Almost Lost

by Blake Pierce

  Cassie gaped at her, shocked beyond words, as she heard Harriet’s sharp intake of breath.

  Madison continued, relaying the information in a factual tone as if she wasn’t bothered by it and was simply passing it on.

  “I went to get some water last night and saw you kissing each other. Maybe that’s when it fell out,” she told Cassie helpfully.

  Looking at Harriet, Cassie could see the raw hatred in her face. Harriet was glaring at her as if she were a poisonous snake she was about to kill.

  “Is that so?” the cleaner taunted. “That’s why you’re here? To get a little piece of Dad, eh? That didn’t take you long. You’re quite the mover.”

  Cassie stood up so suddenly she jolted the table, causing the salt and pepper shakers to fall over with a bang.

  “Madison, come with me,” she ordered.

  She wasn’t going to let the young girl sit here while hateful insinuations about herself and her father were flung around. She knew how deeply words could scar.

  “Did he pay you for that? Perk of the job? Or was it an extra freebie?”

  Harriet spat the words out.

  Cassie grabbed Madison’s hand and headed for the door, hustling her toward the bedrooms and out of earshot.

  Dylan, reclining on the bean bag in the dining room and engrossed in a book, glanced up as they passed.

  “What’s happening?” Madison asked.

  Breathlessly, Cassie explained as she marched Madison into her room.

  “Harriet’s lost her temper and is saying hurtful things. You shouldn’t have to hear things that are ugly and untrue. It will be better for us to stay in our rooms until she’s gone.”

  It didn’t sound as if that would take too long. Madison’s announcement had clearly put an end to the delaying tactics. As she went to her own room, Cassie heard the brief hiss of the kitchen tap, a cupboard slamming, and then the stomp of angry feet as Harriet headed for the front door.

  Then her heart leaped into her mouth as she heard it unlock, and Ryan’s voice calling out.

  “Knock knock! Hello, everyone. Oh, hello, Harriet, you still here?”

  “Screw you, you bastard,” Harriet spat the words out.

  The front door slammed with a crash that reverberated through the house.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Cassie burst out of her bedroom and ran to the hallway where Ryan was standing, frozen, staring at the front door.

  She felt consumed by anxiety about Harriet’s behavior and had started to fear the worst. What if Harriet and Ryan had already had a relationship? What if Ryan had slept with her? He might have done so in a moment of passion, as a fling, but even so, it was troubling that he hadn’t told her about it. She needed to know what was going on. She couldn’t bear to think of anything destroying their potential happiness.

  When Ryan turned and saw her, his face softened.

  “Good afternoon, lovely,” he said, and put his arms around her.

  She hugged him back, reassured by how strong and tightly he held her.

  “Did you have some kind of a fall-out with Harriet?” he asked softly, smoothing his hand over her hair.

  “Madison told Harriet we’d kissed. She must have seen us last night.”

  Cassie felt sick inside as she described in a low voice what had played out.

  “Harriet completely lost it. It was as if she’d been looking for things to do so she could be here when you came home, but when Madison said that, she stormed out.”

  “That makes sense.” Ryan’s hands cupped her waist. “I think she’s been building a fantasy world for herself. She told me a while ago that she and her boyfriend broke up. It sounded like he broke her heart. Since then the poor girl’s been looking for attention. I guess she thought I might be interested.”

  “Really? Is that all?” Cassie asked, frowning.

  “Last Friday she hugged me hello when I came home, and goodbye, when she left a little while later, and she gave me a big kiss on my cheek. She’s never done that before. Then she asked me if I’d like to come down to the pub with her for a drink, as it was her birthday the next day. I was rather taken aback by the offer, coming out of the blue as it did, so I told her unfortunately not.”

  Ryan smiled down at her ruefully.

  “That makes sense,” Cassie said, wondering how she herself would have behaved if a boss she’d built a fantasy around had turned out to be seeing someone else.

