Cade drove for two hours before his hands relaxed on the steering wheel. Jacqui had her phone on, reading a book, when she heard him sigh and looked over at him.
“Better?” She didn’t sound accusatory, just concerned.
“A little bit, yes. I’m sorry, princess.” He shot her a look that said he really was.
“Where are we going?”
“I think to Arkansas. At least for tonight. We’ll see how it goes.”
“Do you think we could stop soon? My bladder might explode if we don’t and we need to eat.”
“Yeah, babe, if you’d said earlier I’d have stopped.” He looked at her apologetically.
“I think you needed to drive for a while first. That looks fine, we can get some gas, some food, and get back on the road.”
She was pointing at a sign advertising one of those all-in-one places. It had a burger joint, which was fine with both but neither had been to one in years. She hadn’t eaten at one since Evelyn found her. She wasn’t above eating at one but she’d just never missed that kind of food. Now, though, the thought of salty fries was a temptation that grew in her mind the closer they got. She told Cade what she wanted as she headed for a restroom and he filled up the tank.
She found him in the restaurant, sitting at a table with their food.
“That was fast!” She slid across from him and sipped at the clear soda he’d got for her.
“Yeah, most of it was already cooked so don’t expect much. It’s probably been sitting under lights for an hour.” He gave her an amused look as she bit into her hamburger.
“No! Oh my god, that is so good!” Her face was a picture he’d only ever seen in their private moments. He couldn’t believe it but it was true.
“This is probably the best burger of my life! And oh, I’m going to need more fries. Please, Cade, get me some more?” She didn’t even look shocked at her own behavior, she just looked at him with a pleading look.
“It must be the baby or you got a fresher burger than I did. Mine tastes like cardboard.”
She looked at him confused for a moment then realization, and blushing, dawned. “I’m sorry, honey. Yeah, it must be the baby. I don’t each much meat anymore and I guess maybe it likes having some protein other than beans and tofu?”
She wasn’t strictly vegetarian but meat was something she’d moved away from long ago. She still ate it sometimes but it wasn’t necessary for her to keep breathing. Maybe the baby had needed it?
They laughed as she wolfed down another burger, two more orders of fries and a milkshake before they left. She could barely move but she finally felt satisfied as they walked out to the Hummer, hand in hand. She was smiling, telling him she thought she might be able to cram in a hot fudge sundae when he took out a phone. It was an old cheap cell phone. He pressed some buttons, held it to his ear, then took out the battery and threw it in the trash. That sobered her up.
This wasn’t just a holiday drive to a park, this was serious and she still didn’t know what was happening.
“I’m going to keep quiet for now, let you drive, but when we get wherever it is we’re going you’re going to talk to me, Cade, and you’re going to tell me exactly what is going on and what that phone business, what this running away business is about.” She crossed her arms and stared out of the window. She knew she looked petulant but didn’t care.
She’d known from the beginning that this wasn’t a normal marriage but they were running away. It didn’t make sense that a simple farmer, well a super-rich farmer, and head of a large family should be running away unless they were running from something bad. The law? Some kind of organized crime farm mafia? She had no idea but she did know that this wasn’t going to cut it.
“Babe?” Cade looked over at her with a guilty look.
“Yes?” She’d glanced at him then turned her face away.
“I need you to toss your phone. It can be tracked.”
“You need me to what? I know you have a lot of money Cade but there’s, this phone was, oh you can’t be serious? My life is on this phone!” She clutched it to her chest, cradling it.
“I’m afraid I am. We can find a post office and you can mail it back to the house if you want but we can’t keep it on us. We need to ditch it before we get to Arkansas.”
For a moment she thought her head would explode, but she brought down a wall. “Find a post office, I simply can’t throw it away. It has too much on it to just throw away.”
She sounded like the old Jacqui and for a moment she felt a sting in her heart. Then she pulled up another wall and pushed the stinging sensation down. He’d better have a very good explanation for all of this. A very damned good one.
They found a small post office off the highway and soon had her phone going back to their house. She wanted to cry as she left the post office but wouldn’t let herself. She didn’t cry. Period. Not when she was awake anyway.
They drove for two more hours and Cade pulled up to a mall with a department store inside. He left her with a stack of money and told her he’d be back in a few, that she needed to find enough clothes and toiletries for a week, and to meet him at the water fountain in twenty minutes. She was so upset she didn’t ask where he was going but she did wonder why he’d leave her if it was such a dangerous time for them. She knew he must feel they were safe now and went into the nearest clothing store.
She came out with several bags and found him at the fountain, a few bags of his own in his hand. She saw he had a bag with a few boxes of shoes in it and wished she’d remembered to buy some of her own. All she had were the trainers she had on. She sighed and thought it was a problem for another day and went with him into another department store, looking for food.
They needed two buggies by the time they were done, one for the clothes and one for the household items and food they bought. She’d never purchased so much stuff at one time. She hadn’t been poor over the last few years but this was something she’d never done before. She almost felt embarrassed.
Jacqui pushed the cart with the clothes while Cade pushed the heavier one. It was going to be a long night of unpacking, putting stuff away, and organizing. Cade stopped at another place before they got to the car, bringing four large pizzas with him.
