Baked with Love

by Erin Wright

  “Well, I’m going to leave you to think it over,” the police officer said tactfully, rising to his feet. “For now, we have enough to go on – we’re at least pointed in the right direction. I know the last 24 hours has been a lot – try to think over the attack and remember every word he said. Courts aren’t kind to people who say vague statements. We will want to get this nailed down. Come down to the station tomorrow and we can do an official statement then.” He nodded to Cady and Gage in turn, and then left, closing the door behind him.

  Before Cady could figure out what to say in the strained silence, though, the door swung back open. An older woman with iron gray hair swept up into a bun came striding into the room. “You are awake,” she said. “Good. I’m Nurse Knutsen. I helped set the break and cast your arm while you were out. Do you have any questions?”

  Cady shook her head slightly in an attempt to clear the swirling thoughts all fighting for attention, but before she could marshall her thoughts into some semblance of order, the nurse continued on, clearly taking Cady’s shake of the head as an answer. “Good. We’ll go over your discharge instructions orally, but I will also give you a paper with them summarized on it. Are you going to be the one taking care of her once she gets home?” she asked Gage.

  “No!” Cady yelped at the same time that Gage firmly said, “Yes.”

  The nurse looked back and forth between them, clearly unsure whose answer to go with, but Gage was faster on the draw and spoke before Cady could. “I’ll be watching over her for the next few days,” he said smoothly. “What’s the best way to take care of her arm while it’s in that cast? Can she get it wet in the shower? And will she be having physical therapy for that arm once the cast is off?”

  Cady wanted ever so dearly to tell him to go jump off a cliff – this was her arm, not his, and she should be the one asking the questions – but just then, waves of pain began washing over her, obliterating any coherent thought. She felt a sheen of cold sweat sweep over her body as she struggled not to throw up.

  It was as if her mind had forgotten about the break in her arm but now that it’d been reminded it was there, everything was now focused on the pain radiating up and down her arm.

  I was just fine two minutes ago. Obviously, it can’t be hurting that bad, right? This is all in my mind.

  But still, when two white pills were placed in her hand and the cup of water held out by the ever efficient nurse, Cady took them gratefully. Anything to cut the pain. She’d never broken a bone in her life, and she was starting to think that it wasn’t an experience she was especially keen to repeat.

  Faintly, she heard the nurse talk to Gage, giving him instructions on how to care for her while also helping Cady out of her hospital gown and back into her ragged clothes. Gage tactfully looked the other direction as the nurse efficiently stripped Cady and then redressed her like a giant mannequin.

  A mannequin with hobo taste in clothing, that was. Cady vowed to throw her clothes in the trash as soon as she got home. She never wanted to see these jeans or this t-shirt again.

  The checkout procedure passed in a blur of pain and then the fogginess of drugs invaded and Cady found herself just nodding at people no matter what they asked or said, hoping that they’d take the hint and just let her go home. Zara wished her luck on the way out the front door, and Cady awkwardly waved at her with her left hand when she realized that her right hurt too much to lift up in the air.

  This, she decided with an inward groan, was going to be a massive pain in the ass. How long was she going to have this thing on her? She realized that they’d probably told her while she was doing her best wobbly head doll imitation, her head bobbing in time with the flow of their words, but she’d had no comprehension of what was being said.

  She’d just have to ask Gage. Later. When her brain wasn’t so…mushy.

  Mush. Muuuussshhh. Mushy.

  She rolled the word around in her head, suddenly weirded out by it. Was that a real word? Or had she just made it up?

  “It’s a real word,” Gage said in her ear as he scooped her up in his arms and carried her to his front door.

  She wanted to ask him how he knew what she was thinking when her brain finally caught up to the situation and she realized that they were at his house. She couldn’t even remember getting into his truck, let alone the drive over here.

  “This is your house,” she said weakly, pushing against his chest with her free left hand, her right trapped between her and his muscular chest.

