by Dylann Crush
I thought the restaurant was going to provide a home base for me. That I’d finally found what I was looking for.
But somehow, now that I had almost everything I’d ever wanted, I realized it wasn’t enough. I’d had it all wrong. Now that I finally recognized my mistake, I was desperate to get back to Swallow Springs. To my house, to my home, to Robbie.
“I think the excitement must be getting to you. Just give it a few months. Things will settle down. Sound good, Cookie?” His lips spread into a confident smile.
“I don’t think that’s going to cut it. I’m sorry, Parker.”
“Sorry for what? Cassie, don’t you see? I did it.” His brow furrowed. “I mean, we did it. This place is going to be a phenomenon.”
I was done. My next steps were as clear as the sparkling glassware coming out of the new dishwasher. Not that it mattered now, but I did want to know one last thing.
“Was it always about the money?” I twirled the stem of the cut crystal champagne flute between my fingers. “Did you ever have feelings for me?”
“What do you mean? Of course I had feelings for you. I asked you to marry me.” Parker walked around the counter toward me. “I wanted us to be partners in business and in life.”
“Let’s be real here. Even with Liz’s cash, you still needed me to make this work, didn’t you? That’s the only reason you proposed.” Looking at up Parker, I tried to read his expression.
He made a move to circle my waist, but I twisted out of his embrace, sloshing the champagne out of my glass. “Cassie, this can still work.”
“That’s what I thought. I don’t want to be partners with you anymore. Not in any capacity.”
“Where are you going to go? We have a deal.”
“I’m going back to where I belong. Back to where my roots are.”
He gave me a snide look. “You can’t be serious. You’ll never make anything special out of yourself in that hellhole. Plus, we need you. You can’t just walk away. What about the money?”
“The guys know how to do everything here. I trained them well. You’ll be fine. On the cash, figure out how long it will take for you to buy me out—I know you’ll be fair.” I grabbed my keys and purse and paused before I exited the kitchen. “As for me, I don’t need to make something of myself. I’m enough for me the way I am.”
And enough for Robbie. He’d been trying to tell me that all summer long. I just hadn’t been able to hear him until I got out of my own way.
“Goodbye, Parker.”
Parker and I were officially over, business-wise and personal-wise. Months of my life right down the drain. As the back door of the restaurant slammed behind me, the gravity of the moment sunk in. I had no job. I’d given notice on my apartment since I’d been planning on moving closer to the restaurant and had less than two weeks until I needed to be out. Plus I’d sold my grandparents’ place. Why hadn’t I listened to Robbie when he’d begged me not to let it go?
Jobless and homeless, my prospects had never seemed so bleak. Then why did I finally feel more free than I ever had before?
37
Robbie
The sun had barely started to rise, but I was up thanks to that goddamn rooster. He must haunt the fields around the Macon’s old place since I’d never been able to hear him so clearly when I’d been staying at my dad’s. Now I knew why Cassie had been so eager to get her hands on him.
Thinking of Cassie’s hands wasn’t going to help me fall back asleep, so I tossed the covers back and padded into the kitchen to start my morning brew. Jake had been keeping tabs on Cassie’s new restaurant online and sent me multiple pictures of their grand opening last night. Cassie’s whole face had been lit up, making me absolutely sure I’d done the right thing. Even though I’d taken another major setback at reaching my own dreams, at least she was getting a crack at hers.
While I waited for the coffee pot to fill, I picked up the kitten who’d been trying to scale my shins. She’d made the move across the pond with me. I was grateful to have another warm body joining my pity party, even if it was only a cat.
With her in my arms, I crossed the front room and pushed through the screen door to the porch, then settled in the corner of the swing to wait for the coffee. The kitten took the opportunity to nestle into my lap and give herself a full body bath. How the hell had my life come to this?
Before I could deep dive into a vat of misery, the sound of someone coming up the drive reached me. Tires crunched on the gravel road, creating a cloud of dust. Why would someone be coming all the way out here before the butt crack of dawn? Headlights shone across the front yard and bounced over my truck before they cut off. I tensed, bracing myself for an unwanted visitor.
The door opened and the dome light glowed. I squinted, trying to see all the way down the drive. A head of blondish-brown hair exited the car. A chime sounded—like the keys had been left in the ignition with the door standing open. The woman ducked down, doing something around her feet—putting on shoes maybe?
My heart tumbled around in my chest. Cassie—it had to be Cassie. But I fought the urge to go to her, to sweep her up in my arms. She’d been the one to walk away. For all I knew she’d left something behind and was just coming back to get it. That realization doused my excitement like dumping a pot of cold water on a campfire.
I settled back into the porch swing and waited. She stumbled forward, picking her way up the rest of the drive. A string of curses floated over the dew-covered grass as she kicked off her shoes. She came closer—close enough for me to see she was wearing the same clothes I’d seen in the pictures the night before. Why would she have driven all night long in a fancy dress?
She stopped at my truck and I waited. The only light I’d left on in the house was in the kitchen so the shadows of the porch kept me hidden from sight. What did she want? I ached to call out, to ask if she’d come back to me, but I couldn’t handle the thought of being rejected by her all over again.
