“You okay, man?” he asked Everett as they stepped into the hall.

  Everett scrubbed a hand down his face. “Yeah. It all kind of caught me off guard. Fucking dead cat. Next we’ll be finding a horse head in your bed.”

  Cade winced and chuckled. “I don’t think we’ve quite reached Godfather status yet.”

  “Just give it a little time,” Everett muttered.

  Now it was Cade raking a hand over his face. This, on top of everything else? Dammit, he’d been so close to catching the guy this morning.

  Everett squeezed his shoulder. “Are you okay? What are your plans?”

  Everett turned back toward the offices and music rooms, but Cade shook his head, pointing to the front door. “I’m going to see Peyton and Jess. Have dinner with them. I need a break from all this anyway.”

  He’d had dinner with them every night for the past three weeks and didn’t plan on breaking the pattern now.

  Everett was obviously caught off guard by that news. “Oh. Thought you might want to write, or completely get away. Use the angst like you normally do—to create.”

  Part of Cade wanted to lock himself back in the writing cave and use all this frustration and anger and, yes, fear, to create compelling music and lyrics. A way to direct all this primal energy flowing through him.

  Everett nodded. “I’m feeling it too, brother. We should use the circumstances to get as much fodder as possible. Even if not to write, to go on the road. We’re not going to let this guy beat us, right? Let’s get the tour up and going, maybe even earlier than this spring.”

  Cade rubbed his chest. Everett wasn’t going to like this. “I can’t. I can’t just up and leave for an extended period right now.”

  Everett let out sigh. “Look, I like Peyton too. But she’s just a woman. She’ll be here after the tour. It’s something she’s going to have to learn to live with if she’s going to be part of your life.”

  “Maybe. But not right now. This isn’t the right time.”

  “No offense, Cade. But aren’t you giving up an awful lot for a woman who hasn’t been part of your life for all that long? You don’t owe her anything.”

  It was time to come clean. “Jess is my daughter.”

  Everett’s eyes grew wide. “Oh, shit.”

  “Yeah. And I haven’t been there for her or Peyton for years. So I can’t leave right now.”

  “Wow.” Everett rubbed the back of his neck. “Listen, Peyton’s doing a really good job heading up the video and documentary. And like I said, I really like her.”

  “But?” Nothing said before the but ever really mattered.

  “But. . .you’ve got your career to think of. ‘Echo’ is going to be a hit, I’m sure, but you’ve been out of the limelight for a little bit. You know how fickle audiences can be.”

  Cade waited for the pressure that normally built in his chest when he thought about this. Longevity in the music business was difficult and rare.

  But the pressure didn’t come.

  “I don’t care.” He realized it was the absolute truth. “My career has come first for the past five years because I wasn’t aware there was something more important needing my attention. Now that I am aware? My fans will just have to wait. They’ll either be there for me or they won’t.”

  “I get that. I really do—”

  Whatever Everett was about to say was lost as Peyton came rushing down the hallway and threw herself into Cade’s arms.

  “Are you okay? Mark let me in. I heard someone left pieces of a dead cat scattered all over your house? And there was a gunfight?”

  Rumors in a small town spread quickly but not always correctly.

  He cupped both sides of Peyton’s head and tilted her face up so he could kiss her forehead. Her eyes were big pools of brown in her face. “No gunfight, I promise. Unfortunately, yes, a dead cat, but not all over the house, just in a box. It seems like I’ve got myself a stalker.”

  She blanched. “There’s something I’ve got to tell you. I should’ve told you before now, but I didn’t think it would affect you. Dennis, my stepfather, got out of prison three days ago. Do you think he did this?”

  “No. This doesn’t have anything to do with you, Peaches.”

  “How do you know? We have no idea what Dennis is capable of, and he could very well have done something like—”

  Cade put a finger over her lips. “It didn’t just happen here. It happened at my house in Nashville too. Okay? I’ll have Mark look into Dennis, but I don’t think it’s something you need to worry about.”

  Everett gave him a little wave and disappeared softly down the hallway, giving them some privacy. Peyton didn’t look very reassured. “I promise, everything is going to be okay. I’ve got myself a friendly neighborhood stalker. It happens sometimes.”

  Not exactly like this usually, but everything was still going to be okay.

  She looked a little less frantic with his words. “I heard about this and kind of freaked out. Coming so close after Dennis’s release, it seemed too close to be a coincidence.”

  He tapped her on the nose. “You should’ve told me Dennis was out. I noticed you’ve been distracted the past couple of days, but I thought it was because of work.”

  “I didn’t want to drag you into this. This Dennis thing is my problem, not something you should have to worry about.”

  “Hey, when it comes to your safety and Jess’s, there is no my problem or your problem, there’s only our problem.”

  “You’re right.” She sighed. “It’s hard to change my mindset. Plus, for years I haven’t had to worry about Dennis at all. That was nice.”

  He tilted her chin up with a finger. “You’re not gonna have to worry about him now either. I’m going to make sure of that.”

  He expected her to pull away, but instead she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him closer. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

  He held her against him then tilted her chin up and kissed her.

  “Have dinner with me tomorrow, Peaches,” he murmured against her mouth.

