Sometimes It Lasts(Sea Breeze #5)(3)

“Yeah, he did” was Dad’s only response. “How’s things going for you, little girl? That boy still treating you right?”

Dad letting me leave with Cage had been hard. He didn’t believe that Cage was my forever. He didn’t trust Cage, and it hurt me. I wanted him to love Cage as much as I did. But Daddy said he wasn’t the staying kind.

“Things are wonderful. Finals are soon and I’m looking forward to the summer,” I replied honestly. Dad had been so happy when I’d left the small community college back home to go to South Alabama this year. I was still undecided on my major. Once, I’d had my life planned out for me. But then everything had changed when Josh had died.

“Jeremy’s coming home in two weeks. He came by to visit last week when he was home and asked about a job for the summer.”

I felt like sighing in relief at the idea of Jeremy being with my dad this summer. He needed help, and knowing Jeremy would be there with him made it so much easier. “That’s good! You won’t have to look for help this year.”

“Boy’s a good worker. Good young man,” Dad said. It wasn’t just a statement. I understood what he was saying. I just ignored it. I would never be in love with Jeremy the way I had loved his twin brother, Josh. Josh Beasley had been my world. Jeremy was just a good friend.

“I was hoping I could come make lunch for you one day this week and we could visit,” I said, wanting to get to the point and change the subject all at the same time.

“I was wondering if you were ever gonna ask. I miss those biscuits you make,” Daddy replied.

I smiled, and my heart squeezed. I loved my daddy. I missed him so much at times, even though he was just about an hour drive away. “How about Thursday?” I asked, wanting to get to it sooner rather than later. I couldn’t hide my worry from Cage for long. I would need to address this with Dad soon.

“Sounds good. Jeremy will be here on Thursday. He doesn’t have any classes after Wednesday, and he’s coming home for a long weekend. Wants to go with me to the cattle auction Friday.” Good. Having Jeremy with me would be helpful. He would be on my side of this.

“Okay then. I’ll see you on Thursday, Daddy. Love you,” I replied.

“Love you too, little girl,” he said before hanging up.

I slipped my phone back into my pocket and stood there watching the waves. This would be okay. Jeremy would help me convince Daddy that this is what I needed to do. . . what I wanted to do. I was going to miss Daddy though—so much—but I couldn’t be apart from Cage. I wanted to be with him. That outweighed my missing Daddy.

“You okay?” Low’s voice startled me, and I spun around to see her standing behind me with a concerned frown on her face. Willow was Cage’s best friend; he called her Low and so everyone else did also. Telling her what was wrong wasn’t a good idea. I trusted her, but her first loyalty was to Cage. I knew that.

“Yes, just enjoying the water,” I replied.

Low didn’t look convinced, but she smiled. Her long red hair danced in the breeze, and I was once again reminded of the fact I would be completely jealous of her if it wasn’t for the fact that she was happily married to Marcus Hardy, Cage’s former roommate. I wasn’t around when Marcus and Willow had met, but apparently it had been a love-at-first-sight kind of thing. Cage had fought Low on it, but in the end she’d loved Marcus.

“I thought I’d stop by and see if you and Cage wanted to have dinner over at our house tonight. Preston and Amanda are coming too. Marcus and Preston went deep-sea fishing this weekend and brought back a lot of fish. We’re going to fry them up and we’d love for y’all to come too.” I knew Cage would enjoy visiting with all his friends. He’d been so busy with baseball, he hadn’t had time to see anyone but Preston Drake, who played on his team. Preston was the reason Cage had been brought into this circle of friends. It had been Preston’s circle, and when he and Cage had met, he’d set up Marcus moving in with him.

“Yes. We would love to. What can I bring?”

“Cage goes on and on about your biscuits. Could you make some of those and that chocolate pie you made a few months ago when we came over?”

I smiled and nodded. “Sure can.”

Low glanced back at the stairs that led up to the apartment. “And you’re sure everything is okay? I know Cage can be difficult at times, but he has a good heart and he loves you.”

I shook my head and stopped her from going any further. None of this anxiety she was feeling from me was about Cage. He was perfect.

“Cage is wonderful. I’m fine. I was just on the phone with my dad. I need to talk to him about college tuition next year. That kind of thing.”

Low seemed to relax a little. “Okay, good. I just. . . I don’t think that boy could make it without you. Since you walked into his life, he has transformed. He worships the ground you walk on, and I just don’t want him to mess this up. He can make stupid decisions sometimes, but he means well.”

It was moments like this I was reminded that Low was his family. She was all he had, really. She may not be older than Cage, but she defended him like an older sister would. It endeared her to me even more. “I love him. I always will,” I assured her.

Low grinned. “Good. Sorry if I came off a little protective,” she said.