It’s Going to Be a Chrome Christmas by Elise Gedicke Read Free Novel Chapter 8

The text messages just kept going. Her cell phone had just as many missed calls and voicemails. He wasn’t giving up. Trixie didn’t know how she felt about that. He was fighting for them, so why wasn’t she?

She kept replaying Sunday night in her head. Cayden had gone upstairs to get something, something special. Then Geordi came running up to her from the kitchen with his childish grin. “I’m so excited, Ms. Trixie. Cayden said I could be his best man at your wedding!” And her entire world had plummeted.

Trixie was willing to admit she’d fallen in love with Cayden. It truly hadn’t been that hard to do. He was an easy man to love. But marriage?

She’d seen the bitter sides of marriage. Her mother had left her husband with four kids to raise on his own. That ring on her finger hadn’t prohibited her from abandoning them. Addy and AJ had been headed to the altar and the ring he’d placed on her finger hadn’t prevented those cuffs from going around his wrists. If anything, that ring had put them there. Marco and Lindsey had made it down the aisle and he’d still been shot.

Marriage? What was Cayden thinking? He was still on parole, not that that truly mattered, but it was still a factor. Plus, they’d only known each other a little over a month. A month! Well, known each other closer to two months, but they’d only been seeing each other officially for a month. Their missed weekend had been only their fifth and he wanted them to get married?

Trixie really wished she had some alcohol. Her Rocky Road just was not cutting it.

She saw her phone buzz with a message. It was Cayden. Her head tilted though, because the message was in all caps.

Her ringtone immediately started to sing. Trixie turned the screen over, which did nothing to silence the song. A few seconds after it stopped, she heard the dual beeping that indicated she had yet another voicemail.

She wasn’t being fair to him. She knew that. She needed to put on her big girl pants and tell him the truth. But once she did, she feared they would be over. He wanted marriage and she…didn’t. There was no getting around that, no getting over it. Dealbreaker.

She knew she was torturing herself by listening to his voicemails. As twisted as it was, though, she needed to hear his voice. His baritone brought her comfort, even when his words didn’t.

“Baby, listen, I talked to Geordi.” That got her attention. She sat up straighter. “What he said, well, he was confused. He doesn’t… He doesn’t understand things the way you or I would. To him, we’re getting married because I’ve been spending the weekends with you. In his head, a man and a woman only get together if they’re getting married. I don’t know why you couldn’t talk to me about this or why you felt you needed to shut me out. Believe me, I am not happy about that, but please, talk to me now. I swear, I’m not going to pop the question and I… Oh, hell, I don’t know what I’m trying to say. Please, Trix, just call me.”

Well, fuck.

With a shaky hand, Trixie pressed the button to call him back.

“Finally! You really know how to drive a man to the brink of sanity!”

Trixie closed her eyes, feeling her chin quiver. “I’m sorry.”

She heard his sigh. “Baby, it’s okay. I freaked a bit too when Geordi first said it to me. Mind, I think he has our wedding pretty much planned out if you ever want any pointers.” A wet laugh escaped her. “Trix, I’m not proposing.”

She nodded, even though he couldn’t see it. “I’m sorry.”

There was a small pause. “Damn, I wish I could hold you right now. Listen, I’ll be there bright and early in the morning. I’ll tell Mr. Wynn we have a delivery or something coming in. I’ll be there around seven. Please, baby, just get some sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Cayden,” she said quickly, not wanting him to hang up the phone just yet.

“Yeah?”

“Are you… I mean, are you mad at me?”

He let out a long breath. “Well I’m certainly not happy about the silent treatment. It was a misunderstanding that could have been completely avoided if you’d just talked to me.”

Sorrow and guilt warred within her. She deserved him to be mad at her. She’d acted like a child rather than a woman in an adult relationship. “Cayden?”

“Yeah?”

She glanced down at herself and then said, “I’m not wearing panties.”