  “It is, and a good thing, too. Otherwise, the last couple of years would’ve been pretty awkward,” Gage said lightly. “Turns out, people don’t want you to live in places that aren’t yours.”

  They were going up the stairs to the second floor, Cream Puffs dancing around Gage’s feet, barking with excitement, her toenails clicking on the hardwood floors. Cady couldn’t see her from her vantage point in Gage’s arms, but she could practically feel the intense pleasure rolling off the dog in waves at having her there.

  “But I was shupposed to go home,” she said, her mouth not forming words right. “Supposed to,” she said again, forcing her mouth to cooperate.

  “We’ll discuss this when you wake up,” Gage said firmly, pulling her shoes and belt off and sliding her under the covers. “For now, you need to keep these pillows from floating away. They were looking a little light-footed just a minute or two ago.”

  Cady wanted to argue but the world was already sliding into darkness around her and she knew no more.

  Chapter 26

  Gage

  Gage shifted in his chair, putting one foot up on the edge of the bed as he turned the page of Diane Capri’s thriller novel. He loved this take on the Lee Child series—

  Cady groaned and moved around a little in bed, and Gage snapped the book shut, jerking forward, both stockinged feet landing hard on the oak floors.

  “Water,” Cady murmured, and Gage hurried to grab her water bottle from the nightstand, holding it up against her lips as she sucked down the liquid.

  “How are you feeling?” he asked her, stroking some stray strands of hair off her face. Her hair was curling and springing every which way; he knew that she would think she looked horrible if she saw herself in the mirror, but he’d never seen a prettier sight in all his life.

  He’d almost lost her. If it wasn’t for a forgotten cell phone, what would’ve happened?

  He felt sick at the thought.

  They had to put that man away. Cady had to be willing to testify against him. Gage didn’t care how much it terrified her – letting Dickwad roam free was not an option.

  “Better now,” she said, finally pulling her mouth off the built-in straw of the water bottle. Her hand moved up to her neck and she patted her necklace, a habitual checking to make sure that it was still there.

  “I’ve been meaning to ask you,” he said casually, wanting to keep away from the fraught topic of testifying for a moment. “Where did you get that necklace from? I’ve noticed you only take it off in the shower.” She didn’t take it off anywhere else – not to sleep, or go out hiking, or even while having sex. It stayed around her neck no matter what.

  “Mom and Dad.” For the first time, her eyes fluttered open and she smiled sadly at him. “Eighteenth birthday present. I love emeralds – green and full of life, you know? Diamonds are so colorless and boring, and rubies are like blood…” She shivered a little.

  Creamsicle came bounding into the room just then, having heard the voices and realizing Cady was awake. The dog propelled herself up onto the bed, the height of it no match against sheer willpower, despite her short, stubby legs. Nothing would hold her back from giving Cady the face bath she so obviously deserved.

  “Hi, goofball,” she said, laughing between strokes of the pink tongue. “I’ve missed you, and I can see you missed me, too. Hey, just a second.” She looked at Gage with panic in her eyes. “Where’s Skittles? He’s probably freaking out—”

  “Rochelle is taking c
are of him,” Gage broke in, before she could wind herself up into a true frenzy. “She lost her cat just a month or so before you moved to Sawyer, and I think she’s been missing the companionship. I didn’t want to bring him over here; I didn’t want him and Puffers fighting and tearing around underfoot with you in a cast.”

  “Thank you,” Cady said gratefully.

  Cream Puffs, obviously feeling neglected, began nudging her side, hoping for more pettings. Cady lifted her right arm to pet her and then dropped it back down to the mattress with a groan. “This,” she said through gritted teeth, “is really going to suck.” She switched to her left arm and scratched Creamsy behind the ears, and then looked at Gage, her eyes haunted. “How am I supposed to make smoothies and run a cash register when I only have one arm? And it’s my right arm. If it’d at least been my left…”

  Gage picked up her right hand and squeezed it softly.

