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“Really? I couldn’t tell.” My voice was all tease.
We spent the next thirty minutes watching the kids sing songs while we ate more treats. It was the most entertained I’d been in a long time. Just watching all the students clapping completely offbeat, Preston glaring at Cage as he stood in the front row, Gracie doing all the dance moves she’d been taught, even if no one else was doing them with her.
It was… refreshing.
I realized in that moment that I never just sat and enjoyedanything. I was always in a hurry. Researching, reading, presenting, attending events, shopping, traveling—my life was a rat race, and I couldn’t remember the last time I laughed this much or smiled or just felt this at peace.
After the classroom started to empty out, Cage looked at his watch and startled. “We’ve got to get on the road.”
I nodded, and we said our goodbyes. Cage told me to follow him over to his parents’ house, where he would drop off Gracie, and then he’d leave his truck there. It brought back a lot of memories when we pulled in front of the Reynolds’ home. Of the hundreds of times I’d been here. The love I’d experienced in this home.
They were everything I’d ever wished for in a family. I jumped out of the truck, and Cage turned around to look at me.
“We need to be quick. The clouds are coming in,” he said, carrying Gracie up the walkway.
“I just want to say hello, and then we can go.”
He pushed inside, and the next thirty minutes were spent hugging and chatting with Alana and Bradford. Gracie was telling them all about the party, and Cage kept glancing at his watch.
“All right. We need to get on the road. I’ll call you when we’re on our way back.”
“Okay, be safe.” Alana wrapped her arms around me, and I wished we weren’t in such a hurry. “How long are you home for?”
“A couple of weeks,” I said.
“How about you come to Sunday dinner this weekend? Everyone would love to see you.”
I glanced over at the brooding giant beside me, and he scrubbed a hand down the back of his neck.
“Is that going to be a problem for you?” My gaze locked with his.
“My problem is that if we don’t get on the road soon, we won’t be back for Sunday dinner at this rate.”
Alana rolled her eyes, Bradford barked out a laugh, and Gracie clapped her hands. “Presley’s coming to dinner.”
Cage kissed his daughter goodbye and thanked his parents. I hugged them both before bending down to give Gracie an extra-long hug.
And then I ran after the man who was already on his way to the truck.
ten
Cage
Good Christ.These people were going to be the death of me. The clouds were getting darker, and we should have been on our way an hour ago. At this rate, we weren’t going to get back until well after eight p.m.
“Keys,” I grunted, holding out my hand.
“Why do you think you’re driving?”
I just stared at her and held my hand still until she relented and handed me the keys. I was about to be stuck in the car with her for several hours, and now she was coming to Sunday dinner.
I was doing all I could to have some clear boundaries, but it was becoming more challenging with every family member fawning all over her. And I was in a bad mood after my run-in with that little fucker, Preston.
After we’d gotten home from the barn the other night, Gracie showed me a chunk of her hair that was missing. I’d seen red. What if he’d slipped and stabbed her in the neck or the eye? And his mother didn’t seem to give two shits about how out of control her kid was. The woman hit on me every time I saw her, and I’d shut her down every damn time.
Why would I be interested in a woman who didn’t give a fuck about her child hurting other kids?
My hands gripped the steering wheel as I made my way around the curve, and we climbed the mountain. We were going slower than I’d like because we were hauling this trailer behind us.
