Tied Together (The Cade Siblings Duology #1)

26. Alex

CHAPTER 26

Alex

I haven’t seen Alana since she ran away from me last night. I’m not going to lie, it hurt. I was excited to spend the evening with her and I knew she’d love the food I made, but after the incident it was like she totally shut me out.

I sat at the table alone and tried to figure out where I went wrong and ultimately decided she probably was just feeling the pressure and the cut on her finger heightened that. She needed some space and I could understand that.

Our conversations that afternoon had been pretty deep and with her phobia of relationships and trust, it makes sense that she freaked out a little, I think I probably would have too. So, even though it hurt, I try to put it out of my mind.

I stretch my arms above my head and throw on a long sleeve tee with my boxers, then head into the kitchen to make myself a latte. I wrestle with whether or not I should make her one, not wanting to upset her further.

Things over the last few days have gotten a little more serious, I can see the light at the end of the friend-zone tunnel, but I know that’s what’s scaring her. I know this thing with her ex has her shaken up, but I’m willing to be patient and prove myself to her. I’m here for the long run.

I walk into the kitchen and find a sticky note covered in her handwriting.

Went for a run, be back in a bit.

Alana

A run? It’s insanely cold outside. I remember her telling a story once, back when we were working in New York, about a race she was planning on running. We got to talking and apparently she picked up running as a way to de-stress. She told me to give it a try, but I am certainly not a runner. I like to unwind in other ways, like playing Candy Crush or doing a puzzle.

Running at home, where she knows the area and what to expect from the weather is one thing, but running in an unfamiliar city when the temperatures are below freezing doesn’t sound like the safest situation.

I try to shove down my concern. She is a big girl, as she keeps reminding me, and she knows how to take care of herself. Even if my first instinct is to have Marco canvas the streets to find her and bring her home, I can’t do that.

About a half hour later, she comes bursting through the door, nose and cheeks pink and snowflakes still frozen and stuck to her hat. She’s wearing a long sleeve hot pink athletic top and long black leggings that stretch all the way down to her ankles. Her pale pink socks are pulled up over the leggings, leaving no skin showing, and she’s wearing mittens.

She walks into the living room where I am sitting and starts pulling articles of clothing off one by one. She rips the mittens off and throws down the two heating pouches she was holding in either hand, then she pulls off her top leaving her in a sports bra.

“Why are you stripping in the living room?”

“Have you ever run in the cold? All the clothes keep you warm while you’re out there, but the second you come inside it’s like you’re burning up.”

“Can’t say I’ve experienced it, but I’ll take your word for it.”

She makes her way into the kitchen and I hear the ice machine working. A few minutes later, she comes back into the living room and plops down on the couch holding a tall glass of ice water in her hand.

“How was your run?” I ask, unsure if I should bring up last night or just leave it. Ultimately, I decide to follow her lead. I don’t want to push.

“It was great. It’s super cold out there, but it was nice to clear my mind for a little while. Running always helps with that.”

I nod and we fall into an awkward silence. I don’t like it. Things between us have never been awkward.

“Listen,” she starts. “I’m sorry about last night. It wasn’t fair of me to walk out on you like that after you went to all that work to make dinner. I was a jerk and I’m sorry.”

“Did I do something that made you uncomfortable?”

“No, not at all. It’s not you.” She fidgets with the band of her leggings, not meeting my eyes. I can tell she’s trying to decide whether or not she wants to keep going. Eventually she does. “I struggle sometimes, with letting people in. And as much as I appreciated our conversations yesterday, I think they just spooked me a little. I opened up a lot and I wanted to, but I needed a little bit of space. I hope you understand, though, that it wasn’t your fault and you’ve been great. I just needed to hit the brakes for a second.”

My heart breaks for this woman who is so closed off to anyone outside of her inner circle, that a few deep conversations spooked her so much that she stepped back. It’s not her fault, though. Most of the important people in her life have let her down, so it’s going to take some work for her to trust me. When I eventually tell her how I feel, I want to be sure she’s going to believe me.

“That makes sense. It did get a little heavy, but I learned a lot about you and you learned a lot about me. That’s a good thing.” I nudge her shoulder with mine and she finally meets my eyes, smiling.