“I got the meat specials since you seem to be on a meat kick for the moment.” He gave her a grin but she just glared at him, still upset with him despite the joy the smell of the pizzas brought her. It was hard to stay mad at a man that tried to fulfill your every desire. Even ones you didn’t realize you had.
They pulled onto a secluded dirt road, heading deep into the woods. Jacqui thought it must have been miles before they reached a small cabin with a lake glittering behind it in the moonlight.
“Wow.” She breathed as she saw the place. A real life cabin in the woods. But then she remembered she was mad at him and clammed up.
Cade didn’t say anything other than to guide her into the house with a flashlight and the keys. She turned on the light, slid the key into the lock, and opened the door. It was done up in a country style, rather than a hunting style, and she felt some relief over that. It had obviously seen a woman’s touch and there wasn’t much that would consume electricity other than a television, the fridge in the kitchen, and the lights. Even the cooking range was wood and wouldn’t use a bit of electricity.
“Oh my, I’ve never cooked on one of those before.” She bit her lip with worry as she saw Cade come in behind her.
“You sit down and eat, I’m going to start bringing this stuff in and putting it away.” He gave her a hopeful smile but she just raised her left eyebrow and turned away, opening a pizza box.
She wasn’t sure how it was possible, but by the time Cade sat down and opened his own box, Jacqui had eaten two entire large pizzas stacked with meat and cheese. She looked at him guiltily but then turned her head. Nope, still mad at him.
She wished Annie were there to pet while she curled up in bed. The dog had become a companion as time had go
ne on. Jacqui knew Annie was devoted to Damesha, but she wanted to stroke the dog’s long red ears until she was calm again. Annie always knew when something was wrong and it didn’t matter who they were, if they’d pet her she’d love on them. She wanted a dog like Annie.
“Um, Jacqui, what did you do?” Cade’s voice broke into her reverie and she saw that he was looking at the floor beneath the small table they were sat at. An old table made from rough-hewn pine the table fit in with the rest of the rustic décor.
She didn’t see anything. Not until a little red tail came wagging from under Cade’s chair. A little red tail attached to a fat wiggling bottom. Oh dear.
“I was thinking about Annie. You don’t think?” She paused standing to look under the chair. Sure enough, a small puppy almost identical to Annie was under the table. Instead of the white heart shaped line between Annie’s eyes, however, there was a black line.
“Oh my. How are we going to explain this? What are we going to feed her?” Jacqui did a quick check. “Yep, she’s a her.”
“Leftover pizza?” Cade looked heartbroken for a moment and Jacqui wasn’t sure why.
“I’m sorry, Cade. But I have her now…”
“It’s not that, princess. It’s just, well, here.” He handed her a bag he hadn’t touched since bringing it in and looked crestfallen. “It’s not going to compare to you blinking yourself up a puppy though, is it? You’re going to be mad at me forever now!”
Well, he’d noted her anger then. That was a good thing. And he’d bought her a present! She sat with the puppy in her lap, the little almost copy-cat dog wiggling around, wanting to love on Jacqui as she opened the bag. She saw the logo for the phone she’d just shipped back to the house and her eyes flew to Cade’s.
“You got me the new one? But it’s a fortune!” She pulled the box out and between trying to hold onto the puppy now licking her face and opening the box she somehow managed to knock one of the pizzas off of the table. The puppy jumped down and started chowing down on the pizza so Jacqui let her.
“I know you need your phone. This one’s not registered to a name so it’ll be fine. I had the salesperson set it up for you. You can’t use any of your accounts yet but you can at least find some books to read and play movies and stuff.” Cade looked down at his hands and waited for her to respond.
Jacqui couldn’t decide which was more exciting, the puppy or the phone and wanted to reach for the puppy but she saw Cade’s eyes and knew she needed to make an effort for him. She was still upset, but he’d tried and that mattered. She went to him, sitting in his lap as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
“You didn’t have to do that, honey. I appreciate it, I really do. And when we get home I can migrate all my stuff to this one. But first, we have some talking to do. Grab one of those beers for yourself, a pair of pajamas, and let’s go check out that bathroom. I’ll figure out somewhere for the puppy to sleep tonight.” They kissed and Jacqui knew her life was about to change again but didn’t mind this time. Now she’d have some answers.
She went into the bathroom to find a bathtub, almost the exact same tub as the one in her room. That figures, she thought, as she started to fill the tub with hot water. It was an awesome tub, after all.
They both got in once it was full and relaxed for the first time in hours, the puppy asleep on a towel in the corner.
“Cade, it’s time. You have to tell me what’s going on. I can’t live like this, with not knowing.” He’d begun to wash her hair and she wanted to let him go on but couldn’t stand it anymore.
“Let me rinse your hair.” He used a plastic cup to rinse her hair, taking far longer than he needed to.
“Stop stalling, buddy!” she said, moving to the other end of the tub to face him.
He sighed and looked away, his mouth crooking to one side as he thought. He finally came to a decision and started to speak.
“I guess blunt and to the point is always the best way, isn’t it? My family and I, my brothers, the people in town, my clan, all of us except a few, are shifters.”
