her a minute.”
Coert did this because Midnight was growling.
Caylen crouched low.
Cady came to Midnight and helped Coert talk to her.
“Lift your hand her way but do it slow,” Coert eventually said.
Caylen complied.
Midnight kept growling but Coert let her inch forward, hand firm on her collar, so she could smell.
“He’s my brother, baby, he’s good. He’s fine. He’s welcome here. We like him,” Cady cooed.
Coert stared into Caylen’s eyes as these words came out of Cady’s mouth and he watched the pain again become stark.
Caylen bought that pain and he knew it, which was why it burned deep when he spent a lifetime earning that pain and Cady still ran out of her house wearing a nightie in the freezing cold to throw her arms around her brother.
Knowing this didn’t help Coert forgive. He wasn’t like Cady. He was a practiced hand at holding a grudge.
But it ratcheted Caylen down from whatever he was to just an asshole.
At least right then.
Midnight sniffed him, did it some more then butted his hand before her tail started wagging.
Caylen patted her head and slowly came out of his squat. Coert kept hold on the dog to make sure it was all good.
When it was, he let her go and muttered, “I’ll get coffee.”
“Come sit down,” Cady invited, taking her brother’s hand and moving him to the couch.
Coert went to the kitchen.
Midnight went with Cady.
And in two hours’ time, they’d had breakfast (with her fucking brother).
And Coert had called Kim and work because they also had two plane tickets to fly to Denver the next day so Cady could meet her niece and nephew and get tested to see if her marrow was a match.
“Should I check on him?”
“No.”
“Coert, he’s—”
“A grown man and you fed him three meals and stood over him like a mother hen making him eat them and you made his fucking bed for him and he’s staying in a five star studio that’s got the best view he’ll ever see, and it’s been a tough day, for both of you. So just let him have some time and give that to yourself while you’re at it.”
It was later, not late, but time to start winding down after a really shitty day.
Cady had talked Caylen into staying the night rather than driving home because the forecast was for snow.
And because she wanted her brother close.
This was probably not only because of the weight he was carrying, but also because he looked ready to drop. They’d settled him in the studio and then come back to the lighthouse where she finally got on the phone with Kath to let her know they were coming out.
While she was on the phone with Kath, Coert’s phone rang and he walked up to the observation room as he took the call because his screen told him Pat was calling.
“I’m not liking this,” Pat declared the minute Coert took the call.
“I’m not a fan of it either, man, but his son has leukemia.”
“First, that’s part of what sucks since she can’t tell him to go fuck himself.”
Coert felt his chin jerk into his neck because Pat was like Cady and not a devotee of the word “fuck.”
“And second, Dad died of cancer so this is gonna mess with her even as it messes with her.”
“I’m coming with her to Denver,” Coert shared with him, coming to a stop in the observation room with unseeing eyes on a stormy sea. “And Cady’s talking to Kath right now because she wants us to stay with you guys. So I’ve got her and then you’ll have her so we’ll see her through this.”
“What if she’s not a match?” Pat asked.
“We’ll hit that if that hits her,” Coert answered.
“What if it doesn’t help?”
“And we’ll hit that if it hits her.”
Pat went silent.
Then he broke it.
“She asked them to dinner. Repeatedly over the years. Eventually that guy, the brother, called Dad and told him to tell her to stop it. They’d moved on from Cady and she was hurting her parents by trying to force herself back into their lives.”
A pause while Coert tried to calm the heating of his blood because, since they’d been together, they’d shared a lot but not that.
Pat went on, “Moved on. From their daughter. Now they need something from her and that guy’s sleeping in my bed at the studio?”
“If it wasn’t bone marrow, he wouldn’t be. But Pat, man, what are you wanting me to do here? Her nephew is dying.”
“A nephew he withheld,” Pat bit out.
“But the kid’s still dying and she’s Cady. I could chain her up in my basement, and if she thought she could help she’d find her way loose and get to that kid.”
He heard nothing before he actually heard Pat blow out a breath.
And then he spoke.
“I’m just bitching because, Coert, buddy, how much more is she going to have to take?”
