"After you left, he kind of turned back in on himself, like he always did when things got hard," Stan said. "Well, you know how he is."
"Yeah," I said, without even thinking. Well, I knew him back then.
"He thinks I don't understand the path he's on," Stan said, his voice soft. "But I understand more than he thinks. I was in the Navy myself, back in Vietnam, you know. Things were different then. People talked about 'shell shock,' coming back from war different."
"You think that's what happened with Cade?"
"He did all those deployments," Stan said. "Came back different after the second one, the time in Ramadi. Got a Silver Star for it, but wouldn't say a word about it. Got pissed off when anyone tried to ask him about it. Said the Marine Corps should have kept their award. After that, he'd come back to visit between deployments, but it wasn't the same. He doesn't know I know about the nightmares and stuff. I'd hear him at night."
I didn't know what to say. That I understood? I'd been near an explosion. Tangentially involved. I hadn't seen what Cade had seen.
"The mood swings, doing crazy stuff," Stan said. "Dangerous stuff... It was like he didn't care if he lived or died."
Risk-taking behavior, my therapist had called it.
Like sleeping with my boss.
Like Cade joining an outlaw biker gang.
"I deployed with the Marines to Afghanistan," I said. I wasn't sure why I was telling him. "I came back here because I didn't want to do it anymore. Be a surgeon, I mean."
Stan nodded, thoughtful. "Cade's still a good man, June. At heart, I know he is."
Why was he telling me this?
I didn't want to hear that Cade was a good guy.
I didn't say anything.
"That family over there, he's hiding them from something bad," he said. "I know you don't want to put them in jeopardy."
"Of course not." What was he getting at?
Stan nodded. "Mentioning who's staying here, to a cop, wouldn't be a good thing."
Jed.
"I wouldn't do something like that," I said. "Where's this coming from?"
Stan sighed. "I know you wouldn't do anything that would put them at risk. And I figured you had enough common sense to figure out what to say. I'm sorry for butting my nose into this. It's none of my business. I just want to make sure that little girl and her family stay okay."
"But who said I was talking to the cops?"
"Cade was in town yesterday," he said. "Saw you having coffee with Sherriff Easton."
"What?" I couldn't keep the irritation out of my voice. Cade followed me into town and spied on my coffee date with Jed?
"Oh, hell, now I've gone and done it," Stan said. "Sticking my nose in someplace it doesn't belong."
"No, you're fine, Stan," I said. "So Cade thinks I'm running my mouth to the cops?"
"No, I don't really think he thinks that," Stan said. "I just wanted to make sure you didn't inadvertently - "
"What's his problem, then?" I interrupted.
Stan didn't answer.
Oh.
"So he's jealous?" I asked. Unbelievable.
So Cade suddenly thought my dating life was his business, and enough to talk to his father about it.
"Oh boy," Stan said. "I don't think I should have said anything. I didn't mean to upset you."
"No," I said. "I'm glad you did."
Stan cleared his throat. "I think maybe I should be going."
I threw myself into yard work, my irritation at Cade building even as I tried to stifle it by diving into a physical distraction. Getting a little dirt under my fingernails had never failed to work as a stress reliever, but now I found myself getting more and more worked up over the conversation I'd just had with Stan.
So Cade thought I was colluding with the sheriff or was jealous that I went out on a date with Jed. Either way, it pissed me off.
When I saw him riding toward the barn on one of the horses, I was so worked up about what he'd said to his dad about my dating life that I felt myself marching across the field on autopilot. I caught him just as he was walking out of the barn, and he stopped abruptly when he saw me, looking up from underneath that cowboy hat.
And I wasn't going to let the fact that he looked sexy as hell in that hat and boots deter me from the fact that I was pissed the hell off at him.
"What are you doing here, June? You should be hanging out down at the police station, shouldn't you?"
That was it. That goddamn cocky attitude. Now I for sure wasn't distracted by that smug smile and those piercing eyes.
"What, were you spying on me?"
Cade shoved his thumbs in his belt loops, and stood there, unmoving. Something about seeing him stand there like that, casual, like he didn't give a shit, pissed me off even more. "I didn't spy on you, June. I just happened to walk by."
I laughed. "Sure, you just happened to see me at Nina's."
He shrugged. "If you want to have some fantasy that I'm interested in you enough to spy on you, go right ahead. It's not any of my business if you want to date some douchebag small town deputy,” Cade said, his tone mocking.
"Better than dating some loser from a biker gang," I said.
Cade's jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed.
I'd hurt him.
Good.