  “You really can’t,” he said bluntly. It was best if she just faced the truth now. “Your whole arm is in a fixed cast from shoulder to wrist. There’s no way you can work. I already asked Sugar to put a sign up on the front door of the Smoothie Queen, and to tell anyone who asked what was going on. Dickwad isn’t exactly a popular man around town – no one can stand him, to be honest. Driving drunk everywhere you go, especially after your own sister and niece died in a drunk driving accident…” He shook his head.

  He could almost see the gears whirring as Cady tried to decide which topic to tackle first. Finally, “His sister and niece died in a drunk driving accident? I didn’t know that!”

  “I keep forgetting that you don’t know all of the dirty secrets of this town,” Gage said with a small chuckle, holding the water bottle back up to her lips, encouraging her to drink more. “It’s kind of refreshing, honestly.”

  “I want you to tell me that story – or I’ll get it from Sugar – but right now, we need to back this train up to the station. What do you mean, I’m not going to reopen the Smoothie Queen? I can’t just abandon my business a week after opening it! Hold on, what’s today?”

  “Wednesday. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Everyone will be busy with preparations for Turkey Day – I promise you, business would be slow today anyway. You were already planning on being closed tomorrow, of course, and then it’s the start of the biggest shopping weekend of the year, which means everybody and their dog will be in Boise, scouting for the good deals, and not here in Sawyer, buying health food. That means you have until at least Monday before anyone will even think to wonder where you’re at. We can see how this weekend goes; play it by ear.”

  He helped her sit up in bed, stuffing the pillows behind her back, fishing out two pain pills and handing them over along with the water bottle. Her groans of pain just from trying to sit up in bed…

  He had a feeling that by Monday morning, it wouldn’t be so hard to convince Cady to stay in bed after all.

  “Tomorrow is Thanksgiving?” she moaned, looking frazzled. “I can’t go eat dinner with your family like this. I can’t eat with my left hand – at least, I’ve never tried. I’ll probably miss my mouth half the time.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ve already told Mom what’s going on; I’ll run over and pick up some plates loaded down with turkey and all the trimmings and bring them back here. I promise to point and laugh every time you spill gravy down the front of your shirt, and I’m sure Cream Puffs here will help you by licking it all off.”

  She glowered at him. “I’ve decided to upgrade to balloons and flowers on Emma’s next birthday. I don’t think I need to wait another ten years after all.”

  Gage bust out laughing. God, it was good to laugh again. After the scare two nights ago, laughter was a precious thing.

  “I love you,” he said, still chuckling and wiping at the corners of his eyes. “I—”

  They both froze. His casual admission hadn’t been on purpose but now that the words were finally out, he refused to take them back. Almost losing her…

  Life was too short. He had to tell her how he felt and if it freaked her out, too damn bad. It was the truth.

  “I love you too,” she whispered, her eyes glistening. She dashed the tears away with the back of her left hand. “I love you so damn much.”

  “I love you,” he whispered, and this time it was sincere, not a flippant remark, his heart feeling a thousand times happier than just minutes before. “Watching Dickwad…” He shook the memory away, and then leaned forward to softly kiss her on the lips. She was still fragile, but he couldn’t hold the kiss inside any longer.

  It didn’t take long for Cream Puffs to start nudging her nose underneath his arm, whining and reminding them that she was there too.

  “Do you love us too?” Cady asked teasingly as she and Gage broke apart and she began scratching the dog behind the ears. Her tail thumped on the bed as her eyes closed in bliss, happy to be loved on. “I think that’s a yes…”

  Just then, her stomach rumbled, and Gage grinned at her. “You don’t eat much, but you sure do eat often,” he told her. “C’mon, let’s go downstairs and I’ll make you some chicken noodle soup. My grandmother’s recipe. Your broken arm will be healed by tomorrow.”

  He scooped her up in his arms as Cream Puffs jumped off the bed and pranced around their feet, happily barking as Cady laughed. “I broke my arm, not my leg,” she protested as he headed for the bedroom door.

