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I clear my throat, she’s watching me. She can see my mind working overtime.
"Initially," I start, "we were going to go fifty-fifty. We were going to buy the land, build the resort, hire therapists and that sort of thing," I explain.
She looks at me waiting for a number, she can tell I'm stalling.
I laugh nervously. "The deal changed along the way and marriage- well a wedding was on the cards. Then Ed was all in, he was going to pay for the whole thing," I say hoping the matter will be settled.
Cassidy looks at me, narrowing her eyes, "How much?" She asks.
I take a breath realizing that even though it isn't all that much to me, it's a lot of money generally.
"A couple of million," I say vaguely.
Cassidy sits up wide-eyed and stares down at me.
The bet is irrelevant now. It's done, even though we're still working on making the resort a reality together, the bet ended when Cassidy knew there was a bet in the first place. I couldn't seduce her, lure her to the altar now that she knew the entire plan.
What could it possibly matter?
"A couple of million?" She whispers in shock.
I nod watching her think. The gravity of the vague number settles on her and almost makes her salivate.
Whether a couple is two or twenty million, it's more money than most people have ever had in their lives. Even though I understand, I can no longer relate.
It's been so long since I had made my first million that a sum of money like this could no longer excite me. The memory however is still a thrill.
I could have easily funded the resort myself, but the thrill of the bet was too much for me to resist. Now I'm glad I didn't have the will to say no to Ed. If I had, the entire thing would’ve failed and I might never have met Cassidy and had the benefit of her perspective.
The millions I missed out on mean nothing to me, but to Cassidy, they clearly mean much more.
Cassidy bites her bottom lip, staring into the distance.
"Do you know what I could do with a couple of million?" Cassidy asks.
I look over at her and smile, "Open a love resort for singles to mingle and fall in love?" I ask.
Cassidy laughs falling back on the bed with her eyes to the ceiling.
"I could start over," she says dreamily.
I remember how sad she was telling me about her bakery. How she fought to keep the doors open despite financial hardships and how the doors finally closing had broken her. How her shattered spirit kept her down until she found the strength to rebuild. She no longer had her bakery, but Cassidy was still here. She could still dream and I marveled at her. In complete awe, I watched her conjure the impossible.
"I could reopen my bakery and start again," she smiles. "No temperamental stove or fighting to make rent. I wouldn't have to bargain hunt for furniture and spend hours restoring it. Geez!"
I listen, watching as excitement spreads over her face. It's like a pantomime, her voice growing high pitched and her words flying out of her mouth at high speed. And then her voice grows low again, slowly describing every detail from the colors of the walls to the tiles on the floor.
Her eyes move as she speaks, her eyebrows arching and wiggling above her sparkling blue eyes.
Her messy red hair bundled to the side. She was doing her best to look professional without a stitch of clothing on her.
Laying on her side with her skin glowing, there is a newness about Cassidy. She is supercharged, full of life, full of plans and full of bright ideas.
"Not just one bakery, after a few years I could franchise. A few little bakeries across the country, maybe I could start supplying grocery stores. Open a factory to take my cakes and treats all over the world," she giggles.
Cassidy’s ideas and dreams get bigger every time she speaks. She adds more details to her plans, reaches further and sounds more and more convinced she can make it happen somehow.
"Can you imagine it?" She asks. Her face childlike in the sunlight.
