Cade took Jane’s cold hand, leading her to his bedroom. The short walk didn’t last long enough for Jane, who was already preparing herself for his goodbye.
He shut the door to the bedroom before releasing her hand.
“Let’s sit down.” Cade’s gruff voice had her following his direction.
Once she took off her coat, laying it on the chair before sitting stiffly on the bed, Cade sat down next to her on the bed, placing his arm around her. “Darlin’, I have some bad news.”
“Cade, if you’re going to break up with me, just do it. I can take it. I’m not a child.”
Cade shook his head. “I’m not breaking up with you ever, Jane. I plan to marry you.”
“What?” Jane went from heartache to glee at his words. She threw herself into his arms, but Cade pulled back, staring down at her happy face.
“Jane, I need to tell you what was in my note. After you left that morning, your father called me. Bailey had disappeared again. Montgomery searched her computer and phone records and found out she had sneaked away to go back to Raul.”
“Oh, God.”
Cade put his arm around her shoulders. “He asked for my help, darlin’, and since they were your family, I couldn’t turn them down.”
Jane’s body tightened in fear at his words. “Were?”
“I caught a plane to Corpus Christi, but I was too late. Raul had already managed to get her across the border. Your dad flew down, determined to go inside and get her out again. I tried to warn him. I said I would go and went to get supplies, but when I came back, he was gone.”
Jane started crying.
“Raul had contacted him while I was gone and told him, if he didn’t give the money back, he would kill Bailey. He said he wouldn’t transfer the money until he saw Bailey, so he went out to meet them without waiting for me to come back. It took me two weeks to find them. Their bodies are being flown back tomorrow. I’m sorry I couldn’t save them for you.”
Her father and sister were gone.
Numbness at his words quickly gave way to grief, and Cade held her as she cried, gently rocking her back and forth, whispering over and over how much he loved her. His words finally penetrated her sorrow.
“Bailey didn’t want to be saved. She always believed that nothing bad could happen to her. Dad was the only one who could have made her change, but he wouldn’t face what the true Bailey was like.”
After a while and finally calming down, Jane stood up, taking his hand. “We’re going to have dinner with our family and enjoy the rest of Christmas. Tomorrow, I’ll make the arrangements…” Jane’s voice broke.
They went back to the front room where everyone stopped eating as Jane and Cade took a seat at the table.
“Stud, can you pass the ham?” she asked politely, feeling like the food would choke her if she took a bite. She was trying to keep a brave face, not wanting to ruin their Christmas dinner with the sad news.
She filled her plate with all her favorites as Cade filled his.
“Skulls, can you pass the turkey?” Cade asked, reaching his hands out.
“Brother, you don’t want the turkey. Try the ham.” Skulls’s wiggling eyebrows looked like a caterpillar moving across his brow.
“I prefer the turkey—”
“See, Skulls, not everyone likes ham for Christmas.” A good-looking older woman dressed in a low cut glitter top that bared half her breasts stood up, hefting the untouched turkey closer to him. “Enjoy. I cooked it all by myself without any help from Sex Piston,” she boasted.
“You’re Sex Piston’s mom?” At her nod, Cade turned to Jane. “Pass the ham.”
Chapter 27
Jane couldn’t help the tears that fell down her cheeks as she watched her father’s casket lowered into the ground. Then, minutes later, her sister’s casket was also lowered.
Cade stood at her back, his arm around her waist, his warmth a buffer against the strong winds carrying flurries.
“Ready?” Cade asked.
“Yes.” Jane turned away as the dirt was being shoveled onto their caskets.
They rode Cade’s new motorcycle to the home of Sex Piston’s parents, where Jane stood numbly as friends all offered their condolences.
She was surprised when her stepmother stepped hesitantly through the doorway. Jane took a step forward, hugging her usually standoffish stepmother. Her typically immaculately beautiful face was a mask of grief.
“I’m truly sorry, Delphi.”
“Thank you, Jane. I wasn’t sure I would be welcome, but I couldn’t bear to be alone right now.”
“I’m glad you came,” Jane said sincerely. “Come on, let’s get you something to eat.”