“Bibi—”
“Oh.” Bianca jumped up, dialing a number. “Yes, yes...This is Bianca Garza...Yes, have you started the alterations on the wedding dress?”
Cady’s heart sank lower.
“Oh, good. That’s such good news.” Bianca paused. “No, no, I won’t be purchasing the other dress.” Bianca’s voice broke.
Cady took the phone and finished the conversation. Bianca didn’t need to deal with any of this, not right now. She made arrangements to pick up the dress sometime next week and hung up. Zach tried to call again, but Bianca refused to take his call.
“I want pizza,” Bianca said,
pulling a quilt over her lap. “And a movie—a comedy. I’d rather laugh than cry.”
“Pizza is coming up.” Cady nodded. “Find us a movie while I order.” She pulled out her phone to order their meal—and tried not to be crushed by the fact that none of her missed calls were from Patton Ryan.
12
CADY SPENT MOST of the weekend at Bianca’s. She pulled Bibi out long enough to stock her refrigerator, but Bibi wasn’t up for much more. They binge-watched slapstick comedy and ate every variety of takeout. When Bianca needed a cry, Cady let her cry. She didn’t know what else to do.
The only good thing that came from the weekend was a smooth program run. She had to login to work a few times to prevent lags, but it hadn’t been stressful. Not compared to the rest of the weekend—the rest of her life. Her mind wouldn’t stop working. Even when Bianca slept, Cady couldn’t. She was worried about Bibi, her family—the Ryans and Zach. Her heart ached for all of them.
Especially Patton.
Bianca’s defense had taken some of the bite out of her anger. She was still mad at him for the way he’d handled things, but... Bianca was right. She would have told Bibi if things had been reversed... Not that she was willing to forgive and forget. Not yet.
It infuriated her that she was so angry—and yet, she missed him. But she did. She wanted to see him so she could yell at him. She wanted to fight with him until they’d made peace with what had happened and found a way to make it work. She wanted to touch him... To have him wrap her in his arms. Instead she needed to forget him.
When Cady arrived for work Monday, she was an exhausted train wreck of emotions.
Sadly, the Charles rumor hadn’t disappeared. Was he seriously getting her promotion? If she’d been in charge, Charles would have been fired. He was a nice guy, but he was out of his element. He should never—ever—be allowed to write code or touch their security database. Maybe that was his plan? To fail so epically that his father would send him back to the payroll department? Was it possible that—even after the hours of texts, phone calls and meetings, he really hadn’t learned a thing from her? When a new error popped up that afternoon, she gave up trying to figure out what he’d done wrong and focused on fixing it. She worked late then crashed on Bibi’s couch.
Tuesday she sent her team members a gigantic muffin basket. Sending them on an all-inclusive weekend spa retreat would have been more appropriate, considering how snippy she’d been. But the muffins seemed to do the trick. She worked late on her presentation for the next day’s meeting, picked up the wedding dress from the shop and dropped it at Bianca’s on the way home. They had dinner and watched some crappy television, but she decided to crash at her own place. Her pillow smelled like Patton, but she couldn’t bring herself to wash it. She tossed and turned most of the night.
By Wednesday, she was already ready for the weekend. Instead she was faced with meetings all day. She’d managed to remain calm and positive, even if Charles wouldn’t look her in the eye. She introduced a series of trainings she wanted to implement for anyone interested in transferring into coding and her team, to help make things uniform. After the training modules were complete, candidates would test before their request was considered. To her delight, Mr. Hembrecht was in full support.
Cady glanced at the clock. It was only six fifteen, and she was on fumes. She tried to focus, but all she could think about was a bubble bath and a bottle of wine. But before she collapsed into her evening’s entertainment, she needed to call Bianca and let her know when she was dropping by. They’d exchanged a few texts about going to a late dinner and a pajama screening of some classic horror flick downtown. That would definitely perk Bibi up, if Cady didn’t fall asleep first. As the final meeting wound up, she pulled her phone from her purse.
“Cady?” Mr. Hembrecht had waved her over. “Can I have a word?” She smiled, tucked her phone back into her purse and nodded at her boss.
“Are you free for dinner Friday?” he asked. “I have a few things I’d like to discuss with you before the weekend.”
Friday night. “Let me check.” She scrolled through the planner on her phone. Friday was free. Saturday was supposed to be the bridal shower at Tucker House. She frowned. She needed to take Bibi away—maybe use of some of her vacation time for a girls-only holiday? She smiled at her waiting boss. “Yes. I can do dinner.”
“Excellent.” He smiled. “Can you walk with me? I want to hear more on your idea to develop defined user levels for our larger clients’ databases.”
She followed Mr. Hembrecht back to his office, discussing some of her thoughts on this simple way to streamline and strengthen security. He listened carefully, asking the occasional question now and then. That he was receptive to her idea was heartening, even if it did keep her in the office that much longer.
On her way down the elevator, Meg thanked her—again—for taking her home after the office party and invited her to the gym. “We can burn some calories and pick up some hotties?”
Cady almost turned her down. Almost. But maybe a good workout was just what she needed to shake her restlessness and perk up her energy. “Sure. You can have the hotties.”
“Still enjoying being cuffed to your cop, huh?” Meg grinned. “I so don’t blame you. Yum.”
Cady swallowed down the lump in her throat. “Still involved with that lawyer?”
Meg frowned. “No. Turns out he wasn’t as single as he said he was.”
Cady frowned. “Ouch. How’d you find out?”