“But what if what I have to say is not what he wants to hear?”
I walked out of the office at lunchtime intent on grabbing a crepe from the same place I’d gone with Cade when I almost ran into Nolan.
“Oh, hi. Are you looking for Cade?” I glanced at the dark studio.
Nolan’s face was pensive. “No. I was looking for you. Do you have a few minutes?”
“Is Cade okay?” I couldn’t imagine why Nolan would approach me by himself unless something was wrong with Cade.
“Yes. He’s fine.”
I tilted my head and studied his face. He looked nervous and unsure. “I was going to pick up lunch.”
“Can I walk with you?” He raised a brow.
“Of course.” We fell in step beside each other, walking in the direction of Annapolis Harbor. I kept glancing at Nolan’s tense face wondering what he had to say to me.
“Cade doesn’t know I’m talking to you.” He chuckled. “He probably wouldn’t want me here.”
“Okay.” My stomach churned.
“He told me what happened. How he wants to go with you to New Orleans, but you want to go alone.”
My face flushed. I hadn’t expected Cade to tell Nolan about our fight, but I’d talked to my friends too. “That’s right.”
I wanted to say there were things he didn’t know about my family, but I wanted to hear what he had to say first.
“My brother only recently started reaching out to my parents and me again. He’s there for the families that are part of Morrison Construction Rebuilds, but he hasn’t been there for anyone close to him. It’s a big deal for him to offer to go with you.”
He looked at me pointedly. I could see this was a big deal to Nolan too. He wouldn’t be here otherwise. I respected that he wanted me to understand where Cade was coming from.
“It’s important for me to go on my own. There are things you don’t know.” I didn’t feel comfortable talking to him about it.
“I get that. But I think you’re looking at things—” He paused and shook his head. “I’m screwing this up. I want you to understand what a huge deal it is for Cade to offer to go with you. For Cade to make that step means he feels deeply for you. He’s opened himself up to you and let you in. I didn’t think he would do that for anyone again after Caroline.”
My heart swelled at what Nolan was saying. I knew this thing between Cade and me was serious. That it had potential to be the real deal but to hear Nolan say that too, was affirming. Maybe I was looking at this the wrong way. Cade wanted to be there for me, yeah, but also for him.
Nolan stopped walking. “You were there for him last night, let him be there for you. I’m not an expert in relationships, but I think compromise is important. I get that you can deal with your dad on your own, but should you have to when you have someone who wants to be there for you. No, he needs to be there for you. I can’t explain it any better than that.”
A tingle ran through my body. The way he was describing things, it almost seemed like he was saying Cade loved me. Could that be the case? If it was, did I love him?
“I hope you do the right thing. We have our big home reveal on Saturday morning. The one the local news is filming. I’m not sure when you planned to leave, but if you left early on Saturday, you could do what you needed to do with your dad and Cade could join you for the gala that evening. Does that help?”
I smiled. “So, we both get what we want.”
Nolan’s lips twitched as if he was trying not to smile. “Yes. Don’t tell him I told you.”
I nodded. We resumed walking as I sifted through the possibilities and implications in my head. I had early morning airline tickets on Friday since I’d scheduled an appointment to meet with Dad at the house early on Saturday.
“For what it’s worth. I think you’re good for him and maybe he’s good for you too.”
“Thanks, Nolan.”
“I have to get back to work, but I’m glad I caught you.”
I wanted to ask him the best way to talk to Cade about it, but he’d done enough. I needed to handle the next part on my own. We said our goodbyes before I continued walking. The sun warmed me in a way it hadn’t when I’d come outside. I felt lighter than I had this morning when everything was weighing me down. When I thought I had to do everything on my own.
I pulled out my phone, wondering if I should text Cade to ask him if we could talk. But I wanted to talk to him as soon as possible. I wanted to apologize. I wanted to tell him he was important to me too. I pushed dial on his name. Then held the phone to my ear.
I moved toward one of the side streets for privacy.
“Hey.”
I felt his low and rumbly voice in my chest. “Hey.” I wanted to put this behind us. “Do you have time to talk?”
“I’m just working on my house today so I can take a break.”
“Great. Want to meet me for lunch at the harbor?”
“Sure. I can be there in fifteen.”
“Great. See you then.” I took it as a good sign that he was willing to meet with me. Hopefully, I hadn’t screwed up too badly last night.
I sent Avery a quick text to let her know I was meeting with Cade to talk so that she wouldn’t wonder if I was late getting back.
I went to the crepe store and ordered two, one for each of us, and two iced teas. When I walked outside with the bag under my arm and iced teas in my hands, I saw him waiting
