Page 26 of Blindsided By the Enforcer

“She looks perfect,” Cade responds. He reaches across the table and takes my hand in his. The amber in his green eyes feels like warm liquid. I find myself mesmerized. When Mom used to put me down, Ford would agree. They both wanted me to be this perfectly manicured woman who has every hair in place and her nails done all the time, and that wasn’t me.

“Thank you,” I say to Cade.

We finish eating and he stands and takes my plate. “Uh, where should I put these?”

I stand and take them from him. “It’s okay, I got it.”

I rinse the plates and place them in the dishwasher.

Cade and I head to the front door.

“Don’t forget it’s Christmas Eve. I bought you a nice dress I expect you to wear,” Mom calls out.

I roll my eyes, not bothering to answer her.

I grab my coat and Cade grabs his. “That looks really warm,” I say to him.

“It is. It’s Canada Goose, have you heard of it? It’s warm enough for the coldest Canadian winters,” he says. He then puts on a pair of men’s waterproof UGG boots in black.

“I have heard of them, but they cost a fortune,” I say. “Are you sure you want to wear Ugg boots out there? Sometimes the snow mixes with mud.”

“It’ll be fine,” he says.

I slip on my Bogs.

We head out into the fresh cool air. I suck in a deep refreshing breath.

“Wow, it’s really beautiful out here,” Cade says. I see his breath as he speaks.

“I always love coming home to the animals and the farm,” I state.

“I can see the appeal. Although, your mom seems to be picking on you a lot.” You’d have to be in outer space not to notice.

“She’s pissy I brought you home. It interferes with her plan to get Ford and me back together. It’s just her personality. Daddy is like a warm teddy bear and Mom is cold.” I shrug. “Come on, follow me.” I wave and head toward the barns. Cade follows from behind.

“There’s a lot of snow here,” he mutters.

“It’s all part of the beauty of the place,” I say loud enough for him to hear.

“That’s the pond right there. It should be frozen over. Daddy checks it to make sure before we have our skate tomorrow. Feel free to join us,” I say to him.

“I feel like I’m in a Christmas movie.” Cade laughs.

“Although there is no real romance here,” I add.

He catches up to me just as we approach the barns. The barns are open to large fenced-in fields at the back so the cows can graze even though on cold winter days, like today, the workers bring the feed indoors and the cows lounge around.

“I’m about to meet Sally, aren’t I?” Cade says.

I laugh. “You sure are. Sally meets all my friends,” I explain.

“Why?” Cade asks.

“Because she has good senses. She can tell if a person is a good person,” I explain.

Cade looks at me like I may be short a marble or two.

“There are a lot of cows in here,” he notes.

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