He smiled slightly, then took a step toward her. He put his arms around her lower back and gently pulled her close, then slowly leaned down.
“I thought you’d never ask,” he whispered into her ear.
Then he kissed her.
His lips were warm and soft, and she felt her body melting against his. He pulled her closer, and the heat quickly spread throughout her body, even reaching her fingertips, which gently stroked the back of his neck. She’d never experienced a kiss like this, and she began to feel a little dizzy.
She felt like she was…floating.
Wow.
After a bit they finally broke apart.
She looked up at him and smiled. “What took you so long?”
He smiled back. “What can I say? I’m conservative.”
“Clearly. But that was definitely worth the wait.”
“Agreed.”
“And I don’t just mean tonight.”
“Agreed.” He gently brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes, his touch igniting another spark down her neck and spine. Then he leaned close again and lowered his voice. “You smell really good.”
She nodded toward the house. “You sure you don’t want to come in for a while?”
“I do, but I really can’t. Plus it’s your parents’ house. I wouldn’t feel right.”
She laughed. “We’re in our thirties now, Brandon.” Late thirties, yikes.
He shrugged. “I know, I know. But I just told you, I’m conservative.”
“I thought you said you weren’t a Boy Scout.”
He put his hand on her neck, then leaned down and kissed her again. “I’m not,” he whispered.
“You’re not?” she whispered back.
“No, but let’s wait for that until Friday.” Friday was when they’d scheduled their next date, when he wouldn’t have work the next morning or the boys to take care of.
She rolled her eyes in a playful manner. “All right, if you insist.”
“It’s a date.” He kissed her again and turned to leave but hesitated for a moment, his eyes suggesting he had more to say.
She looked at him, doe-eyed.
He smiled at her. “I’m…really glad our paths crossed again, Cassidy.”
She smiled back. “Me too.”
Chapter Ten
“HAPPY HALLOWEEN!” PATTI opened the door to greet Cassidy and her nieces, who were both dressed as princesses. Patti kneeled down and gave each girl a hug. “Hi, Princess Courtney; hi, Princess Caroline. Don’t you two look pretty tonight?” Then she stood up and looked at Cassidy. “Wow, they’re really getting tall. Little WNBA players in the house.”
Cassidy’s eyes got big as she ushered the girls inside. “Tell me about it. Total bean sprouts. It’s sort of freaking me out.”
Patti showed the girls to the playroom, then turned her full attention on Cassidy. “So…how was the big date? I can’t wait to hear about it. Hilarious costume, by the way.”
Cassidy put her hands on her waist and did a little twirl. “You like my cone? Keeps me from scratching after a visit to the vet.” She was dressed as a cat but had fastened a large piece of plastic around her neck, funnel style.
“Very clever, much more creative than my witch costume. Now let’s get this show on the road so you can tell me all about last night. My kids have been going nuts waiting to hit the candy circuit. I hope the pot of mini Kit Kats I’m leaving on our front step doesn’t get swiped in the first ten minutes we’re gone.”
“I’m sorry we’re late. After Tyler and Jessica dropped off the girls, I had to wait for my mom to get home from the supermarket so she could see them in their princess costumes.”
“Are Tyler and Jessica staying home to give out candy? I figured they would be with you.”
Cassidy waved a paw. “They’re having a date night: dinner and a movie. They went to the girls’ parade at school earlier, so Jessica said they’d put in their time. She never gives out candy because she doesn’t want it in her house. It’s a miracle she lets Courtney and Caroline keep their loot.”
Patti adjusted her black hat. “Jessica’s not very warm and fuzzy in the parenting department, is she.” It wasn’t a question.
Cassidy shrugged. “To be honest, she’s not warm and fuzzy in any department.”
Wearing a cowboy hat and his standard plaid flannel shirt, Roy appeared with Jason and Travis, who were both dressed as Power Rangers, and little Anna, who was also a princess. Cassidy collected her nieces from the playroom, and the eight of them set out trick-or-treating. The streets were filled with delighted children running about, followed by their harried parents trying to keep up with them. Watching the chaos swirl around her, Cassidy couldn’t imagine a worse nightmare for Danielle. Danielle was probably at an adult Halloween party right now, most likely at a bar, and certainly far removed from anything remotely resembling suburbia or parenthood.
“Look at those cool jack-o’-lanterns!” Jason darted up a driveway, Travis and the three princesses fast on his heels. As Cowboy Roy shuffled to keep up with them, Cassidy and Patti lagged behind so Cassidy could continue sharing the details of her date with Brandon.
“He really took you to his favorite restaurant and told you he’d never been there before with anyone else?”
“It was so nice, Patti. Everyone there knows him, and they treated us like royalty. I’ve never had anyone fold my napkin for me while I was in the ladies’ room. I thought they only did that in the movies.”
Patti held up her broomstick in one hand and lightly pounded her chest with the other. “In man code, that’s sort of a big deal that he took you there. You realize that, right?”
