“I don’t want to keep you from anything. If you need to work or whatever, that’s fine.”
“Hush, woman,” he said, clicking on the television and pulling me close. “What do you like to watch?”
“Whatever you want,” I said, snuggling into his chest, thinking that it didn’t matter as long as I was next to him. “I don’t watch a lot of TV.”
“Yeah, I don’t either,” he said, shutting it off. “I think it’s a waste of time usually.”
“Time is a precious thing.”
“That it is.” He pulled me closer to him, and I breathed in the scent of Cane, a smell quickly making me feel at home. “Life really does just fly by. You have to reach out and take what you want, or else it will be over before you know it.”
“What do you want out of life, Cane?” I felt him still, so I scrambled for a better way to put it. “Where do you want to be in five years?”
“I’m not sure,” he said, clearly mystified by my question. “Is it bad that I don’t think I’ve ever really looked that far into the future?”
“No, I guess not.”
“I’ve never thought about it before, but I didn’t care. Each day was a day to get through. There was really no point in looking any further unless it was something for work. But now that I think of it, I have been thinking ahead more lately, wondering whatwewill do a few days from now, whatwewill do next weekend. But five years is a lot different than a few days.”
He sat quietly, pondering my question. “Where do you see yourself in five years, Jada?”
“I’m not sure. I had thought I’d have a home of my own, complete with the white picket fence. I figured I’d be sharing my life with someone, starting a family maybe. But obviously, that got blown out of the water.”
A hint of sadness wiggled its way inside my chest. The dreams I had for my life since I was a little girl seemed so far out of reach. I was afraid I’d never be able to grasp what I wanted out of life.
“You can still have that.”
“Yeah, I guess. I don’t really even know. My life has changed so much.”
“Life gets better with change.”
“Sometimes,” I said, considering his words. “But sometimes it doesn’t.”
“Look at me,” he said, smiling nervously. “I changed the way I live. And if I hadn’t, you never would have had me. Change is good.” He ran his fingers up my arm. “I didn’t plan it, but you’re the best thing that has ever happened to me. Do you know that?”
“Oh, Cane,” I said, his words causing me to choke up. “I don’t even know what to say to that.”
“You could say you feel the same way,” he said, shrugging casually, making me grin.
“I do feel that way.”
Cane wrapped one arm around my waist. “I haven’t felt this content in a long time. Probably since my dad died.”
“What was he like?”
His chest fell quickly as he blew out a breath.
“I’m sorry. You don’t have to answer that.”
“No. I want you to know me.” His hand paused and he cupped my waist, pressing my body against his, like he was afraid I was going to pull away. “My dad was a great dad. He was reliable and even-keeled. And he was the hardest worker I’ve ever known. He wanted me to step up at Alexander Industries—to completely throw myself into it.”
“You seemed to have done that.”
Cane stilled. “I was dating a girl after college named Ashley. She moved back to Providence. I thought I loved her.” I could feel him shake his head. “Anyway, Dad wanted me to stay here, and I didn’t. I just followed her across the country.”
“That’s kind of romantic.”
He snorted. “That’s all kinds of fucking stupid, that’s what it is. So I get there, and that’s when I see the real her. She was around her family, her friends, and she wasn’t the girl I thought I knew. When I complained to Dad about it, he suggested I come home. He waslooking at this property in Queen Creek to buy and build a subdivision on, and he said he needed my help. Soon after, Ashley and I were at a bar one Saturday night, and some things happened that made me realize I had made the wrong choice. So I called him up that night and told him I was coming home.”
