Chasing Destiny

by Nikki Rittenberry

  “Yeah—I was.”

  “Could your change in demeanor have anything to do with spending time with a handsome architect?” Emily asked.

  Cassie smiled, unable to hide her contentment. “Um, yeah—I guess that might have something to do with it.” She and Jacob had always had chemistry; the kind of spark that ignited into a raging fire whenever they were in the same room together and last night was no different. She’d waved the white flag of deprivation, surrendering to a surfeit of raw, aggressive passion. His potent masculinity had caused the neurons in her brain to misfire, preventing her from resisting his magnetism. He’d kept his word—he’d pushed her away at first, giving her an opportunity to escape unscathed, but that gesture had only made her want him more. One taste and she was powerless.

  “I have a confession to make… Last night was… amazing. I went back to his room and we were just talking and I was feeling this overwhelming connection with him, you know? And I knew if I didn’t get back to my room fast, that I would probably act on it.”

  “So, you left?”

  “I started to—I made it all the way to the door and then I just couldn’t leave. I wanted so badly to feel his arms around me, so I gave him a hug and thanked him for dinner and drinks… and then, we slept together.”

  “Cassie!”

  “I know. I know! I’ve never done anything like this before and it’s completely out of character for me. I can’t really explain it—I just… I just couldn’t walk away…” Emily’s eyes were wide; her fingertips covered her lips. She was obviously caught off-guard. “Say something.”

  “I’m… I’m happy for you—I really am! I’m just really surprised. I guess I just didn’t expect for you to take the news so well.”

  “What news?” Cassie asked, her forehead trenched with bewilderment.

  Emily covered her mouth with her hand. “Oh my God—he didn’t tell you, did he?”

  “Tell me what? You’re scaring me! What’s going on?”

  “I don’t think I should be the one to tell you this—maybe you should wait until you see Jacob later tonight and—”

  “Em—you know something. Something that you think would have been very upsetting to me! Please, talk to me!”

  “Cassie, let’s sit down, okay?” Emily took her by the hand and led her to a small bench wedged in the corner. “After we left the two of you last night, Tanner confided in me that he’d had a conversation with Jacob regarding how he felt about you. It’s no secret that he’s crazy about you, you know that, right?” Cassie nodded. “Anyhow, he told Jacob that it was time for him to tell you the truth… about everything.”

  “Okay, I’m still confused. What has Jacob been dishonest about?”

  Emily sighed, trying to collect enough courage to continue. “Somehow, Jacob found out about your acceptance into DTI. He knew how hard you’d worked to get in and he also knew that you were planning to turn down that opportunity so that you could move-in with him. So… he intentionally sabotaged your relationship.”

  Cassie felt the color drain from her face. She covered her mouth with both of her hands and closed her eyes as a single tear cascaded down her pale cheek. “I can’t believe this is happening. God, I’m such a fool!”

  * * *

  The anticipation of spending another night entangled with Cassie’s naked body warmed his soul, along with certain parts of his anatomy. He’d left the cottage early, making a pit stop at a local country store to pick up some essentials for his long awaited evening: flowers, candles, and a bottle of champagne. He wanted to author a romantic aura; a visual aphrodisiac that would steer her mind as well as her body toward the explosive ecstasy they’d shared the night before.

  The candles flickered, causing light and shadows to dance around the dimly lit room. The champagne was chilling on ice and pink rose petals were scattered randomly on the ivory comforter; the only thing missing was Cassie. He glanced at his watch: nine fifty-eight. She was late and he prayed that she hadn’t changed her mind about spending the night with him again.

  The inability to concentrate only further heightened his desire. He’d been thinking about her all day, dreaming about their next encounter. Something was different—something felt different between them. She’d finally given in to her feelings. She’d finally allowed her heart to guide her back to him and he was going to do everything in his power to convince her that she hadn’t made a mistake in doing so.

  His reverie was suddenly interrupted by the sound of three, firm knocks: Cassie. Jacob leaped out of the wing back chair and rushed toward the door.

