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“He’s a good guy.”
Cade shifts in his seat. In fact, now that I notice it, he’s been stiff and distracted since he picked me up. He said he just wanted to take a ride with me before he went to Spring Hill.
He crawls to a stop about a block away from my house, pulling over to the side of the road. Turning to me, he smiles.
My stomach flips. “What’s going on?”
“We did something for your dad. For you, too, I guess.”
“We?” My heart starts to hammer.
“The team. My friends. Some of my family, too.”
My hands start to shake. “You’re scaring me…”
He chuckles. “It’s nothing bad.”
My mind whirs, adrenaline kicking in to the point where I can barely think. My anxiety meter rockets all the way to full speed.
“You should have seen everyone come together. It was nothing short of a miracle.”
My blood races in my ears, a rhythmic knocking in my head.
“Are you ready?”
Cade doesn’t wait for me to answer. He pulls the car forward. I close my eyes, fingernails sinking into the fabric of the car seat while I try to calm my breaths. It feels like the moment before a thunderclap—anticipating, watching the ugly clouds roll in and the rumble of warning until everything hits a fever pitch.
My eyes open, and I spot the front gate first. It’s not crooked, and…the paint isn’t chipped. In fact, it’s brand new.
Wait, the lawn is mowed.
Cade stops in front of the house, and I scramble out, my gaze darting everywhere. He talks in the background, but all I hear is the warning rumble of my heart as it fissures.
A ramp, frosty with the morning dew, switches back and— I gulp. New porch. Is the house painted, too?
Tears spring to my eyes. I catch the words “dozens of people” and “I met your neighbors.”
A cold sweat breaks out across my face and shoulders. Nausea rolls in.Oh my God, they didn’t. My space. My dirty little secret I tried so desperately to keep.
I run toward the gate, throwing it open, and race right up the new steps. My hands shake as I put my key in the lock, twisting. Bursting inside, I run through the living room, the kitchen, and grip the counter over the sink.
Everything looks untouched in here. The quick sigh of relief I let go is replaced with a scowl when Cade’s voice sounds behind me.
I whirl, panic stricken.
He sees me and takes a step in reverse. The smile dies from his face like a cardiac monitor announcing a flatline. “Charley?”
“Get. Out,” I growl.
He blinks. “I?—”
“Get out!” I scream, a cry erupting from the depths of my throat.
He backs up as I move toward him like a battering ram protecting my space. Cade’s always had a way of weaseling his way in, but this is an assault on my privacy. Horror. Mortification. All those prying eyes. What did they think when they saw where I lived?
I can’t even bear to think about it. My stomach rolls again, and I think I might be sick. I band my arm around my middle like I can prevent it from happening.
“I’m not your charity case,” I stumble forward, hand gripping the doorjamb. His perfect sneakers step on the brand-new wood of the porch. The floor doesn’t creak or give.