“It is.” She takes a deep breath, then stands. “I’m going to go grab a shower. We need to leave for dinner by six?”

“Yep, sounds good to me.”

I walk with her down the hallway and we turn opposite directions once we get to our doors. Once I shut the door behind me, I take out my phone and look over the surprise plans I have for tonight. When Alana first gave me the list of her traditions, I had an idea to do something special with it, but I didn’t want to overstep. I have to remind myself that, while I have been slowly falling for her for the past year, she has been healing from an awful break up and relationship. I need to let her catch up to me.

I pull up the website of the tree farm we are going to tonight. It happens to be close to where we are meeting Amélie, which worked out perfectly. They’re open late, so it should work for us to drop by there before they close. I don’t know that our car can hold a big tree, so I shoot off a text to Marco asking him to bring supplies to tie whatever tree we choose down to the car. He responds and lets me know he has it handled.

As the plan forms in my mind, my excitement grows. I want to make this year magical for Alana and I want her to feel special and cared for. I’m not going to let her cold shoulder from last night scare me away. This girl deserves the world and I am going to work to earn her trust, so she’ll let me give it to her.

I don’t hear from her for the rest of the day. She came out to make a peanut butter sandwich, but took it back to her room and hasn’t come out since. I know I’m going to spend the entire evening with her, so I let her be. About ten minutes to six, I head out of my room and into the living room to wait for her to be ready.

I sit down on the couch and scroll through my phone, checking in with mom and Banks. Everything at home seems to be going okay and Banks says mom is doing well. I’m reminded of how thankful I am that he is there and checking in on her. I know if something was actually wrong there is no chance she’d tell me while I’m here and unable to do anything about it.

I hear a door shut and the tap of boots on the marble floor and I look up just as Alana is entering the living room. She looks stunning. Her long legs are covered in tights and she’s wearing a black skirt and a blazer.

“Wow, you look great, Lanie.”

She blushes. “Not so bad yourself, Ashford.”

“Ready to head out?”

“Yep. Let me grab my coat and purse real quick.” She walks over to the small mud room that houses all of our coats and grabs hers. I already have mine on, so I cross the room and take hers out of her hands.

“Here, let me help. You’ve got stuff in your hands.”

She smiles up at me and passes her purse, phone and lip gloss to one hand, freeing the other arm to slip into the coat. I hold it out for her and she slides one arm in and then the other. I spin her around to face me and tug the coat forward, then without even thinking I start buttoning it up for her.

“Oh, I can do that,” she says hesitantly.

“Let me.”

She doesn’t protest, but I am aware of her rigid posture. Whatever is happening inside of that beautiful head of hers is causing her to pull away and it’s frustrating.

We walk out of the flat and down to the car. When we get outside, we’re in a different car than usual. This one is a black suburban that is a lot bigger than the small sedan we’ve been driving in. I know why, but Lanie doesn’t.

“I wonder why they switched cars,” she whispers to me, not wanting to make a big deal out of it I assume.

“Maybe the other car needed servicing,” I supply, keeping the secret a bit longer.

She shrugs and I reach to open her door, waving off Marco and helping her in.

The drive to the restaurant is short and quiet. I assume we’re both in our heads a bit about this dinner, neither of us really know what to expect. Just as I am about to say something, Alana speaks.

“I’m a little nervous,” she says, brushing an invisible piece of lint off of her skirt. “About the dinner.”

“Yeah, I am too.”

“I’m excited to know more about what exactly she wants us to do while we’re here, but it feels like a lot of pressure. Hiring people and training them just feels like a lot.”

“I agree, it does feel like a lot of pressure. You’re better at explaining things, so I’m sure they’ll want you to head up the training.”

“Oh, whatever Alex. You’re good at just about everything, including cooking.”

We arrive at the restaurant and I turn to her.

“Stay there. If you even think about trying to get out of this car before I open the door for you I will pelt you with snowballs when we get done with this dinner.”

Her laugh is beautiful and shakes her head in earnest.

“Yes, sir,” she says with a mock salute.

I jump out, walk around to her side of the car and open the door for her. I hold out my hand and she takes it, stepping out onto the sidewalk.

I reluctantly drop her hand and we walk into the restaurant.