From the doorway, the women could hear Cade before they saw him. “Who the hell hurt you Gert, and where do I sign up to beat his ass?”
This was the first time that any of the women had seen Cade as anything but friendly, sweet, protective or sexy. This Cade, a 6’3” massive man whose face was locked in rage, eyes narrowed, nostrils flared and hands fisted at his sides was intimidating to say the least. This Cade was a sight to behold. And they all thanked God that he wasn’t angry with them. All eyes cut from Cade to Gertie, who had backed up off the bed and was standing by herself across the room, arms wrapped tightly around herself, shaking and looking around for a means of escape.
Cade immediately changed his demeanor and if he could have, he would have kicked his own ass. “Hey, Gertie, it’s okay sweetie. Come here. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m just super aware of you girls since Kres is so important to me. I don’t like the idea that anyone has hurt you.” Cade held out his hand to her, arm extended, and held his breath to see if Gertie would take the invitation. Why had he not seen this side of Gertie before when he had been around her? It should have been noticeable to him before now. Great police work detective. Detective dumbass is more like it. She had true signs of a victim and if he was a betting man, it was of sexual assault. Kresley had never mentioned anything about it. That irritated Cade, but he reminded himself that they were just getting to know each other and it was her sister’s story to tell, not hers.
Gertie warily eyed Cade across the room for a few more long moments, then inched her way across to him. She stood before him, looking like a lost child, fear and weariness deeply embedded in her soul. Cade stood there firmly, gaze never wavering from hers, silently asking her to trust him. He felt Kresley’s hand reach out and twine itself around his, showing Cade that she put her trust in him. He also knew it was a way of showing her sister that she could do the same. Gertie took a deep breath and laid her head against Cade’s chest, over his protector’s heart, loosely wrapping her arms around his waist. He then felt Kresley’s arms wrapped around him as well, including Gertie in her hug.
Kresley understood the significance of this moment, even if Cade didn’t. This was the first time Gertie had touched a man in three years, had let a man hold her or support her. Kresley hoped Cade understood the importance of this to Gertie, but also to her. It was a turning point in Kresley’s acceptance of Cade in her life and the life of her sisters as well. Soon, Kresley felt the arms of her other two sisters and Grace wrap around the trio. It soon became a huge mass of Anderson love.
“Wow. Boomer would be so jealous of me right now”, Cade said jokingly, trying to lighten the mood. His anxiety eased when he heard five female’s soft laughter and giggles echo around the room.
“So, Cade. Seriously. No brothers. At all? Are you sure Kresley’s the right Anderson?”, Birdie asked with a note of wistfulness in her voice, along with a heavy amount of sarcasm.
Kresley slapped the back of Birdie’s hand and stated words that echoed in Cade’s heart and made it speed up. “Mine. So back off”. The girls giggled again and then one by one left the mass hug to sit back on the bed.
Gertie cleared her throat and looked up at Cade. “I think I’m going to give Kresley permission to answer any questions you have and we can talk later on if you want. I have my first appointment with a counselor this week and maybe I will be able to open up after that.” When Cade gave a nod and squeezed her shoulders in agreement, Gertie’s shoulders slumped in relief and she excused herself from the room.
Cade looked around at the other beautiful women and counted himself very lucky to be someone they were learning they could lean on. What was that saying? Feeling ten feet tall and bulletproof. Yeah, that was him right now.
An hour later had Cade began rethinking that whole feeling ten feet tall thing. He had led the Anderson tribe downstairs and had cooked breakfast for them all, watching them eat and interact with each other as though he were taking notes on a science experiment. Kresley was definitely one of the older sisters by the way she treated the others, especially Birdie, her being the youngest. Red tended to take on the mother role, making sure everyone had what they needed. She and Francie shared that role, swapping out in what Cade saw as a good cop, bad cop scenario. It worked for the most part. Except with Birdie. She kept taking everyone’s bacon off their plates, forcing Cade to cook another pan full, just for her. Birdie thanked him with a hug that was purely innocent. Kresley’s snarl at her sister showed Cade that Red was indeed possessive like he was. Kres had just rolled her eyes and walked away at Cade’s big grin and wink.
Soon Cade shut the front door after the women, saying goodbye and see you later. He turned around and not seeing Kresley, went looking for her. He found Red sitting in his kitchen, sipping on a glass of orange juice and staring off into space. “Penny for your thoughts”, he stated as he sat down next to her.
Kresley continued to stare into her OJ like it held all of the answers, only smiling slightly and stated, “you don’t have
