Cade had nodded, unsure how to reply to that. “Well,” he’d said a moment later, “I’m grateful just the same.”
The deputy had stayed a few more minutes and then said his farewell, leaving Cade to rest.
Cade pulled on his boots and stood. Looking around the room for any stray items and finding none, he grabbed his clean Carhartt off the end of the bed and headed for the door, his discharge papers stuffed in his coat pocket. He wanted to see Addie. He had smiled at her this morning when she woke, looking sleepy and adorable. She’d seemed happy to see him, but distant too, and had returned to her room soon after. Was her odd reluctance to meet his eyes or to stay near him due to their argument, his leaving, or what JR had done to her? Maybe it was a little of each, but he was determined to discover the truth.
Stopping at the nurses’ station to ask where to find her, he learned that Addie wasn’t in her room any longer.
“Where is she then?” he asked, agitated and more than a little worried.
“She’d asked where to find the therapist’s office when she checked out,” one of the nurses told him.
He got directions to that office and hurried down the hall to knock on the doctor’s door.
“Come in,” a woman’s voice called from inside.
The therapist seemed surprised to see him. Her blue eyes regarded him dispassionately, but she smiled a greeting. “How may I help you?”
“I’m looking for Addie Malory.”
“Ah, you must be Cade,” she said as she stood and rounded her desk to shake his hand. “She’s told me a lot about you.”
Cade grinned, but he felt uncomfortable with the woman’s assessing eyes as he took her hand. “Yeah, that’s me. Do you know where I could find her?”
“She’s in the chapel,” the doctor told him. “But I wonder if I might have a quick word with you?”
Dread prickled the back of his neck. What did she want with him? Was she going to ask him a bunch of questions he didn’t want to answer? Or tell him he should stay away from Addie? He wasn’t sure he wanted to hear anything she had to say, but it might be important for Addie. Still, he couldn’t keep the suspicion out of his voice. “I suppose so. What can I do for you?”
She smiled at him like she was looking at a five-year-old. “It’s not like that,” she said with a wave of her hand, clearly sensing his apprehension. “I just wanted to ask you to take things slow with Addie. She’s very vulnerable right now and might react in strange and uncharacteristic ways for a while, but she needs your support.”
“She has it,” he said without hesitation.
“I’m glad to hear that. Do you plan to stay here then?”
His brow furrowed. “Why do you ask?”
The doctor sighed and went back around her desk to sit in her chair. “Addie said that you had left to return to your home in Montana.”
“Yes, because she told me to go.”
“Did you want to?”
Cade snorted. “No, but I don’t see how that’s any of your business.”
“It’s not, not directly,” the doctor said as she laced her fingers together and placed them on her desk. “I’m concerned about Addie feeling safe and secure once she leaves the hospital.”
“She will be safe and secure. I won’t let anything else happen to her.”
“So you’re staying, then?”
Heat gathered around his neck and he clenched his jaw tight. He didn’t want to have this conversation with a stranger, especially not before he spoke with Addie about it. But he could read the accusation in the woman’s blue eyes, If you had stuck around in the first place, this never would’ve happened.
“I’m not blaming you,” the doctor said, “and you shouldn’t blame yourself, either.”
Surprise lifted Cade’s eyebrows. Had he said that out loud?
“Even if you had been there when the man showed up at her door,” the doctor continued, “there’s a very good chance something terrible would’ve happened anyway. Addie needs stability and security right now. I know she cares about you a great deal. If you feel the same, you should tell her or, at least, show her. She needs to know she’s not alone.”
He stood a little taller. “She’s not alone.”
“Good,” the doctor said. “Just be gentle with her and be conscious of the trauma she’s been through.”
“I plan to.”
She smiled again. “Great. I thought you might.” She tilted her head and he sensed a ‘but’ coming. “Just don’t forget to take care of yourself, too. You’re no good to her if you run yourself down.”
Cade had nodded at that, but couldn’t help thinking, I’ll do whatever I have to do to make her smile and remove that haunted look from her eyes.
That was his mission now, his only mission, and he intended to succeed.
Chapter 36
Scooting across the leather backseat of Helga’s SUV, Addie stepped out onto her snow-covered, gravel driveway. Cade went to the back to collect their bags and then to the driver’s side door to convey their thanks for the ride from the hospital. Addie barely heard as she wandered into her yard, staring at the front door. That’s where JR first grabbed me.
Shoulders hunched forward, she wrapped her arms protectively around her middle. I will not cry, she told herself. I can do this. I’m fine, he’s gone, and this is my house.
Unfortunately, the pep talk did little good. An icy ball of dread sat in her stomach, growing larger and heavier with every inch closer to the front door she came. Could she go inside? Could she stand to see all the places JR had hurt her?
Cade had asked her about objects in the house moving on their own before they left the hospital. When she told him what she had seen, he’d shaken his head and explained that JR