“Ouch. Crap.” She moved closer to the porch, like she was trying to sneak up on the house, but having a hard time tiptoeing barefoot over the gravel drive.
As her foot landed on the bottom step the cat hopped down from my lap to investigate. Cassie bent down, running her hand over the kitten’s back. “Look at you. What are you doing over here?”
“She lives here.” My voice came out a little harsher than I intended.
Cassie’s head whipped up, searching for me in the darkness. “Robbie?”
“What do you want?” I rose and moved closer, my bare feet not making a sound on the floorboards.
She stood, her head barely hitting my midsection since she was several steps down. “I was on my way to your dad’s place but saw your truck. What are you doing here?”
“I think I should be the one asking the questions, Cass. What are you doing here? What do you want?”
She bit her lip, nodding. “You’re right. I came back.”
“I see that.” Dammit, I still wanted to fold her into my arms, even now, even after all the heartache. I forced myself to stay neutral. “Why?”
Her foot advanced, carrying her up one step. “We had the grand opening last night. It went really well. A couple of restaurant critics came in.”
I shook my head, conjuring my I don’t give a flying fuck attitude. “Good for you. And you just had to drive all the way back here to tell me that in person? That you’ve finally made something of yourself?”
A flash of hurt shone in her eyes. I wanted to kick myself for being such an ass, but it was the only way to protect myself. Every fiber of my being wanted to pull her tight against me. Bind us together so she’d never be able to leave me again.
She advanced, more tentative, to the next step. “No, I just realized…” She took in a deep breath.
I didn’t say a word, even though I wanted to. Even though the sight of her not two feet away had my stomach hitched into too many knots to count.
“I realized I’d finally made my dreams come
true.” Tears threatened to spill past her lashes.
Cue asshole mode. “That’s great. I’m so happy for you.” I turned to go inside, not able to spend one more second on the porch without crushing my lips to hers.
She caught my arm. My heart took a nosedive into my gut at the contact. “I came here to tell you that it didn’t mean anything.”
“What?”
Her hand squeezed my arm. “There I was, the restaurant I’ve always wanted, critics with nothing but praise, guests raving about the food...” She reached the top step. The top of her hair tickled my nose. I inhaled the sweet scent of piña coladas. “And it didn’t mean anything without you.”
Dammit to hell. I gathered her in my arms. I’d deal with the heartache later. My fingers brushed the hair away from her face. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and I swept them away with the pad of my thumb.
“What are you saying, Cassafrass?” I didn’t want to allow myself to hope.
She wrapped her arms around my waist, gazing up at me with eyes full of hurt and hope. “How did you so eloquently put it before? I think I still…maybe…goddammit, I might still love you.”
My lips curved into a smile. “That’s got to be the lamest, most sorry ass declaration of unrequited love I’ve ever heard.”
“Oh, Robbie.” Her cheek rested against my chest. “I never stopped. All of those years apart and I never stopped, not once.”
I pulled back, nudging her chin up. “I love you, too, Cassie. I never stopped either.” Then I brought my lips to hers, reveling in the sweetest sensation of her mouth meeting mine. I’d have been happy to let the kiss go on forever, just stand on the porch until the end of time. But before I could go all in again, I needed to know.
“Does this mean you’re going to stay put for a while?” I touched my nose to hers.
She nodded. “I’m not going to leave this time. Well, except for maybe one more trip.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about going back to Texas to get my stuff and maybe moving a little farther north.”
I wanted to twirl her in my arms, but I had to hear her say it first. “Just how far are you planning on going?”
“Oh, say about seven hours. I hear there’s a need for some hometown cooking around these parts.”
I chuckled and ran my fingers along her arm. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
Her skin pebbled. “I think so.”
“What about the Suit? Your partnership? The restaurant?”
She fingered a chain around her neck. “Turns out I’m more of a rough and tumble kind of girl. I pulled out of the restaurant. Parker will figure out a way to buy me out. I’m a free woman.”
I took the cross between his fingers. “Where did you get this?”
“Found it on your nightstand. I never should have taken it off. I made a mistake, Robbie. All that time we wasted. I was so stupid.”
My arm went around her back and I pulled her closer. “No, Cass. It was my dad. He lied about so much. He came clean about some stuff. He held my scholarship paperwork. Never mailed it in. He’s the one who sent you that damn letter. And the day Jeffy died…he was off nailing some chick. If he’d only picked up the fucking phone…”
My voice cracked and Cassie covered my face in soft, gentle kisses. “It’s not your fault, baby.”
“I know. Fucking bastard. When you left me that note, the one telling me you wanted to take a break, would you have felt that way if I’d been able to go to Austin with you?”
“It doesn’t matter now.”
“I need to know.”
“I never stopped loving you. The only reason I left you that stupid note was because I knew if you didn’t take the scholarship, you’d never be able to get out from under your dad’s thumb. He would have made it impossible for you to follow me to Texas, you know that.” She pulled my head closer to hers. “All that matters now is that we found our way back to each other. It’s all going to be okay.”
