Cassie scraped back her chair and rose to her feet. From behind Millicent, she bent down and wrapped her arms around the woman and planted a kiss on her fleshy cheek.
“Can I talk to you outside?” she whispered.
Millicent stood up without reply, and the two of them stepped out to the deck. White twinkle lights spiraled the wooden railing on three sides, and the half moon did the rest to light the night as it reflected off the glassy water of the canal.
“It’s a beautiful evening,” Cassie said, offering Millicent a patio chair.
“Very.”
“Millicent, I wanted to confide in you about something, if I can.”
The woman’s eyes lifted, and she looked at Cassie through curiosity mixed with surprise.
“That comment you overheard earlier, about how I wanted to just sell this house and get out of here…well, someone has been driving me a little crazy lately, and in the heat of the moment, I blurted that out.”
“I didn’t mean to drive you crazy, Cassie. I’ve just been enjoying our friendship. I liked having you around and—”
“Oh, Millicent!” she exclaimed. “It’s not you that’s driving me crazy, silly!”
“It’s not?”
“No, of course not. And I’m so sorry that you heard me say it, because if I could take one thing home with me when I leave Holiday, it would be you.”
“It would?”
“Yes, it would. In fact, I think you might like Boston, if you’re interested,” she teased.
Relief flooded her when Millicent found her smile again.
“You are so dear to me,” she told the woman.
“Maybe…you don’t really…have to go.”
The suggestion was childlike, and the hopeful glaze of emotion in Millicent’s eyes just about broke Cassie’s heart.
“You have so many friends here,” Cassie reminded her. “And you have your ceramics classes and dance lessons.”
“I’m taking a cooking class with Stella over in New Port Richey starting on the sixteenth.”
“See? You have a lot going on. I’m guessing you won’t miss having me around as much as you think you might. And we’ll keep in touch. We’ll have long talks on the phone, and we’ll write letters.”
“I’ve got the e-mail now.”
“That’s great. So we can e-mail each other and chat on IM.” When she saw the haze of confusion on Millicent’s face, she clarified, “Instant messaging.”
“I don’t know the messaging just yet.”
“Maybe I could show you. I know it’s not the same as waving at each other from across the street, but we’re friends, Millicent. Boston won’t change that.”
“Well,” the woman said, with a sigh following. She leaned in toward Cassie with a very serious expression. “The truth is…there’s somebody kind of driving me crazy lately, too.”
“Oh?”
Millicent nodded toward the house and then raised one eyebrow and curled up the corner of her mouth. “Mm-hmm,” she hummed.
“Stella?”
The woman nodded once more, with conviction.
“Ohh,” Cassie replied. “A little pushy, isn’t she?”
“A little?” Millicent answered. “The old broad is an expert on every subject, including the ones that she’s not.”
James and Tameka were the first to leave, and then Stella walked Millicent home so that they could make another batch of sweet tea to take to the prayer chain meeting at the church the following morning.
Richard looked so ridiculous that he was almost cute with Cassie’s lacy “Jesus is the Reason for the Season” apron draped over his pale green shirt as he rinsed the dinner dishes and loaded the dishwasher.
“You look rather adorable in that apron,” Hunter mocked as he helped Cassie fill plastic containers with the dinner leftovers.
“Don’t I, though?” Richard returned. “Jealous?”
Cassie resisted the urge to tell him that the apron was even too frou-frou for her to wear; she certainly hadn’t imagined a man wearing it in her kitchen!
And then she remembered that Zan had bought it for her in hopes that she would agree to spending just one Christmas holiday in the warm Florida sun. Emotion glazed her eyes as she remembered the Fourth of July barbecue out on the deck—Zan brushing his famous sauce over several racks of ribs, wearing that same apron, and looking almost as preposterous as Richard did just now. But then, Zan could always carry off “preposterous” pretty well. And far more naturally than Richard could.
Cassie held back a chuckle as she handed Hunter the last container, and Hunter stacked it inside the refrigerator with the others.
“You’ll be eating turkey and the trimmings for days!” he told her. “Hey, want to go walk off some of that pie?”
She hated that her eyes darted so quickly toward Richard before she could stop herself.
“There’s a gorgeous half moon out there and it’s 73 degrees. I don’t see much of that in New York in the month of December, and I know you don’t in Boston. Come on. Let’s go for a walk.”
“Well…”
“You kids go ahead,” Richard commented without looking up. “I’ll finish things up here.”
His indifference seemed almost genuine, and that pinched at Cassie in the hollow place just above her ribs.
“Let’s do,” she said. “Let me get a leash on Sophie, and I’ll grab my jacket in case I need it.”
She didn’t.
The gentle breeze off the water was mild, so Cassie just folded the jacket over her arm as they followed the sidewalk up the street and around the corner. The sky crowned the neighborhood with a midnight blue awning, the stars twinkling like light breaking through tiny pinholes. The silhouettes of tall palm trees were traced against the landscape in the distance, and the occasional spotlight from the houses they passed illuminated the way.
“You’d think it was an April night, wouldn’t you?” Hunter commented, and Cassie nodded in agreement.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been down here at this time of year. I had no idea it was so pleasant.”