  “Perhaps I should have been firmer with her and said that I wasn’t interested, but there seemed no need. Obviously I was wrong, and I should have been more direct. I don’t think she’s a mean or nasty person; she’s just going through a difficult time.”

  He raised his voice.

  “Come on, kids. Come say hello to your poor hardworking dad!”

  The family gathered in the kitchen.

  “You two have got a special evening tonight,” he said. “We’re off to try out a new restaurant, so Lisa from down the road is looking after you, and I’ve said you can watch a movie as a treat. I’ve given her a list of films that you can choose from—but the list is a surprise. You can only decide when she gets here at half past six.”

  “Yay,” Madison cheered.

  “Let’s dish your dinner up, and we’re going to get ready.”

  Cassie hurried to her room, showered quickly—she’d already washed and dried her hair earlier that day in preparation—and got changed into her beautiful new dress. She did her makeup, realizing her hand was shaking with excitement. She wasn’t used to seeing herself so made up. She looked like a different person.

  She left her room with her heart in her mouth, guessing that she’d say goodbye to the children and meet Lisa before they headed out.

  But Ryan was waiting for her in the hallway.

  “You look beautiful. What a stunning dress, it suits you perfectly.”

  “Thank you.” Cassie felt as if she was walking on air as she joined him.

  “Lisa’s already here, and the kids have started watching the film. Let’s sneak away and leave them to their treat,” he whispered. “The cab’s just arrived.”

  A minute later they were seated in the spacious back seat of the silver Mercedes that Ryan had booked.

  “Where are we going?”

  “It’s a fine dining restaurant that opened recently, an hour’s drive away from here. I’ve wanted to go ever since I heard about it. I think we’re going to have an amazing experience.”

  “I’ve never been to anything like that.”

  “You’ll love it. There’s a dance floor in the basement, I believe, so we can celebrate the night in style.”

  The conversation kept flowing as they drove, and by the time they reached the restaurant, Cassie had learned that Ryan loved to eat out, and his father, who had died at the age of sixty while deep-sea diving, had been a restaurant aficionado who enjoyed new tastes and experiences.

  She also found out that despite their twelve-year age difference their tastes in music were very similar, and that two of her dream travel destinations—Thailand and Morocco—were at the top of his list too.

  The restaurant was glamorous and clearly very expensive. It wasn’t the kind of place Cassie had ever dreamed of going on a first date, and she was glad she’d had the chance to buy the perfect outfit. They were welcomed with a glass of champagne, before making their choice from the mouthwatering dishes on the menu.

  “Isn’t this fun?” Ryan said when they’d finished their delicious starters.

  He reached across the table and took her hand, caressing her palm. Then he added, anxiously, “Are you enjoying yourself, too?”

  “This is the experience of a lifetime,” Cassie told him. “I’m going to remember this night forever.”

  She wondered if Ryan knew she wouldn’t remember it for the fine food or the exquisite surroundings, but because of his presence opposite her, and the touch of his hand on hers.

  After dessert, chocolates, and coffee, they headed downst
airs to the dance floor. Cassie felt dizzy from all the wine she’d had, and was glad of the chance to be able to blow off some steam. Dancing with Ryan was incredible. She couldn’t remember how long it had been since she’d had so much fun on the dance floor, and he confessed that he felt the same. They finished the night locked in each other’s arms as the last song played.

  And then they were heading home. In the cab, she gave him the gift she’d bought, and he was every bit as touched and grateful as she’d hoped.

  “You’re incredible, Cassie. Every time I use these, I will think of this night with you.”

  They started kissing, and by the time the cab arrived home, she knew there wasn’t any question of going to her own room.

  Because it was raining heavily, Ryan asked her to wait in the cab while he went inside, paid Lisa, and fetched an umbrella for her.

  Then, in the shelter of the umbrella, they walked arm in arm through the rain and into the quiet house, past the children’s bedroom doors, and into his room.

