Be Mine in Good Hope (A Good Hope Novel Book 3)

by Cindy Kirk

  “Cade mentioned something about doing an interview for the Gazette.” Marigold slid the razor down the hair. “I don’t know Justin.”

  “He’s five, maybe six years younger than you. Nice baritone but always had difficulty reading music.” Loretta sighed. “The two men were laughing and appeared to be having a good time. Not surprising, as I’ve found the sheriff to be extremely charming. I wish I could vote for both him and Travis.”

  Though Marigold had been counseled to never discuss politics with clients, for now this was her salon. Which meant she could talk about whatever she wanted. “I hope you’ll seriously consider voting for Cade. I realize he’s not from around here, but he wants to make this his home. He’s a good man with strong credentials. I believe he’s the right choice for Good Hope.”

  “I heard he has the Bloom family’s support.” Loretta’s gaze turned assessing. “Is that because of his relationship with you?”

  This wasn’t the first time someone had posed the question. “He has our support because he’s the right man for the job.”

  While she texturized and made some last adjustments, Marigold found herself extolling Cade’s virtues.

  Loretta listened, thankfully remaining still. Only when Marigold picked up the hair dryer did she speak, waving a dismissive hand. “Not necessary, my dear. I’m headed straight over to the Y for my water aerobics class. Besides, you’ll want to speak with your father. He’s been patiently waiting for us to finish gabbing.”

  Marigold whirled. Only then did she notice her father standing just inside the door. “Daddy, I didn’t hear you come in.”

  “I was enjoying watching you work your magic.” Steve’s gaze shifted to his fellow educator. “Hello, Loretta.”

  “Nice to see you, Steve.” Loretta touched her hair and sighed happily. “Your youngest is a genius with hair.”

  “Yes, she is.” Steve smiled at Marigold, held up a sack with the Blooms Bake Shop logo. “I don’t want to interrupt, but I wondered if you had time for a break.”

  “A daughter always has time for her father.” With that pronouncement, Loretta rose from the chair. She made quick work of paying, then disappeared into the bright sunshine with a cheery wave.

  “Do you have time?” Steve asked again.

  Marigold glanced at her phone. She had an hour until her next appointment. She smiled at her father. “I do. And I can’t wait to see what you have for me in that bag.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Once she and her father were seated in the back with freshly poured cups of coffee and two red-velvet cake doughnuts between them, Marigold lifted a brow. “To what do I owe the honor of this visit?”

  Steve took a long sip of coffee. “There’s something I need to tell you before you hear it from someone else.”

  Marigold’s heart froze. She knew her father and Anita had seen each other almost every day since the piranha had promised to turn over a new leaf. It was as if the two were taking a trial run on the marriage train.

  If he’d come here to tell her he’d proposed to the woman, she didn’t know what she’d say. While Marigold wanted to believe a person could change, it seemed to her that Anita’s basic character had been set long ago.

  “Anita and I had a long talk last night.” When Steve reached across the table and took her hand in his, Marigold held her breath. “Although we’ll remain friends, we won’t be dating anymore.”

  The breath she’d been holding came out in a whoosh. Though tempted to jump onto the small table and do a happy dance, Marigold kept her face expressionless and remained seated. “Was she unable to change? Is that why you broke up with her?”

  A shadow passed over Steve’s face. “It wasn’t anything like that. I just realized that there was no real connection between us. Oh, I enjoyed her company, but as a friend, nothing more. I’d eventually like to get married again, share my life with a special someone. I couldn’t see that woman being Anita.”

  There was sorrow in his eyes. “I didn’t like hurting her.”

  Marigold squeezed his hand, kept her gaze focused on him. “This is best for her, too, Dad. This way maybe she can find another person who will be her soul mate.”

  “I hope so.” Steve broke off a piece of doughnut, then stared as if wondering what to do with it. Finally, he popped it into his mouth and chewed. “I heard what you said to Loretta about Cade. You think a lot of that young man.”

