by J. D. Faver
“Actually,” Cassie interrupted her, hoping to tell Javi about her sins of omission in a more private manner. “I thought I’d try to set a new trend.” She looked down at the voluminous tents she wore.
Javier kissed the fingers on the hand he was holding. “I think you look beautiful no matter what you have on.”
Cassie ran her fingers over his cropped hair and then turned to Sky with a frown. “Where will we live?”
“Somewhere safe,” Javi interjected. “Some place with security.”
Cassie leaned over to kiss him. “I’ll come back in a little while.”
“Baby, please be careful. Somebody tried to kill you.”
~*~
Zach surveyed the scene of the previous night’s fire from his deck. The charred rubble gave off an acrid stench. He was concerned that this turn of events might cause Sky to take flight again in an attempt to hide from the man determined to kill her.
Zach couldn’t let that happen. He had to keep her with him here on the island. He had to keep her safe...He had to keep her, period.
The sheriff’s personal vehicle, a black Cadillac Escalade appeared in the distance. Someone rode in the seat beside him. Rafael pulled in close to the spot where the house had stood and both men got out.
Zach raised his hand in greeting and Rafael waved him down. He introduced Zach to the arson investigator from Austin. Rafael explained to him that this was the third attempt on the victim’s life.
“You’re assuming that the younger sister was not the intended target?” the man asked.
Rafael nodded. “From a distance, both women look similar. I don’t think anyone would have reason to harm a twenty-year-old girl fresh out of college.”
Zach and Rafael stood aside while the arson investigator picked through the debris.
Rafael stood with his hand resting lightly on his sidearm. “How is Cassie today?”
“Sky went to pick her up at the hospital. She’s going to bring her back here. I invited them to stay with me.” He gestured toward his home. “They’re going shopping for some clothes.”
Rafael’s face split into a wide grin. “You really like Sky, don’t you?”
Zach shook his head. “I think I’m in love with her, man. She appeals to me on so many levels.”
“Chloe told me this was serious with you. She reads people so much better than I do.”
Zach grinned. “I don’t know where it came from, but I just fell for her. She’s...everything.”
“That’s the way it’s supposed to be. Pretty soon, you and Sky will be welcoming the next little set of Bailey twins into the world.”
Rafael’s softly spoken words sent fear skittering through Zach’s gut. Married with children. Me? A slow smile spread across his face as the reality set in. It was the natural order of things. “You could be right. The world needs more Baileys.”
After Rafael left with the investigator, Zach went inside. He surveyed his bachelor domain.
He spent the rest of the morning rearranging his house. He cleaned out the guest room. Discarded boxes of magazines about marine life and some scholarly tomes he’d been intending to read. He cleaned out the closet for Cassie and made the bed with fresh sheets, not remembering the last time anyone had slept there.
That being done, he attacked his own bedroom. He took his clothes out of half the closet and stashed them in the closet in the smallest of the three bedrooms that he had turned into his home office. He examined his tee shirts, socks, underwear and shorts and discarded anything faded or holey.
He compressed his things into two drawers, leaving the top ones available for Sky. He scrubbed his bathrooms and emptied the medicine cabinet and made room for Sky’s toiletries, then cleaned the guest bath and set out fresh towels.
As he hauled the last load of trash down the stairs for garbage pick-up, he almost stumbled when the realization hit him and he could put a biological name to his behavior.
“Oh, my God! I’m nesting!
~*~
Javier was sitting up in the hospital bed when Cassie returned to the hospital. He felt a stirring in his chest as he gazed at her. She looked young and fresh in new blue jeans and a knit shirt. White sandals showed off the pedicure Sky had treated her to.
“Turn around,” he said, taking in her new appearance.
“I’ve had a bath and don’t smell so icky now.” She leaned close so he could appreciate the smell of her shampoo and lotion.
He patted the bed beside him. “Why don’t you crawl up here in bed with me again?”
She made a moaning sound in the back of her throat. “I think I’ve been beaten up enough by the nursing staff.” She leaned over him to deliver a kiss. “Why didn’t you tell me that your mother was a nurse?”
He shrugged. “It didn’t come up.”
Her brow furrowed.
“Come sit down on the bed beside me. I have something for you.” During Cassie’s absence, he’d asked for his personal belongings, the things they’d removed from his person and safeguarded for him.
Sliding her hips onto the bed, she raised her brows. “For me? What is this, be kind to Cassie day?”
Recalling his mother’s rudeness, he let out a short, terse laugh,. “Yeah, well, first I want you to take this.” He held out the keys to his truck.