  As he closed the door behind them and took her into his arms, Cassie thought she had never felt so happy in her life.

  *

  Much later, Cassie was woken by a slow, persistent scratching at the window.

  It was icy, colder than she had expected it to be; she must have kicked the covers off.

  She was alone in bed. She had no idea where Ryan had gone. It was pitch-black and the only dim light came from beyond the glass. She couldn’t hear the rhythmic breaking of the waves. Only that odd scratching.

  Perhaps it was a tree branch, scraping the glass. If so, it must be windy, but if it was, the waves should be roaring over the rocks and foaming back again, and she would hear them.

  She sat up in bed, shivering, her skin prickled into gooseflesh. What was the noise? She should find out, and then she should check where Ryan had gone. There was no reason for him to have left the room unless, perhaps, he’d gone to find out why the heating wasn’t working.

  “Ryan?” she called softly, but there was no answer. Only another scrape; this one harder. It was an unpleasant sound, as if something was cutting into the glass.

  Her worry was escalating to frantic anxiety. She climbed out of bed and padded over the chilly floorboards to the window.

  Peering through the darkened glass, she saw there was a claw-like branch scraping back and forth over the window.

  Only it wasn’t a branch.

  As she looked more closely, Cassie saw to her horror that it was a hand. A pale, bony hand with ragged fingernails. The nail beds were etched with something dark, and she thought immediately about dried blood.

  Where was Ryan? She was filled with fear at his unexplained disappearance—had he gone, or been taken?

  She drew in a deep, terrified breath, ready to scream for help, but before she could, the scrabbling hand smashed through the glass and grabbed her wrist.

  Icy cold, impossibly strong fingers clasped her tight.

  Then the face came into view—sheet-white skin, framed by tendrils of dripping hair. It looked skeletally thin, as if she’d been underwater for eons before grasping onto life again.

  “Jacqui,” Cassie whispered. “You’re alive.”

  It was Jacqui but yet it was not. She recognized her sister’s features although they were haggard, dripping with icy water. She had seen those hazel eyes before. But the expression in them was new. A blank, hungry gaze, as if another entity had possessed her and was on the hunt.

  The apparition’s lips parted in a grin, showing teeth that were jagged and missing, like the mouth of a shark.

  “Yes,” Jacqui hissed. “And coming to find you.”

  Then she lunged at Cassie, who recoiled, screaming in terror, struggling to wrench herself away from the death grip on her hand and the glistening, ragged teeth and the freezing air that was rushing in to surround her.

  But she couldn’t escape. She was tugged out of the room, over the sill. Broken glass scraped over her skin, tearing it open so that she felt the blood stream out, causing a red glow of excitement to flare in Jacqui’s hungry gaze.

  Then she was falling—they were both falling, and Jacqui’s limbs were wrapping around her with hideous strength, binding her as tight as wire as they reached the water and plunged into the dark, bottomless sea.

  Cassie’s own screams pulled her out of the nightmare and she sat up, breathing rapidly.

  She could hear the sea again, and Ryan was beside her. Everything was all right. She’d had one of her crazy nightmares again, and should be grateful that the earth-shattering cries of her dream had been nothing more than whimpers in reality, because Ryan hadn’t woken and was sleeping peacefully on his side.

  Cassie felt weak with relief as the last tendrils of her nightmare released their hold.

  She hadn’t taken her meds. There had been no chance to do so. She’d been immersed in the fairytale ending to her wonderful evening, and she hugged herself as she remembered exactly how Ryan had touched her while they had made love, and the words he’d whispered.

  She wanted to lie down, press herself against him, and go back to sleep.

  But she needed to take her meds now. She couldn’t wait till morning and risk having another nightmare.

  Cassie climbed out of bed and tiptoed across the room, taking Ryan’s robe off the hook on the back of the door, because she couldn’t walk back through the house naked.

