the parking lot before getting out. No sign of Heath, and no crazy messages or texts on her phone either. The lack of contact should have settled her nerves, but instead her anxiety turned to a simmer. She let herself into her apartment and relocked the door. Everything was still. A sense of safety eased the muscles across her shoulders. She tossed her things onto the couch, toed her boots off, and headed into her bedroom.
She caught sight of herself in the full-length mirror. The oversized Superman emblem on the borrowed shirt made her smile. He still loved comic books and superheroes. Inside, he wasn’t so different from the Nash she remembered after all. It was the transformation of his outside that was messing with her head.
After pulling on gym clothes and making a smoothie for breakfast, she was back in her car on the way to her gym. Her daddy’s old truck was parked out front. Cade had commandeered it for his use when he’d returned. Every time she saw it, her heart leapt as if she’d shot back in time to before her parents were killed by a drunk driver. Yet, seeing Cade drive the old red-and-gray Dodge closed a circle.
She walked in to find both her brothers working out on weight benches, Sawyer spotting for Cade. She stowed her gear and ignored them. Reed waved from the back where he was sweeping. She pulled her laptop out of a desk drawer and opened her accounting software.
The columns and rows of numbers soothed her frazzled nerves. Numbers didn’t elude her like words. She understood them without trying. Over the next half hour, she greeted members as they entered and updated her spreadsheets with current expenditures and profit. Her plan to expand was making steady progress. Even so, a down payment on more exercise equipment was still months away. She sighed.
“You know I’d lend you the money. Hellfire, I’d give it to you.” Cade’s voice rumbled over her shoulder making her jump and delete an entire column with the click of a mouse. Thank heavens for undo buttons. If only life had one of those, she’d wipe Heath out of her life and memories.
“You did enough helping me get this place off the ground. I don’t want to depend on my big brother the rest of my life.”
“It’s not like that. It’s family helping family. Seeing you succeed makes me happy. So, really you’d be doing me a favor by taking my money.” His voice lilted up like a question.
“Nice try.” She turned on the stool to face him. He wiped sweat off his face. Looking into his eyes was like looking into a mirror. She got along better with Sawyer, but it was only because they were so different. She and Cade were too much alike not to rub each other like sandpaper sometimes, but he also understood her like no one else. “If I can’t get the numbers to work by spring, I might take you up on your offer, if it’s still on the table.”
“It’s nailed to the table.” He leaned in, bussed her cheek, and propped a hip against the counter. The smile that came to his face lightened everything about him. She could only shake her head.
His transformation over the past month since he’d moved back home had been nothing short of miraculous. Her best friend Monroe had been the catalyst, but Cade had made a huge effort to mend things with both her and Sawyer.
Somewhere along the way, he’d shed the resentments toward Cottonbloom like a snake shedding its old skin, leaving behind a shiny, happy, optimistic Cade. While she was glad he’d moved back and found someone, his happiness only emphasized her crappy personal life.
Sawyer strolled over, a towel hanging around his neck, the sleeves long ripped off his grungy T-shirt. His sun-streaked dirty blond hair and twinkling eyes were in sharp contrast to Tally and Cade’s darkness.
“How’s my favorite sister?” Sawyer wrapped a damp arm around her shoulders and forced her face toward his armpit. She elbowed his ribs. He yelped and let her go.
“You are so
She caught sight of herself in the full-length mirror. The oversized Superman emblem on the borrowed shirt made her smile. He still loved comic books and superheroes. Inside, he wasn’t so different from the Nash she remembered after all. It was the transformation of his outside that was messing with her head.
After pulling on gym clothes and making a smoothie for breakfast, she was back in her car on the way to her gym. Her daddy’s old truck was parked out front. Cade had commandeered it for his use when he’d returned. Every time she saw it, her heart leapt as if she’d shot back in time to before her parents were killed by a drunk driver. Yet, seeing Cade drive the old red-and-gray Dodge closed a circle.
She walked in to find both her brothers working out on weight benches, Sawyer spotting for Cade. She stowed her gear and ignored them. Reed waved from the back where he was sweeping. She pulled her laptop out of a desk drawer and opened her accounting software.
The columns and rows of numbers soothed her frazzled nerves. Numbers didn’t elude her like words. She understood them without trying. Over the next half hour, she greeted members as they entered and updated her spreadsheets with current expenditures and profit. Her plan to expand was making steady progress. Even so, a down payment on more exercise equipment was still months away. She sighed.
“You know I’d lend you the money. Hellfire, I’d give it to you.” Cade’s voice rumbled over her shoulder making her jump and delete an entire column with the click of a mouse. Thank heavens for undo buttons. If only life had one of those, she’d wipe Heath out of her life and memories.
“You did enough helping me get this place off the ground. I don’t want to depend on my big brother the rest of my life.”
“It’s not like that. It’s family helping family. Seeing you succeed makes me happy. So, really you’d be doing me a favor by taking my money.” His voice lilted up like a question.
“Nice try.” She turned on the stool to face him. He wiped sweat off his face. Looking into his eyes was like looking into a mirror. She got along better with Sawyer, but it was only because they were so different. She and Cade were too much alike not to rub each other like sandpaper sometimes, but he also understood her like no one else. “If I can’t get the numbers to work by spring, I might take you up on your offer, if it’s still on the table.”
“It’s nailed to the table.” He leaned in, bussed her cheek, and propped a hip against the counter. The smile that came to his face lightened everything about him. She could only shake her head.
His transformation over the past month since he’d moved back home had been nothing short of miraculous. Her best friend Monroe had been the catalyst, but Cade had made a huge effort to mend things with both her and Sawyer.
Somewhere along the way, he’d shed the resentments toward Cottonbloom like a snake shedding its old skin, leaving behind a shiny, happy, optimistic Cade. While she was glad he’d moved back and found someone, his happiness only emphasized her crappy personal life.
Sawyer strolled over, a towel hanging around his neck, the sleeves long ripped off his grungy T-shirt. His sun-streaked dirty blond hair and twinkling eyes were in sharp contrast to Tally and Cade’s darkness.
“How’s my favorite sister?” Sawyer wrapped a damp arm around her shoulders and forced her face toward his armpit. She elbowed his ribs. He yelped and let her go.
“You are so
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