Mr. Wynn pulled into the Romero’s parking lot at seven-o-two the next morning. Cayden nearly leaped out of the truck before it came to a full stop. “A delivery, really?”

Cayden gave him a sly smile. “A very important delivery.”

Mr. Wynn rolled his eyes. “Don’t forget to have her fill out that furlough paperwork.”

Never. It was currently burning a hole in his back pocket. “Thanks for the ride.”

He didn’t watch to see Mr. Wynn drive off. He rushed to the employee door and punched in his code. She was waiting for him on the other side. Cayden’s shoulders slumped the moment he saw her red eyes. Despite their phone sex, he’d had a feeling she had cried herself to sleep.

He took her into his arms, letting the door close behind him. She clung to him, fisting the back of his shirt. Cayden picked her up and walked them upstairs to her office. He sat them down in her office chair, cradling her close.

They stayed there in silence for nearly ten minutes. He was wondering if she’d fallen back to sleep when she took his right hand between her two on her lap.

He wasn’t sure how she’d take it, but he needed to say it. “So, apparently marriage is a sore subject with you.”

Her dry giggle lifted the boulder that had been sitting on his chest since Sunday evening. “I’m sorry.”

He pressed his lips to her forehead. “You keep saying that, but you haven’t told me why.”

She let out a long sigh. “Let’s just say that my family hasn’t had a good history with marriage.”

“Vague,” he responded. Cayden really was going to need more than that. He planned to pry the entire family history from her this weekend. They didn’t have enough time. “You thought I went upstairs to get a ring?”

She nodded against his chest. “I’m a total bitch. I’m so sorry for giving you the silent treatment. You deserved better than that.”

“I’m not happy about it, but please don’t call yourself that. You are the least bitchy person I know.”

“Doesn’t mean I can’t act like one.”

“Look at me.” He waited for her to lift her chocolate eyes. “You and me, we got a lot of baggage to work through, but I mean to work through it. With you. Trix, you’re it for me.” Her breath hitched. “I am not proposing so stop looking at me like that.” She relaxed slightly. “I just mean that I’m in this for the long haul. But,” he added, tipping her head up further, “I need to know that you are too. I need to know that the next time something scares you that you aren’t going to run from me. You need to talk to me. Otherwise, we’re doomed before we start.”

She nodded, though she’d dropped her eyes again. “I know. I messed up.”

Cayden rested his cheek against the top of her head. “Just a bit.” He took a deep breath before admitting, “But I did too. You went silent on me, and I panicked. It’s not easy for me to be forced to a schedule and curfew like I’m some fucking child. You wouldn’t talk to me, and I didn’t know if it was something I did or if something had happened to you and I just… Well, I’m sorry for all the phone calls and texts.”

Her giggle was a symphony to his ears. “So what you’re saying is we’re both not perfect?”

He snorted. “You’re the closest thing to it in my book.”

“Um, can I ask…” She paused. “If you weren’t going upstairs to get a ring, why did you go up?”

He raised an eyebrow though she couldn’t see it. “I don’t think that’s how this works. You mess up and you still expect a gift?”

Trixie slapped his chest lightly. “I’m just curious.”

He shook his head. “Nope. I think you owe me a present.”

“How about a pink slip?”

He gasped. “Ouch. I take back that not-a-bitch comment.”

She grinned. “Really? You’re not going to show me?”

Cayden shook his head. “Nope. Once you’re back in my good graces, maybe I’ll give you your present.”

Trixie shifted on his lap, straddling his hips. “I know exactly how to get back into your good graces.”

The office chair wasn’t big enough for them to comfortably do this, so Cayden picked her up and plopped her bottom on her desk. He kept his hips between her legs and hovered over her. “Are you saying I’m easy?”

She nodded mischievously. “So easy.”

He met her smile with one of his. “You know this will be a first for me.”

Confusion crossed her face. “What will?”

He unzipped his jeans. “Make-up sex.”