Coert knew what he wanted the answer to that to be, but he also knew with Caylen Webster in the studio and why he was there it just wasn’t going to be that.
“I’ve got her,” Coert assured.
“Only thing about this mess I feel good about,” Pat muttered.
Hearing that, Coert had then closed his eyes to the view and their call didn’t last a lot longer.
Cady had joined him with a glass of whiskey for Coert and one of wine for her, Midnight limping up at her side.
And there they remained, cuddled together in her observation room, Cady curled between his legs, her back to his chest, the beam of the lighthouse rotating round and round, illuminating the view.
Coert tried to put a better spin on things by noting, “While we’re in Denver, I can finally introduce you to Malc and Tom. They always wanted to meet you. Now they can do it before they get invitations to the wedding.”
“Okay,” she said distractedly but finished it with, “That’d be nice.”
Coert kept trying.
“And Tom’s daughter married Malc’s son, Malc’s daughter married the nephew of a local crime boss, and fortunately Malc’s oldest son married someone from Indiana, but I hear she’s a spitfire. Maybe we can get a big dinner together so I can see how my old buddies are dealing with the insanity that they always thought would end when Indy and Ally grew up, but apparently they’re intent to wreak havoc until the day they die.”
“A cop’s daughter married a crime boss’s nephew?” she asked.
“Yeah. And she became a private investigator. Way Malc tells it, she’s a badass. But I knew Ally back in the day, so at least that doesn’t surprise me.”
“Soothes the soul to know it wasn’t only us who had it crazy, though it doesn’t help because I wouldn’t wish crazy on anybody.”
“They’re all happy, making babies.” Coert gave her a squeeze, purposefully moving his hand to her belly while he did. “Life goes on.”
“Life goes on,” she repeated.
He didn’t like the way she said that so he dipped his mouth to her ear and told her, “Pat called while you were on the phone with Kath.”
“She told me she thought he was doing that when he stormed out after she shared what was happening with him while we were on the phone.”
“He’s worried that this is gonna trigger stuff with you after losing Patrick.”
She nodded but kept her gaze to the sea.
“Is that yes it’s triggering things for you or—?” he began.
“It’s a yes it’s not a surprise Pat would worry about that.”
“Cady, this is a lot—”
He again didn’t finish because he had to lift his head when she twisted to face him in his arms.
“I don’t want Janie ever to get a bad flu but I still wish this was a bad flu and not the nephew I never met dying of leukemia. But it is. And this is life. And in all that’s happened in mine, the one thing I’ve learned is, as ugly as it gets, as bad as you mess up, if you keep going, it’ll get good again.”
She slid a hand up his chest to his neck and kept talking.
“Caylen messed up. You’re right. Everyone’s right. He treated me terribly. But now I have a chance to show him the woman who’s really his sister that he never allowed himself to see. And if he sees it for the length of time it takes for us to do this and then cuts me out or if this is the building block to me finally having my brother, I don’t care. Patrick was dying for years, and through it he gave me a family. I lost you, you lost me, and through it you got Janie. When the bad comes, you focus on the good or you’ll lose yourself forever. So today is today. And whatever will happen tomorrow will happen tomorrow. And like I’ve always done, I’m just going to keep on living. Then one way or another, good or bad, this will be over, I’ll have you, I’ll have my family, I’ll have Janie, and so I’ll be fine.”
“Your family,” Coert remarked.
“My family,” she stated firmly.
“Caylen?” he asked.
She looked confused but said, “If that’s what comes of this, then I want you to be open to that even though I know he’s going to have to prove to you he deserves to be in our lives.”
“That’s not what I mean. When you said you’ll have your family, I was asking if you meant Caylen.”
“No, I meant my family.”
“Your family,” he stressed.
She was no less confused. “Coert—”
“Pat, Kath, Mike, Pam, Daly, Shannon and the kids?” he pushed.
“Of course,” she stated like he’d temporarily lost rationality.
“Pat told me you called them the family or Patrick’s family,” he shared.
Her head jerked.
“But they’re yours,” he told her.
“Yes,” she whispered, like that just dawned on her.
