“‘Twould explain why Keven parked so far from everyone else at the airport.”
“Aye. Keven appealed it, though,” Finn added, “on the grounds they’re both students.”
“And he won.” His words came out rough. A man had beaten up the woman Noah cared for, and he’d ghosted her. He was no better than Keven.
“I’m remembering how you used to feel about her,” Finn said.
“Not used to.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” Finn grinned for the first time. “I like Caitlyn, and I would be happy to see the two of you together again, but you have to break it off with Keven.”
“I’ll be breakinghimis what I’ll be doing,” Noah said through clenched teeth.
“Don’t be getting yourself thrown into jail. You must be smart about this.” With a dark chuckle, Finn picked up two of the pitchers and left.
Heaving out a breath, Noah grabbed the last pitcher and tried to calm himself. Keven had lied to Noah and played him for a fool. But ‘twas nothing compared to what sweet Caitie had gone through at the brute’s hands.
Noah had to force his body to relax before going to the dining room.
12
Caitlyn kept checking the door to the kitchen, wondering what was taking Noah and Finn so long. Then, at the sound of footsteps coming from that direction, she couldn’t help glancing at it again. Finn finally came in with two pitchers, but it was another minute before Noah followed.
“Now that everyone’s here...” Sona said, arching a brow at her cousin.
Noah looked at Caitlyn, his expression guilty. Why? Then she remembered how she’d left Finn and Zoe alone in the living room that morning. A chill ran down Caitlyn’s spine. She didn’t want pity from them. She glanced at her friend, but she was chatting with Max. Surely Zoe wouldn’t have told Finn about the cancer.
Letting out a slow breath, Caitlyn dropped her gaze. She shouldn’t be self-focused. That was something she’d hated most about being so sick. It seemed like the world, both hers and her father’s, had revolved around her disease. What she wanted was to lose herself in her love of creating music again, not to wonder how long she would be around to enjoy it.
“You aren’t the only ones who’ve been tasked with coming up with activities for our retreats,” Sona continued, pulling Caitlyn from her dark musings.
“That’s one reason we’ve come along for this retreat,” Kayn added. “Now, you know that each of you was specially nominated by your department heads.”
“You’re just trying to get me to move to headquarters.” Heath grimaced.
“Is it working?” Kayn asked, his expression hopeful.
“You know better, and we’ve already made a compromise.” Heath shook his head. “But I appreciate you value my work enough to want me to move to North Carolina.”
“Please don’t fault me for trying. We knew what your requirements were when we hired you.” Kayn turned his attention to the others. “While we’re sharing this simple meal, we want each of you to think about two things. The first will probably be the hardest. You’ll have to come up with something you like about yourself.”
Zoe groaned at the same time Caitlyn did.
“We women are so hard on ourselves,” Sona said, her expression sympathetic. “The second thing is, you have to share something nice about each person at the table.”
“Except you can skip me and my wife, since that would be considered brown-nosing.” Kayn winked. “For now, everyone enjoy your meal.”
Caitlyn ate better than she expected to because she focused her thoughts on what to say, rather than wondering about those guilty looks. Maybe she was reading more into them than she should. She was glad she’d been taking notes during the retreat, so she could report to Sona.
“Joe, perhaps you’ll bring in the dessert for us,” Sona said when they’d finished the meal.
“Ugh. I don’t think I can eat anymore,” Caitlyn groaned.
“Then it’s good these don’t take up a lot of room.” Sona stood as the bodyguard reentered the dining room carrying a tray of colorful domes, which appeared to have been cut in half. “We thought this would be a fun way to reward responses.”
“What are they?” Finn asked, wary.
“Oh, I’ve heard of these,” Max said. “They’re specialty bonbons.”