When Jeff came knocking on her office door a few minutes after eight, Cayden was helping her button-up her coveralls. She winced at the sound. “I owe them an apology too.”

“We do,” he corrected. He’d also been a bear these past couple of days.

“What do you want me to tell them?”

She was wrinkling her nose in worry, so he kissed it. “Well, we can leave out the non-existent marriage proposal detail, but we can tell them the rest.”

“Everything?”

He nodded. “I’m not ashamed of us, and I have no desire to lie about my past. You trust me, and that’s enough for me.”

She bit her lip. “Peggy told me what happened at your other jobs. I don’t want that to happen here.”

“Well, here, I am doing something that I didn’t do at my other jobs.”

“What’s that?”

“I’m sleeping with my boss.”

She laughed. “Hell yeah, you are.”

He took her hand. “Ready?”

She nodded. “Let’s do this.”

They walked down the stairs together. Despite that they were coming out as a couple, neither had any desire to rub it in the employees’ faces. So, before opening the door to the first floor, Cayden kissed the back of the hand he held and then let it fall.

Cayden could immediately feel the difference in the atmosphere today versus Monday’s and Tuesday’s meetings. Maybe it was just him, but the air didn’t feel as tense.

Unlike every other meeting before this that he’d attended, Cayden followed Trixie to the front of the room. She didn’t take a seat on the table like she usually did either. Instead, they stood side by side to face her employees.

She held up a fifty-dollar bill and put it in the collection jar.

“I owe everyone an apology,” she started out saying as soon as everyone was settled. “I have treated everyone unfairly the past week. To answer the obvious question, yes, Cayden and I are romantically involved, and yes, it was the source of my, uh, aggravation this week.” At some of the looks shot Cayden’s way, Trixie quickly added, “It wasn’t his doing and I won’t have anyone blame him. There were circumstances outside of his control and I reacted to it badly.”

Cayden wanted to touch her but refrained from doing so in front of everyone. They needed to show that they could keep their personal and professional lives separate.

“What happened last week with the cops?” Trinity in sales asked.

“As some of you are aware, last Thursday, a former acquaintance of Cayden’s brought a stolen vehicle to our bay door. This forced us to call the police. The situation was handled appropriately and was of no fault of our own.”

Drew in marketing asked, “Was Cayden arrested?”

“No,” Trixie said quickly. When she looked over at him questioningly, he nodded, giving her permission to continue. “Cayden started working here through a work program under the terms of his parole.” Cayden stood tall and met the accusatory looks head-on. He was not ashamed of his past. “I was aware of his circumstances at the time of his hire. I felt it was not something that needed to be shared⁠—”

“He’s a convict!”

“Is he dangerous?”

“We had a right to know!”

“Enough!” Trixie called over the protests. “You didn’t have a right to know, nor is there a rule that states you do. I choose who works here and I chose Cayden. Has he not helped out every one of you in some way? Has he not upgraded our security? Has he not worked just as hard as any of you?” She paused, meeting everyone’s eyes before she continued. “My personal relationship with him aside, he is as valued an employee as the rest of you.”

Seeing the fight still on many of their faces, Cayden stepped forward. “I was arrested for car theft. I was sentenced three years but only served thirty months and was released on good behavior. I am serving the remainder of my sentence on parole. I asked Trixie not to tell anyone my history when she hired me. This is my fourth job since my release. I am sorry for any personal grief I have caused you. I hope you won’t hold my past against me as I want nothing more than to move forward and be a better man.” He shot Trixie a look over his shoulder. “A worthy man.” Turning back to the rest of them, he added, “I’m a gearhead at heart, just like the rest of you.”

The first Saturday of August, Cayden and Trixie found themselves lying lazily in her bathtub surrounded by mountains of bubbles. They were each in their own thoughts, which was fine with Trixie. She was loving the feel of him lounging behind her. Cayden had already unexpectedly washed her hair. It surprised her how intimate the act was, and yet so simple. No one had washed her hair for her since she was a little girl. It shouldn’t have been arousing or erotic, but it had been. And sensual and sweet.

