by Leanne Davis
Luke crossed his arms over his chest. Smile gone. “Did you know I was married?”
Cassie nodded. “I picked up on that.”
“Her name was Shelly. We met in college. We dated for a few years and were married for four. She changed everything for me.”
He paused. Tears formed in his eyes. She swallowed over the sudden lump in her throat. Obviously something had happened to his wife. “If you don’t want to tell me you don’t have to.”
He put his hand over hers and squeezed. He shook his head. “No, it’s been almost two years, I can talk about it. Sometimes, some days it hits me harder than others. She was killed in a car accident. A lady crossed the median in the wrong spot and hit her head on. There was no reason for it, and no one to blame. Shelly was five months pregnant.” Luke’s voice thickened.
“I had no idea, none at all. I’m so sorry.”
“I think the only way to describe it is I lost my heart, and I won’t be getting it back. But having you and Tim here makes the house feel alive again, and I like that. I don’t want you to be in trouble, but it makes me feel almost human again to be able to help you. And that’s why I’m sorry about how last night ended.”
“It wasn’t anything. And what you just said now more than makes up for it.” She squeezed his hand. Then she asked, “You ended up in Seaclusion because of your wife?”
“Yes she was from here.”
“How did John end up here then?”
“He and my parents came to stay with me after Shelly died. They saved my life. My parents eventually bought a house in town. John stayed here, I’m pretty sure he was afraid to leave me alone in this house. Maybe he was right. I should have made him leave long ago. My life is holding him back.”
“I wouldn’t agree with that. He’s not one to do what he doesn’t want too. You know that.”
Luke shrugged. “It’s John. Who knows what he really thinks.”
“Maybe he stays because of Sarah.”
“Maybe. She’s his first real relationship.”
No. Sarah wasn’t. But Cassie didn’t say that. Instead she asked, “Do you think he’s happy with her?”
“Yeah. I do. She’s good for him. Loosens him up.” Luke let out a breath. “Anyway now you know why you don’t have to feel grateful to me for letting you stay here, you and Tim help me get through the day.”
Cassie smiled softly. “Thanks for telling me about Shelly.”
Luke got up and pulled her into a big brotherly bear hug. They had reached a new level of understanding between them and she could literally feel Luke’s protectiveness for her and her son. Sometimes it was like she was drowning from the stress in her life. To think she had someone to share it with was like someone had finally noticed she was drowning and bothered to throw her a life ring.
John walked in at that moment. He stopped dead in the doorway. Luke didn’t let her go. Cassie noticed John’s face. She pulled her arms off Luke. John passed by them and went to the sink. His face was cut from stone. He refused to make eye contact with her.
“Where have you been?” Luke asked. An arm hanging loosely off Cassie, he was oblivious to any displeasure from John.
“I went for a jog.”
“First thing on a Sunday morning? Christ now I do feel old. Who’s that motivated?”
John shrugged, his gaze landed on Cassie under Luke’s muscled arm. “I had some things on my mind.”
Cassie was about to speak when Sarah came into the kitchen. Cassie frowned. She’d had no idea Sarah had stayed the night. Sarah had on a shirt of John’s that hit her mid-thigh. Cassie glared at the offending garment which stopped indecently high on Sarah’s long, skinny thighs. Sarah yawned lazily as she walked over to put a kettle of water on the stove. She smiled at Cassie.
Cassie was going to have to make a quick peace with Sarah’s presence. Sarah was a minor nuisance when compared to the danger she’d dealt with when she and Tim had been alone. She needed to be grateful for the safe, lovely house, John and Luke’s protection, and even the unexpected warm friend in Luke. Those were the things that mattered. Not her petty jealously of Sarah.
It was only as Sarah grabbed an apple and started munching on it that she turned and looked at Cassie. “Hey Cassie, I’m sorry we were gossiping about you last night.”