Cassidy remembered how she’d briefly thought the exact opposite. “I understand that…now. But it took me a while. I was a little flustered the entire evening, to be honest. I think he was too, actually.”
“Sounds like someone’s a little smitten.”
“Are you talking about me or about him?”
“It could be that I’m talking about both of you.”
As they wandered through the neighborhood, Cassidy finished recounting the story, then looked at Patti. She held up a hand to nibble on her thumbnail, then let it drop to her side when she realized it was covered by a paw—and obstructed by the cone.
“What do you think?”
“What do I think? I think it sounds like it went great.”
“So you don’t think it’s a big deal that he didn’t want to come inside?”
Patti half laughed. “Come inside your parents’ house? Definitely not. If anything it’s the opposite.”
“How so?”
“Think about it, Cassidy. The guy clearly likes you, and he obviously respects you. He’s read your books, for frick’s sake. He even respects your parents too much to put the moves on you under their roof. Those are all really good signs.”
“What about the fact that I basically had to ask him to kiss me? That was a little embarrassing.”
Patti shook her head. “Same deal. I’m telling you, Cassidy: he was a nice guy in high school, and it sounds like he still is. He’s just a gentleman, and a shy one at that.”
Cassidy adjusted her cone. “He told me he had a crush on me at Paly.”
“That’s not surprising. I bet a lot of guys did but were too chicken to do anything about it.”
“I doubt that. Did I tell you he suggested we go to Tahoe sometime?”
“Jason! Stop kicking that pumpkin NOW! Stop it! Roy, get him!”
Roy ran over and scooped up Jason, then together he and Patti made the boy apologize to the woman whose pumpkin he’d just dented with his tiny Power Ranger foot.
“Auntie Cassie, see what we got!”
Cassidy turned and looked down at her nieces, who were staring up at her with big grins. They held up fun-size
Snickers bars.
“Mmm, yummy,” she said, rubbing her belly with a paw.
“Halloween is the best!” They turned and ran ahead to the next house with Travis and Anna, while Roy and Patti scolded Jason for kicking the pumpkin. As Cassidy watched her nieces scamper along, she felt a rush of love and wondered—as she did from time to time—what it would be like if they were her daughters.
Would I be a good mother?
Her thoughts turned to her date last night.
Would I be a good stepmother?
She knew she was getting way ahead of herself and was grateful to be distracted from such big questions when Patti rejoined her, followed by Roy and a contrite Jason.
Patti put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry. It’s never ending. What were you saying about Tahoe?”
“A couple of weeks ago, when Brandon was planning what we should do on our first official date, he asked if I wanted to go to Tahoe with him.”
“For real?”
“Yes. He said his friends have a cabin they don’t use very often.”
“Wow, talk about a full-court press. He must be really into you to bring up Tahoe already.”
“That’s what I thought too, which is why it sort of threw me when he didn’t make a move to even kiss me last night. After all that buildup, it made me wonder if maybe…maybe I inadvertently did something to turn him off.” She felt her cat shoulders droop.
Patti waved a dismissive hand. “I highly doubt that. So was the kiss good?”
Cassidy put a paw over her heart. “So good. Like amazing good.”
“Awesome. Then stop worrying about it.”
Cassidy gave her a hopeful look. “Just as he was leaving, he did say he’s glad our paths crossed again.”
“As he should be. When are you seeing him next?”
“He’s with his kids tonight, so we’re going out tomorrow. I bought a new dress this afternoon.”
“A new dress? I like it. What are you doing?”
“He’s taking me to the Rosewood for a drink, and then we’re going to the Los Altos Grill for dinner.”
“Both excellent choices. Well done, Brandon Forrester. That man has good taste in more than just clothes and women.”
Cassidy lowered her voice to a near whisper. “I really like him, Patti. It kind of scares me a little.”
Patti put a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t be scared. Try to just enjoy it, Cassidy. God knows, you of all people deserve this.”
Chapter Eleven
CASSIDY WOKE UP early the next morning, still on New York time and too excited about her date with Brandon to sleep in anyway. She changed into shorts and a long-sleeved T-shirt and headed out for a run, not sure which route she’d take but well aware that it would bring back childhood memories no matter which direction she ran. Practically every block had a house where she’d attended either a slumber party, a Girl Scout troop meeting, or a study group of one sort or another.
As she made her way through the streets of her youth, she forced herself to stop thinking about Brandon and went over her keynote address in her head, something she’d done many times over the weeks leading up to Monday’s conference. The topic they’d asked her to speak about was following your dreams, something she knew quite a bit about, given her bumpy road to becoming a full-time author.
If you aren’t happy, do something about it.
When you know what you want, don’t give up until you get it.
Only you know which path in life is best for you.
Her parents were in the kitchen pouring coffee when she returned to the house nearly an hour later.
“Looks like someone got an early start today,” her mom said. “We thought you were still sleeping.”
Cassidy retrieved a large plastic tumbler from the cupboard and filled it with water. “If I were at my apartment, I would be. I love the three-hour time difference. I never wake up this early in New York.”