There was no doubt in her mind that she was in love with Cayden Russo, her Cocky Biker.

The week had been interesting. Following their announcement of their romantic involvement and Cayden’s history, the employees seemed to have split into two factions. Those who didn’t seem to care and those who cared a little too much. Jeff, Joey, and her other managers were doing their best to keep things calm and running smoothly. Cayden continued to work just as hard and efficiently as he had before his reveal.

Two employees, Trinity in sales and Gary from the motor pool, came up to Trixie after Wednesday’s meeting to inform her that they were also dating. They had kept it quiet, not knowing Trixie’s policy on interoffice romances. Since it would have been hypocritical at that point to ban them, Trixie had had Joey do a little legal research. She then had Trinity and Gary and then herself and Cayden sign forms that acknowledged they were willing participants in a sexual relationship with a fellow employee and did not feel themselves pressured or coerced by their co-worker.

Cayden had enjoyed having to do this tremendously. He even asked for a copy of her form so he could frame it.

Jeff and Trixie had to address several employees referring to Cayden as ‘the convict’. She wasn’t sure if Cayden was aware of the name or if he was just being a good sport and ignoring it. Either way, she did not allow that sort of harassment. It was still unknown who had replaced Cayden’s coveralls with a black and white prisoner’s Halloween costume. Since she didn’t have a camera in the breakroom where the employee lockers were, there was no way to prove who did it. Cayden told her not to punish the employees and not to reprimand them as a collective. Instead, Cayden donned the costume and passed out candy to the employees and customers like it was Halloween in the summer.

She admired how Cayden was taking everything in stride, but she worried that one too many occurrences would push him too far. Usually she was very proud to stand behind her Romero employees. She was finding it harder and harder to do so this week. Trixie did not like that. She hadn’t figured out yet what she was going to say at Monday’s meeting, but she knew she was going to say something. No matter how well Cayden took the pranks and nicknames, it was still workplace harassment. She told herself she wouldn’t allow it of any of her employees and she was not giving Cayden any special treatment because they were involved.

Cayden seemed to have put her reaction to the non-existent marriage proposal—his term—behind them. Though he had made it a private joke between them, making sure to bend down on one knee to ‘tie his shoe’ just as she walked into a room or would drop a pen that he would have to pick up down on one knee. She knew what he was doing, trying to get her to find humor in what had happened rather than dwell on it or be embarrassed. She loved him for it. Still, she knew she owed him a bigger explanation of her actions than ‘rough family history with marriage’. She was actually surprised he’d allowed her vague reply to go on this long without demanding further explanation.

Truth was, though, Trixie didn’t know where to start. Explaining her parents wouldn’t be difficult. She’d grown up with the knowledge that her mom had left them and wasn’t coming back. It had hurt the most in her teen years, but her family and Peggy had gotten her through. She knew her hermanos were also affected and openly admitted that it was different for a young girl to be absent a mother than it was a young boy. They had had their papá and abuelo to get them through their awkward teens. Trixie cringed, not wanting to imagine what her teens would have been like if she hadn’t had Tìa Peggy to guide her. To this day, she smiled at the memory of Papá trying to explain how her ‘womanly parts’ worked.

She missed her papá and abuelo something awful. There wasn’t a day that went by where she didn’t think about them or wish they were here. Recently, she’d been wondering what they would think of Cayden.

She knew Abuelo would ask her the simple question of, “are you happy, nieta?” To which she could reply truthfully that she was very happy.

Papá would try to act stern and tell her that he didn’t like him but knew that the moment he saw Cayden take apart a V8 engine he would have been right there beside him. Anyone who treated cars the way Cayden did was okay in Papá’s book. He would still make the paternal threats to treat his mija right, but she had no doubt that Cayden and Papá would have gotten along famously.

Her hermanos were a different story. Explaining her hermanos to Cayden would be difficult and she would have to tread carefully.

