Growing up, though, he’d been in a regular, middle-class American home. His mom and dad had been in love, had worked hard for everything they’d had. Then his mother died suddenly in a car accident, and his father had closed in on himself. One moment in their timeline had changed the future forever.
Cash pushed those memories aside. He’d need his full mind-set to handle his current situation.
In the distance, standing inside a large, white gazebo, was a whole host of ladies in hideous orange dresses. He recognized that shade and still couldn’t believe anyone would purposely choose it—not that he knew much about fashion. His wardrobe consisted of workout gear and jeans.
Cash kept walking, his eyes searching for the one person he knew. He scanned back and forth but couldn’t spot her.
“Excuse me, sir. This is a private ceremony.”
Cash stopped on the path and turned at the female voice. A lady in her midfifties, if he were guessing, came toward him. The dark green suit and pearls looked a little more first lady and less like bridal party.
“I’m with one of the bridesmaids,” he explained.
The lady gasped and reached up to touch her pearls. “Is that so? I know every single bridesmaid and I’ve never seen you before.”
“Mother.”
Cash turned as Jade came striding toward them. No wonder he didn’t recognize her. Damn, she’d been right on guessing that.
Whoever did her hair had slicked it down and back so tight into a bun that it was amazing her face wasn’t stretched into a permanent look of surprise. And the makeup plastered all over her face looked more like it was for a stage production. What the hell had they done to her?
“This is Cash,” Jade stated as she came to stand beside him. “He’s with me. Cash, this is my mother, Lana McKenzie.”
Lana’s eyes widened. Cash’s first thought was that this woman looked nothing like Jade. She had blond hair almost to the point of being bleached white and the most vibrant blue eyes—blue eyes that seemed cold as ice. He’d never understood that statement until this moment.
“Jade Erin McKenzie.” Lana clutched her gold purse and squared her shoulders. “Tell me this is not your date.”
Cash started to speak, but Jade slid her arm through his and used her other hand to place over his chest.
“Mother, Cash isn’t just my date.” Jade paused and looked up at him, smiling wide. “He’s my boyfriend.”
“What?” Lana exclaimed.
What?
Jade sent him a wink and squeezed his arm. What the hell game was she playing? Obviously something he’d ask her later, but for now, apparently he was playing the doting boyfriend. When that thought went through his head earlier, he’d only been joking.
“This is Vincent Miller, Mother.”
“Everyone calls me Cash,” he stated with a side grin he knew would never melt the ice.
“And where are you from, Vincent?” Lana asked in the most uninterested tone he’d ever heard.
Next she’d pro
bably ask for his family’s lineage.
“Haven, Georgia, ma’am.”
“And your family?”
Cash refused to let his smile falter. “My mother was a nurse, but she passed away when I was a teenager. My father is currently retired and lives about an hour from me. I’m an only child.”
Lana muttered something under her breath before her angry gaze landed on her daughter. “And you two went to school together?”
“I was a few years ahead of Cash,” Jade stated. “We’ve recently reconnected.”
“Is that right?” her mother stated. Her sharp eyes darted back to him. “I assume you work?”