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Ugh, that was history now.
“I take it he came to pick up Delilah eventually, then?” Gemma asked. She’d been the one to call Mr. Hartson at Cassie’s request, but she hadn’t been able to stay late with Cassie as she had two kids of her own who were hungry for dinner, and there was no way Cassie was going to let them suffer because Presley Hartson worked on his own time frame.
“Yep.” Cassie lifted a brow.
“The flowers are a sweet touch. I wish he’d sent me some.” Gemma sighed.
“You’re married.” Cassie smiled because she knew how in love Gemma and Riley were. He was a good guy, and Gemma knew it.
“I know, but a girl can dream. According to Riley, the Hartson brothers were everybody’s crush during high school. No other guys had a chance.”
For a moment, Cassie imagined Presley Hartson as a teenager, with the kind of swagger he only hinted at yesterday.
Yeah, she probably would have been a fan, too.
“Such a shame though, what happened to his wife,” Gemma added, her expression suddenly serious.
Cassie’s throat tightened. “What do you mean?”
“You don’t know?” Gemma asked. “I suppose you wouldn’t. Why would you? You’re new.” Gemma smiled at her. “We need to write a handbook or something. It could have the history of Hartson’s Creek and a brief rundown of Chairs.”
“Chairs?” Cassie frowned. “What’s that.”
Gemma waved her hand. “I’ll tell you about that later. But I can’t believe I didn’t tell you about Presley. His wife died three years ago. He’s been raising his little girl alone since then.”
Cassie blinked. He was a widower? And she’d given him a hard time about being a bad dad? “Oh.” She felt terrible. Worse than terrible.
“He gets help from his parents. His mom is the one who usually does the pick ups from dance class,” Gemma continued.
She didn’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed that she might not see him again.
Relieved. She was relieved. She didn’t need to be mooning after a widowed man. Her life was complicated enough, thank you very much.
She’d only arrived in Hartson’s Creek a week ago. She’d barely had time to unpack the boxes the delivery company had left stacked up along the walls in her rented house. Not that she needed most of it. Cassie wasn’t really one for too many possessions.
According to the therapist she’d seen after the accident, that came from a lifetime of moving around. After her dad left her mom when Cassie was a baby, they’d moved around a lot. Her mom still did. It was like she was always searching for something she couldn’t have.
As for her dad, Cassie barely heard from him. She’d long since accepted he wasn’t interested, even if her mom had always pined for him.
Neither of them had visited her at the hospital after her accident. Her dad hadn’t even sent a card. Her mom had called from Italy – where she’d been staying with some boyfriend – and that had been it.
When the doctor had explained that her ankle would never heal properly and that she’d never be able to dance en pointe again, she hadn’t bothered to tell either of them. Her career was over thanks to a rainy night and a car with bald tires and she’d never felt more alone.
She could teach, though. So when Gemma had visited her – yes visited, even though she’d had to arrange childcare and cover at the dance school – and offered her a job, Cassie had taken it. She’d wanted to get away from New York, the city she’d grown up in. It had felt stupid to stay when she had no job and no prospects for the future.
Moving to West Virginia felt like a good way to take her mind off things while she worked out what she was going to do for the rest of her life.
So here she was. Teaching kids to dance. Living the dream life.
With flowers from a dad she’d misjudged on her first day.
“Is it okay to leave the flowers here?” Cassie asked. “I’ll take them home tonight.”
“Sure, no problem.” Gemma gave her a warm smile.
“Thanks. I’m going to head to the studio and warm up.” She picked her bag up, taking one last look at the bouquet. There were lilies. Her favorite. The same flowers her mom always sent her before opening night.
She wasn’t sure why that felt significant but somehow it did.
