Chapter 18
Cade sat in Harry’s office with his head down, avoiding eye contact. Neither man spoke. It’d been five minutes of silence, and Cade knew Harry would wait patiently for Cade to begin the conversation, even if it took the entire hour.
He kept his gaze focused on the gray carpet. Funny, he’d been in this office multiple times and had never paid much attention to the carpet pattern of white swirls on a gray background. It was easier to concentrate on the intricacies of the rug than on what was happening in his own life.
“It hasn’t been a good week,” Cade finally said, when the silence grew too heavy for him to ignore.
“What made it such a miserable week?” Harry asked. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs.
“Hope.” He didn’t elaborate.
Harry waited, apparently wanting Cade to fill in the details. It came to him that perhaps the counselor had already heard everything he needed to know about the situation from Silas.
“Silas told you, didn’t he?” Cade remained angry at him. Silas had no business contacting Hope. They’d had words that night, and Cade said things he’d regretted almost as soon as they left his mouth. In the space of twelve hours, he’d lost his girl and his best friend. It was a tragedy worthy of a Shakespearean play.
“I haven’t spoken to Silas,” Harry stated calmly. He made a notation on the pad in his lap, as if this information were of some significance.
“He butted in where he didn’t belong,” Cade snapped, looking up from the carpet and meeting Harry’s gaze. He wanted the counselor to understand that not only had Hope betrayed him, but so had the man he’d called his friend.
“What exactly did Silas do?”
Cade refused to answer; anger simmered just below the surface as he silently reviewed the events of that evening.
“You should know the only reason I’m here today is because it’s court-mandated.”
To his shock, Harry laughed.
“You find that funny?” Harry was full of surprises. Cade couldn’t figure the other man out, no matter how hard he tried. He had a gift of extracting information that Cade never intended to reveal. Cade supposed that was what made Harry a good therapist, even if Cade found him irritating.
“No, actually, I find your honesty refreshing. All along I assumed you came because you found my company scintillating.”
Cade snickered but was unable to hold back a smile. Harry was doing it again, and Cade didn’t like it. He wanted to stay angry. Anger was comfortable.
“It’s either my sparkling personality or maybe, just maybe, the deep-seated need you have for peace. Peace of mind, peace from your past, and peace to move forward.”
Cade let his words soak in. As much as he was loath to admit it, Harry was right. He thought he might have found the path to it when he’d first started seeing Hope. For weeks he’d watched her with Shadow. He identified with the mistreated dog. He didn’t want anyone close to him, either. He was angry, inimical, hostile to anyone who tried to befriend him. Then Hope came into his life.
He’d admired her determination, her grit and courage in taking a savage canine that was destined to be destroyed and transforming him with patience and love. Only he’d been misled by her, misled and betrayed. She was nothing like what he’d assumed. Once again, he’d been fooled.
It’d been devastating to inadvertently find her speaking to his mother. Her betrayal had felt like a knife thrust into his chest.
“I saw her with my mother,” Cade blurted out, unable to hide his anger and indignation.
“I assume you’re talking about Hope?”
He nodded. “I’d told her things I hadn’t told anyone, and then she turned and betrayed me with what she learned.”
“You mean to say you’ve been holding out on me?” He gave a pout, but Cade knew it was all for show.
Once again, the silence stretched between them while Harry patiently waited for Cade to continue.
After several awkward moments, Cade spoke. “I left home six years ago, and I haven’t been back. The last time I saw my mother was in a courtroom, just before I was sentenced.”
“In other words, you decided six years ago that you wanted nothing more to do with your family.”
“It was a mutual decision.”
Harry cocked his head to one side. “It appears your mother doesn’t share those feelings.”
Cade knotted his fists. “She was there to gloat.”
“Did she say so? Did she use the opportunity to tell you what a disappointment you were? Or anything that would give you that impression?”