  Wrapping her hands around the steaming mug, Marigold inclined her head. “And you seem to think a lot of Lynn Chapin. Are you sure she’s not part of the reason you ended things with Anita?”

  When her dad began to sputter, Marigold only smiled and took a bite of her doughnut.

  “Are those daisies for me?” Marigold beamed when she opened the door and saw what Cade held clutched in one hand.

  He leaned forward and kissed her. “Who else?”

  All the way to her apartment, he’d worried giving her flowers might be too romantic. He hated second-guessing himself, but after last night he didn’t want to spook her.

  Cade watched her bustle to the tiny kitchen and pull a red vase from the cupboard. In seconds the pretty arrangement sat in the center of the dinette table. She’d been in high spirits all week thanks to a busy week at the salon and her father’s breakup with Anita.

  Shrugging out of his coat, he sniffed the air like a retriever. “Something smells good.”

  “Stroganoff.” She pointed to the stovetop, then gestured toward a large bowl. “Accompanied by a mixed green salad with mandarin oranges and almonds.”

  “Where have you been, woman?” He spun her around and gazed down into her smiling eyes. “I’ve been looking for you my entire life.”

  Deliberately, he kept the words light and teasing.

  Marigold flashed a smile and preened. “I am quite the catch.”

  The table was already set with blue-and-white-striped placemats and bright yellow napkins. In the living room area, a fire burned cheerily in the hearth. A warm, welcoming scene. A man would be lucky to end his workday in such a home. And, as his gaze settled on Marigold, casually attired in jeans and a ski sweater, with such a woman.

  An image of the two of them discussing their day over a glass of wine in front of a roaring fire flashed before him. There was a little boy with her flaxen hair playing on the rug while he held a gray-eyed baby girl in his arms.

  “Cade?”

  He jerked his head up and the scene vanished like a puff of smoke.

  “Why don’t you pour us each a glass of wine?” She smiled. “I’ve got a nice merlot breathing on the counter.”

  While he poured, she flipped down the heat on the stovetop and covered the heavenly smelling mixture.

  “Do you have time to sit and relax a minute?” Cade gestured with his head toward the sofa.

  “The stroganoff has to simmer, so I can sit.” She reached out and touched his hair. “You showered.”

  “After I got off duty, I stopped home to clean up and change.”

  “I don’t think I’ve asked how things are going at the boarding house.” Her gaze was curious.

  “It’s a room.” He shrugged. “The worst part is having the shower down the hall. I share it with two other guys on the second floor.”

  Marigold wrinkled her nose and plopped down on the sofa. “I’m not much for sharing.”

  Cade didn’t believe that for a second. Oh, he believed she wouldn’t like sharing a shower with strangers—who in their right mind would?—but from what he’d observed, Marigold Bloom had a generous spirit.

  Dropping down next to her, he took a sip of merlot. He was about to wrap an arm around her when he noticed a set of playing cards on the coffee table. “What are those?”

  Following the direction of his gaze, Marigold chuckled. “Those are ‘relationship’ cards. Max dropped them into my purse this morning.”

  Relationship cards.

  Cade grimaced.

  “Max’s mother gave them to him.” Ma
rigold paused, frowned. “Maybe for his birthday? I’m not sure.”

  “Relationship cards.” His tone said it all. “I’d have burned them.”

  “Instead he gave them to his single sister-in-law.” She lifted the wineglass to her lips, her mouth curving slightly up. “Much less extreme.”

  “Burning would be better. Then they’d be gone forever.”

  “I find it interesting that you don’t even know what questions are on them, yet you’re willing to turn them into a pile of ashes.”

  “I can guess what’s on them.”

  She appeared to be suppressing a smile. “The cards are intended to help people—couples, primarily—get to know each other better and aid in communication. That’s straight off the instruction sheet.”

  Communication.

  According to Alice, Cade sucked at communication. Big-time.

  “Want to play?” Challenge filled her blue eyes.

