Nodding, Adie nibbled at her bottom lip. He was right, of course. His experience would be useful. But not if it did him harm. She cared too much about him to see him hurt by this ‘game’ of theirs. He’d already taken a blow when Jig nearly died. This ‘game’ could screw with his head.
“I want to establish some ground rules. Okay? If you’re going to help me on this one, we need some ground rules.”
Cage studied her, a slow smile splitting his handsome face. “You’re really coming into your own, aren’t you? I get surprised by you so often now it’s become an everyday occurrence.”
Adie looked away, heat spreading up into her cheeks. “I was always a bit of a hard-head, I think. I had to be. How else do you think I survived my mom and her church?”
He chuckled, the last of his tension evaporating. Had he started to get used to the idea of this new task? Had he decided he could handle it?
“Okay, so what’s the ground rules?” he demanded, pushing back in his chair until the front legs were off the ground.
“Stuff comes up, we talk about it. No playing the tough guy. I’ve already seen you cry, so your mask is off.”
“I don’t talk about shit. That’s a girlie thing to do,” he said in exasperation.
Adie growled. “And yet that’s exactly what you did in the lane that night. And felt better for it. You’ve been doing work on yourself for years. You know talking stuff through helps. Don’t pull that big boys don’t cry crap on me now!”
“Now you’re swearing, Adie? The world as I know it must be coming to an end,” he said blithely, trying to keep the upper hand.
When she remained silent, just staring at him, he sighed heavily and nodded. “You’re playing hard ball. Okay, fair enough. You’re the boss. If stuff comes up, I’ll cry on your shoulder. But it won’t. As I said, I left all that behind years ago, brief drunken moments notwithstanding.”
Adie nodded and went on. “Rule 2. If anything triggers you so badly you can’t stand it, then you walk away. I won’t risk your emotional wellbeing on a game. This is non-negotiable. Your first duty is to yourself.” She held up her hand as she saw him about to argue. “I’m not talking about your job taking care of me. That you can do without risking your emotional wellbeing. But investigating this mystery is not as important to me as you are. Step in front of a bullet for me, well and good. Allow someone else’s stuff to cut open your jugular and it’s not on. I can fail the task or I can pay for additional short-term help. I don’t care. What I won’t risk, is you!”
“I’m not as messed up as you’re making out!” he growled in exasperation.
“Good, then you should be able to agree to that rule then. Call it a safety net for my emotional wellbeing. I don’t want to have to be worried about you every step of the way.”
Shaking his head, Cage threw up his hands in defeat. “Fine, fine! I accept your ground rules. But I have one of my own.”
Nodding cautiously, Adie waited for him to state it.
“You trust me to know how much I can handle. You treat me like I’m an adult who can take care of himself and is capable of asking for help when he needs it. No watching over me like a helicopter mom.”
“If you follow through with Rule 1 and 2, then Rule 3 will be easy. I won’t have to get all overprotective. That’s actually the last thing I want to do.”
Cage held out his hand. Adie placed hers in it, so they could shake.
“We have a deal!” Cage said with satisfaction. “Now I think the first thing on the agenda is that dinner party with the vicar. We need to know as much about the Rory they knew as we can find out. While we wait for Hugo to come through with the military records. The villagers knew Rory for decades. He must have shared his secrets with someone during that time.”
Adie nodded. “Sounds like a plan. I’ve felt guilty putting that dinner on hold this long. They’re nice people, and I don’t want them to think we don’t value their friendship.”
“They know what Minerva has us doing. They won’t be offended by the delay.”
“I hope so. Sadie offered me any help I needed, so maybe we can let the villagers help on this one. People love to help.”
“Good people do. The Winsleys of the world, not so much.”
“True enough. But his way hasn’t got him very far so far, has it? People have helped us because they liked us. That will probably work on this next Mystery as well.”
Cage drew her in for a hug.
When he pulled away, Adie looked at him in surprise. “What was that for?”
“I realized I hadn’t properly congratulated you on solving Georgie’s Mystery. You hugged me, but now I’m hugging you. Well done, grasshopper, you are learning much.”
“Grasshopper?” Adie asked in confusion.
Cage groaned. “You really need to catch up on your cultural icons. That’s from a really old TV show called Kung Fu. The teacher would call the boy student Grasshopper.”
“Why?” Adie asked in bafflement.
“No idea. Just a nickname, maybe. But knowing that show, it probably had some significance.”
“Didn’t it come up in your trivia contest in the sandbox?” she asked.
He thought for a moment then shook his head. “Nope. Not that one. You remember everything I say, don’t you? You’re a bit scary.”
She grinned. “Only the important stuff. I only remember the important stuff.”
“How is us playing trivia games on deployment important?”
“It gives me insight
