Sophie tucked her hands into her lap. “But a cash offer?”
Cadence felt her hopes plummet to her toes, then sink into the floorboards. It was asking a lot of Sophie when her entire world had been thrown upside. All she sought was financial security and stability for her and her daughter to start over. Maxwell’s offer fulfilled that exact need, and sooner than any of them could’ve hoped.
“Can I sleep on it?”
“Of course.” Cadenced wrapped Sophie in another hug, wishing any other circumstances had brought them together.
Chapter Sixteen
Ford
“You nervous about something?” Rilee eyed Ford from their cramped kitchen table, sipping from a cup that looked more like melted caramel than actual coffee. A book lay open in front of her, but she hadn’t turned the page in ten minutes or more. Not since he started pacing, anyway.
“How much creamer you put in that thing?”
Rilee let out a long yawn and muttered, “I only drink coffee if it doesn’t taste anything like coffee.” As she wiped sleep from her eyes, Riggs yawn-growled from beneath the table. Ford wondered whether the two of them had really gone straight home last night or if they’d taken a detour. Maybe it was better not to know.
“You want to come to breakfast? I’m taking Cadence to Moosecakes. Her sister and niece got in last night. They’re coming, too.”
Though she fought another yawn, Rilee’s raised eyebrows spoke to curiosity. “You buying?”
Ford rolled his eyes at her. “Ialwaysbuy.”
“I’ll be buying all my own meals soon enough.” The lightness of their banter fizzled into a grim reality he didn’t want to face. Summer was already half over. In less than six weeks, he’d be saying good-bye to Rilee until Christmas. Ford wasn’t ready.
He wasn’t ready to lose either of the two most important women in his life.
All night he’d tossed and turned, fighting the urge to drive back to the lodge and talk to Cadence. He hated that there was a secret between them at all. The longer he clung to it, the worse it would be when it came out in the open. But he had to let her take care of her sister and niece who’d shown up unexpectedly. Ford was no expert when it came to reading people, but he could tell in the way she clung to her daughter that something had deeply upset Sophie.
“You didn’t answer my question,” said Rilee.
It was too early in the morning for Special Investigator Rilee Harris to be prowling around in his kitchen. He poured a fresh cup of black coffee, hoping to dodge her interrogation. But he felt her eyes burning into the back of his head, and knew it was no use. “Cadence is supposed to leave today.”
“So? Ask her to stay.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Sure it is.”
He couldn’t tell Rilee about the college money. It wasn’t right to burden her with that kind of knowledge. And without that detail, she could never truly understand why this was so complicated. Ford hoped she never had to face a dilemma like this herself, and if she did, she would come to him for help.
“Did you tell her you love her yet?”
Ford busied himself with rearranging chip bags on the counter, drawing Riggs from his slumber. The dog was up on all fours and standing at his feet with wide, expectant eyes. “Not yet.” He relented and dug a potato chip out of a bag, tossing it for Riggs. The dog swiped it out of the air. “Not for lack of trying,” he added to Rilee.
“Because her sister showed up?”
“Yeah.”
“You have to tell her today.”
He glanced at the clock, both wanting it to speed up so they could have breakfast, and also wishing it would slow down to keep that plane from coming. “I know.” Again, he wondered what Mr. Jenkins wasn’t able to tell him yesterday.
“I know what you did, Ford.”
His shoulders tensed. How could Rilee possibly know about the money? He stalled, “What do you mean?”
“I ran into Jordan last night. Thanked him for fixing our well.”
