Page 109 of The Broken Note

“I’m up. I’m up,” she grumbles.

I know I worked her out last night, but she seems extra tired. How does she manage to wake up so early for work service everyday if she’s such a lousy morning person?

Cadey slides to a sitting position. Her hair drapes over her back like a shroud. She grabs my jacket from the edge of the rug and shrugs into it.

“Are you okay?” I ask.

“I need to pee,” she mumbles. At first, I think she’s angry. But then I see the red flush at the tip of her ears and realize she’s just embarrassed.

I grin in satisfaction while she hurries off.

“There are T-shirts and towels in the bathroom, if you want to take a shower,” I yell at her back. We made a mess of the rug. She must be uncomfortable too.

“Yeah,” she grunts.

“If you need me to show you where they are—”

“I can find it myself!” A moment later, I hear the slam of a door and the click of a lock. Cadence rattles the knob, probably to make sure I can’t get in.

I smirk and rise to my feet, stretching my arms over my head. It’s a good thing she ran. I’m hungry for her again and I don’t think I could have resisted if she was still lying beside me.

Another phone buzzes.

It’s mine this time.

Perplexed, I slip into my shirt, boxers and jeans and walk over to the phone. Who’s calling so incessantly? It can’t be my brothers. They expected me to be out all night.

I doubt it’s mom or dad.

I lift my phone and spot the unknown number tracking across the screen.

Miller?

Curious, I put the phone to my ear. “Hello?”

“Is this Dutch Cross?”

The voice is female, husky and unfamiliar.

“Who is this?” I growl. “And how did you get my number?”

I don’t give that information out. In fact, apart from my family, Martina and a handful of industry folks, the only people who have my phone number are Sol, Cadence and Vi.

“My name is Tina Cooper.” She pauses. “I’m Cadence’s mom.”

I freeze, unable to believe my ears.

“Dutch… are you still there?”

“Are you freaking kidding me?” I growl. “Who the hell are you? Who put you up to this?”

“This is not a joke.”

“Cadence’s mom is dead.” Death by suicide according to her files. It happened a few months before Cadence transferred to Redwood.

“I’m very much alive.”

Something clicks in my head. The night Vi ran away, Cadence said their fight ‘had something to do with mom’. Cadence and I found Vi hiding out at their mom’s memorial tree later.