He looks up at me and I see just the barest hint of the old Cade in his eyes. “When did you ever have good timing?” he asks.
I chuckle and say, “Probably never. My point is that now that you are back with me, if I leave you again, I don’t want you to go downhill again.”
“So, are you saying you want me to come with you?” he asks.
Oh, crap, no. That is a bad idea that makes me shudder. “No, you can’t I’m afraid. I am going to be with my mother.”
“Then what?” he asks.
Good point. What am I trying to say here? I take a breath and bite the bullet. “I guess what I am trying to say is that I should give you something more today, something to get you back on track and keep you from sliding while I am gone.”
He looks at me as if I have grown another head and says, “No! No, that won’t be necessary. I will be fine until you return.”
I should just accept that, but I know he will be worse off for being with me and then me leaving again so soon. I am setting myself up for the rejection of my lifetime, either that or the biggest mistake I will ever make, but it doesn’t stop me from crawling into his lap. He leans away from me but doesn’t push me off. He looks confused and conflicted about what to do. I link my hands around the back of his neck and say to him. “Just take as much from me as you feel able.”
He thinks about it for a long time before he does what he needs to do.
About an hour later we are in the car and driving home. We are both silent, lost in our own thoughts. He has his hand in mine and we sit like that for the entire ride. As we near home, I say to him, “Will you come back to work? You know, when you are ready?”
He looks at me in surprise. “You want me to?” he asks.
“Yeah,” I say. I think it will be the best thing for him to get back to as close to normal as possible.
“You trust me?” he smirks at me and I laugh in surprise. We are close to the banter we used to share.
“Well, in spite of your bad choices, yes I do,” I say.
“Humph,” he says. “I always knew you were a fool.”
“Oh?” I say archly. “Do you plan on betraying me again? I am not so sure you could top last quarter’s performance.”
His hand tightens on mine and I squeeze it back to show him I mean no harm, but we can’t dodge around this subject.
“No,” he says softly. “Never again. You can trust me.”
I nod briskly and say, “Well, will you then?”
He deliberates and then says, much to my amusement, “What, now that I am your charge, I don’t get to sit around in a life of luxury?”
I snicker at him because even if I offered him that life, he would refuse it point blank. It is just not his style. “Nope,” I say. “You have a lot of making up to do. Lifetimes,” I add with a little smirk.
He glares at me. “Yes, lifetimes,” he repeats glumly.
I bite my lip, cursing myself for reminding him precisely what I was trying to avoid in this moment. “Cade,” I say, but he sighs.
“It’s okay. We can’t skirt around this issue anymore. My name is Cade and I am a Vampire,” he says with a sidelong look at me. “Yes, I will come back to work.”
“Yay,” I exclaim quietly. “When do you think that will be?”
“Eager, much?” he says.
Actually, I am eager. Eager for him to return to normal, but also eager because I have a project that I need him to get on as soon as possible. I was going to ask Nico, but this would be so much better.
“What do you want me to do?” he asks, reading my thoughts.
“There is something of the utmost secrecy that I need you to do. It is highly sensitive and, well, to be honest, it is downright intrusive, but I just need to know,” I say.
I have piqued his natural interest in all things covert and he forgets about everything else as he pulls off the road and turns to me with a concentrated look. “What