“She was lost without Grandpa and died about a year later. Her death certificate said it was cancer, but I knew the real reason. I had moved back in with her to help. She was lost and lonely without him and didn’t have the will to live.”
Cade gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “That partially answers my question. With Hunter serving in the military and both your grandparents gone, you had no reason to remain in California.”
“Exactly. I’d lived in the Los Angeles area nearly all my life, and I wanted to experience life in a small town. Once I’d completed the paperwork, I applied for teaching jobs in a number of small towns in Washington.” Oceanside hadn’t been her first choice. It’d turned out to be the best, though. “Now, what about you?” she asked, eager to turn the conversation away from herself.
Leaning back, Cade stretched out his legs and crossed his ankles. “Raised in Tacoma, graduated from Pacific Lutheran University,” he stated the bare facts. “After that, I had some problems with my parents, my father in particular.” He hesitated, as if unsure he should continue. “My dad demanded that I follow in his footsteps, career-wise. I rebelled. That didn’t sit well with my mom and dad. We’ve basically been estranged ever since.”
How unfortunate to have a family and to walk away. “I’m sorry, Cade,” she said, genuinely sad for him.
“You have nothing to be sorry for. You didn’t do anything.”
“I know that. I’m sorry that you don’t have a good relationship with your family.” Because she was completely alone in the world, Hope would give anything to have known her birth parents. As it was, she had only fleeting memories of her mother. As far as she knew, her father had never been part of her life. From tidbits she’d overheard from her grandparents, their mother was a lost cause. Hope wasn’t exactly sure what that meant, although she suspected it had something to do with drug addiction. From the time Hope and Hunter arrived at their grandparents’ home, they had never, not one time, received any communication from their mother. Hope had no idea if the woman who gave birth to her was alive or dead, and had to assume she was the latter. According to their grandmother, it was likely Hope’s mother didn’t know who had fathered her and Hunter.
“I wish it was different, too,” Cade confessed. “The problem is we’re both too stubborn to admit we were wrong.”
“You can’t go back?” Surely there was a way to move forward.
“If I reach out to my father, he’ll assume I’m admitting I was wrong and will bend to his plans for my life. That’s not going to happen. I’m not cut out to be an attorney.”
“What about your mother? Can she help?”
Cade straightened. “It took a long time for me to forgive her for not backing me when I needed it most. I was desperate for her to stand at my side. It’s only been recently that I’ve come to understand what a difficult position she was in, trapped between me and my dad.” He hesitated, bending his head down. “I saw her not long ago.” His voice was low, uncertain. “I should probably tell you…”
“That you’re on probation?”
His head shot up. “You know?”
“Mellie, Preston’s wife, told me.”
His face revealed his shock. “And you’re still willing to spend time with me?”
She nodded. “I’ve seen how you are with the animals at the shelter. As far as I’m concerned, you’ve proven yourself. You went out of your way to help me when it would have been easy to drive off. I don’t believe you’re a dangerous person, Cade. I trust you.”
“Do you know even what crimes I committed?”
“No, and I don’t need to unless you feel it’s something you want to tell me.”
He sighed and closed his eyes before he spoke. “I was drunk and got into a bar fight. It wasn’t my finest moment. I didn’t deserve any leniency; the judge took pity on me and gave me time served and probation with certain stipulations.”
“Community service?”
He nodded. “Harry…a friend, suggested the animal shelter.”
They’d gotten sidetracked a bit. “You mentioned you’d recently seen your mother. That’s encouraging, don’t you think?”
“It would be, if it hadn’t been inside a courtroom.” He expelled his breath. “I hated that the first time I’d had any contact with her in over six years was when I stood before a judge. It humiliated me for her to see how low I’d gone.”