  No. Cade absolutely did not want to play. He’d never been comfortable delving deep when superficial was perfectly acceptable. But gazing into Marigold’s big blue eyes, something stirred. Though he knew their relationship was temporary, he refused to make the same mistakes with her that he’d made with Alice.

  “I still think Max should have burned ’em.” Heaving a resigned sigh, Cade held out a hand for the cards.

  Marigold inclined her head. “Do you want to pick or should I?”

  She was pleased that Cade was willing . . . albeit reluctantly . . . to give the cards a try. But when the timer on the stove dinged, she decided the game could wait until after they’d eaten.

  Now their bellies were full, the table had been cleared, and the dishwasher sloshed merrily in the background.

  Cade glanced warily at the cards. “How many questions do I have to answer?”

  Marigold would have been content if she got him to agree to one. Since he’d left the door open, she stepped through it. “Three.”

  His gaze sharpened. “Why three?”

  “Kind of like Goldilocks and the bears. Not too few where we don’t get a feel for how they work, not too many where we might get burned out.” Pleased with her quick thinking, Marigold smiled. “Three seems just right.”

  With a resigned sigh, Cade picked up the cards and shuffled. Then he held the deck out to her.

  Slipping one out from the middle, Marigold held it up.

  Cade took a gulp of wine. “Lay it on me.”

  “What comes to mind when you think of your ex?” She looked up, nonplussed. “Doesn’t that seem kind of personal?”

  “Can you imagine Max and his mom having that discussion?” Marigold snorted out a laugh. “She could give him the skinny on his two stepdads and assorted boyfriends.”

  Cade visibly shuddered, reminding Marigold of a dog shaking off water. “A horrific thought.”

  They exchanged smiles.

  Cade lifted the hand still holding the wineglass and gestured to her. “Ladies first.”

  “I read the question.” She smiled sweetly, enjoying his obvious discomfort. “Which means you answer first.”

  He stared into the fire for a long moment, as if thinking back over the time he and Alice had been together. “Regret.”

  Marigold tightened her fingers around the card, the word like a hard punch to the heart.

  “Not regret we’re no longer together,” he hastened to reassure her. “Regret I didn’t care enough at the end to try to work things out.”

  “Do you think it could have?” It was as if she was in a dark room fumbling for a light, not completely certain she wanted to turn it on. “Worked, I mean?”

  “No.” Cade rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Neither of us fought for the relationship, which tells me neither of us loved the other enough. I’d say that’s a sad commentary on a two-year relationship.”

  “Either it’s there or it’s not,” Marigold murmured, thinking of Jason.

  “What about you?” He gestured with a hand. “What’s the word?”

  Marigold took a breath. “Superficial. Everything on the surface. We never dirtied the relationship with feelings. We never fought.”

  He lifted a brow. “Never?”

  “Remember, superficial.” She shrugged. “My fault as much as his.”

  Cade’s eyes dropped to the deck of cards. “Wow. This is fun. I can see why Max tossed them your way.”

  “We said we’d do three,” she reminded him, though without much enthusiasm. Like Cade, she hadn’t expected the questions to probe so deeply.

  “Nothing says we have to stick with that.” His gray eyes went wicked. “We could move into the dessert part of the evening.”

  Marigold was oh so tempted. If she hadn’t just said that bit about Jason and been reminded of their superficial conversations, she would have dumped the cards aside and jumped Cade’s magnificent bod.

  Instead she tamped down desire, grabbed the cards, and held them out to him. “One more, then we’ll quit.”

  “Okay.” Cade flipped over a card near the top of the deck and read, “When you’re ninety years old, what will matter most to you in the world?”

  Marigold didn’t understand the sudden dryness in her throat. Thankfully, a sip of wine eased the gravel but brought her no closer to the answer. “I don’t know what to say.”

  Cade made a rude buzzer sound. “Not gonna fly.”

  Marigold decided she’d been premature in rejecting Cade’s suggestion to burn the darn cards. “I’m going to drop these off at Prim’s house tomorrow. I may even suggest she ask Vanessa over so the three of them can play.”

  “Totally get that and agree.” Cade appeared to be hiding a smile. “Still your turn.”