  “Of course. Jess and I were going to make you fried chicken.”

  “No, just you and me. Dinner. A date. See if Jess can spend the night with Ethan.”

  He thought she might refuse. He knew he was being forward, but it was time Peyton understood something.

  He was not only in this for Jess. He loved his daughter and planned to be in her life forever. But Peyton was more than just Jess’s mom to him.

  “Jess is important to me, but you are too. Let me show you.”

  So much for not bringing up their future in case she friend zoned him. But he had to know.

  “Let me show you what you mean to me.”

  Those big, brown eyes studied him, and he thought he was about to get his bad news.

  But then she nodded. “Okay.”

  Chapter 21

  “Breathe.”

  Peyton almost had to remind herself to do it, or she was afraid she might actually forget.

  “Are you talking to yourself?”

  She didn’t even respond to Silas’s snide remark from inside the room that had been set up as an editing suite for the documentary. They’d finished most of their shooting five days ago. Silas had been less than thrilled when Cade had ensured that the equipment she would need to edit was brought to Oak Creek rather than Peyton having to travel to an editing studio somewhere else.

  He’d done it without her even asking. Done it before she’d even become aware that it was going to be an issue.

  Because all the stuff he’d said that night about being on her team —granted, some of it she still couldn’t remember because of the Electric Smurfs—had been true.

  Cade O’Conner was hard to resist on any day. Cade O’Conner trying to woo you and make up for damages he felt responsible for was impossible to resist.

  She just hadn’t been certain he was wooing her as any more than Jess’s mom. Until yesterday when he’d made it clear he wanted to have a date with her.

  An all-night date.

  “Do I need to go seek out the people in white coats?” Silas asked.

  “You sure you don’t need to go back out of town?” she responded. It had been so nice for the past three days while he’d been in Nashville recording another music video.

  He gave her his patently fake smile. “Oh no, I am definitely needed here. I’m just glad it didn’t all go to shit without me for the past couple days.”

  She didn’t respond. Mostly because she was glad it hadn’t gone to shit without him here either. She’d been distracted since Dennis’s release from prison, then yesterday that crazy cat madness at Cade’s house had her leaving work early. She may not like Silas, but having him around tended to take off a little of the stress. He wasn’t going to let her get too far off track—he enjoyed lording his experience over her too much.

  At least she hoped he wouldn’t let her. He might get smart and realize if he kept his mouth shut and she went in the wrong direction, it would become obvious how inexperienced she was.

  But damn it, so far she hadn’t gone in the wrong direction. The work she’d done, shots she’d plotted out and captured were coming together exactly like she’d envisioned.

  It helped that Cade was damn near the perfect subject for a documentary. Those blue eyes pierced the screen the same way they did her heart.

  She wasn’t even trying to deny it any longer. At least not to herself. So when Cade had suggested the date tonight, she’d had no interest in turning him down or playing coy.

  They’d had three weeks together. Three weeks working with each other almost daily and spending most evenings talking and playing. Three weeks of learning her body hadn’t been wrong by wanting him all this time. He was still the Cade she’d been half in love with in high school.

  And might be more than halfway in love with now.

  How could she not be when she saw how much he loved Jess? He couldn’t fake that. The way he looked at his daughter when he thought nobody else could see? That did more to woo Peyton’s heart than any amount of flowers or jewelry or love songs ever could.

  For the first time, the weight that only a single parent could understand, that fear that something might happen to you and your child would be left alone, eased from her.

  Jess had two parents now. Two parents who loved her. If something happened to Peyton tomorrow, Jess would still have someone who would love her more than life itself.

  “Jesus, Ward, you’re not crying over there are you?”

  “Shut up, Silas, I’m not crying. Just do your work and let me do mine.”

  “Is this about your stepfather? Security team briefed us all and told us we’re supposed to run screaming into the streets if we see him anywhere around.”

  She grimaced. The thought of everyone knowing about Dennis made her want to crawl under the desk and live there.

  But also…everyone knowing about Dennis meant he wasn’t just going to be able to sneak up on her.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. And Dennis hopefully isn’t so stupid that he’ll show his face in Oak Creek. That’s an automatic straight back to jail card.”

  God, she hoped it was enough to keep him away.

  “Look,” she said, “let’s call it for today. We’ll meet back here tomorrow at noon and pick it back up.”

  Noon because she was hoping she’d be way too exhausted to get here bright and early tomorrow.

  Thankfully, Silas didn’t argue, and she no longer had to try to pretend to focus on editing. She went home, pampered herself with a bath, and took her time getting ready. Three hours later, Peyton stared at herself in the mirror wearing a simple sweater dress that accentuated her curves. The closest thing she had to lingerie—bra and panties of the same color—completed the outfit underneath.

  “Time to change the lightbulb, kiddo,” she whispered to her reflection.

  She’d already taken Jess over to hang out with Riley, ignoring her friend’s exaggerated eyebrow waggle when she saw Peyton’s dress. Jess was excited when Riley explained she was responsible for painting Riley’s finger and toenails for the night. They were arguing about colors when Peyton left. Her daughter was in good hands.

