Page 66 of No Place Like Home


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He was turning out to be the third bully.

Cade lifted the bar for a rep. Mama D was right. Her leading him on—intentionally or unintentionally—wasn’t unforgivable or even worth losing a friendship over. If he was really her friend, he’d support her and help any way he could.

Like he had in ninth grade, and like he had at the Lazy Spoon.

The weight of his guilt sank into him—along with the bar on his second rep. He struggled with it against his chest, the metal hard and unyielding.

Linc grabbed the bar with one hand and re-racked. “You good?”

Cade wiped sweat from his face. “Just thinking.” Earlier, he knew he needed to make things right with Rosalyn.

But now, he finally knew what he needed to say.

“My turn.” Noah gestured for Cade to move. “For the record,Ithink you need to talk to your dad about the campaign. Be honest.”

Ha. Cade stood, making room for Noah. One tough conversation at a time, and the one with Rosalyn took precedence. “I don’t know. Bad timing.”

“Seems like good timing to me. No one knows about his retiring yet, so how big of a disappointment would it be? Someone else can run.” Linc shrugged like it was that simple.

Cade shook his head. “That’s not going to be an option for my father.”

Noah wiped the bench with a towel before assuming position. “So what you’re saying is, you owe this campaign to your dad because he bailed you out of trouble? Fifteen years ago?”

“Seems like an odd reason to make a career change.” Linc stepped behind the bar to spot Noah.

“I promised myself that I’d never give him reason to look at me or talk to me that way again.” Cade pulled his arm in front of him, stretching his shoulder. He was going to regret all of this tomorrow. “Besides, you didn’t hear what his campaign manager told me that night.”

“What?” Noah huffed as he cranked out reps.

The words echoed in Cade’s head as if they’d been spoken yesterday and not over a decade ago. “You owe your dad after this one, Sport. You have no idea how much you threaten his image.”

Linc helped Noah re-rack. “Ouch.”

He didn’t tell the guys the rest.You want to mess up your dad’s entire career because of your immaturity? Time to grow up. Your father needs you.

“It was enough for me to clean up my act.” Cade handed Noah his water bottle. If Cade was needed, he’d show up. Like he had the first half of his life. “You’ve seen me in the back of a cop car once, bro. It wasn’t a good look.”

Cade’s phone buzzed from his pocket before he could question him. Rosalyn? He pulled it free, pausing to swipe his forehead with his sleeve. Then the screen display registered. Not Rosalyn. “That’s weird. Elisa texted me.”

“She texted me too.” Noah looked down at his own cell.

“What’s the problem?” Linc leaned over their shoulders as they all read the identical messages.

Elisa: Commotion at Chug a Mug You’re going to want to see this.

* * *

Magnolia Bay had lost its mind. There was a circus carrying on in front of Chug a Mug—and not of the red-striped tent variety.

Cade stared at the throng of people gathered outside the front doors of the coffee shop and gaped. “What in the world?” Teenagers, families. Men and women. They all stood clumped in a crowd just off the sidewalk, while a cacophony of music, shouts, and laughter filled the air.

A police car, lights flashing, parked across the street on Village Lane. A uniformed officer shouted commands through a bull horn. “Please clear the sidewalks at once. No loitering, people.”

Everyone ignored him.

Madame Paulette performed a tap dance number on the sidewalk, gold bracelets jingling as she swung her arms and huffed.Tap-tap, tappity-tap.Next to her, Zoey juggled three beignets—she was surprisingly good, judging by the fact there were only a few powdered white spots on the sidewalk at her feet. Trish, the waitress from Magnolia Blossom, had donned a sparkly costume with a matching top hat and spun a baton, while two other young adults harmonized off-key with their hands clasped in front of their chests. Sadie half-shouted a poem from a worn copy ofSonnets from the Portuguese, gesturing wildly with her free hand.

Linc and Noah flanked Cade on each side. “I guess Elisa wasn’t kidding.” Noah crossed his arms over his chest, his hair falling across his forehead as he stared. “This definitely qualifies as a commotion.”