  She broke off then, yawning hard, looking exhausted. “I hate those pain pills,” she grumbled. “They keep putting me to sleep. No more of them. Only over-the-counter stuff from now on.”

  As long as she wasn’t in pain, Gage didn’t care what she took. He just wanted her to be okay. Nothing else mattered.

  He settled her down onto the leather couch and turned on a movie, then hurried into the kitchen to make soup. By time he was done, though, she was fast asleep, curled up on the couch with Creamsy tucked in beside her. They were adorable together, even with the thick cast of her arm in the middle of it all.

  At least she’s okay – that’s what matters…

  He went upstairs to grab Capri’s book. It looked like he had another couple of hours of Cady-watching duty, just making sure she was all right. After what she’d been through…

  He eased himself onto the couch, careful not to wake her, and then opened up his book, flipping back to where he’d left off.

  He would make sure that she was never hurt again.

  Chapter 27

  Cady

  “Hello?” Her former roommate sounded distracted, like her mind was somewhere else; the indistinct chattering in the background making it hard to hear Hannah’s naturally quiet voice.

  “Hey, Hannah,” Cady said, stifling the quaver in her voice. She would not cry; she would not cry; she would not cry. “It’s Cady. How are things going for you?”

  “Cady!” Hannah half yelled in her ear over a round of high-pitched squeals of joy and laughter in the background. “Damn, I’m so happy to hear from you.” The quiet voice was gone, replaced by one filled with excitement. “I keep thinking that I need to call you and set up a lunch date or something but this school year has just been nuts and how is it that we can be living in the same tiny town and yet never see each other?! It seems like we should’ve at least run into each other down at the Stop ‘N Go or Mr. Petrol’s or something. Hold on, let me get to a better place to talk.”

  Cady heard a shuffle, a muffled whisper, a thunk, and then quiet. “Ah, that’s better,” Hannah sighed in satisfaction. “Brooklyn has a bunch of friends over today and…well, little girls. Drama, drama, drama. I just put Elijah in charge of making sure no one kills anyone else, or even worse, says something mean to someone else.” She chuckled dryly. “I wished him luck with that one,” she said sarcastically. “If I don’t hear hysterics in the next five minutes, I’ll count myself lucky. Anyway! Enough about me. How are things going for you?”

  As soon as the words were out of Hannah’s mouth, Cady could sense the regret Hannah was feeling for havi
ng said them. Which meant that somehow, Hannah had heard about the attack.

  ‘Somehow’? C’mon, Cady. This is Sawyer. You know how this works.

  But before she could assemble an answer that didn’t include tears, Hannah continued. “Aaron was telling us about the attack and having to pull some strings to get the case moved to the state level. It’s about darn time if you ask me. That piece of crap has been getting away with attacking women for far too long—”

  “Aaron?” Cady interrupted, instinctively trying to rub her forehead with her right hand, biting back the pain that came from trying to move her right arm, and rubbing her forehead awkwardly with her left hand instead. Somehow, it wasn’t nearly as helpful to do this move when forced to do it with the wrong hand. “Who’s Aaron?”

  “Aaron Morland?” Hannah said tentatively, almost as a question, not an answer. “Elijah’s older brother?”

  “Hold on, your fiancé’s brother is Officer Morland?” Cady asked, stunned. This was taking the whole everyone-knows-your-name, small-town-bullshit a little too far.

  “Oh. Yeah. I thought you knew that.”

  “I saw Elijah’s last name on the wedding invitation, but it didn’t occur to me…” Cady broke off with a laugh. “Is there anyone in this town who isn’t related to someone else?”

  “You!” Hannah said with a teasing laugh. “You’re an outsider. I heard that guys have been flipping Gage shit because he snapped up the only single, not-related-to-anyone woman in town, leaving the rest of them with no one to date besides their second cousin, once removed.”

  “The flattery of it all,” Cady grumbled underneath her breath, but she chuckled anyway. It was a small miracle that anyone found someone to marry in Sawyer, honestly. “Hey, speaking of weddings, how much longer until you get married?”