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Lauren looked up then, but Cass didn’t believe for a moment that she hadn’t realized she’d been spied on.Cass raised her eyebrows, her smile so wide it hurt her cheeks.“What?”Lauren asked.“He’s super-hot.How is that my fault?”Her phone dinged, and her attention flew back to it.She grinned and leaned back against the bench.“And we’re going out tonight.”She sighed like she’d just conquered a great enemy.For all Cass knew, she had.
Joy squealed on her behalf, and Cass held up her hand for Lauren to give her a high-five.Once that excitement died down, she looked around again for the other half of their group.“Wherearethey?”she asked.“I’m ready to get out of the sun.”This shopping center wasn’t her favorite either, and Cass would rather be in the air conditioning, with some of her peach iced tea and boiled peanuts, browsing online.
“There they are,” Joy said.She stood and picked up the two bags of things she’d bought.Cass hadn’t found anything yet, and she got to her feet too as Bea wove past a slower-moving elderly couple.She wore anxiety on her face, and Cass started toward her.
Her phone chimed too, but she chose Bea over it.“You okay?”she asked.
“Bessie bought an entire set of stoneware,” Bea said with some acid in her tone.“There’s no way she’s getting that back to Texas.”
Cass knew instantly that she’d be storing Bessie’s cookware at her house until she could get it back to Sweet Water Falls one piece at a time.She looked past Bea to find the others, but Bessie and Sage weren’t there.
“We’re ready to go,” she said.“Does she need us to bring the van around?”
“Yes,” Bea said tiredly.“I’ll tell you where.”They started to walk toward the parking lot, and Cass checked her phone.
Conrad:I’m going to have to miss dinner, Mama.They want me to go out on an evening boat cruise.Is that okay?
Her heart leapt right up behind her tongue.Normally, she’d be disappointed—and she was.She absolutely was.She wanted Conrad to know how very important he was to her—but she was also excited.
No problem, baby, she texted him.I’ll be fine.
She slowed her step and let Joy, Lauren, and Bea go ahead, Bea still ranting about the “mess of kitchen items” both Sage and Bessie had purchased.“As if we don’t have kitchen stores in Texas!”Bea practically yelled.
Cass tapped and stalled beside a big truck, as if it would somehow muffle her voice.Harrison’s line rang once, then twice, and she thought he might not answer.At the tail end of the third ring, he said, “Cass.What’s goin’ on, sweetheart?”
“Listen,” she said.“Conrad had to cancel our dinner tonight, and I was hoping you weren’t busy… If you’re not, we could go out tonight.”
“Oh, someone wants to see me again.”He laughed, and Cass felt the giddiness prancing through her as she joined in.“Two dates in one day, Cass?”
She turned her back on her friends as Bea twisted to see where she was.She held her head high.“Yeah, two dates in one day.Unless you’d rather spend a few hours with someone else.”
“I would not,” he said, his voice almost a growl.“I won’t have much time to plan something, but I think I can put a decent date together with such late notice all the same.”
Cass grinned at the ground.“I can plan something.”
“Oh-ho, I don’t think so,” he said.“Don’t worry, Cass.It’ll be amazing.”
“What will we do?”
“Why do you need to know?”he challenged, his voice full of teasing.
“A woman has to wear certain clothes for certain things,” she said, infusing a slight British accent into her words.
He laughed and said, “Normal clothes, Cass.”
“So I can’t know what you have up your sleeve?”
“Nope,” he said.“I’ll pick you up at six-thirty.”
“Cass,” Bea called, and she turned back to her friends.
“I’ll come to you,” she said.“The girls are having dinner at my house.”
“Hm, I don’t like that,” he said.“But I suppose this one time, it’ll be okay.”
“Thank you, Mister Southern Gentleman,” Cass said dryly.“I’ll see you tonight.”
“Can’t wait,” Harrison said, and as she ended the call and prepared to pretend like she’d just talked to anyone but Harrison, she honestly felt like he couldn’t wait to see her.
Warm, fuzzy things filled her whole body, and she practically skipped over to Bea.“Sorry.Let’s go get Bessie and all of her stuff.”
“It isn’t even going to fit in here,” Bea said.
“Really?”Cass looked at her, shocked.“She bought that much?”
“She bought alot,” Bea said, rattling the keys.“Now, get in.We have to get everyone and everything dropped off, and I need to get ready to go to dinner.”
Me too, Cass thought, but she kept the words to herself.