  Cade had offered to come pick her up, but at the last moment she’d panicked and told him she would meet him in town. They were going to grab dinner at New Brothers pizza since she’d insisted she wanted to keep it casual for the first date.

  She had no idea how to date someone as an adult. Maybe this dress was completely wrong. Too dressy. Maybe she should go home and change.

  Cade hadn’t made a big deal about her meeting him and agreed that New Brothers was the perfect place for a first date.

  She could do this. Her dress was fine. She looked pretty.

  “Just changing a light bulb.”

  She was running a little bit early, so she stopped to get gas at the main station on the edge of town. She waved to Gavin at the pump ahead of hers and swiped her credit card. She was about to say hello when some giggling young women walked out of the convenience store. Peyton couldn’t see them because of the pump, but she could clearly hear them.

  “All I’m saying is… Peyton Ward? What kind of bullshit is that? How could Cade Conner possibly be interested in someone like Peyton Ward?”

  “I mean, she’s got a kid and has never been married, so obviously she’s got some questionable morals,” a second woman said. “Maybe he’s just going the easy route.”

  The first woman scoffed. “He’s Cade Conner. Every route is the easy route. I mean obviously she’s not going to be able to keep his attention for long.”

  “Pity fuck,” a third voice chimed in. “There’s no possible reason he’d be around her at all when there are so many other choices except for pity fuck.”

  The women couldn’t see her as they walked in the other direction, but Gavin could. The set of his jaw told her he was about to say something, but she shook her head. His jaw tightened further, but he gave Peyton a brief nod.

  “Whatever.” Woman One again. “It’s obvious to anybody who wants to see it that she has no part in his world. It won’t take him long to figure that out. I just hope he sticks around here.”

  The rest of whatever they were saying was cut off as they got into their car.

  Gavin started her way, but she held out a hand to stop him. “I’m fine, Gavin. I’ve never been too worried what the popular crowd thinks of me. I’m not about to start now.”

  “Regardless. What they said was—”

  He was cut off when the radio at his waist went off. He responded then returned it to his hip. “I’ve got to go. Are you sure you’re alright?”

  She nodded. “Yes.”

  Gavin was a good friend. A good man. He looked like he wanted to stay, but duty called. He gave her a solemn nod then got into his vehicle and drove away.

  Peyton lowered her head to rest on the top of her car as she finished pumping the gas, the women’s ugly words still spinning through her mind.

  “Crass, aren’t they?”

  Peyton startled and spun at the sound of Cecelia O’Conner’s voice as she stepped out from around another pump. Peyton had been so busy hiding from the other women, she hadn’t seen Cecelia at all.

  “What are you doing here?”

  Cecelia rolled her eyes. “Contrary to popular opinion, I do know how to do certain things for myself like pump gas.”

  “Yeah, I guess there’s not much choice around here.”

  “I don’t blame you for hiding from them. Sometimes the best offense is a good defense—isn’t that how the quote goes?”

  “Were you hiding from them too?”

  Cecelia shrugged one narrow shoulder. “Like you, perhaps not so much hiding as deciding whether it was a battle worth fighting. I generally find people of that caliber are not worth engaging.”

  “So you turn the other cheek? Walk away from the fight?”

  “Oh no, dear. I use the other resources available to me to fight people like that. People who would hurt my reputation or my family’s reputation. I keep myself distant and generally use my lawyers.”

  She realized Cecelia was talking about her, not those women.

  “That’s what you thought I was doing five years ago? Threatening your family’s reputation?”

  “To be honest, yes. I thought you were no better than those tramps we just heard. Someone trying to take advantage of my nephew and our money. I was not going to let that happen.”

  “All I wanted to do was let him know about his daughter.”

  “And yet you signed the paperwork and took the money agreeing to terminate the pregnancy.”

  “You couldn’t force me to have an abortion.”

  “No, of course not. But I wouldn’t have given you the money if I’d known you wouldn’t adhere to the terms.”

  The pump clicked off, and Peyton snatched the nozzle out, using it to point at Cecelia. “I didn’t want anything from him. Not the way you’re thinking. I didn’t want money or to capitalize on his success. I was eighteen and scared and alone. I wanted to let Cade know what had happened, but you made sure he didn’t know about Jess. You should’ve given me the chance to talk to him.”

  Cecelia waved dismissively. “My job was to protect my nephew and the family name. Believe me, I’m aware of your roots. If I could’ve kept you away from Cade altogether, if I had known you were using the equipment my family had provided the arts department, I would’ve made sure Cade never got near you. I know exactly what type of family you come from.”

  Peyton shook her head, realization dawning on her. “This wasn’t about me at all, was it? This was about whatever went down between you and my dad and mom. You kept Cade away from his daughter because of some twenty-five-year-old petty grudge.”

  Cecelia flinched, but it didn’t take her long to rebound. “I did what was best for my family. I will always do what is best for my family. Family first. Always.”

  Cecelia turned her back to Peyton and opened the door to her car.

  “And Jess? You can say what you want about me, but is Jess part of your family, Cecelia?”

  Without answering, Cecelia got into her car and drove away.

 

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