Cassie stifled a groan. Why here? Why now? With two of the most gorgeous men she’d ever come across both pausing from their different tasks; John reaching for a bowl, Luke opening the paper. Suddenly, they looked at Cassie. Cassie paused, and then set her cereal bowl down on the table with a sharp rattle. Even the air was suddenly tense. All eyes were her way. She took a breath and relaxed her shoulders.
“What? Sorry that I caught you?” Damn. She had meant to say a gracious, don’t worry about it. Just two nights ago she’d promised John she’d stay out of his way and not comment on his life, and now here she was taking it up with his girlfriend.
Sarah quit chewing her apple mid-bite, her eyebrows wrinkled in surprise. Then she set the apple behind her.
“Okay you’re probably right. I’m sorry you heard it. I was just, you know, stating—”
“The obvious? You think I’m old, well you seem like a little girl to me. And you know what? What little girls think of me doesn’t really bother me anymore.”
Sarah’s mouth dropped open. Why wasn’t her strive for gracious happening? The tension cut the room. John and Luke’s heads swung back and forth between her and Sarah.
Cassie picked up her bowl and went to the sink. When she turned back she put a strained smile on her face. It took all of her effort to pull off. “Besides Sarah you were right. I am a cleaning woman. That’s what I do for a living.”
That brought Luke and Sarah’s eyes up to her.
“You’re kidding?” Sarah asked.
Cassie caught the tone. “No I’m not. I own my own cleaning business. Tim and I live alone. So you know what Sarah, all that you did was compliment me.”
Cassie spun around and marched out of the kitchen without meeting Luke, John or Sarah’s eyes. Where had this come from? Cassie wasn’t sure; other than there was something about Sarah that brought her hackles up. Something she hadn’t experienced in a long time. But she had to stop picking petty fights with Sarah, because one of these times John was going to use it as a reason to kick her out.
****
Marcus slumped down in the seat of the black sedan he had recently acquired. Kelly came out her front door, her ass swaying in the tight jeans as she headed to her car. He’d been watching her for days. Not a sign of Cassie. Maybe he’d have a little face to face with the bitch, get her to tell him where Cassie was…
No. He couldn’t draw attention to himself just yet. Getting his ass tossed back in prison before he found his wife would suck big time.
He put the car into drive, keeping a safe distance from Kelly’s little white convertible. His thoughts drifted to when he’d first set his sights on Cassie. He started by bumping into her around the office. Eventually, he started talking to her, treating her with reserved kindness and politeness. He “accidentally” ran into her in one of the bars she frequented. He innocently offered to buy her a drink, making sure to keep any sexual pretense out of it. She only started to warm toward him when he explained he wasn’t drinking because he was a recovering alcoholic. That had initiated her interest in him. She asked him about it, and he crafted a story he suspected paralleled her own.
He formally asked her out for a date, making sure to seem the utmost gentlemen. She accepted. They had gone out several times before she opened up about her drinking. And he used that to form a relationship with her and show her how she couldn’t live without him. He became her coach, advisor, mentor and supporter in her struggle to stop drinking and whoring. Although she never did fess up to the whoring part.
He had known everything about her, and soon controlled everything about her. He made sure she got pregnant, so that she would do as he wanted and marry him. Cassie had b
een the perfect wife, in his control until the very moment she left him.
Cassie had done the unthinkable, unacceptable, inexcusable act of leaving him. She’d run off to her even more slut of a sister. Taking his son with her. She’d been planning it for a year he found out later. She’d contacted a lawyer, and kept strict track of him, documenting his movements and actions like he was the criminal. Instead of her. Kelly had footed the bill.
She’d taken him to court for full custody of his son, claiming he was an unfit parent. Him! She’d been a drunken whore when he’d mercifully taken her and shown her some self-control and discipline. Then she turned all of it against him. Right there in court, saying awful things about him and revealing secrets of their life. Cassie’s betrayal had roared between his ear drums. But he’d sat there calmly, stoically, and shown the judge she was the crazy one, not him.
But unbelievably the judge hadn’t seen the truth in Cassie. He’d lost. He, Marcus Leary, had lost to her, and with her slutty, bitch of a rich sister smirking at him from Cassie’s side.