Biting her lip, she thought perhaps she should get some background from him before she opened up about herself. Then she could determine how to proceed with explaining her family history as well as her reaction to the non-existent marriage proposal.

She picked up his pruning hand and laced their fingers together. “Will you tell me about prison?”

He stiffened. “Why would you want to know about that?”

“Because it’s a part of you.” She couldn’t see his face but envisioned his tense expression at her question. “You spent two and a half years of your life in there and I want to understand.”

He was silent though. For a long time. Too long. She feared she’d pissed him off with her question. Trixie sat up off of his chest and moved herself around so she could face him. His mismatched eyes were dark and the scowl on his lips confirmed that she had indeed angered him. The water sloshed as she maneuvered her legs under her butt.

She kissed the back of his hand despite the bubbles on it. “Cayden, why won’t you tell me?”

He turned his head away. She didn’t like that. He was always telling her to look at him, said that he loved watching her emotions through her milk chocolate eyes. But he wouldn’t look at her? That hurt.

Fear touched her soul as she realized she might not be the only one hurting. “Did something happen in there? Did someone hurt you?”

He quickly shook his head. “Not the way you’re thinking. For the most part, I was left alone as long as I left them alone. Sort of an unspoken deal. As much as I didn’t like it and wanted to separate myself from my old life, being a Black Python provided me with protection.”

Trixie knew the Black Pythons had a scary reputation. She didn’t understand though how that carried over to Cayden in prison or protected him. It wasn’t like his club could enter prison to have his back.

“It wasn’t easy, but I survived it.” He still wasn’t looking at her. Why?

“Then why won’t you tell me about it?”

He scowled. “Why do you want to know?”

She would have thought that answer was obvious. “Because it was a life changing event in your life, and I want to understand it.” Cayden, though, shook his head. “You said you were an open book,” she reminded him, and then instantly regretted it.

His head snapped in her direction, his eyes blazing. “You don’t get it, do you? How could you? Prison wasn’t some ‘vacation’. It wasn’t downtime and it wasn’t fun. It was prison. That’s the point. I went where I was told to go, I ate what I was told to eat, I drank what I was told to drink, and I shit when I was told to shit. I wasn’t me. Why would I want you anywhere near that darkness?”

Silence fell between them. Cayden sat back against the edge of the tub and put his hand over his eyes. Trixie just stared at him, her heart racing. It took her some time to process his words as well as his reaction. Cayden’s personality was larger than life. He was self-assured and he liked to have fun. Like most people, he liked choices. To him, prison must have been extremely lonely.

In his way, though he was breaking a promise to her, he was also protecting her. Not her person but her innocent way of life. He didn’t want her to know about his time in prison because he thought she deserved better than to have to share those dark memories with him. Protecting her was more important than keeping his word to tell her anything she wanted to know about him. It was sweet, in a very stupid Cayden-way.

She stood up, bubbles and water dripping off of her. Without looking or speaking to him, she turned on the overhead shower and started to rinse off. She stepped out of the tub to grab her towel. When she was semi-dry, Trixie wrapped the blue towel under her shoulders and tucked it into place.

In the doorway, she turned back to him. “You coming?”

The confusion on his face told her he had been expecting her to walk away from him. He probably felt he deserved her wrath. But that wasn’t the emotion she planned to share with him.

He quickly stood up and rinsed off too. Ducking down, he popped the drain.

Trixie waited for him by the door to her apartment. When he was here with her, they turned off the cameras on the second floor so they could roam freely without worrying about giving the guards at L and S a peep show. A towel around his waist, he exited the bathroom.

She could still see the confusion on his face as she held out her hand to him. Cayden took it, confusion turning to worry.

Trixie walked him down the hall to her office. She dropped his hand to grab the framed large picture of her family off the wall. Laying her hand on the glass, she took a moment to bask in the memories of her childhood, to times when she thought unicorns and Santa Claus were real.