Christ.
“You held yourself apart, didn’t you, because your parents and Caylen made you think you didn’t deserve that,” he guessed.
“I . . . I don’t know,” she replied quietly.
She might not know.
But Coert did.
“You did. And now you know. You know who they really are.”
She nodded. “Pat went to you. He . . . he probably wasn’t sure about you but he knew I was giving up and so he went to you. Like a brother would do for—”
Coert cut her off.
“I don’t give a shit what made you believe. I’m just glad you get it now. And the only thing I disagree with you saying is you now have a chance to show Caylen the woman you really are. That’s not what’s happening. You’ve never been anything but you. The woman I fell in love with so deeply, I never let her go. The woman who earned her place in a family who’s devoted to her. So this is happening but what’s happening with it is not you doing dick to prove shit to your brother. You’re just gonna be you. And if he wakes up to the woman you’ve always been and you want him in your life, I’ll find a way to deal. But you’re not jumping through hoops for the man who shares your blood. You got three brothers. It’s up to him to prove he deserves to take his place and add to that number.”
“His son is ill,” she reminded him gently.
“And I’m a father, I feel that. But in this particular scenario, Cady, first and foremost I’m your man, so that factors, definitely. I’m still watching.”
She slid her hand from his neck to his face and ran her thumb along his cheekbone and he saw in her eyes exactly how much she liked that, and it was a lot, but she didn’t say anything.
“‘Fast Car,’” he whispered.
Her eyes cut from her thumb to his but remained silent.
Coert did not.
“You never felt you belonged. They made you feel you were lacking. If anything good happened to you, you were always so surprised and acted like it was a miracle it dropped into your lap instead of being what it was, something you deserved because you’re all that’s you. So, baby, I hope you’re learning that there was always so much to you, you never had to work so hard to be someone, prove you belonged, to have all the things you got along the way. There was always so much to you, it was up to everyone around you to prove we were worthy of belonging to you.”
Her lips trembled, wet instantly filled her eyes, spilling over, but Coert wasn’t done.
“You ran out to that man in your nightie, cardigan with socks on your feet. From near on the moment I met you, my life became a lifetime endeavor to prove I was worthy to be yours.”
“Stop it,” she whimpered.
Coert didn’t stop it.
“Patrick Moreland knew that before I even did.”
More wet came and Cady’s entire body started trembling in his arms so much, Midnight sensed it, got up and started nosing her mom.
“Stop it, Coert,” she whispered.
“I’m glad he caught it.”
Her hand slid back down as the other one came up to grab tight hold on his neck.
“Stop,” she begged.
“And I wish the man was alive so I could thank him for taking care of you after I fell down on that job.”
He knew she wouldn’t like it.
But Coert had to say it. He had to give it to her. He vowed it was the last time he’d bring it up, but he could do that because it was the last thing he had to do to put a line under the time in between.
And he had no regrets even as she melted into him, moving a hand so she could burrow her face in his neck and let loose her tears.
Midnight pushed into her as Coert turned his head so his lips were at her hair.
“Be forever grateful to him for taking care of my Cady,” he murmured.
Her body bucked.
Coert absorbed it.
And he absorbed her tears, stroking her back, alternately giving Midnight some love so she’d calm down and settle back on the floor.
When it left her, Coert gave her more time before he turned her in his arms so they were both again facing the sea.
She allowed it but stopped when she was where she wanted to be by digging her forehead in his neck.
It took some time and her voice was so quiet, he almost didn’t hear her.
But he heard her.
“I know how much you love me and I love you the same so I want you to have more green. But when we make him, would you please give me a boy with your hazel? Because I love looking in Janie’s eyes but from the minute I looked into yours and fell in love with you, I wanted as much of that hazel as God would give me, so will you make that happen for me?”
Coert could talk to God about that but in the end it would all be up to the Big Man.
Still, he said, “I’ll do what I can.”
She took hold of his hand, pulling it from around her, bringing it to her mouth where she gave his knuckles a kiss.
She replaced it and only then did she say, “Thanks, honey.”
To that, Coert stated the obvious.
“It’s gonna be my pleasure, Cady.”