Her fingers combed through my hair while my whiskers scraped against her skin.
“We’ve wasted so much time. Are you serious about moving back?”
She looked up at me, her face an open book. “I’ve got nothing.” Her voice quivered as she took in a deep breath. “I don’t even have a place to live.”
I cupped her chin, tilting her face up toward mine. “You’ve got me, okay? And as far as I know, you’ve got dibs on the old Lovebird Café.”
“I thought about things the whole drive up. Maybe I can replant grandma’s big garden and do some sort of farm-to-table angle and start my own place.”
“We’ll do it together, baby. I promise.”
“But…” Cassie pulled back. “I forgot to ask. What are you doing here? Are you still working on the house? I need to find out who bought it so I can get it back. You were right, Robbie, I shouldn’t have let it go.”
“It’s okay.” I rubbed my hands up and down her arms.
“No, it’s not. Some stranger’s going to be moving in here. I don’t know how I’ll get the money, not with everything I have tied up in the restaurant right now, but I’ve got to figure out a way—”
“Cass, I said it’s okay. The house is ours.” She gazed up at me, looking like she couldn’t quite process what I’d just told her.
“What? How? Some company bought it. Mrs. Hayes said the family was from out of state.”
“It was me.” I braced myself while she caught up.
“But…how…Robbie, no.” Her brow furrowed as she finally figured it out. “You bought the house.” It was more statement than question but I nodded in confirmation.
“Yeah, I did.”
Her hand went to her temple. “Where did you get…no. The baseball field.”
I nodded. “It was worth it. I couldn’t see this place fall into someone else’s hands.”
She flung herself at me. I barely caught her as she wrapped her legs around my middle and her arms around my shoulders. “You dumb ass.”
I shifted her in my arms, pulling her tighter. “Wow. That wasn’t the reaction I expected.”
“You did that for me?”
My hands cupped her ass. “Hell, Cassie, I’d do anything for you. Don’t you know that by now? We’ll figure out your restaurant, eventually get around to the baseball field. The whole thing.”
“But where am I going to live? And what about us? I thought maybe we should take things slow, you know, get used to each other again before we make any big decisions…” Her voice trailed off as her hand skimmed over my collarbone.
“We’ll figure it out.” I carried her toward the front door. “And what’s this nonsense about going slow?”
Her legs clenched together and a warm wave of desire washed over me. “I guess slow has always been overrated.”
“Exactly.”
She pulled back and met my gaze. “I love you, Robbie.”
Sounds cheesy, but as the words left her mouth, sunshine filled up my heart. My lips split into a grin as wide as the Missouri River, and I swept her up in my arms and twirled her around. “I love you, too, Cassiopeia Belmont. Now how about we go try out that tub?”
Epilogue
Cassie
I propped myself up on my elbows and watched Robbie finish up his handiwork on the old oak tree. Three generations of initials now decorated the trunk. He flipped his knife closed and made his way back to the blanket where I lounged, letting the setting summer sun wash over my skin.
The past year had been full of challenges and celebrations. We lost Robbie’s dad right before Thanksgiving. The two of them never hashed it out and made up properly, but they’d settled into a comfortable co-existence and even had a few deep conversations before Sheriff Jordan passed. After Parker bought me out, we were able to make some real headway on the field. Robbie was able to show his dad the progress and they seemed to make peace over Jeffy’s death. It was too bad he’d miss the grand opening, but I could tell he’d be
en proud of his son. Finally.
At Dotty’s insistence, I’d officially joined her catering business and we could barely keep up with the orders. We were up to our eyeballs in renovations on the old Lovebird Café, and as soon as construction wrapped up, we’d have a permanent space. I didn’t think there would be enough business in Swallow Springs for the restaurant and the catering, but Dotty made sure folks from every county in Missouri knew about our little venture. We were booked a year out and had a waiting list for cancellations.
Misty gave birth to a beautiful baby girl in April. Robbie kept worrying that I’d catch the baby bug since I spent every spare moment spoiling my new goddaughter. I told him not to worry, our furry baby was enough for me right now. We’d grown tired of calling her Cat so we’d finally broken down and decided to call her Angel after my mama.
Yeah, life had thrown me a few curveballs, but I couldn’t complain. Robbie decided the day I’d come back to Swallow Springs should be our official anniversary, so we’d be celebrating a whole year together tonight. So much for my big idea of taking things slow.
He plopped down next to me on the blanket and planted a kiss on my lips. His fingers landed on my shirt, nimbly unbuttoning the front. “Come on, Cass. Last one in has to service the winner.”
“Service, huh?”
“Yeah. It’s a special night…I say anything goes.”
I scrambled to my feet, and we raced to undress. Damn, Robbie. He hardly ever wore a shirt. Not that I was complaining, but it was one less piece of clothing he had to remove before belly flopping his naked ass into the pond.
He whooped and hollered, trying to splash me.
I slowly stepped out of my jeans, then made my way to the edge of the water, dropping pieces of clothing in my wake. Servicing Robbie wouldn’t be much of a hardship. I smiled as the warm water welcomed me.