“Did you have a nice jog?” her dad asked.
Cassidy finished her water and set the glass on the counter with a nod. “I ran over to the creek and back. I’d forgotten how pretty it is over there.”
“How’d the trick-or-treating go last night?” her mother asked.
“We had a blast. Caroline and Courtney scored enough candy to last them through Easter. Jessica’s not going to be happy.”
“Sounds like things went splendidly.” Her dad gave her a wink. “Who cares about calories, much less cavities, at that age?”
Cassidy pointed at him. “You are a smart man. Did you get a lot of kids here?”
“Not as many as last year. We put the leftover candy in the fridge if you’re hungry,” he said.
Cassidy glanced toward it. “Ooh. I’ll have to remember that.”
“What’s on your schedule for today?” her mom asked, handing her a mug of coffee.
Cassidy held the steaming cup under her chin. “Nothing too exciting. I’m pretty set on my speech, so I’ll probably spend most of the day working on the book.”
“You seeing Brandon again tonight?”
Cassidy took a sip of coffee. “Yes.”
“He seems like a nice guy.”
“He is.”
Her parents knew her well enough to leave it at that, so her mom stopped asking questions and her dad changed the subject to one of his, and every father’s, favorites: the weather. “It’s supposed to rain cats and dogs today, kiddo. You may have gotten your run in just in time.”
“It is?” She took a peek out of the window. The sky was already looking a bit darker.
He stood up and folded the newspaper under his arm. “If you go back out today, be sure to take an umbrella just in case.”
“Will do.” She took another sip of coffee and hoped the turn in the weather wasn’t an omen.
After breakfast Cassidy enjoyed a long, hot shower, then changed into jeans and a sweatshirt and took her laptop into the kitchen. She loved working at the kitchen table at her parents’ house. It reminded her of being in school, when she’d come home and spread out her books and binders in front of her on that same table every day. When it was cold outside, her mom would light a fire and make her a mug of hot chocolate with tiny marshmallows before preparing dinner. Tyler usually did his homework in his bedroom, but for some reason Cassidy had always liked working at the kitchen table, smack in the middle of everything.
She took a seat, then glanced around the room and felt the memories, good and bad, begin to float up and around her.
The time Tyler broke his arm skateboarding.
The day she mustered the courage to call Jimmy Hanson about the Sadie Hawkins dance—and he turned her down.
The day she got her braces off.
The afternoon she received her acceptance letter to Yale.
The evening of the prom, which she’d spent making cookies with her mom.
The time Patti showed up in tears and said her parents were fighting…again.
As it did on every visit, sitting here as an adult made her remember what life had felt like as a teenager. Though there hadn’t been cell phones, e-mail, or Facebook back then, she imagined the fundamental essence of the teenage experience was still the same: angst.
As though reading her mind, her phone chimed with a text message.
Brandon!
But the message was from Patti. It was a close-up photo of them in their Halloween costumes with the caption:
Don’t sweat the wrinkles. In ten years we will kill puppies to look this young.
She smiled. Ah, Patti.
The text snapped her back into the present, as well as the reality of her adult responsibilities. She set down the phone and got to work on her book, specifically a pivotal scene in which Emma, the ambitious young heroine, begins to realize that despite how hard she’s worki
ng to climb the corporate ladder, a career in advertising isn’t making her happy. What does being happy mean? Emma is almost too afraid to ask herself the question because she doesn’t want to know the answer.
About an hour later, her phone beeped with an alarm. Startled, she picked it up.
E-mail Nigel feedback on cover design
Even though she loved helping choose the covers of her books, for the time being it could wait, and she was annoyed at the break in her concentration. She silently cursed herself for needing reminder alarms going off at all hours to keep her life on track. She’d been on a roll with the novel, the first time in a while that she’d been in such a groove, and hated to have it interrupted. She dismissed the alarm but kept the phone in her hand for a moment, realizing she still hadn’t heard from Brandon.
It was after noon. Until today he’d always reached out to her with a friendly and/or flirty greeting by now, literally every single day for weeks.
Should I text him?
Would that be weird?
She put the phone down on the table, deciding not to do anything. She had enough drama to deal with on the screen in front of her, so she’d do her best to refocus her mental energy on that. She was sure she’d hear from Brandon eventually. He was probably just busy with work.
Cassidy finally received a text message from Brandon at four o’clock. It made her gasp.
Need to postpone our dinner. My mother had a major stroke last night. I’m at the hospital.
She stared at the phone.
Oh my God.
“Honey, are you OK?”
At the sound of a voice, Cassidy glanced up to see her mom standing in the doorway. “You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”
Cassidy held up her phone. “It’s Brandon. His mother had a stroke.”
Her mom walked toward her, then put a hand on Cassidy’s shoulder. “Oh, Cassidy, that’s terrible.”
“He’s at the hospital. Do you think I should call him? Texting in response to news like that seems sort of, I don’t know, impersonal, don’t you think?”
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