Page 45 of Cade

“It’s not your fault. You couldn’t have known that was going to happen,” April reassured her.

Catherine hung around for a little bit longer, helping her clean up and probably waiting for Cade to come back. In the end, she left April alone to think about what had just happened.

Cade returned a little bit later while she was dozing on the sofa. He said nothing at first, only came to her and knelt in front, resting his head next to hers.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

April hadn’t been mad. She knew the relationship between him and his parents, so she’d been more concerned than anything.

“Don’t apologize. Tell me what’s going on.” She ran her fingers through his hair as she waited for him to reply.

“He demanded that I annul our wedding and if I didn’t, he was going to cause more trouble. I don’t understand what he wants and why he keeps doing this. I think he’s losing his mind and I can’t find him.” He collapsed beside her, and April knew what it took to admit everything. It was a list a defeat for him, something he didn’t take lightly.

“You need to tell her,” April told him, still running her nails over his scalp.

“I don’t want to ruin things between them. All of this seems directed at me for now, and I was trying to shield her from it.”

April shifted to sit and look at him. “Your sister is a strong woman. It might hurt her some, but she’s damn sure going to recover from it and get stronger in the process.”

He was quiet for so long she thought he wasn’t going to reply. When he stood, she thought he was going to walk away again, instead he bent down and picked her up.

“What are you doing?” she laughed.

“Putting you in bed where you belong.”

“I can walk,” she reminded him.

“Yeah, but you don’t have to.”

He kissed her lips before heading to the bedroom. Nothing else was said about what was going on with Catherine and his parents. She let it drop. It didn’t need to be decided tonight.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Cade

Cade took a deep breath as he waited for Catherine to answer her door. April was right, and he needed to at least tell his sister what was going on. The problem was, he didn’t know if she’d believe him.

“Hey,” she answered the door, pulling it wide for him to come in.

“Hey,” he said back, unsure where to start.

“Have a seat. I’ll be right back,” she turned toward her room.

It only then occurred to him that he probably should have called first. “You don’t, umm, have someone here, do you? I can leave and come back. I should have called first.” Cade started for the door.

“Cade stop. There’s no one here. I’m just going to brush my teeth.” Catherine laughed as she left him standing there, feeling like an idiot again.

It was terrible enough that he’d come home and dumped everything on April after abandoning her earlier in the night. Now he’d made a fool out of himself in front of his sister, one she’d likely never let him forget.

“Okay. I feel better now. What are you doing here?” Catherine came back into her living room.

Cade was still standing there. “I have something to tell you.”

“I figured as much. Just spit it out. I can’t help if you don’t tell me what’s going on and frankly, you’re scaring me right now.”

He thought it over for half a second before just letting the words out. “Our parents are behind all the bad things that are happening to the restaurant. Well, Father is, I don’t know Mother’s role specifically, but she’s helping him for sure.”

Catherine laughed. “What?”

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