  She switched on the light in the corridor and headed down the hall, past the children’s closed bedroom doors, and quietly into her own room. She took the pills in her cupped hand, went to the kitchen, and poured a glass of water to drink them down.

  Then she returned to Ryan’s room, glancing left and right at the children’s doors as she passed.

  On the way back, she saw Dylan’s door was no longer closed.

  It was wide open, and she could see him inside.

  He was sitting up in bed, his face turned to the open doorway, silently watching as she passed.

  “Hey, Dylan, is everything OK?” she whispered, but he didn’t respond, just kept staring at her.

  Looking at his unreadable, expressionless face and the stillness of his posture, Cassie felt a chill of fear.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  It was pitch-dark when Cassie woke again, and as she opened her eyes there was a crash of thunder.

  Hail drummed the window as she fumbled for the light switch and snapped it on.

  Ryan was gone. Cassie glanced at the rumpled bedcovers and let out a happy sigh.

  She forgot all about the stormy weather as she remembered the feel of his skin on hers, and how she’d been filled with a sense of safety and love as she’d fallen asleep beside him.

  He’d left a cup of coffee on her bedside table which was still warm, and her jeans and a warm top were folded at the foot of the bed. She was touched by his thoughtfulness. It meant a lot that she could walk out of the room properly dressed instead of sneaking down the hallway in his borrowed dressing gown. She guessed that, with the onset of bad weather, he had probably rushed off to make sure all was well at the harbor—but he’d still found the time to show her that he cared.

  As she pulled on her clothes and hurried with her coffee to her own room, she thought how surreal it was that she’d only arrived a week ago. She had never dreamed that she’d end up falling for him and that he would feel the same way about her.

  She hoped that the children would adjust to the fact that she was now sleeping in his bed. Well, some of the time, at least. She didn’t know how this would play out or what Ryan would want her to do. With his divorce so recent, she guessed they would need to be discreet for now.

  They hadn’t been discreet enough, though. Cassie frowned as she remembered walking back down the hall last night, and how Dylan had been sitting up in bed and staring directly at her.

  His silence, his watchful stance, had creeped her out, especially since it was obvious that she was heading toward his dad’s room, wrapped in his distinctive bu
rgundy robe.

  Cassie wondered if she should take Dylan aside and speak to him about it in private, but the thought of doing that made her nervous.

  She drank her lukewarm coffee, nearly dropping the cup as another massive thunderclap seemed to come from directly above the house.

  The light flickered and then went out.

  “Oh, hell,” she said.

  She put her cup down carefully and pulled back the curtains. There was just enough light in the grim, deep gray sky for her to navigate around the bed and leave the room.

  “Dad?”

  On hearing Madison’s anxious voice, Cassie opened the door.

  “Hey, Maddie. I think the lightning’s caused a power outage.”

  She ran back to Ryan’s room and grabbed her phone out of her purse. She hadn’t charged it last night, but there was enough battery for her to use the flashlight for a few minutes.

  With its help, she set out some clothes for Madison.

  “What time’s your play?”

  “It starts at eleven but we need to be there at ten to get ready.”

  “It’s quarter to eight now, so we still have lots of time,” she reassured her.

  She knocked on Dylan’s door and found that he was already up and warmly dressed, reading a book by the light of his phone’s flashlight.

  He didn’t mention that he’d seen her last night, or make any reference to why he’d opened his door to watch her passing by.

  “Breakfast will be ready in ten minutes,” she said, and headed to the kitchen to see what plan she could make.

  Cassie checked the electricity box in the laundry room, but couldn’t find a blown fuse, so she guessed the power in the whole area was down.

  She found candles in the broom cupboard and set a few out on the table. Then she did her best to pull together a makeshift breakfast, assembling a pot of tea from the still-warm water in the kettle, and raiding the fridge for sandwich ingredients.

  Then she, Dylan, and Madison sat down in the semi-dark kitchen.

  “Isn’t this fun?” Cassie said. “It’s just like—”