Page 56 of Perilous Encounter
"I hope so," Cadie said.
Barrett turned to face her.He took both of her hands, moving his thumbs across her knuckles."There's something I need to tell you."
Cadie felt her heartbeat quicken.
"When I last spoke to Weston, it was about more than the case," Barrett said."He mentioned that Guardian Investigations is expanding.They could use another capable PI."He paused."Weston put me in touch with the owner, Gabriel Durand.We've come to an arrangement, and I've decided to accept his offer of employment."
Cadie looked at Barrett and saw the resolve in his expression."In New Orleans?"
Barrett nodded."Yes.I'm moving to New Orleans."
Cadie's breath caught.She had not expected a decision already made rather than a possibility being discussed.Barrett had not asked her opinion or weighed the options aloud or treated this as a negotiation between two people with competing needs.He had simply made a choice.He'd looked at the life he wanted and the woman he wanted to share it with, and he intended to make it work.
"But what about your company?"
"I've taken care of that," Barrett said, "by making a good offer to my buddies out there.They are more than happy to buy the company."He grinned."They've been doing just fine without me."
Cadie stared at him."You did that to be with me?"
"My career broke us up last time," he said."I'm not letting that happen again."
Tears filled her eyes.With the investigation over, the reasons for staying in Charleston were gone.She'd worried about what was next but had been afraid to ask.She hadn't been sure that she could bear the answer.
And now Barrett was standing in front of her with the issue resolved.
"I'm following you back to New Orleans to share in your success," Barrett said."Your career matters.Your music matters.I'm not going to ask you to choose between your life and me.I'm going to be part of your life."
Cadie felt the tears spill down her cheeks.She did not wipe them away.
Barrett released one of her hands and reached into the pocket of his blazer.When his hand came back, he was holding a ring.It was simple and beautiful, a diamond set in a band of white gold that caught the stage light and scattered it in small, bright points across the surface of the piano.
Cadie held her breath.
Barrett lowered himself to one knee."I'm only a couple of decades late," he said."But I've loved you since the day I met you."He held the ring up to her."Cadie, my love, will you marry me?"
The tears were streaming down her cheeks, and she was smiling through them, feeling unrestrained joy."You aren't late," she said."You're right on time."
Barrett beamed at her but didn't rise.
"Yes…yes, I will marry you," Cadie said.
Barrett slid the ring onto her finger and rose to his feet.Then he kissed her.Cadie wrapped her arms around his neck, and he dug his fingers into her hair.
When they separated, Cadie rested her forehead against his chin and closed her eyes."Let's go home."
Barrett pressed his lips to her temple."New Orleans?"
"New Orleans," Cadie said.
More than twenty years before, Barrett Anson had kissed her in a parking lot after a school dance and then left for the Navy without looking back.She'd hadn't dared to believe in a second chance.She'd spent two decades building a life that was good but incomplete, successful but missing the thing that would have made it whole.
Now Barrett was beside her.He was staying, and she looked forward to sharing her life with him.Cadie loved him with all her heart.
