Page 62 of Echoes of You

The same flowers Adam gave me after every slap and punch. The apology that meant nothing but a brief reprieve before the next brutal blow. And the flower was here. On my car. In Cedar Ridge.

20

NASH

As I pulledinto the parking lot at the state park, I caught sight of a familiar G-Wagon and grinned. I parked and climbed out of my SUV. “Who let the riffraff join practice?”

Caden looked up from the duffel he had balanced on the back hatch of his vehicle. “You mean the riffraff that’s gonna kick your sorry ass on the rock?”

I strode across the gravel lot. “You forget that the only thing you’ve had to practice on for the last five years were those pathetic manmade walls in New York. It’s different out here in the real world.”

Caden rolled his eyes. “I don’t need practice to decimate you. It’s just an innate gift.”

I moved like I was going to punch Caden in the gut and then pulled him in for a hug. “It’s good to have you back. How’d you know we were meeting?”

“I called Holt last night to see if I could requalify for the team since I’ll be around for a while. He told me to come today.”

“That’s great. We missed your ugly mug around here.”

Caden’s gaze swept the parking lot and the area where some of our team members were gathered. “Where’s Gigi?”

I groaned. Grae hated it when he called her that. “Please, for the love of all that’s holy, don’t piss my sister off. I really don’t want to have to bury your dead body.”

A grin stretched across Caden’s face. “No one I like riling better than her.”

“Until she poisons you and kicks your ass over a cliff.”

The two used to be friends when we were younger, but something had changed when we were in high school. They’d started bickering more than getting along, and now they fought like cats and dogs. But Caden got some thrill out of doing battle with her. Maybe it was because he’d lost his sister, and he and his brother didn’t come close to getting along. He likely missed that sibling ribbing. But I’d never seen anyone make Grae madder.

Caden chuckled. “She could try, but I’d never go down like that.”

“Well, luckily for you, she’s not here today. Only half the team is meeting. The other half will meet next week. She’s having brunch with Wren and Mads.”

Caden took a second to study me. “How are things going there?”

Wasn’t that the fifty-million-dollar question? Sleep had been all but nonexistent for me lately. Every move Maddie made had me constantly aware of her presence. Her scent. Her feel. Her temptation.

“Things are okay. Her dad’s getting out of prison.”

A muscle in Caden’s jaw ticked. He and Maddie weren’t nearly as close as she and I were, but they had still been good friends. “Shit. I can’t believe he qualified for parole.”

I nodded. “Why that piece of garbage would even think about trying to come back to Cedar Ridge is beyond me. But this is the address he gave the parole board.”

“I’m surprised he didn’t try to get a job in the city. He’d have more luck keeping a low profile.”

Because Jimmy Byrne had enough arrogance to think that no one would look at him differently after almost killing his own daughter. I worked my jaw back and forth, trying to loosen it. “He probably thinks life will just go back to normal.”

“He’s in for a rude awakening.”

“Damn straight.”

A loud whistle cut through the air. “Come on in,” Holt called, waving us toward the rockface as the wind rustled the trees around us.

Caden shut the back of his SUV, and we headed for the group.

“Thanks for coming, everyone. And welcome to our new team members.”

There was a round of applause and back slaps for the new folks.

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