Page 109 of Fly Back to Me
His hands spin me by the waist, my feet stumbling over an uneven heartbeat. Two palms frame my cheeks just as mine cup his elbows, and I clutch the leather there as he robes me in his armor.
My eyelids drop when his forehead molds to mine, his masculine scent delivering the exact high I need right now. “We can’t control the things that happen to us, Olivia. The best we can do is control our response.” The pads of his thumbs stroke my cheekbones, mellowing the turmoil beneath my skin. “We didn’t get to decide how we were created, but we can decide how to move forward. Take back the control. I want to give you a better memory than the one I know lays in the back of your mind every single day.”
The crooks of my eyes pool with tears, and my head nods in agreement. His hands slip from my face, only for him to pull a green and yellow packet out of his coat pocket.
A seed packet.
He lays the foil wrapper on his palm, holding it between us until it reveals the Black-Eyed Susan on the front. “When I cameback here, I saw this planter box,” he admits. “The Black-Eyed Susan is a perennial flower, so it grows back every year. They say it symbolizes transformation and healing.”
“I didn’t know that,” I whisper.
“When it’s in full bloom, we can come back here. You don’t have to feel frightened, but instead, you can be reminded of your resilience. Your strength.” We pull away, my chin sloping toward him as he barely nods his head. “Becausethat’show I see you. Not helpless. Not terrified. But admirable and strong.”
A long breath flows from my lips, my head turning left to the unmaintained sidewalk of the alley. The corner of the dumpster peeks out at the far end, sunlight reflecting off the military green. Rays so bright that the image of my attacker blurs, the warmth relaxing the knot in my stomach at the same time.
I return my gaze to Cade, nodding over a subdued smile. He grins as he snakes an arm around my shoulder, and I wrap mine around his lower back.
We journey the couple steps to the rectangular, stone planter box lining the sidewalk. His two knuckles waste no time when he circles them in the soil to dig a hole.
“Is this legal?” I ask.
“Not sure. I’m also not worried about the plant police,” he answers, offering the packet to me.
I bite my lip, taking the foil from him before plucking a few seeds out. The gray chips fall from my fingers into the divot of the dirt, and then Cade swipes a thin layer of soil over them.
As soon as we straighten up, he takes the tiny package from me to cuddle me into him. His arms twist around the back of my neck, my cheek landing on his sternum as my eyes flutter closed. The blend of his heat and the sun fan a quilt over my body. One that I can at least peek my head out of.
Face the world head-on.
“To finish my point,” he murmurs, his lips brushing myhairline, “I guess I just needed a good enough reason to be a ‘flowers guy.’”
Chapter 40
Cade
The swing of the glass door has me looking up from the bar counter. Even though I expected her, I wasn’t prepared for the tinge of pain in my gut when Jenna crosses the threshold.
I remember her long, straight hair and the way she dons a tight-lipped smile when she’s nervous. Just like the way she is now as she pads along the polished concrete. But despite every physical detail I recall instantly, I can’t quite place the person she is anymore. As if a stranger has just walked through the glass doors of my brewery.
Sure, she’s still pretty, but there’s something that once laid beneath the surface that’s no longer hiding anymore. I’m able to see all of her in her truest form, her betrayal now the first layer that greets me.
She’s not the woman I once knew, nor the woman I want her to be. In fact, her entrance is pitiful compared to Olivia’s.
Olivia.
She’s the only reason I eventually decided to take up Jenna’soffer to talk. My life can only start with Olivia if my slate is clean. None of these random messages popping up on my phone, giving either her or Jenna a false idea of where my heart is.
But I wasn’t agreeing to this without boundaries. I would’ve laughed in Jenna’s face if she expected me to travel to her, and even more so if she thought we would discuss things at my house. Jenna’s been calling the shots for so long, even without my consent, so I’m owed to call this one.
“How’s work been?” she asks, traveling to the bar top.
My palms curl around the edge of the glossy counter. “Busy,” I say. “It’s good financially. Not so much for my sanity some days.”
She struggles through a swallow, nodding as she steers her head to the side. Her hands meet at her stomach, fingers fiddling as she glues her gaze to the rear hallway.
“I’m not going to cut your head off, Jenna.”
With her eyes still averted, she inhales before she whispers, “Oh god.” My stare wanders over her when she drops her head, her arms crossing in her pink, long-sleeved shirt. “I don’t really know where to start.”