“So why don’t you tell me about yourself, Cassie? What’s your life like up in Boston?”
She had the sudden impression that she was on one of those reality dating shows and her bachelor wanted to cram in as much information-gathering as he possibly could while they managed to find some time alone.
“Well, I’m an administrator for a law office there. I started out as a legal secretary about fifteen years ago, and I’ve been with them ever since.”
And fifteen years ago, you were, what, being potty-trained?
“So you enjoy your work?”
“Yes,” she answered. “I’m an organizer at heart, so it’s a good fit for me. What do you do in New York?”
“I’m a numbers cruncher.”
“Accountant?” she tentatively clarified.
“Not exactly, but it’s far too boring to tell you about.”
“I see.” She didn’t really, but there was no spark of curiosity that made her want to inquire further. “I’ve been to New York a few times. It’s very…large.”
“I went to college there, so by the time I got my degree, I knew some people and liked the town and then got a great job. It wasn’t really a conscious choice to stay. It was just a sort of natural progression.”
Okay. Well, we’ve covered the weather and our careers. Where do we go from here?
“Cassie, would you like to have dinner with me while I’m here?”
She stopped herself just short of gasping.
That’s where we go from the forecast and job status?
“That’s very sweet of you, Hunter.”
“I know what you’re going to say. You think I’m too young for you.” He stopped and put his hand to rest on the fold of her arm, overtop her jacket. “To tell you the truth, when my aunt suggested that we hook up, I was primed to blow her off. But I am really attracted to you, Cassie.” He seemed to be rather stunne
d by his own revelation. “So I’d like you to give the idea a chance.”
Cassie sighed. “Thank you, Hunter. Really. But I don’t think so.”
“Is it so easy for you to just toss something away without even knowing if—”
“I’m sorry. I’m just not interested in a relationship.”
“Who said anything about a relationship?” he cackled. “Why don’t we just—”
“Thank you, but no.”
Now respect your elders and stop pushing me!
Hunter shrugged and shook his head. “If that’s the way you feel, I guess… Well, okay.”
“It really was a pleasure to meet you, though. I’m happy you could join us today.”
He didn’t even bother with the courtesy of reciprocating, but he sure did step up the pace back toward her house after that.
“I think I’ll check in on my aunt over at Millicent’s place,” he said. Then he brushed her cheek with a broken kiss and crossed the street. “We’ll be over to say good night when she’s ready to go.”
The soft hum of the dishwasher greeted her when she and Sophie returned to the dimly lit house. The dining room table was cleared and the chairs were in perfect placement around it. The kitchen counters and sinks were wiped clean. Cassie noticed that the glass door and screen leading out to the deck were open, and then she saw Richard seated in a patio chair that he’d pulled out to the edge of the damaged dock.
He didn’t so much as flinch as she walked down the dock toward him. She stood behind him in silence, unsure of what to say.
“Have a nice walk?” he asked, still without any movement at all.
“It’s a pretty night.”
“Yes, it is.”
“Do you feel like another cup of coffee?”
She didn’t even really know why she’d asked. Richard’s presence was a little like a square of sandpaper in her shoe, rubbing against a blister at the back of her heel.
“Nope,” he said, and he pushed up to his feet and turned to face her. “Too late for coffee.”
Cassie began to wring her hands, and then she stammered slightly as she told him, “I have decaf. Or there’s still some of Millicent’s sweet tea in the fridge.”
Richard stared at her for a long moment and then asked, “What are you doing, Cassie?”
“What do you mean?”
“Earlier, when I arrived, you couldn’t even stand to look at me. Now you want to have coffee with me?”
Cassie looked up at him and grimaced. “I just can’t get a read on you, Richard.”
“What would you like to know?”
Bracing herself, she answered him. “For starters, I’d like to know why you called Mr. Kendrick and asked questions about me.”
“I think you can figure that out.” He glanced down at the dock and rubbed the toe of his shoe over a splintered board. “You’re not that clueless, are you, Cassie?”
“Clueless!”
“I called my old friend to find out more about you,” he blurted. When he looked up at her, his eyes were disks of blue fire. “About your life in Boston. About…you.”
“But why?”
“You’re really going to make me say it?”
“Say what?” she exclaimed.
“That I’m interested in you, Cassie. Very…I’m very interested in you.”
“Hello–oo–ooo…”
Cassie took an instinctual step backward as Stella poked her head around the glass door and called out to them, but her gaze was frozen solid against Richard’s.
“Cassie?”
“Coming.”
It almost produced a physical pain as she peeled her eyes away from the choke hold of Richard’s, but she managed it and then retreated up the dock and into the house.
“I just wanted to thank you for such a lovely celebration,” Stella said, her whole hand wrapped around Cassie’s wrist as she shook it from side to side. “It was so nice to be included. Thank you, darlin’.”
“You’re very welcome.”
“Let me just step out and say good-bye to our dance master here,” she said, nodding toward Richard. “Hunter’s out front. Go and say good night, will you, Cassie? I think he’s quite smitten with you.”
