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He arrived at her door bright and early, and she looked happy to see him.
"Did you want a coffee?" she asked, leading him into the kitchen.
"I'd love one, thanks."
Ben asked if he could help, so Daniel found some safe, busy work. It was just like a little one to want to join in. Tina had been like that too.
Daniel finished his coffee and got busy upstairs with his little sidekick.
Ben talked in circles about his favorite TV shows and about how he was getting a puppy. Daniel tried to keep up as he worked on stripping the old wiring from the inner walls. The little guy could really talk.
He was reminded of Tina when he'd lost Candace, but it made him smile. He had healed from the worst of the pain now.
Cassandra double-checked that Ben wasn't in the way and brought Daniel a cold drink.
"You are helping?" she asked Ben, and he chirped that he was fixing the house.
"He's a big helper," Daniel assured her.
Ben sat on the landing, sorting Daniel's tools into separate piles. Daniel couldn't help liking the boy and wondering what had happened with his real father.
"Are you sure he's OK up here, Daniel?" she asked. "I can take him for a walk."
"He's OK," Daniel smiled. "I don't think I can get this job done without him, in fact. He's a natural handyman."
Ben grinned up at his mother and nodded his little head.
Cassandra wished she could find a moment alone with Daniel to talk to him about her past, but it just didn't feel like the right time with Ben in the house. Talking about her ex often got her emotional, and Ben had seen enough crying in his lifetime. She'd have to wait, but no time ever seemed right when she enjoyed being around Daniel so much. Having him close made her feel calm and happy; bringing her past into the present made her sad.
Around noon, she made sandwiches for Ben and Daniel and had a moment to talk to Daniel alone on the stairs.
Questions of whether she had enough time to go into such a horrible subject flew through her mind.
/
Daniel sat atop the stairs, and Cassandra sat beside him as he ate. She looked at the drywall that had been removed and the exposed beams, and he felt he should put her mind at ease.
"I promise it'll look good when it's done," he laughed. "You and Ben will be safer too."
"I have every faith in you," she said softly, looking up at him through her lashes and taking his breath away.
He sighed and shook his head. She was too much to handle with any sense of class.
"What?" she asked with a shy smile.
"You . . . you're just so beautiful."
"Oh, thank you," she blushed.
"That's probably not very smooth but . . . it's been a long time since I felt like this."
"And how do you feel?" she pressed gently.
"You make me nervous and excited. I really like you."
"You make me nervous and excited too," she smiled.
She moved closer to him on the stairs, took the cup of coffee from his hands, and placed it on the landing.
