her eyes. “I’m not sure that’s possible, Caden. So much has happened, so many hurtful things have been said. Things I’m not sure I can forgive you for saying. Like I told you, I just want to move on. If you love me as much as you claim you do, you’d let me do that.”
Caden drew in a deep breath. “And because I love you as much as I do, I can’t do that.”
She stared at him for a moment and then, without saying another word, she turned and quickly headed toward the elevator.
* * *
Shiloh barely made it to her office, closing the door behind her. Leaning against it, she tried to stop the tears that flowed from her eyes but could not. How could a man say he loved her but trust her so little? He had taken one look at those pictures and accepted them at face value, assuming she had betrayed him. Knowing that was something she couldn’t get beyond.
Her cell phone began ringing and she recognized the ringtone immediately. It belonged to Sedrick.
Wiping the tears from her eyes, she tried to speak in a normal voice. “Hello, Sedrick.”
“Did Caden Granger contact you?”
She frowned. “You knew he would try?”
There was a pause on the other end before Sedrick answered. “Yes, he called me here at the hospital and asked me how to find you.”
“And you told him?” she accused.
“He would have hunted you down eventually. He was desperate to talk to you. I would have called sooner to warn you but I had an emergency with one of my patients.”
“Who told him what had happened? How did he find out?”
“Mom. He said she came to see him. She assumed he already knew. Figured you told him that night.”
“I would have had he wanted to listen to me,” she said angrily. Pain settled around her heart every time she thought of that night. “Why would Mom go see him anyway?”
“I guess she was reaching out to him to help patch up things between the two of you. Shiloh, she regrets what she did, and one day, you’re going to have to meet with her and talk about it. Hear her out. Like I said, you and I both know the old man had her under his thumb.”
There was a moment of silence, and then Sedrick asked, “Well, did he contact you?”
“He came here to tell me how sorry he was for what he did and said.”
“And did you and Caden kiss and make up?”
Was she hearing hope in her brother’s voice? “Is that what you want?”
“It’s not what I want, Shiloh. It’s what you want. Whatever will make you happy.”
She thought about her brother’s question. She’d always thought being with Caden would make her happy. It seemed she had loved him forever. She had never imagined the day would come when the thought of him would fill her heart with so much pain. And, for some reason, she was having a problem getting beyond it. Those two years when they’d become lovers had been the best she’d ever had. But now all she felt was heartache and anger.
She was doing the very thing she’d said she would never do, and that was cry over Caden Granger. But she refused to do so again. “What will make me happy is what I plan to do, and that is to move on. I can’t imagine having Caden back in my life. Too much has happened. Too much has been said. I need to get beyond that, Sedrick. For years, my life had been wrapped around Caden’s, even those years when Father forbade me to have contact with him.”
She paused a moment and then said, “Caden told me he loves me.”
“Do you believe him?”
“No. What man can love a woman and treat her the way he treated me?”
“He thought you had betrayed him, Shiloh.”
She was irritated by his words. “Why are you defending him?”
“I don’t think I’m doing that. I just want you to make sure you know what you’re doing because, personally, I don’t see Caden giving up on you. I heard it in his voice today.”
She couldn’t help but remember the promise he’d made to her. A man’s promise. If his promise was meant to give her hope, it had