Before she could reply, Stella was on her way across the deck.
Cassie released a long, laborious sigh, and then she headed toward the front door and opened it. Hunter stood a few feet away on the sidewalk, looking up into the night sky.
“Thank you for coming,” she said from the doorway. “It was nice getting to know you, Hunter.”
He was motionless for a long moment, and then he turned and looked at her strangely. Without any warning at all, he plodded toward Cassie, hauled her into his arms, and planted his mouth over hers. She heard Sophie growl softly as Cassie yanked herself out of his embrace.
“Ohhh!” she groaned as she pushed him away. “Stop that! What are you doing?”
“Kissing you good night.”
“You have a lot to learn about women, Hunter,” she exclaimed, both arms poised in front of her in a defensive stance. “You don’t just…do that!”
“Fine,” he grumbled, and then he spun on his heels and stomped down the driveway. “Your loss,” he called back.
Sophie barked at him twice as he went.
“Good grief!” Cassie breathed. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “Do I have some sort of”—she blew an unsavory noise out between her pressed lips—“sign on my back or something today?”
“Where’s Hunter?” Stella asked as she crossed the living room.
“He left,” Cassie growled.
“Oh.”
Stella seemed disappointed. But Cassie was somewhat thrilled to have him gone.
“Well, Merry Christmas, Stella. Have a nice night.”
What was it Zan used to say? Don’t let the barn door hit your donkey from behind.
“All right then. Good night, darlin’.”
Cassie closed and locked the front door and then leaned against it for a moment. She took one deep breath and then headed through the darkened dining room to the slider and looked around outside for Richard.
He’d moved the chair back to the deck, and he was gone. Cassie stepped outside and craned her neck in one direction and then the other, but there was no sign of him.
Just as well.
Stella’s interruption had been fortuitous, because Cassie had no idea what she would have said to him anyway.
He’s interested in me. What is that supposed to mean?
What kind of future could Richard Dillon possibly have imagined for them? Not that she could deny the odd and startling chemistry between them, but chemistry could be disappointing and fleeting. Two people needed more than biology to build upon. They needed something in common, some bond between them. They needed to be cut from the same fabric.
Cassie picked up the cardboard box from Rachel that she had slid underneath the desk in the corner, and she carried it to the living room and dropped it to the floor in front of the wingback chair. She peered into the box by the illumination of the Christmas lights on the palm tree beyond the window.
She pulled out the first of the three gifts wrapped in shiny paper and tied with bouncy spirals of holiday ribbon. She shook the box once and then again, and then she held it up to her ear for a third shake.
“Bath salts,” she said. She opened it to confirm her correct guess.
The second present was a no-brainer. She held it before her and stared at it for a moment, and then she shrugged. “A book. Maybe a devotional.” Just what I need to start the new year out right!
Right again.
The third gift made a phloosh-phloosh noise when she shook it. Some sort of jewelry.
Cassie pulled off the ribbon and eased open the metallic green box. Inside were the most horrible neon-green-and-pink plastic palm tree earrings. She plucked them from the box, held them up toward the light from the window, and frowned at them.
Palm tree
earrings, Rach?
Beyond the earrings, on the other side of the window, Cassie noticed the two pink flamingos on the lawn…which, of course, reminded her of Zan.
So much for the lofty theory that two people have to be cut from the same cloth to make a lasting relationship.
While Cassie imagined that she had been constructed from a durable, dependable burlap, she was certain that Zan represented something colorful and breathable. He was 100 percent pure cotton.
With a Hawaiian print, no doubt.
Chapter Nine
1 DOWN: Energetic; forceful
Cassie broke the yolk on her egg and burned the toast, which didn’t really matter because she was out of butter. She used a fork to stuff it all down the disposal and then went looking for the leftover pumpkin pie—only to find a pristine, empty pie shell with no trace of filling inside.
“So–phie,” she called with nonchalantly.
Sure enough, the strawberry blond collie trotted around the corner, her tongue hanging off to one side and her needle nose and mouth covered in orange remnants.
“Bad dog,” she said, tipping the pie plate into the trash and letting the empty crust fall out. “I hope you don’t plan on making me pay for that later.”
Cassie decided on a two-day-old turkey sandwich and some cranberry sauce for breakfast and then slipped into one of the dining room chairs.
1 Down. Seven letters, meaning energetic and forceful.
Nothing came to her, so she took another bite of her sandwich and was just about to move on to the next clue when her cell phone rang.
“Cassie? It’s Millicent. Do you want to have lunch before we go for our dance lesson?”
Cassie had forgotten all about it.
“It’s cha-cha day, hunny bunny. I can hardly wait!”
“I’ll have to meet you there today. I have to stop in to see Tameka and sign some papers.”
“Oh. All right.”
“It starts at one?”
“Sharp.”
“I’ll be there.”
Cassie wondered what had happened to the idea of disco. Cha-cha day. She cringed as she folded up the crossword puzzle and returned it to the desk drawer, then popped the last bite of the turkey sandwich into her mouth.
Love Finds You in Holiday, Florida Page 10