  “How ’bout you give me a pass on this one?” She fluttered her lashes and shot him what she considered her most beguiling smile.

  “That only works if you’re in a vehicle—naked—hoping for a warning rather than a ticket.”

  Marigold sighed, downed the contents of her wineglass in a single gulp, then blurted out what came to mind first. “When I’m ninety, I’d like to be at peace with the choices I made during my life. I hope I’d have been true to myself.”

  Marigold could see by the look in Cade’s eyes he was trying to decipher that. She’d help him, but she wasn’t certain what she meant, either. “Your turn.”

  Cade’s gaze lingered on her. “When I’m ninety, what will matter most to me will be my family: my wife, kids, and grandkids. Maybe even a few great-grands. I enjoy my career. But at the end of my life, family will matter most.”

  “Your campaign is rockin’ and rollin’, my boy.” Steve rubbed his hands, the look in his eye one of obvious satisfaction.

  Cade met Beck and Steve at Muddy Boots bright and early Saturday morning to discuss election strategy. It had been nearly three weeks since Beck had first approached him about mounting an election campaign. Max, in the middle of tax season, had sent his regrets.

  “You’ve been able to compile quite a list of volunteers willing to go door-to-door.” Cade scrolled through the list of names displayed on Beck’s laptop.

  Steve gestured toward the computer with his coffee cup. “You and Marigold did your part adding to this list of supporters. She’s always talking you up.”

  You and Marigold. Everyone spoke about them as if they were a couple. He supposed they were, for now.

  “Where is Marigold?” Beck glanced around as if expecting his sister-in-law to magically appear. “I thought she might be joining us.”

  “She’s over at the Bayshore,” Cade said absently, his gaze still on the screen. “Something to do with the Hearts and Cherries Fashion Show.”

  Steve rocked back on his heels. “The fashion show isn’t until this evening.”

  Cade lifted his gaze. “She had to start doing the models’ hair this morning. And your daughter is a perfectionist. She wanted to confirm everything she needed was there and ready to go.”

  “Ami left early this morning, too.” Beck took a sip
of coffee. “Prim picked her up at seven.”

  “I like to see my girls getting together, working together.” Steve’s hazel eyes took on a faraway glow. “Sarah would be so proud. If only Fin could be here . . .”

  “Do you hear from her much?” Cade asked.

  “We talk once a week. Her job keeps her pretty busy.” Steve lifted a hand in greeting, and Cade shifted his gaze to see Jeremy strolling down the sidewalk. “When Fin was young, I swore those two would end up together. But Fin, well, my Delphinium has dreams that can’t be realized here.”

  “Perhaps she’ll change her mind, see all that Good Hope has to offer,” Cade heard himself say.

  “Perhaps.” Steve’s hazel eyes were now firmly fixed on Cade.

  The look in them reminded Cade of his own father when he saw too much.

  “When you love someone, you have to let them know how you feel.” Steve picked up his coffee cup and peered at Cade over the rim. “That way, if there’s a choice to be made, they have all the information.”

  Though Beck remained at the table, Cade’s world seemed to shrink in around him. The noises of the café, the clatter of dishes, the clink of silverware, and the chatter faded.

  “Are you saying Fin didn’t know Jeremy loved her?”

  “I’m not speaking about Jeremy.”

  No, Cade thought, this wasn’t about Jeremy. Or Fin.

  “Saying those words too soon can lead to problems.”

  “Saying them too late can, as well.” Steve’s eyes once again grew distant with memories. “A true connection between a man and a woman doesn’t come along very often. When it does, you have to give it your best shot.”

  Cade lifted his cup of now lukewarm coffee and took a drink. He lifted a brow. “Meaning?”

  “Don’t waste an opportunity to let the one you love know how you feel.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Cade waited until shortly before the fashion show was set to begin to make the trek to the Bayshore. He found Marigold standing with Vanessa Eden at the entrance to Ballroom 1 next to an elaborate red-and-pink balloon arch.