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Chapter 1
Cassandra
“We shouldn’t act like we are fighting or let your brother know that we are getting, you know…”
Cassandra watched her husband avoid the word divorce, looking back at their four-year-old son who was sleeping. She almost told him to say it, he would need to hear it, instead of her trying to explain it all to their son Dennis. He wasn’t going to understand why his father was gone and he only got to see him once in a while. Cassandra figured that as much as her husband was at ‘work’ all the time, it wouldn’t be that much of a change.
“I get it. You don’t want Steven and Luke to know about it. I got it, Nelson. You know that they are going to find out eventually, right?” Cassandra asked with a smile on her face. It was funny to her that her husband was so afraid of her brother. She wasn’t sure what had been said during her wedding day, but Nelson had been spooked ever since.
Nelson was a big guy and did not spook easy. Cassandra had seen him take on bigger guys than his six-foot frame in the bars and he had won. She worried about him a few times, now she didn’t worry so much. She hoped that her brother held true to the words he had uttered to Nelson to freak him out so much. He had done her wrong, cheated on her, and Cassandra felt bad for not being able to forgive him, but the bigger part of her still wanted revenge.
Then she caught her son in the rearview mirror and relented that she wouldn’t say anything. She wanted to, felt like she had a right to get some of it off of her chest, especially to her brother. They’d all hung out together long ago, and she had distanced herself from all of them when she fell in love with Nelson. She’d lost a lot and now that she knew it was all for nothing, Cassandra wanted to hide the shame of it crumbling. She’d given up so much for Nelson. But she got Dennis, that’s what kept her looking ahead.
“They will find out, Cassandra, just not right away.”
“When you’re gone then?” Cassandra couldn’t help but quip back. She wasn’t usually so brisk, but going home, seeing all of her old family and friends, she was filled with too many emotions to shift through. It was hard to say nothing, even as she told herself to let it go. It was impossible to.
“Preferably.”
Cassandra just nodded her head and watched her childhood town come into view. It wasn’t the same as she remembered it. There was a grocery store with the wrong name on it, and Cassandra wondered how many more places were changed. It was the same building, just different on the inside, much like her. Cassandra was going back to Hartford for the first time since she left five years ago. It was going to be a strange homecoming. She had told her parents she was going to stay with them for a few days until she found a suitable place, but she had failed to tell anyone else that she was coming home. When they pulled down her street and she saw her brother outside waiting with her parents, Nelson gave her a hell of a dirty look.
“I thought we said that we weren’t going to tell Luke? You called him and made sure that he would be here?”
The nerves were back on his face, and she had to smolder the smile that dared to show through. “My parents probably told him. I haven’t talked to my brother in years, you know that. After we got married, he wouldn’t speak to me for the longest time. He’s never even met Dennis because we got together and he wouldn’t forgive us, remember?”
As she said the words, it hit her. This was going to be one hell of a reunion, and she was nervous that it was all going to go sideways. Her brother had been so upset with her for getting with his friend. It was wrong on many levels, but Cassandra had fallen for the blonde-haired, blue-eyed guy of her dreams. Obviously, now that she knew how it was going to work out, she wouldn’t have run so haphazardly toward Nelson’s chiseled features. She had though and as she shook her son gently, calling his name and seeing those same blue eyes staring back at her, it was hard to not see it as necessary.
“We are here, sweety.”
“Why are you waking him up?”
Cassandra frowned and smiled at Dennis. “Because he may keep my brother from kicking your butt.” Cassandra booped her son’s nose and made a face. He giggled and Nelson hissed next to her in the seat. Cassandra didn’t care what Nelson thought; she was feeling lighter than she had in a long time. Cassandra was apprehensive, but she was home as well.
“Let’s go, Dennis. Are you ready to see Grandma and Grandpa?”
Dennis was already half-breaking his neck to see who was standing on the porch. “Who is that really tall guy on the porch with Grandma and Pa?”
Cassandra smiled to herself and snuck a look at her husband. “It’s your Uncle Luke, Dennis. It’s about time you two met. You are going to like him. He is so funny and nice. I bet he will have some candy around that you can have. All you have to do is ask him if you can have some of his stash. I haven’t seen my brother in years, but I know that his sweet tooth hasn’t gone away.”
Dennis was happy about that, and Nelson was sour looking. Cassandra sat back and grinned. It was good to be home. At least when she was in Hartford, she felt like she was cared for. Her brother wouldn’t let anything happen to her again. She had left, gone against his demands to break up with Nelson, and she’d paid for it. Her brother had been right. Nelson had been a horrible husband to her, and she should have done a better job of choosing her mate, if she had picked someone, anyone else.
Her son was out of the car as soon as the car was put in park. She chided him for not waiting for her, but then watched as he bounced his way to the porch and his waiting grandparents. It was a nice sight to see. He deserved happiness, even as she was going to take him away from his father, something she felt a load of guilt for.
Cassandra looked to her nervous husband, soon to be ex, and asked him if he was ready. Cassandra suppressed laughter. He wasn’t ready. He looked scared, and Cassandra figured that he should be. Her brother really hated it when they got married, and she had a feeling that he was going to hate it less when they were about to get divorced. When he found out why though, maybe he would smack Nelson around a little bit. Was that what she hoped for deep down?
Chapter 2
Steven
As soon as Steven heard all of the commotion outside, Steven knew that it was showtime. He wanted to be there to see Cassandra finally come back to Hartford. He missed her, but his nerves had taken over. Steven let them go over him for just a moment before he shook them off and made it a point to look out the window of the side door and see her.
Cassandra was just as beautiful as he remembered. Of course, she would be. She’d had a kid and moved away for five years, nothing more than that. Her auburn hair clashed like fire in the sunlight. She always had this ethereal look to her, pale skin and tiny frame with a mass of red curls that hung to her waist. It was pulled back in a ponytail, but her mane was still long and red. That, more than anything else, relaxed him. She was close enough to the girl he remembered, and his heart raced, body adjusting to her presence.
The worst part was that he wasn’t really even in her presence yet. Steven scoffed at himself. She was the only damn woman who could turn him inside out, and even married to another man, his old friend, with a kid, Steven still felt like he had a chance of winning her for himself. He also felt tongue-tied like a teenager, so against his usual temperament around women.
Luke called to him, and he saw Cassandra’s face twist toward the house and then Luke. She asked him something that Steven couldn’t hear, but she didn’t look happy that he was there. Steven tried not to take it personally. They had a weird past as it was. He hadn’t taken his shot and because of that, he’d lost her. Now, she was back and though there was something going on, he wasn’t sure what brought her back home. Why would she be getting dropped off in Hartford by Nelson? Luke didn’t have an answer either, though it pointed toward the two having trouble in their marriage. Steven wanted that to happen, and he wanted to be around when it did. He was like Luke; he knew that his old friend would never be good enough for her. He would mess it up, and Steven hoped that he had, irrevocably.
Since he had been called out and didn’t have a choice but to go forward, Steven stepped outside and waved to Cassandra. She was hugging Luke and he seemed to be as moved as Steven was. He hoped that he was holding it in a little better than Lucas, but he couldn’t be sure.