She snuggled closer.
Coert held her.
And the beam of the lighthouse that was the last thing Patrick Moreland gave to the daughter he met at a convenience store went round and round, constant and tireless in offering safety.
She was asleep in her bed with Midnight when Coert left her, got dressed and went over.
It still wasn’t late, but it was too late to knock on a man’s door.
He did it anyway, not hammering like only a cop knew how to get the door opened.
But he did it in a way it wouldn’t be ignored.
Elijah didn’t ignore it but he was barefoot, in sweats with a thermal he was still pulling on when he opened it.
“Shit, Cady okay?” he asked the minute he saw Coert at the door.
And so he’d be buying the man a peephole because for Christ’s sake, no one should open a door not knowing who was on the other side. Even a man the size of Elijah with his door being inside a garage.
“Want you to know Cady got bad news today. Her nephew has leukemia.”
When Elijah’s eyes went from alert to alarmed, Coert quickly assured him, of a sort.
“Not any of the boys you know. Her biological brother’s son. You might have noticed the lights on in the studio, her brother is staying there. We’re all leaving tomorrow to go to Denver so she can get tested to see if her bone marrow is a match, and if it is, there isn’t a delay in doing the transplant.”
“Shit, shit, shit,” Elijah cursed, leaning forward to look toward the lighthouse like he could do that and make sure Cady was okay.
“While we’re gone, my ex and daughter are gonna look after Midnight, my buds Jake, Mickey and Junior are gonna keep an eye on the lighthouse, and you’re goin’ down to New Haven.”
Elijah reared back and stared at him.
“Life is too short, brother,” Coert whispered. “Don’t waste a second.”
Elijah started shaking his head. “Coert, man, I—”
“Don’t waste a second.”
Elijah shut his mouth.
Coert stared him in the eyes.
Elijah opened his mouth.
“What if I can’t give her—?”
“All she wants is you.”
Elijah shook his head. “She’s too young to know what she wants.”
“Then suffer the heartbreak of losing her if that happens. But trust me on this, the pain of wondering what could have been is a fuckuva lot worse than the pain of losing something that isn’t working. And the thing about that is, at this juncture, you still got the chance to find out all it can be. If you don’t go for it, you’ll never know. You think you’re not worthy so you’re settling for something you’ve decided you’re worthy of. So I gotta ask you to trust me on something else. You’re worthy because I know the man you are and that’s just the plain truth. But you won’t believe that so you gotta learn to believe this. You’re worthy simply because she thinks you are. So believe in what she sees and get your ass to New Haven.”
“I’d never forgive myself if something happened with Verry and I lost her just because of that. But also because, at the same time, I’d be losin’ Cady.”
“You’re never gonna lose Cady and if you don’t know that by now, she’ll just have to show you. But take it from me, I know. You’re in her heart, Elijah, and once you find a place there, she never lets go.”
“Verry reminds me of her,” Elijah said quietly.
“Then get your ass to New Haven, man.”
They stared at each other again.
Then Elijah looked beyond Coert to his truck.
And Coert knew his decision was made.
“The sheriff in me has got to ask you to get a decent night’s sleep,” Coert shared.
Elijah returned his attention to Coert. “You think I’ll sleep?”
Coert grinned. “Right, then if you don’t have a huge-ass travel mug, Cady does so we’ll set you up with some coffee.”
“I got a mug.”
He said that but didn’t move.
Coert lifted a brow. “You want me to help you pack?”
That was when Elijah grinned.
“Naw, bud, I’m good.”
Coert nodded and started to move away.
“You’ll keep in touch . . . about Cady and her nephew?” Elijah asked.
Coert looked back. “Definitely.”
Coert was nearly to the door when he heard Elijah call his name.
He turned back again to see Elijah standing in the garage holding open the door to his place.
“Do you believe in what she sees?” Elijah asked.
From the minute I looked into yours and fell in love with you, I wanted as much of that hazel as God would give me.
“Absolutely,” he answered.
Elijah dropped his chin and lifted his hand.
Then he disappeared behind his door.
And Coert returned to Cady.