Page 99 of Tragic (Lark Cove 3)

“Sounds like you’re busy, Mom. I’ll let you go and call you later.”

“No, I’m—”

He hung up on her. His eyes stayed glued to the road as I gaped at him. With one push of a button, he’d thrown a wet blanket on the special day.

In so many ways, he’d been remarkable these past couple of months. He was opening up and talking more. He didn’t brood or sulk like the man I’d met this summer. When we hadn’t seen one another for a few hours, he’d seek me out.

He’d come into my office and say hello. If I was cooking dinner, he was sitting across from me at the island, listening to me talk about work. Each night, we’d sit on the couch together, watching television, and when I’d inevitably fall asleep an hour into a movie or show, he’d carry me to bed.

In so many ways we were a couple. We didn’t have sex. We didn’t kiss. But Kaine touched me often. He held my hand. He massaged my shoulders or my feet when I was tired. He was still the rugged mountain man I’d fallen for, but he was showing me his softer side, the one that was caring and attentive and present.

Things would have been perfect, except for the fact that he didn’t trust me. He was holding something back.

Which meant I was holding back something too. My heart.

How could I trust him with my heart when he didn’t trust me with his past? How could I love him completely when he kept his secrets locked away?

I’d let myself believe that my marriage had been blissful and happy, ignoring the problems piling up at Adam’s and my feet. I wasn’t doing that again.

I’d given Kaine time—two months, to be exact. I’d been patient, hoping that the rest of his confession would come. But after this long, I was giving up hope. There were times when Kaine would talk to his mother in hushed whispers from the guest room. Just like now, he never let me speak to her for long. Whatever he was hiding had everything to do with his family.

What had happened to them? Why had he disappeared to the mountain for three years?

I refused to beg for answers. Refused.

I’d asked once and he’d blown me off. He’d hung up on his mother to shut me out. Well, I was fairly adept at staying silent too.

I slipped my hand out of Kaine’s and crossed my arms over my chest. As I turned to the side window, he just sighed.

But did he speak up? No. He just drove us to my house.

When he parked, I didn’t wait for him to open my door like he usually did. I pushed it open myself and hurried inside. I went to the kitchen pantry and dug around my cracker stash for another snack.

My mouth was full, chomping angrily on Cheese Nips, when he came through the door. His arms were overloaded from our shopping haul.

“Seriously?” I rolled my eyes, swallowing my bite. “Take two trips.”

“I can get it all in one.”

“Whatever.” I shoved more crackers in my mouth.

Kaine would do just about anything to avoid multiple trips from the car. When we got groceries, he’d load up every single plastic bag on his forearms, then cradle a gallon of milk and a box of ginger ale against his chest. He risked my groceries’ well-being on a regular basis because he didn’t want to take two trips.

He took the bags down the hall to deliver them to my bedroom and the nursery. I continued to work out my frustration with the man by eating.

When Kaine returned to the kitchen, an apology was written on his face. “She was busy.”

I glared at him, telling him exactly what I thought about his bullshit excuse. “You have to give me something, Kaine.”

“I’m trying.” He braced his hands on the counter. “Things are complicated with my family.”

“And things were complicated with me, but I told you everything. I opened up to you about all of that stuff with Adam.”

He cringed at my ex-husband’s name but didn’t say anything.

“Fine.” I went back to the pantry in search of more food.

The space was big enough I could stand inside the door. I was scanning the cabinets for something sweet when two strong arms wrapped around my shoulders and the heat from Kaine’s hard chest pressed against my back.