Her fingers closed around them, but her gaze remained fastened on his, questioning him with her big blue eyes.
“It’s parked at the Fire Station. I was wondering if you could pick it up and drive it until I get out of here. There’s no use in you being without transportation.”
She giggled. “Javi, I can barely climb up into it.” She looked so pretty, leaning over him. A twinge of something like pain squeezed his chest.
I almost lost her. The thought kept haunting him. He brushed his fingers across the side of her face. “It’s a big truck, Cassie, and it will keep you safe.”
“Well okay, I’ll come and pick you up in it when they release you.”
He nodded. “Maybe tomorrow.”
She deposited the keys in her pocket.
“Another thing.”
She grinned. “Another thing?”
“I want you to take this and buy yourself something really nice.” He held out a credit card. “That way you won’t have to sneak into your sister’s closet.”
She winced. “My sister’s closet and the little black dress are a charred pile of rubble. I appreciate your generosity, Javi, but I can’t accept it.”
“Why not? In actuality, it’s for me. I want you to buy something special to wear on our date, Friday. I really want to do this, Cassie.”
A slow smile spread across her face. “We still have a date?”
He pulled her down for a kiss. “No way are you getting out of it.”
She sighed. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure. I want you to get everything you need, from the skin out. Shoes, underwear and a dress that’ll make me fall down at your feet.”
Cassie bit her lower lip, stroking her fingers down the side of his face. “I don’t want you to fall down, Javi. I like you just the way you are, tall and strong and...”
“Completely yours.”
Cassie favored him with a grin that caused a repeat of the squeezing sensation.
She leaned close and whispered in a conspiratorial tone. "Man, you got some line of bullshit going for you, Mr. Rios."
~*~
Sky turned to face her, an encouraging smile on her face. “Just go get it. He asked you to pick it up for him.”
Cassie sat in Sky’s Audi trying to summon the courage to climb into the huge and shiny red truck and drive it away.
She nodded and opened the door. As she walked toward the metal-clad behemoth, Javier’s friend, Dave, and another fireman came to meet her.
“How’s the big guy doing?” Dave asked. Other men emerged from the building.
Cassie stared at the gathering crowd, her stomach doing flip-flops. “Better. He’s doing much
better.”
A dark-haired man about Javi’s age extended his hand and shook hands with her. “I’m Javier’s cousin, Jorge. We all went to the hospital and donated blood for him. He’s a great guy.”
Cassie flashed him a nervous grin. “I think so too.”
Dave looked up and down her body. “And you? How are you doing? I thought you were out for the count.”
She shook her head. “I made it.” She took Javier’s keys out of her pocket and jangled them. “He asked me to pick up his truck.”
Jorge took her arm and, turning his back on Dave, walked her to the truck. “Javier’s really crazy about you, you know?” His dark eyes assessed her.
She nodded, grinning again. “Yeah, I know.”
“Everyone thinks you’re all wrong for him, but he’s my primo and if he thinks you’re the one, I’m one-hundred percent behind him.”
She gazed up into his eyes, so like Javi’s. “I don’t understand why people would think we’re not right for each other.”
“It’s because the two of you are so different. Ethnicity, religion, background, age. That’s a lot for two people to work out.”
She tried to digest all that he’d said. Her stomach felt hollow and shaky as she gripped Javi’s keys. “Maybe we will.”
“I hope so.” Jorge smiled at her and held her elbow while she climbed up into the driver’s seat.
She had to move the seat forward and adjust the mirrors. Starting the ignition, she revved the motor and had to laugh. This is such a guy’s toy. She rolled off the Fire Station property and onto the street with Sky following in the Audi.
When she looked in the rear view mirror she saw that the line of assembled firefighters hadn’t moved from where they stood, watching her drive away.
~*~
Zach reflected that Sky and Cassie were settling in well, given the circumstances.
Cassie was in the room that was now designated to be hers. She’d taken an armload of shopping bags in there and closed the door. He presumed she was doing the same thing Sky was doing in the room he would be sharing with her.
Sky sat cross-legged on the bed, cutting tags off of her new clothes.
She’d gotten four sets of scrubs and two jackets that would coordinate with them. She arranged them on hangers and handed them to Zach. He hung them in her side of the closet.
She’d gotten two dresses, a couple of pairs of jeans and shorts and some knit tops to go with them. He watched her arrange her new underwear in one of the two drawers he’d cleared for her.
“It was so nice of you to go to all this trouble for my sister and me, Zach. We don’t need much room at all because we have so little now.” She turned to him, a sad smile on her face.
