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“Oh, that’s fantastic!” she exclaims, handing me a twenty. I hand over her change and then nod to the bag boy to help her out to her car. “I’ll see you next week, Cassidy. Remember what I told you!”
I smile at her words; since he asked me for coffee, Jared’s been at the forefront of my thoughts. My day continues until around five thirty, when my manager, Darice, comes over and says, “Go ahead and clock out, Cassidy. Your replacement is on her way, and I know you’ve got something to get ready to do.” I look at her and she grins. “Girl, the whole town is talking about the fact that Jared Knox is taking you out for coffee.”
“Are you kidding me?” I whisper.
Jesus, this is bad, really bad. I don’t know how to feel about the fact that ‘everyone’ is talking about me. About us. Although technically, there’s really not an ‘us’, is there? Isn’t it bad enough that I’ve been fodder for the gossip mill for the past decade?
“Nope,” she replies. “So, you need to head home and get gussied up.”
“Darice, I don’t think anyone uses that word,” I state, handing her my cash drawer after I run my reports.
“Well, they should. It’s a good word,” she says, taking the drawer and stack of coupons from me. “Now, go on and have fun. Remember, he’s nothing like his brother.” I shrug because from my memory, Jared is the polar opposite of Cade.
* * *
Once home, I quickly take another shower, making sure that my hair is piled on my head so it doesn’t get wet. I don’t have a lot of choices clothes-wise, so I quickly dress in a new legging set I got from Mags, who sells it. I think I’m her best customer, but the clothes are comfortable, cute, and affordable. I restyle my hair, choosing to leave it down, then spritz myself with my favorite perfume. I don’t understand why I’ve got butterflies; this is Jared and we’ve gone places hundreds of times. Well, we did when we were teenagers. Still, we were friends then, so I don’t like that I’m nervous.
“Cass? Jared’s here, dear,” Mom calls out. I grimace at myself in the mirror, take a deep breath and grab my purse.
“Coming,” I reply as I head down the short hallway and into the living room. “Hey, Jared,” I rasp out.
While he wasn’t in a suit and what-not when we were at the office, he obviously went home and changed because he’s in well-worn jeans, a pair of cowboy boots, and a black button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Damn, he’s filled out nicely since we were teenagers! I think I even see the hint of a tattoo.
“Hey yourself, Cass,” he replies. His voice washes over me and I barely contain the urge to shiver at what it’s doing to my insides. I walk over to him and turn to face my mom, who has an ear-splitting grin.
“See you later, Mom,” I state. Her eyes twinkle and I fight the urge to roll mine. She always felt that I chose the wrong Knox brother based on mine and Jared’s friendship and I’m reminded of that when she gives me a wink.
“You kids have fun now. I’m going to check out a few houses I found online.”
“Sounds like a good plan, Mrs. Smith,” Jared says. “Just don’t buy anything until I get one of my friends to check into it for y’all.”
“That’s really sweet of you, Jared,” she gushes.
Gushes! My mother is gushing at him, and I feel the heat rise on my face. He just grins at her, grabs my hand and walks me through the front door and out to his truck.
“You still have it?” I question as he opens my door and helps me up.
“Absolutely! Best thing I ever got from my grandpa, other than the money to go to college, that is. Besides, my best friend helped me rebuild her, remember?” he responds, glancing at me before he closes my door and goes around to the driver's side.
“I just figured that you would have upgraded once you got out of school and started your career,” I state. I know that they’re a busy firm, so he’s likely got the money to purchase whatever he wants by now. Honestly, I’m happy for him; I suspect he took a lot of shit as Cade’s younger brother, but the reality is, next to Mags, he was my best friend.
“I’ve got another truck with all the bells and whistles, as well as an SUV, but I always gravitate back to this one,” he says, backing up so he can turn around and pull out of our driveway. “Got a lot of good memories in this old girl, Cass, and you’re a part of each one.”
Okay, now he’s not playing fair! My mind drifts back to all the times we took Hazel, the name we finally decided on, out to the lake to fish, or to the show to see the latest movie. Come to think of it, I probably spent as much time with Jared as I did with Cade, only with Cade, it was always what he wanted to do.
“We sure had a lot of fun, didn’t we?” I ask, my voice soft as I remember how excited he was the day his grandpa gave him the truck. She needed some work and also a paint job and we spent hours in his garage tinkering on her. Hell, he’s the reason I’ve been able to keep my old car on the road; we learned everything there was to know about the inner workings of a car that year. Once she was mechanically sound, I donated my babysitting money to go with what he’d earned mowing lawns and we got her painted. “She runs well.”
“My girl has never let me down,” he replies, glancing at me.
Deciding a change of subject is overdue, I ask, “So, no Mrs. Knox, huh? Did you ever come close?”
Three
Jared
Her question resonates in my head, and I take a deep breath as I try to figure out how to answer her without sounding like a lovelorn sap.
I finally decide that honesty is the best policy, especially given the fact that Cade tends to lie the way most people change their socks. It’s one of the reasons I spent so much time with Cassidy even when they were dating; he ‘dated’ others outside of our town and he used how I felt about her to ensure he could get away with it. My mind drifts back to one of many conversations with my brother.
