Truth and Dare

“I thought I’d better get some supports up for the booth, before the storm got here, didn’t want the booth flying around like Dorothy’s house in the Wizard of Oz. Figured I could handle three or four two-by-fours.”

Cade turned to Patience. “I’m going to take a few minutes and help him out.”

She smiled. “I’ll help him pack up the rest of the tools.”

“Now that’s right nice of both of you,” Andy said.

“No problem. I’ve been eating Cade’s grandmother’s food and I feel like I’ve gone up two jean sizes in an hour.”

Andy laughed.

Cade picked up the boards and a sack of nails. As he added the supports and fixed the counter in front, he listened to his friend and Patience chat.

He couldn’t believe his friend was going to be a father, though he hadn’t lied. Andy and Celia would be incredible parents. They were loyal, loving, funny and smart. And some of the best people he knew.

Cade often invited them to come up to his house on Lake Austin for laid-back weekends. But the past year… He hadn’t made time for anyone, not even his family. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been on a date.

That had to be why he was so into Patience. It had been a while since he’d been with a woman—a long while.

Patience stacked the rest of the boards while Andy searched for loose nails. They talked back and forth as if they had been friends for years. Cade felt the same way about her and secretly it pleased him.

Why?

Oh, I think you know exactly why.

Patience was beautiful and smart, and…

Yep. He was in trouble.

BACK IN HER ROOM, Patience brushed out her hair and changed into an oversize T-shirt. She sat down on the edge of the bed and opened her laptop. She was so far behind on email it was ridiculous. She replied to the ones that were necessary and then perused her early information on the Randall case.

A noise from the next room made her jump. Then she realized it was Cade fixing the toilet. A wrench or some tool must have thudded on the wooden floor. There was something about a man who was good with tools. More than once she had caught herself catching a peek at his hard muscles as he worked on the booth for his friend.

Here was this multimillionaire, known as a shark in the business world, who thought nothing of picking up a hammer to help a friend.

Her opinion of him had changed so much since they first met. He was a caring, loving grandson and friend. She could tell by the way he communicated with Andy that there was a deep connection there. And honestly, a man didn’t have friends like Andy if he wasn’t good-hearted.

Patience checked herself. She shouldn’t care anything about the man’s personal life. She was here to solve a case, and that’s where her focus needed to be. It was hard to separate the man from the work, especially when he was right next door. She didn’t date much, but even she was aware of how hard it was to find a man like Cade Randall.

He’d been so passionate about his ranch, and she’d noticed he smiled more when he discussed what he wanted to do with the place he called the Triple Dare. The idea of restoring the ranch had been something Cade had thought about for a long time.

She wondered if this was some way of honoring his father or making up for the years he’d been so bitter about his dad’s disappearance.

Patience knew about being bitter and losing someone you loved. There wasn’t a day she didn’t think about the soul-sucking moment when her life had forever changed.

5

CADE’S FIRST THOUGHT WHEN he sat straight up in bed was that someone was crying. Rain beat down on the roof, and he wondered if maybe that was what he’d heard. There was another sob. Taking a moment to get his bearings he determined the noise had come from Patience’s room.

Patience called out to someone. He couldn’t hear the name, but the sob behind it was clear. The gut-wrenching sadness of the sound tore at him. Something was terribly wrong.

After sliding on his jeans, he knocked on the door separating their room.

She didn’t answer.

He heard another soft sob.

“Patience?” He opened the door. She was twisted in her sheets. “Hey, are you okay?”

“Jeremy… I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Please come home.”

Who was Jeremy? A pang of jealousy hit him.

He knelt at the bedside and saw she was sound asleep but in the middle of some kind of nightmare. “Patience.” He softly pressed his hand to her cheek.

“Hey, wake up,” he said softly. But the tears continued to flow.

Each sob constricted his heart. He couldn’t stand to see her this way. “Patience, come on, I need you to wake up.” This time he lightly jostled her shoulder and her eyes fluttered open.

“Cade?”

“You were having a bad dream.”

She turned to stare out the window. “I— Sometimes that happens.” She cleared her throat. “I’m sorry I woke you. Please, go back to bed.”

Cade smoothed a hand over her shoulder. “Don’t worry. I just wanted to make sure you’re all right. Do you want to talk about it?”

“No,” she said. “I’m fine. Embarrassed.”

“Why? It’s not like you can control something like that. And we’re friends. You don’t have to be embarrassed with me.” He meant it, though at times he had to admit he felt a little more than friendly toward her—well, way more.

“Thank you.” She sniffled.

“Are you sure you don’t want to talk?”

“No, I’m fine. Please go back to bed and forget this ever happened.”

“Hey.” He pushed a strand of hair off of her forehead. “You aren’t the only one with nightmares. I’ve had a couple since you figured out what happened to my dad. All that boyhood trauma coming back to play.” He dealt with it by pounding on a punching bag in his gym. “I don’t know what upset you, but don’t feel bad about it. GG always said we work things out in our dreams and usually it isn’t always the fun stuff.”

She glanced back at him. “I really adore that woman.”

“Me, too. So, are you better?”

“I will be.”

The haunted look in her eyes hadn’t eased.

“I love the sound of the rain on the tin roof. It’s soothing, don’t you think?”