Whatever people had said about her over the years, there, in her eyes, was all the proof he needed of her sincerity and innocence.
“I don’t know if I’m ready for…” Raven shook her head. “Cade, the only time I’ve ever had a relationship… Things didn’t work out well.”
“I get it,” he said with a sigh. “Losing my brother was…” She made a soft little sound that had him stopping and looking over at him. “What?” he asked after seeing the strange look she was giving him.
“I… Reggie…” She closed her eyes. “That night. I found out that he…”
His heart sank. Cade understood what Raven was getting at. It was written clearly on her face.
“He cheated?”
She nodded slightly. “I found out earlier that day.”
He rolled that information around in his head. Reggie had never really been a player. Still, he knew his brother had been… eager and young.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “For whatever happened between the two of you in those final days.”
She shook her head. “Everyone I’ve loved seems to disappear.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” He pulled her into his arms.
“Not by choice. My aunt and uncle will use everything they can against me.” She pulled back slightly to look up at him. “Like the picture last night.”
He held in a groan. Hadn’t he easily fallen for one of their tricks? What more were they going to throw at them? He understood that she feared he’d react like he had last night at whatever else they tossed their way.
“If I promise not to fall for their games again, do you think we can finish this discussion over dinner?” he asked. Blue woke up and looked up at them.
Raven smiled. “I’d enjoy that. I should get done with work around six.”
He thought about how he could make the night special for her. It was the least he could do after blurting out his feelings for her.
She leaned in and kissed him, then stood up. “I’d better head in. See you tonight.”
He sat there for a few moments, sipping his coffee while Blue lay at his feet.
After stopping off to get some fresh cut flowers for his grandmother, and having another bundle delivered to the resort with another apology for Raven, he pulled into the driveway and parked behind his uncle’s patrol car.
He’d sent a text to him asking for a few moments of his time today. He hadn’t planned on him joining them for brunch but figured that it would free up his time so he and Blue could possibly go on a hike later.
“Morning,” he called out as he walked into his grandmother’s home. The old place was a classic stone Queen Anne Victorian home that had been built in the late eighteen hundreds. It was one of the first buildings in Cannon Falls and one of the only that had survived the fire.
All the old hardwood floors squeaked, even after he’d spent half of his summer a few years back sanding and restaining all of it. Most of the doors in the place had had to be sanded down and repainted so they didn’t stick.
His grandmother had spent a fortune a few years back to have all the electricity and plumbing updated. The rest of the house his grandmother had cared for herself. Fresh paint, beautiful rugs, curtains, and furnishings. The home always looked pristine and cozy.
“Back here,” his grandmother called out.
When he walked into the kitchen, Janice Williams was sitting at the table sipping a cup of coffee from a bright blue coffee cup that he’d given her a few years back for grandparent’s day. Sean was sitting across from her, dressed in his uniform.
“Morning,” he said, walking over to place a kiss on his grandmother’s head. He set the flowers down in front of her.
“Oh, how lovely.” She took up the bundle and lifted them to her face.
Cade noticed how her hands shook slightly with age. She’d damaged one of her knuckles gardening a few years back and now it was stuck at a permanent bend, locking her wedding ring on her finger forever.
The fact that she’d never removed it after his grandfather had died more than twenty years earlier was a testament to her love for the man.
“Morning,” he said to his uncle. He still didn’t know how he felt about Sean and his mother being together. It was strange being around them together, now that they knew that he knew about them.
“Morning.” Sean nodded.
“I’ll just put these in a vase and get the quiche out of the oven.” His grandmother stood up and moved into the kitchen.
“What’s the word?” Cade asked, sitting down across from his uncle.
Sean’s eyes moved past his shoulders to make sure his grandmother was out of earshot.
“Word on the street has Raven in the number-one spot as suspect,” Sean said in a low tone.
“That’s bull—” He stopped himself and glanced over his shoulder to make sure his grandmother hadn’t heard him.
“Yeah.” Sean nodded. “I agree. Her aunt and uncle are top of my list. The crazy thing is there’s a serious lack of evidence. No fingerprints on the teacup or tray. No witnesses saw her in the kitchen that evening.”
“She lives at the resort?” he asked. He’d wanted to ask Raven but had refrained from bringing up anything about the murders with her. He figured she’d dealt with them enough already.
“She did. She was single, no immediate family in the state. She has a brother in New York.” Sean glanced over his shoulder again. “Colin and Roslyn have become very outspoken about their niece in the past few days, telling anyone who will listen about her troubled past. Even going as far as claiming Raven had an affair with Ramsey back when she was sixteen and he was in his fifties.”
Cade thought of the image Raven’s uncle had sent her and felt his temper begin to boil.
He quickly told his uncle about Colin sending the grainy image to Raven last night.
“Do you think you could get me a copy of it for evidence?” Sean asked.
“Yeah, I’ll have Raven send it over to you.” He narrowed his eyes. “It’s not Raven,” he warned. “You can clearly see that if you look closely enough.”
“Right.” Sean nodded. “The question is, why do her aunt and uncle believe it is?”
“It’s the red hair,” he admitted. “I suppose they assume she was the only young redhead in town.”
“Back then?” Sean looked like he was thinking about it. “I doubt it. There are four other females with hair as red as Raven’s in town now.” He shrugged.
“None of them naturally red-haired though. Raven takes after Ellen. She’s the spitting image of her grandmother.” His grandmother interrupted as she set a large platter down on the table.
All talk of the murders and of Raven or her family’s part in them stopped when his grandmother sat down. Instead, the men let her go on about how she and Ellen had been best friends growing up. How they’d married within months of each other and then had gone their separate ways.
Both Sean and Cade knew better than to discuss anything close to business at the table when there was food present.
After brunch, however, he and his uncle stepped out into his grandmother’s garden and finished the conversation.