She took a deep breath and then handed the framed photo to Cayden. He took it. “You don’t need to keep me from the darkness. I already know all about it.”

Cayden stared at the picture of the Romero family. Grandfather, father, three boys, and a single girl. They were all smiling, clutching each other like nothing could ever break them apart. Cayden had seen multiple pictures of Trixie’s grandfather. As the founder of Romero’s, he had a dedication plaque in the showroom with his picture, a small blurb about his life, and his birth and death years. In the breakroom, there was a picture of Trixie’s father receiving an award with stacks of tires behind him. Cayden knew she had brothers, but he didn’t know anything about them. Jeff had mentioned in passing once that the oldest was a Marine.

Everyone in the photo she’d handed him had the same chocolate brown eyes as Trixie. He didn’t know who her mother was or what had happened to her either, other than the fact that she hadn’t been present for Trixie’s childhood. There were more family pictures including the Wynns around her walls. He knew she called them ‘aunt’ and ‘uncle’ even though they weren’t blood relatives.

Trixie came over to stand by his side to look at the picture with him. “That’s mi abuelo, Bobby, and mi papi, Zyn.” She pointed to each. “Papá was diagnosed with lung cancer when I was nineteen. He fought, hard too, but unfortunately, he wasn’t able to beat it. Not liking how the drugs and chemo made him feel, Papá chose to take himself off of them and to live his last remaining months as himself, or as much as himself as the cancer would allow.” Her voice cracked. “We lost him just before my twenty-first birthday.”

Cayden felt his heart clench. He wanted to take her into his arms, to protect her from the pain she was revealing. He didn’t dare interrupt her though.

Trixie pointed to the picture of her grandfather Bobby and her at Times Square, the same picture Cayden had pointed out to her the day he’d won their bet. “Abuelo took me to New York City. I’d just lost mi papi and he’d just lost his son, but he wanted to make sure I had a good birthday. I’d always wanted to go. He even got us tickets to see Wicked on Broadway.” Her chin trembled. “About eleven months later, he didn’t show up for work. It was so odd. Abuelo never missed work. Rain or shine, he was here working.” Trixie closed her eyes, taking a moment to center herself before she continued. “I found him in bed. I didn’t even realize at first… I thought he was sleeping.”

Cayden couldn’t take it anymore. He put the picture down on her desk and took her into his arms. She was shaking. Trixie buried her face against his tattooed, bare chest, muffling her voice. “The doctors said he passed in his sleep. There was nothing I could have done.”

He pressed his lips to her still-wet hair. “I’m so sorry.”

“The worst part was, I was alone. I had the Wynns and I had Jeff, but mi hermanos… They weren’t there.”

Cayden flinched, hatred rising inside him. How could they have abandoned her like that? “Jeff told me one of your brothers was military. Was he deployed at that time?” At least that was a legitimate reason for his absence.

She nodded. Sniffling, she lifted herself off of him and pointed to the oldest boy in the picture. “That’s Lee, my oldest brother. There’s ten years between us. He enlisted in the Marines when he was eighteen. I was terrified when he got deployed. A friend at school’s dad had been killed in action. I started to have nightmares that the same would happen to Lee.”

“It’s a heavy burden to bear, especially as a child.”

“I don’t know everything about his military career. I know he rose in ranks, set for a career, but then chose to retire instead. I haven’t seen him in over two years.” She pointed to the second oldest boy in the picture. “Not since Marco’s funeral.”

Cayden closed his eyes, cringing. Another death, another funeral. He prayed it was the last one she’d suffered through, but she still had one more brother to go.

“What happened?” he asked when she didn’t continue.

Trixie pointed to the back corner of the room, where a wedding photo hung. Cayden glanced between the two and realized the groom was the second oldest boy from the family portrait. The very pregnant bride and he were wearing identically brilliant smiles. The date monogrammed into the frame placed the wedding six years ago.

