Page 21 of Christmas In Love

Cade released a breath. She hadn’t changed the subject. He shrugged, laughing a little. “Running is good for your heart, and I wanted you around for a long time.”

As if someone turned off the power to the room, Nat froze. Cade almost swore as he saw her physically shut him out. Her eyes averted again, she took a half step back, and when she finally met his gaze, there was a guarded look there.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have—”

“Don’t worry about it. I need to get back to the bed and breakfast soon, so do you mind if I show you a couple of things you could work on? Where did… where did April go?” She looked around, spotted her friend, and started toward her.

Cade followed slowly behind, trying to pull his foot out of his mouth. He was an idiot for bringing up the past that way. But, while he berated himself, he couldn’t help wondering about her reaction and pairing it with the day before’s. If she reacted this way to him mentioning their past after four years, she couldn’t be totally emotionless where he was concerned.

The familiar desire to solve a puzzle flared, but so did something else. He frowned as he tried to decipher the emotion swirling slowly within him.

Interest.

He was interested in Natalie Taylor. Now he considered it, he didn’t think he’d ever beenuninterested. And that was probably the understatement of the century. Sure, he’d been angry and hurt, but if the string of pointless dates—or no dates at all—over the last four years were any indication, he’d never gotten over the beautiful, vivacious woman in front of him, who was now explaining something to April. Complete with hand gestures.

He swallowed. So, he was interested, and he knew at least a part of Nat was interested in him too. Forget just getting answers about the past… Could he convince her to give them another shot? The idea sent heat shooting through his chest cavity. But he was only here for a couple more weeks and Nat was still so guarded. Was it really smart of him to try and start something now?

No.

But he was going to do it anyway.

Cade spent the next couple of hours helping April finalize the booths, carrying in supplies and building the first part of the North Pole scene where Santa would give out candy canes to the kids. He also attempted to pry information about her best friend from the impressively tight-lipped woman. It hadn’t been exactly pointless, but Cade didn’t feel like he’d made much progress where things really mattered.

He pulled up to his parents’ house just before six, knowing he was returning to a hornet’s nest of questions. He’d happened to mention he was leaving to help the bed and breakfast’s owner with a project, and he might have mentioned the owner was ashe.

Brooke opened the door before he even reached the front step. “Warning; you are about to enter an interrogation room, and there will be no stopping the torture until you reveal information you’d probably prefer to keep hidden.”

Cade stopped and peered over his younger sister’s shoulder. She was holding her baby boy. “Can I hold James?”

She started to shift the sleeping infant, but then stopped and eyed him. “Depends. Are you only using him as a buffer against the interrogators?”

“Maybe. But also because he’s cute.”

Brooke raised an eyebrow and speared him with a look. “He is. But he’s not a shield. You’re on your own.” With a sneaky smile, she turned around and walked back into the house.

Cade hesitated. He’d known they would have questions, but he’d hoped to deflect them. Was it too late to just go back to the Bed and Breakfast? He took a step back.

“Oh, Cade! There you are. Stop letting the snow in and come sit down. Dinner is ready.”

Mothers were the worst.

Reluctantly, he stepped into the house and shook off some of the snow that had accumulated in his hair and on his shoulders. Then he closed the door and slipped off his shoes.

His whole family was already sitting around the table, with nearly all his nieces and nephews at a pop-up plastic table just behind the ‘grown-up’ table. Even seated, they displayed a high level of disorder. Brooke had a sleeping James in her arms and was lowering herself into her chair, and two seats down from her sat Abby, who was wrangling two-year-old Claire. Her husband, Jake, appeared to be undergoing hostage negotiations with their twin boys, and nine-year-old Gregory was playing a video game underneath the table. Plus, there were various people who kept standing to reach a drink and kids trying to make a break for it.

He slid into a chair near his parents. His mom absently patted his hand and poured him a glass of water. His dad scooped some mashed potatoes onto his plate, before his loud voice—which matched his outgoing personality and large appearance—aimed a question at Cade.

“Who’s the pretty girl you’ve been helping this afternoon? All sorts of bets have been made and I, for one, would like to know which is going to win. So, are you secretly engaged, trying to pay for your room and board through less-than-savory avenues, or just lonely?”

The words were said in jest, with his father’s signature grin, but that last one cut a little too deep. Hewaslonely. Especially over the holidays when everyone else had another half. He liked being Uncle Cade, but he would like to be a husband and dad himself.

Wow. There was a lot of emotion attached to those thoughts. And he wasn’t willing to dissect it all just now.

“Sorry to disappoint, but I’m just helping a friend.”

Immediately, his sisters started talking over each other, asking him questions. Even their husbands and a couple of his nieces joined in. It was easy to ignore the questions he could decipher in the cacophony, so he simply cut himself some ham and started eating.

“Hey, wait,” Brooke’s voice sounded over everyone, stopping all but the most enthusiastic of interrogators. “Since when do you have a friend in this town you’ve hardly been to?”

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