  “You’re late.” Jacob took a step toward her, wrapping his arms around her waist. He advanced toward her in an attempt to properly welcome her with a kiss. “But I won’t hold it against you”, he whispered.

  He was inches away from her voluptuous, pink lips—seconds away from showing her just how much he’d missed her—when she suddenly turned her head. His eager lips brushed against her cheek and as he pulled back and looked into her eyes he could tell she’d been crying. “Cass, is everything alright?”

  Cassie broke free from his embrace and entered the suite as she spoke. “So, when were you going to tell me?”

  “Tell you what?”

  Cassie spun around to face him as he closed the door behind him. “The truth.”

  Jacob closed his eyes and applied gentle pressure to the bridge of his nose. “Shit—who told you?”

  “It doesn’t matter. The fact that you aren’t denying it speaks volumes. How could you?” she demanded.

  “Listen, Cass—I know you’re upset, but I can explain. I—”

  “Oh—you can explain? Well Jake, I’m a lot smarter than you give me credit for because I think I’ve finally got it all figured out. You’re a womanizer and when you realized that time was running out and I was going to be graduating soon, you panicked. Having a live-in girlfriend might impede on your philandering lifestyle and finding out about DTI gave you an excuse to walk away.”

  Jacob advanced toward her and she backed away, keeping the wing back chairs between them. ”Cassie, please listen—”

  “Listen to what—more lies? I don’t know what to believe anymore! I actually allowed myself to start feeling something for you again and now I feel like such a fool! You mess with my head—every time we’re together, you make me feel so special and it was all an act.”

  “Cassie, don’t say that! I’m not proud of what I did, but I had to. I didn’t want you to wake up ten years later and resent me for taking you away from your dreams. And as far as making you feel special—you are special to me! You always have been and you always will be. I’m not trying to mess with your head, baby.”

  Cassie laughed, but somehow he knew she didn’t find anything amusing about being lied to.

  “You’re good. You’re really good, Jake. You’ve put on quite a performance. It started back in New York last fall and it continued until last night. You finally got what you set-out to accomplish. You got me to willingly take my clothes off and have sex with you. Congratulations.”

  “What are you talking about? There is no performance! Do you have any idea how hard it was to for me to walk away from you?” He shouted. Jacob paced back and forth. He blew a puff of air from his lungs in attempt to calm his temper. He knew she was going to be angry with him, but he wasn’t prepared for this. Her eyes reflected skepticism, apprehension, betrayal, and distrust. He could feel her retracting and it terrified him.

  “It couldn’t have been that difficult—you found a replacement rather quickly.”

  “Again—what are you talking about?”

  “I saw you. After I received your text message that it was over, I wanted answers. I nearly emptied my savings and bought a roundtrip ticket to New York City to confront you. I saw you…”

  Jacob closed his eyes. Shit—that was the night he’d drank too much and brought his colleague, Vanessa, home. Jacob opened his eyes. Her wounds were open and exposed and it twisted his inside
s to witness her agony. “I never cheated on you—not once. Vanessa was a one night stand; a desperate and drunken attempt to move on, but it didn’t work. Please, Cass—you have to believe me.”

  “Vanessa”, she whispered. “I’ve always wondered what her name was.” Jacob took a step forward and she put her hands up in defense. “Stop… I can’t let you do this to me anymore. We slept together—you said it meant something to you—”

  “It did—”

  “Bullshit! You had no right! You had no right to play God with my life!” she shouted. She could feel the shockwave of despair burst inside of her, expanding until it consumed her entire body. Her hands were trembling, her breaths were labored. She needed to get out of there.

  She covered her mouth as she rushed past him; her quivering hand was inches away from turning the knob when Jacob collided into her from behind. He pinned her body against his, holding the door closed with his strong hands. His forehead rested on the back of her head.

  “I love you, damn it. I never stopped”, he mumbled softly. “Last night was one of the best nights of my entire life. It wasn’t a random hook-up, it wasn’t just sex… we made love last night.” Jacob turned her around to face him. He gazed into her alluring, hazel eyes. “I love you.”

