The reminder that he’d pulled a bender before was embarrassing.“No.It wasn’t.”
“There’s usually a reason.”Nathan piled an entire pan of scrambled eggs onto a plate.
“Whose henhouse did you raid?I didn’t know there were enough chickens in the county to lay this many eggs.”
“You need the protein.”
He squeezed his eyes shut.
Nathan had already put a platter of bacon on the kitchen island.And, thoughtfully, a couple of aspirin and a glass of orange juice.
Cade hauled his ass up onto one of the bar stools and reluctantly accepted some food.When the first bite stayed down, he tried another.
Nathan refilled both their mugs before joining him.
“So you can answer the question without me repeating it, or I can ask it incessantly.Your choice.”
“Too much to hope you’ll go away?”
“Five hour drive before dawn on a Saturday morning after an eventful Friday night?Yeah.It’s too much to ask.”
They ate in silence.
After his second cup of coffee, Cade cracked.“Sofia McBride.”
Nathan put down his fork.“A woman?Wait, our caterer?”
“Event planner, but yeah.”
“The woman from Connor’s reception?You’ve been seeing her?How?When?Start at the beginning.”
He left out selected pieces, probably, in reality, the pieces that mattered the most.Her responsiveness, the way she gave him more than he’d ever expected or deserved.
Cade ended the story with his ending harsh words and the way he’d let her go.
“That’s a bitch,” Nathan said.
To his credit, he offered no advice, and Cade guessed that none was forthcoming.
“What do you want to do?”
“Turn back the clock.”
“We all do.”
Nathan made Cade clean the kitchen while he sat out back with the dog and more coffee.
Cade figured that was fair.
Twenty minutes later, the aspirin had started to kick in and he went outside.The sun was still a bit much, and he was grateful for the hat that allowed him to block its rays.
“Your phone, I believe,” Nathan said, pointing to bits of metal and glass that were on top of the table.“I’m still finding pieces.”
He winced.Mostly because he’d lost the pictures of sweet Sofia in her glorious bondage.And he was probably enough of an ass that he’d never get to see her arched for him again.
“Talk to me about the expansion ideas,” Nathan said, cutting into his glum thoughts.
For the next hour he discussed ideas, including some of Sofia’s, such as the one for the gazebo by the river.