“Marco, his wife Lindsey, and their son, Bobby, were placed in WITSEC after they witnessed a gang shooting. I don’t know the whole of it, but Lindsey wasn’t handling the constant moving around and the name changes well. They decided to leave the program and come home.” She wiped her eyes. “They were back less than a week when Marco was kidnapped, tortured, and killed. Lindsey and Bobby went back into the program. They didn’t even stay for his funeral.”

Cayden stepped forward and took her back into his arms. He dropped his head into her hair. Two years ago. What she’d suffered through, practically alone, while he’d been in prison. He hadn’t known her then, so it made no sense that he regretted not having been there for her, but he wished he had been. He could have held her tight and told her he loved her. It was insane to feel guilty about not being there for her.

He turned her face towards him and kissed her. She clung to him, her chin trembling. All he wanted in that moment was to wipe away her tears, to give her the warmth and love she deserved to feel every day of her life. He wanted her to know how much he admired her strength and endurance. He wanted to promise her that she’d never have to face another tragedy alone, that he would be at her side from now until eternity.

Cayden picked her up without breaking their kiss. Words were meaningless. Anyone could claim anything. He knew that better than most. But showing her? Yeah, he could do what no one else could. He could express his love through every kiss, every lick, every gaze, every touch, every caress. He would make her feel how much he loved, cherished, and craved her so that there was no doubt in her mind when she was ready to hear those words.

Cayden gave Trixie a rose from Peggy’s garden every day that week. She’d made a vase out of a spare cylinder from the motor pool to keep them in. She’d always prided herself on not being a girly-girl, but she’d be a fool to turn down his extra pampering. Cayden still hadn’t told her about his time in prison, and frankly, she doubted she’d ever get too much detail out of him regarding it. His instinct to protect her was just too strong. That both irked and flattered her.

The following weekend, they went mini golfing. Despite their weekends prior to this, this was technically their first date. Cayden smiled the entire time, and she suspected, let her win. Later that night, they visited the boardwalk. They played some carnival games and rode the Ferris wheel. He even paid the attendant to stop them at the top so he could kiss her.

She knew all the romancing and the pampering was his way of trying to make her feel better about what she’d revealed. Truth was, it wasn’t necessary. She’d made peace about Abuelo’s, Papá’s, and Marco’s deaths years ago. She was still saddened by them, and likely always would be, but she’d had to come to terms with what had happened or it would have consumed her and her life.

Her hang ups about marriage existed beyond their deaths. Her lack of a sex life prior to Cayden could be blamed on her busy work schedule and lack of social skills.

The daily rose continued over the next two weeks. Trixie didn’t have the heart to tell him they weren’t necessary. Eventually, she figured, Peggy would have to run out of roses. Maybe he’d move onto chocolates then.

Things between Cayden and the other employees also seemed to have cooled off. She had never gotten around to addressing their behavior at one of the morning meetings and she was grateful that the harassment had stopped on its own.

Their weekends had moved into being more domesticated than just sex. They had yet to talk about where Cayden was going to live after his parole term was up. She was hesitant to ask him to live with her. She’d never lived with a man before, not romantically anyway. While their weekends were fantastic and cherished, Trixie wasn’t sure she was ready to live with him. Plus, her apartment was tiny. Would he want more space than that?

By the end of August, they started counting down towards the end of his parole instead of how many weekends they’d spent together. It was as exciting as the countdown at Times Square on New Year’s, but neither one mentioned what would happen after the ball would drop. As much as she craved having him all to herself on their own time schedule, Trixie feared the approaching change.

Choosing not to dwell on that, Trixie concentrated on the here and now. With only five weekends to go, she had time.

Her office phone rang on Wednesday. Playing with one of the fallen petals from her precious roses, she picked it up without looking at the caller ID. “This is Trixie. How can I help you?”

“Beatriz Romero?”

Trixie frowned at the use of her full name. “Yes?”

“My name is Dr. Longman. I’m calling from Buford State Penitentiary in regard to your brother…”

Trixie barely heard the rest.