  “I don’t believe you—how can you expect me to trust anything that comes out of your mouth… you lied to me. You manipulated me—just like you’re trying to do again right now.”

  Jacob reached into his pocket and retrieved a large white gold, diamond ring. He held it between his thumb and index finger just below eye level. “Do you see this? I bought this ring for you with my sign-on bonus the day before I was supposed to fly back to New Orleans to spend Thanksgiving weekend with you. I was going to ask you to spend the rest of your life with me. When I made the decision to walk away, I didn’t have the heart to return it—I can’t tell you how many times I’ve held it in my hands and thought of you; imagined how it would have looked on your finger…” Jacob knelt down, his eyes never leaving hers. He gripped her waist with his free hand and held her close.

  “This isn’t an act; this isn’t a performance. I’ve never been more serious or more certain about how I feel about you. I love you, Cass and I don’t want to live without you anymore. Marry me. Please, marry me…”

  Cassie quickly covered her distraught face with her hands as she began to sob. She’d longed to hear those three words from him ever since that fateful day six years ago. He loved her—he wanted to marry her. She was overwhelmed with panic! Her mind was spiraling out of control and she suddenly became dizzy. “This… this is t-too much! I… I can’t do this now… I—”

  Jacob quickly stood up, cradling the sides of her face in his large hands. “Cassie, look at me. Please, look at me.” She removed her hands from her face and gripped his wrists. “I don’t want you to answer right now. Sleep on it. I’m leaving early in the morning, but I’ll see you at the wedding. We can talk about it then, when you’ve had time to digest everything, okay?”

  He pressed his lips against hers, kissing her slowly, tenderly; communicating his love for her with every graze of his tongue. He gazed into her captivating eyes as his thumb wiped away a fleeing tear. “I’ll see you at the wedding.” Jacob opened the door behind her. “I love you… Goodnight, Cass.”

  “Goodnight”, she whispered.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Jacob was becoming fond of the drive from the historic inn in Bath to Bailey Island. It held therapeutic properties, allowing time to be alone with his thoughts. He’d turned down the radio as soon as he’d merged onto the interstate; the only sound was the remedying hum of his tires and the soothing howl of the wind as it swept by. Traffic was sporadic at best; a condition that seemed almost foreign to him having lived in New York City for the previous six years.

  Autumn was lurking; leaves were intermittently beginning to turn vibrant hues of red and gold, the air was crisp, and the sky was blanketed with a thick mass of murky, gray clouds. Fall was his favorite time of year, probably because his hometown just outside of New Orleans didn’t experience seasonal changes like New England. Where he came from, it was sweltering ten months out of the year and moderately temperate during the remaining two.

  After leaving the interstate, he continued down the long, winding , two-lane road to Bailey Island; one hand on the wheel and the other rubbing the coarse stubble along his jaw with the back of his fingers. It was unfortunate that Cassie had learned the truth the way that she did, but he was relieved that the mystery of their failed relationship had finally been unveiled. There were no more secrets. She knew why he’d abruptly ended their relationship, that he was still in love with her, and that he wanted to spend the rest of his life by her side.

  He felt an overwhelming sense of calm as he crossed the unique, Cribstone Bridge; a consensus that after having time to think about his proposal, Cassie would realize that he’d never meant to hurt her. He was convinced that she would demolish the walls protecting her heart and succumb to her feelings. She was going to say yes.

  Jacob steered his rented Jeep Wrangler down the extended drive that led to the shingled cottage and pressed lightly on the horn. Moments later Tanner, his two brothers, and his father appeared and once everyone was seated inside the vehicle, they embarked on their scheduled destination: the country club. They arrived at the country club located on the mainland, northwest of Bailey Island with little time to spare and after ordering a round of freshly brewed coffee, they settled into their assigned golf carts to begin their male bonding adventure.