Cassie had driven him to violence. Never in his life had he had to resort to that to get what he wanted. In the past his intelligence, patience and talents for manipulation had gotten him what he wanted. But she’d caused him to have to do what he’d done to her that day she was awarded Tim. The day he went to prison.
Everything that had happened had been Cassie’s fault. All of it was at Cassie’s doorstep.
And he’d been willing to forgive her, after the right punishment of course, and he had intended to do just that. Until she had once again betrayed him.
He’d been watching Kelly for over a week. There was no sign of his wife. Kelly didn’t do anything out of the ordinary. He’d wasted too much time as it was. His wife had found someone else to help her, now all he had to do was find out who.
That’s the thing his wife seemed to have forgotten, he knew everything about her. And there was no place she could hide from him. He’d find her. Cassie would make a mistake. Cassie Reeves was always her own worst enemy. She was a poison to herself and to him.
Chapter Seven
“Let’s go do something fun.”
Luke stood in her doorway the next weekend. A long week of nearly silence from John, and even louder silence from Marcus Leary had finally passed. Where was Marcus? No one knew. Marcus had dropped off the radar and was no doubt in search of where she and Tim had disappeared to. He was probably, right now, watching her sister Kelly. Not so close that he’d get caught, but close enough to determine whether or not Kelly was helping Cassie. Cassie knew in her gut that was the route Marcus would take to find her, and that’s why Kelly’s ignorance of her situation, was what would keep her safe.
Cassie missed Kelly with each day that went by. She had told Kelly she and Tim were taking a long overdue vacation. She had called her sister a few times. But each time she called she felt worse than before she called; she hated lying to Kelly.
She glared at Luke. “Fun? Doing what? Counting sea shells in the yard?”
“I see your mood has improved. Feeling a little housebound?”
“You can’t even imagine.”
“Okay, so let’s go to the park.”
“Park? And do what? Play on the swings? No, thank you.”
“It’s a little more than that kind of park. It’s a very popular tourist destination, and we’re taking your son to see it.”
“All right,” Cassie said, feeling a flicker of interest at getting out of the house.
Cassie followed Luke downstairs and bundled Tim up in boots and a thick coat, then did the same to herself. The day was brilliantly sunny, and cold. Late January shouldn’t be a beautiful time to go sight-seeing, but today it was.
Just as they were climbing into Luke’s truck, John’s SUV came down the driveway. Cassie sighed. John had been in a foul mood toward her and rarely showed up at the house. Her presence in his life had done wonders for his relationship with Sarah Cassie suspected, seeing as how he nearly lived at Sarah’s in order to avoid her.
“I’m taking Cassie and Tim to Cape Disappointment, want to come?”
“No.” He was careful to avoid glancing her way.
“Please John?” Tim asked, walking over to look up at him. “Don’t you want to come with us? Luke said there are some lighthouses to look at.”
Cassie smiled sweetly. “You don’t have to bother, we don’t want to disturb you.”
John’s dark eyes narrowed as they stood there in a childish staring contest. Then he said cheerfully to Tim, with eyes glued to Cassie. “Sure I’d like to come with you Tim. I’m sure your mother would love the company.”
“Right,” Cassie mumbled as she and Tim climbed into the jump seat of Luke’s truck, and John took the front seat. Then she was stuck in the cab with John on the four mile drive from Seaclusion, to Ilwaco, where they turned off toward Cape Disappointment State Park. Four miles that should have been a pleasant diversion touring the area, but John’s presence in the cab made Cassie overly aware of each movement she made or word she uttered. Why did she give John the power to make her feel so self-conscious? Around John, she was reduced to feeling like a kid waiting to be disciplined by the school principal.
They started up the highway, a twisting two lane road, with thick woods covering each side; Cassie’s interest in where they were going started to get piqued. Finally curiosity won out. “What is this place?”
John glanced back. “You don’t know much about this area do you?”
“No. Why would I? I didn’t exactly read the travel brochures when I decided to hide out here.”