She looked at him with her brows knitted together. She knew that word but she’d forgotten about it.
“What does that mean?” Her voice was snappy but she didn’t mean it to be.
“Well, we can shapeshift into any animal we want to.” He watched her closely, waiting for her to bolt or scream that he was insane.
“Pull the other one while you’re at it.” She held her right leg out to him.
“I’m not joking. Even Elspeth is.”
She wasn’t buying it. “Right…” She waved her hand in a ‘carry on’ fashion.
“Jacqui, you’re a witch and you still don’t believe me?” He sounded astonished and moved away from her.
“You can’t really expect me to! I mean, a shifter? Okay, a little twitchy magic is one thing but shifters? That’s just, well, unbelievable…” Before she could finish Cade disappeared and a black crow stood on the end of the tub where he’d been.
Jacqui stared at the silky black bird as it squawked at her and ruffled his feathers before hopping along the edge to come and stare into her eyes. Those were Cade’s eyes. Smaller and rounder but definitely Cade’s. Her left eyebrow rose as the bird hopped onto her hand and bowed down.
“Shit! You can turn into a crow?” Jacqui knew it was a silly response but it’s what came out, she couldn’t stop it.
Before she could blink Cade was back in the tub, only sitting on the edge this time.
“Okay, that’s a huge secret. Huge. But what do you do?” She looked at him and she could see he was relieved that she was still sitting there and not screaming. She felt a small sense of pride that she wasn’t but she’d seen it herself. There was no denying it.
“What do you mean, what do we do?” Cade looked confused as he sat back in the hot water now speckled with bubbles from her shampoo.
“Well, vampires suck blood, werewolves eat people or something, there’s never one “reason” for werewolves is there, or explanation of exactly what they are, mummies kill people seeking revenge. What do shifters do?” She watched him as she spoke, waiting to see his reaction. She hadn’t meant it to sound insulting but he might have taken it that way.
“Well, we protect more than anything. A long time ago we protected the tribes, we kept them safe from other tribes, from wild animals, things like that. Now, well, we do the same thing but now most of us that remain are shifters.” He took her in his arms as she moved back towards him.
“Alright. So you’re part of the Native American culture?” She settled into his chest, needing his touch to reassure her.
“Yes, we’re part of that. We’ve taken on a lot of other cultures over the years, now we’re a mix of many races and cultures. But we still hold onto our beginnings in many ways. Oh, I was a raven by the way, not a crow.” He chuckled at the end, hugging her tightly. It was going to be alright, between them at least. Until she realized their kid might be a shifter. That might change her mind.
“I’m not an ornithologist. So why are we running, Cade? I might not feel so helpless if I know what I’m running from.” She realized then her walls had fallen again, she had admitted how helpless she’d felt all day.
Cade pulled her close once more, toe on the taps to reheat the water, and started to explain his life to her. His entire life.
Chapter Eleven
Cade
Cade watched as Jacqui prepared a dinner of roasted chicken and vegetables on the old wood cook stove as though she’d always used one. He’d learned she was highly adaptable over the last eight days and that there was little that daunted her. She potty-trained her new puppy and had already taught her to sit and was making headway with getting her to sleep in her own bed, not theirs. Cade didn’t think that was going to take but he was fine with having the puppy at their feet.
Jacqui was even chopping the stacked wood outside into smaller pieces to fit into the stove’s firebox all on her own now. He was glad to see the delicat
e ice queen had turned into a fiery provider, he knew she was strong enough to deal with what was coming.
Not necessarily a domestic goddess, he knew she’d emasculate him for that, she’d grown into a woman that loved to cook and clean, but also loved being pampered. That wasn’t to say he sat around doing nothing all day, he did his fair share of cutting wood, cleaning and cooking as well. It was just nice to see that she was, well, human. And the way she smiled now, Cade closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.
It was probably a matter of how they both smiled now. He’d never been so far away from his clan for so long but he enjoyed the peace, the tranquility of not always being “on”. He’d started to feel like a machine, a tool to be used and being in the cabin with Jacqui had changed that. He was happy, he realized, something he’d never really thought about before. He’d not felt that way since the death of his parents and Jacqui had brought it back to his life.
“You’re beautiful, you know that?” Cade watched as she pulled the chicken out of the oven and set it on the top of the stove to rest. Her puppy, newly named Mary, followed her in the hopes of a dropped morsel.
“It’s your fault. Pregnancy glows and all that stuff. I had no idea I’d sweat so much!” She wiped her forehead with a towel and turned to him, a handkerchief tied around her hair to keep it out of her face. Her eyes were clear, bright, and smiling.
“God, how I love you!” She melted into his lap and kissed him as he growled out his pleasure at having her in his arms. “Can’t we skip dinner? I bet this table is sturdy enough to take what I have in mind.”
“No! Your daughter wants feeding and so do I. Let me up!” She giggled as his tongue began a long stroke up her neck and melted deeper into his arms. “Oh don’t stop.”
“I thought you wanted feeding?” He murmured against her neck, his lips teasing her sensitive skin.
Cade (Alexander Shifter Brothers Book 2) Page 11