  He’d missed playing golf. Ever since his promotion, Jacob had difficulty finding time to engage in many of the activities that he enjoyed and he silently prayed that he didn’t make a fool of himself when it was his turn to tee-off. The four-star course was challenging, but after a few swings his form and confidence recovered. The vast columns of colorful foliage contrasted against the vibrant, green grass, defining the fairway’s direction and driving his focus to the distant, white flag that fluttered as the crisp breeze slipped by.

  Everyone was hitting accurately and it wasn’t long before they’d caught up to the group of men who’d teed-off shortly before them. They parked their carts along the path and waited patiently in their seats for the gentlemen to complete the hole before proceeding with their game. Jacob sat in the passenger seat fueling his body with the remainder of his coffee when Tanner’s curiosity got the best of him.

  “So buddy, how’d your evening go last night?” Tanner asked nonchalantly.

  “Well, let’s just say it didn’t quite turn out the way I’d planned.”

  “Okay, you’re going to have to elaborate a little bit. What happened?”

  “Cassie found out about everything before I had a chance to explain and let me tell you what—she was pissed!”

  “How’d she find out?”

  “She didn’t say exactly, but I think Em must have told her”, Jacob explained.

  “Shit… look man, I’m sorry. I finally told Em about it on our way home from the restaurant the other night. You said you were going to talk to Cassie and so I figured there was no sense in keeping it from Em any longer, too. Had I known that you were going to chicken-out that night, I would have never told her.”

  “Ah, it’s alright. I guess the important thing is the truth is finally out in the open.”

  “Yeah… so, she was pissed, huh?” Tanner asked.

  Jacob let out a soft chuckle. “Yeah, I’ve never seen her that angry before. She wouldn’t even let me near her at first. Every time I tried to get close to her she backed away. I knew she was going to be upset, but I didn’t expect that level of intensity.”

  “Okay, so … where do things stand now?”

  “I think we’re in a pretty good place.”

  “Define pretty good.”

  Jacob took another sip of his coffee and placed it in the cup holder. The group of men they’d been waiting on had finally reached the green. He stood up from
the cart and moved to the back to retrieve his wood-driver from his golf bag. “Well, I asked her to marry me—”

  “What?”

  “Like I said—she was pissed! She felt betrayed and manipulated; she even accused me of pretending to care about her so that I could get a quick lay! I was losing her—fast! She rushed past me and tried to leave, but I held the door shut so she couldn’t get out.”

  “Huh, sounds romantic”, Tanner commented sarcastically.

  Jacob scowled briefly at his best friend before continuing. “I told her that I loved her and when she still didn’t believe me, I reached into my pocket and pulled out the ring that I’d bought her years ago.”

  “Wait a minute—you brought that ring with you?” Tanner asked in disbelief.

  “Yeah—I can’t explain it. I’m not exactly sure why I packed it or what possessed me to shove it in my pocket before she came, but I did.”

  “So, what did she say?”

  Jacob walked back to his seat and reached for his cup of coffee. “She started crying—I think it’s fair to say she was a bit overwhelmed. I told her not to answer until she had time to process everything and that we could talk it over at the reception tonight.”

  “Wow…” Tanner took a few practice swings before returning his attention back to his best friend. “Well, what’s your gut tell you? Do you think she’ll say yes?”

  Jacob tilted his head back, emptying his Styrofoam coffee cup before grinning. “Take your suit to the cleaners, bro… you’re about to be a best man!”

  * * *

  After satisfactorily completing eighteen holes of golf, the men filed into the clubhouse for a late lunch and a round of cold beers. They’d been instructed to stay clear of the cottage for much of the day; Emily and her bridesmaids were planning to get ready there and she insisted on the tradition that the groom was not to see the bride until she was walking down the aisle. It wasn’t an unreasonable request. In fact, the guys were appreciative that they had extra time to watch the first NFL game of the season. When the game was over, they filed into the locker room and changed into their wedding attire; black designer tuxedos with black and violet-striped, traditional neck ties.