Together.
As their eyes connected Liv’s insides quaked. Apart from the physical attraction it would be so easy to fall for Cade in a really big way.
‘I’m sorry about your bathroom, Liv—but if that’s all that’s holding you back…’
Liv waited while thoughts flashed behind Cade’s complex gaze.
‘I’m going to take you to a part of the house you haven’t seen yet,’ he said as if he’d come to a decision. ‘It’s a part where I can guarantee there’s plenty of hot water.’
‘Sounds good to me…’
Reaching for the door, he held it open for her.
How little she knew about Cade, or his plans for the hall, Liv thought, bursting with curiosity as she dipped down to unlace her shoes.
‘Why are you doing that?’
‘I don’t want to make a mess.’
‘Keep them on. I don’t want you slipping in bare feet.’
Cade was such a man of contrasts. And if he was any nicer to her…
‘Are you ready?’
‘Ready,’ she confirmed, wondering if Cade kind and thoughtful provoked more mixed up feelings inside her than Cade humorous and mocking.
He mounted the stairs two at a time, leading her quickly past a regiment of stern-faced ancestors. It was almost as if, having come to his decision, he couldn’t wait to show her something. ‘In here,’ he called out when she hesitated on the landing.
Walking into the bathroom, she gazed around. It was big, and pretty impressive. ‘Is this the family bathroom?’ She had been thrown by the newness of everything, but as she looked more closely she realised the bathroom was, not only new, but wheelchair-friendly. Every time she thought she was getting to know Cade she found another layer to him…
‘This is the bathroom you can use until we get yours sorted out,’ he explained, but in the silence that followed, Liv felt unsaid words ringing between them. It was as if the enormity of Cade’s experiences on the battlefield had come to join them. He was sharing them with her, and by doing so was revealing parts of himself she felt privileged to share. The things he’d seen, the fears he’d had to overcome…all of it was with them now in the bathroom Cade Grant must have built as his salvation.
‘Take a quick bath,’ he told her briskly, jolting Liv back into the present, ‘and then we’ll meet for supper in the kitchen.’
A rush of feelings meant it was a moment before she could nod her head. By the time she did so she had realized that Cade took refuge in practicalities and in routine. He always behaved as if he were a stranger to emotion, but there was more emotion in this room than in a world of meaningless pledges. The bathroom was designed to accommodate the very sick and the desperately injured. The world could float on good intentions, but what had prompted Cade into turning his vision into this reality?
‘Downstairs? Ten minutes?’
‘Okay…’ She snapped to attention. She guessed Cade was blocking something out, but what, and why? Why had he been granted extended leave from the army? Details of Cade’s experiences leading to his being awarded the highest honour for gallantry had been sketchy, to say the least, as such things so frequently were, but why should he trust her enough to tell her anything when they hardly knew each other?
And yet he’d brought her here…
Little by little she was coming to understand him, and the more she learned about him, the more she wanted to know. He wanted to help returning soldiers, that much she knew. She couldn’t be sure of all the details yet, but whatever Cade’s plans might be she wished with all her heart she could be part of them.
Sinking down on the stairs, he buried his head in his hands. There were times when the memories swamped him, and this was one of those times.
He closed his hands tighter round his head, wrestling with the same sense of failure that had dogged him since his return from the war. To save many and sacrifice one seemed such a simple equation when you took emotion out of it. When the helicopter had lifted away that was what he had told himself. He’d had to. He’d had to present a strong front to his men. But he’d left his brother behind. He’d been told Giles was dead, and it was up to him to get the rest of them to safely. But had he seen his brother? Did he know for sure what they had told him was true? He had to live with that doubt now. And it still wasn’t punishment enough.
Why had he taken Liv into that bathroom? Why couldn’t he let her make do with the facilities she had? She didn’t expect more. She wasn’t like that.
The real question was, would he have taken anyone else in there, or was some part of him reaching out to Liv? Would anyone but Liv have looked round that room, with such understanding and compassion in their eyes, and known immediately what he was trying to do? He needed more than a housekeeper at Featherstone. He needed someone to work alongside him, someone who wouldn’t flinch, who wouldn’t judge, who could see beneath the scars to the person inside the damaged body.
Shaking off the black dog tormenting him, he sprang up. Raking his hair into some semblance of order, he started down the stairs. The last person on this earth he had imagined fulfilling the role he had in mind was the prim little miss who had landed on his doorstep in her ruined wedding dress. At least, that was how he’d felt about Liv Tate when she’d first arrived at Featherstone, now he wasn’t so sure how he felt about her. He tried not to think about it at all.
She came to join him in the kitchen with a face free of make-up and her long hair hanging loose and damp down her back. She had chosen to wear a pretty pale blue outfit she must have picked up in town. Did she know the toning trousers outlined the swell of her hips in such pleasing detail?
He cursed softly under his breath for noticing. He had to shake off this fixation with his prospective employee’s physical appearance. He had to shake off all his feelings for Liv. She was well qualified for the job, and she had guts. That was all he needed to know; her luscious body must be no concern of his.
Liv felt tense as she walked into the kitchen and felt Cade staring at her. She was tense because it felt so natural to be here and she didn’t want him to tell her she hadn’t got the job and had to go. She wanted to ask him about the bathroom, but there was something about the set of his shoulders that warned her not to pry.
‘Soup?’
She had to get used to the sight of Cade standing at the cooker, Liv realised, feeling her mood lighten. He was stirring the soup she’d made. It was a strange sort of partnership they’d struck up. ‘Yes, please.’ He looked amazing—bare feet, and jeans slung low on his lean body. He was wearing another disreputable-looking T-shirt—faded, but tight in all the right places.
‘Get the bowls, will you?’
As he turned around her heart lurched.
Liv seemed distracted, while he couldn’t focus on anything other than her. It was as if the air were full of her—her delicate scent filled the kitchen, overriding the smell of onion and basil and tomato. Why did they need food when she looked good enough to eat?
They ate the simple meal in silence. He got the sense they both had issues to examine and lines that might, or might not, be crossed. Everything was slowly changing between them. The new ease they were beginning to feel with each other had been replaced by strain and tension. But they had to work together, he reminded himself.
‘Did you like the soup, Cade?’