“Sky, it’s no trouble. I want you and Cassie to be safe. I can protect you.” She smiled, but he sensed that she didn’t believe him. “Trust me. I will keep you safe.”
She glanced down, bit her lip.
“I promise, Sky. There’s nothing more important to me than your welfare.”
She nodded. “Just be careful, Zach. This man almost killed my sister. I don’t want to lose either one of you.”
“Not a chance of that.” He pulled her close, stroking her hair. Tomorrow, he’d consult with Rafael about the best security measures. In the meantime, he’d keep a careful watch over the two women.
~*~
Cassie was the only customer. She’d spotted the small trendy boutique among the strip of businesses when she’d been shopping with Sky, but didn’t suggest they stop in.
With Sky, she’d shopped for the necessities, getting everything from underwear to sneakers and sandals. She couldn’t explain to Sky that her boyfriend wanted to buy her a special dress for their date. Cassie wasn’t even sure that she was okay with Javier’s gift. But she knew that Sky would have something to say about it; something she did not want to hear.
Cassie parked Javier’s truck in front and slid down to the pavement before going inside.
A bell clanked against the glass door as she pushed her way inside. Two sales girls leaned against the counter, watching her with wide eyes and absolutely no expression registering on their faces.
Cassie smiled in their direction and went to paw through the racks. She pulled out several things to try on and looked through the lingerie selection. She chose a silky bra and pair of bikini panties to match, leaving them by the cash register.
She asked for the dressing room and one of the sales girls led her behind a curtain, leaving her without a single word passing through her tightly pursed lips.
Cassie tried on three dresses, concerned that she knew so little about Javi. She didn’t even know his favorite color. He’d liked Sky’s little black dress, but it had been the tee shirt that had driven him wild. She finally chose a silky turquoise dress that skimmed over her body, but had a short skirt. Legs were the commodity that Cassie had the most of.
In the same store, she found a pair of strappy tan sandals with two-inch heels, figuring that she could wear them with other things, whenever she had other things.
She carried the dress and shoes to the cash register to join her other selections. One of the sales girls rang up her purchases and Cassie handed her the credit card.
The girl drew in a breath, staring at the card. The second sales girl looked at the card then shot Cassie an angry glare.
Butterflies swarmed in her gut. “Is there a problem?” she said with as much dignity as she could muster.
“No, its...it’s just that...”
“It’s all right,” Cassie said. “It’s my boyfriend’s card. He gave it to me.”
Both girls eyed her suspiciously.
Cassie bit her lip. She should have brought Sky with her. Sky was so much better at asserting herself, and she had no money to pay for her purchases if they refused to let her use the card.
Silently, the first young woman swiped the card and handed her a ticket to sign.
Cassie accepted the bag with the shoes and underwear, carrying the dress bagged on a hanger. She felt their eyes on her as she opened Javi’s truck and tried to get up in it as gracefully as possible. She intended to drop off her purchases at her new residence before returning to the hospital. She sighed as she drove past the rubble that had been their home for so brief a period.
My independent bachelor girl home.
She parked and ran up Zach's stairs to hang her new dress in the almost empty closet and set the shoebox on the floor beneath it. One other dress hung alongside it and that had been purchased after Sky suggested that the Baileys might invite them to go to church again.
Cassie climbed back up into the truck, having gotten the hang of grabbing the steering wheel to haul herself up into the driver’s seat. She returned to the hospital and found that Javier wasn’t in his room. She went to the nurse’s station and was redirected to the Rehabilitation Department.
She peeked through the door and saw Javi working with a Rehab specialist. He grinned when he saw her, motioning her over.
He introduced her to the Occupational Therapist and showed her the small rubber ball he was supposed to use to strengthen his arm.
Even as he flexed his fingers to squeeze the ball the muscles in his forearm and bicep flexed.
Cassie felt a wave of panic when she saw the dressing on his arm, recalling how his injury occurred.
Back in his room she helped him dress in the clean clothes his mother had brought for him. He gazed down at her as she buttoned his shirt. “I could get used to this.”
Cassie stood on her tiptoes to give him a kiss. “I’ll just bet you could.”
His uninjured arm circled around her and pressed her close.
A tight feeling in her throat prevented her from speaking. She slipped her arms around his neck, squeezing him tight.
“Let’s get out of here,” he said, gruffly.
~*~
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Resurrection
The pretty waitress handed him a menu. She
was lovely and slim like Kira, but older. She looked the way Kira would have looked ten years from now.
He smiled at her. “Yes, I’ll have coffee. Thanks.”