Luke laughed, then added, “This park is pretty well known because it’s the southernmost tip of the state, where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean. It’s called the graveyard of the Pacific.”
“The what?”
“Over two hundred ships sunk at the mouth of the Columbia River, killing over seven hundred people. They’ve since engineered it so it isn’t so dangerous.”
“Is that where the name Cape Disappointment came from?”
“No, that name came from when one of the original explorers looking for the Columbia River missed it,” Luke said, smiling at her in the rear view mirror.
She’d relocated to a place with the name of Cape Disappointment? Like that could be a good omen for the place she’d chosen as refuge from a violent stalker. Or that this was the graveyard of the Pacific. She shuddered at what the name conjured up for her.
John had been watching her. Their eyes met. She looked away first.
“So what are we seeing?”
“All of it. There’s the Lewis and Clark Museum, Waikiki Beach, the two lighthouses, campground, and to top it all off, an old military post.”
“How big is this place?”
“Do you have somewhere else to be?”
No. She didn’t. She had nowhere to be. Ever. Nor did she have anything to do. They explored everything, and finally, their excursion lifted Cassie’s spirits. The scenery was beautiful, big waves, big blue sky, lighthouses, towering cliffs and endless evergreen trees.
Finally Luke ended his tour at the North Head Lighthouse. They walked the half mile trail to the white and red structure. The four of them stood nearly two hundred feet above treacherous cliffs and rocks, watching the ocean’s show of thrashing waves and spray below. It was a panoramic view of blue sky against pale blue ocean, pine trees and cliffs, and the unusual beauty of Waikiki beach below them, until it hit the North Jetty that trailed into the ocean for two miles.
Tim was enthralled with the place. He climbed onto the small chain link fence that couldn’t be but four feet tall, nearly giving Cassie a heart attack as he pretended he was the captain of a ship heading out to sea.
“This is considered one of the windiest spots in the United States.”
Startled, Cassie turned from her slow perusal of the view toward John. His sudden appearance and the friendly fact he threw out surprised her more than the view.
Why had John walked all the way over and started a conversation with her? All day he’d been sure to tag along talking with Luke and Tim while being even more surly than usual toward her. Once in a while she glanced his way and caught him scowling at her. She wondered what she’d done today to inflame his general anger at her.
“It feels like it could be the edge of the world.”
“You should see it in a storm. It’s said the howling of the wind drove one lighthouse keeper’s wife to fling herself off the cliffs.”
“Are you hoping I will too?”
“Just making conversation.”
“Why?”
He shrugged.
She turned and looked back over the view. “Why do you know so much about this place?”
John leaned over, resting his forearms on the fence and looking out toward sea. She turned her head and found him nearly eye level with her.
“Sarah actually. She loves this place. She loves Seaclusion, she works on different web sites to attract tourists, and bring in people for the annual Kite Festival. She’s always spouting off stories and history of the area. She’s like a walking encyclopedia about it. Luke and I both picked up on quite a bit of it.”
“That surprises me,” Cassie said, her tone snide. She regretted it instantly. For some reason John was being nice, and she’d just sent them back to insults.
“Sarah’s not stupid. She plays up the flighty thing, and usually gets what she wants because people underestimate her.”
“Oh.” Was this John’s way of telling her there was more to Sarah then meets the eye? Why would John care that she know that?
“Why are you talking to me?” she asked, after a loaded silence of them standing side by side, their gazes glued toward the horizon.
He let out a deep breath. “I’ve been trying to figure out why you were going on a date with my brother.”
“What? Why would you say such a thing? I’ve been locked up in your house for weeks now. Do you have any idea whatsoever what Tim and I do for all those hours you’re working, and at Sarah’s? We sit in your house. Walking the beach only takes up so many hours. The rest of it I’m waiting. I don’t even know what I’m waiting for. So Luke asks to get me out of the house, and you think I agreed as some sort of come on? Is that why you came? To chaperone us? Make sure I don’t try to seduce your brother while my six-year-old son plays captain not twenty feet away?”