The Trouble with Caasi

by Debbie Macomber

  The Trouble with Caasi is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  2015 Debbie Macomber eBook Edition

  “The World of Debbie Macomber” by Kevin Weaver copyright © 2014 by Random House LLC

  Copyright © 1985 by Debbie Macomber

  All rights reserved.

  Published in the United States by Debbie Macomber Books, an imprint of Debbie Macomber, Inc.

  Distributed by Random House LLC.

  Debbie Macomber Books is a registered trademark of Debbie Macomber, Inc.

  Originally published in paperback in the United States by Silhouette Books, New York, in 1985.

  eBook ISBN 978-1-941-82406-1

  www.debbiemacomber.com

  v3.1

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  A Note from the Author

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Other Books by This Author

  About the Author

  Dear Friends,

  One of the many advantages of a long publishing career and advances in technology is that my early books have been given a new life. The Trouble with Caasi is a great example of this. And no, I didn’t misspell her name. Caasi was named after her father, Isaac, and her name is his name spelled backward! Sometimes I am so clever I can barely stand myself!

  It’s been such fun reading through this early book and tweaking it here and there to update it to current times. What’s most gratifying to me is the fact that even after all these years the story is still compelling. It is romantic, tender, and hopeful. So sit back, brew yourself a cup of tea, and immerse yourself into the world of Caasi and Blake.

  One of my greatest joys as an author is hearing from my readers. You can connect with me in a number of ways. You’d be surprised by how friendly I am! You can log onto my website at DebbieMacomber.com and leave me a message or get in touch with me on Facebook. Or if you feel so inclined, you can write me at P.O. Box 1458, Port Orchard, WA 98366.

  Enjoy!

  Warmest regards,

  Debbie Macomber

  One

  The majestic beauty of white-capped Mount Hood was unobstructed from the twentieth floor of the Empress Hotel in downtown Portland. Caasi Crane stood in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window, her arms hugging her slim waist. Blake Sherrill’s letter of resignation was clenched tightly in one hand.

  Blake was the best general manager she’d ever hope to find. His resignation had caught her off guard. As far as Caasi knew, he had been perfectly content. His employee file was open on her computer, and Caasi moved across the plush office to study the information.

  His salary was generous, she noted, but Caasi believed in paying her employees what they were worth. And Blake earned every cent. Maybe he’d reconsider if she offered him a raise. But according to the file, he’d received a healthy increase only three months earlier.

  Scrolling down through the information, Caasi paused to read over the original employment application that included his photograph. He was six-three and at her guess around a hundred and eighty pounds. Dark hair and brown eyes. None of that had changed. At the time he was hired he was single and thirty. Certainly she would know if he’d married since then. He hadn’t; she was sure of it. Had Blake been with Crane Enterprises that long? Six years?

  Caasi pushed her wide-rimmed glasses up from the tip of her nose and sat in her cushioned white leather chair.

  Her assistant buzzed, interrupting her thoughts. “Mr. Sherrill’s here to see you.”

  Caasi pushed the intercom lever. “Please send him in.” Mentally she prepared herself. Her father had groomed her well for this position. If Blake was displeased about something, she’d soon discover what it was. Employee performance and customer satisfaction were the name of the game. But an employee, even one as good as Blake, couldn’t perform if he was unhappy. If so, Caasi wanted to know the reason. She pretended an interest in his computer file when the door opened. Looking up, she smiled brightly. “Sit down, Blake.” Her hand indicated a chair on the other side of her desk.

  He wasn’t a handsome man. His features were rough and rugged, too craggy to be considered attractive. His chin projected stubbornly and the shadow of his beard was heavy. Caasi didn’t doubt that he had to shave twice a day. He wore a dark business suit and silk tie, and his hair was coal dark. Could he be Italian with a name like Sherrill? Funny how she’d never really noticed Blake. At least, not the toughness in the lean, hard figure that stood in front of her.

  “If you don’t mind, I’d rather stand.” With feet braced slightly apart, he joined his hands.

  “Honestly,” Caasi admonished with a soft smile, “you look like a recruit standing at attention.”

  “Sometimes I feel that way.” The words were hardly above a whisper.

  “Pardon?” Caasi looked up again.

  “Nothing.” The small lines about his eyes and mouth creased in a mirthless smile. “You’re right. I’ll sit down.”

  “How long have you been with us now, Blake?”

  “Six years, six months, and five days,” he replied drily.

  “You counted the days?”

  He shrugged. “Maybe I was hoping to gain your attention.”

  Caasi gave him a troubled look. Clearly something was wrong. Not in the five years since she’d taken over the company had Blake behaved like this.

  “You have my attention now.” She held up the resignation letter. “What’s the problem?”

  He looked away. “There’s no problem. The time has come to move on, that’s all.”

  “Is it the money?”

  “No.”

  “Have you got another job offer?” That was the scenario that made the most sense.

  “Not yet.”

  This wasn’t going well, and she was fast losing her grip on the situation.

  “All right, Blake, tell me what’s up.”

  “Do you want a full report submitted? There’s one due at the end of the month, as usual.”

  “I don’t mean that and you know it.” Angrily she glared at him.

  “I thought you read every report,” he muttered with an edge of sarcasm.

  “I’ve never known you to be cynical,” Caasi cut in.

  “But then, you’ve never known me, have you?”

  Caasi didn’t know how to answer him. Maybe if she’d dated more often she’d be able to deal with men more effectively. That was one area in which her father had failed to instruct her. Sometimes she felt like a bungling teenager, and just as naïve.

  “Take the rest of the week off, Blake. I would like you to reconsider this letter.”

  “I’m not going to change my mind.” There was a determined look about him, unyielding and confident.

  She didn’t want to lose Blake. “Take it anyway, and let’s talk again the first of the week.”

  He gave her a mocking salute. “As you wish.”

  Blake’s resignation weighed heavily on Caasi the rest of the day. By the time her assistant left, she was in a rotten mood. It was due to far more than Blake, she realized. That night was the monthly get-together with Edie and June, her two BFFs.

  The months passed so quickly that sometimes it seemed that they were meeting much too often—and at other times it wasn’t nearly enough. Yet
the two were her best friends … her only friends, Caasi admitted grudgingly, as she slid the key into the lock of her apartment door.

  The penthouse suite on the twenty-first floor had been Caasi’s home for as long as she could remember. She must have been eight before she realized that milk came from a cow and not the busboy who delivered all of the family’s meals.

  Daddy’s little girl from the beginning, Caasi had known from the time she could walk that someday she would be president of Crane Enterprises and the string of hotels that ran down Oregon’s coast and into California. Isaac Crane had tutored her for the position until his death five years earlier.

  Daddy’s little girl … The thought ran through her mind as Caasi opened her closet and took out a striped dress of teal, plum, and black. Everything about her reflected her father. A thousand times in her twenty-eight years Caasi had explained that her name hadn’t been misspelled but was Isaac spelled backward.

  Soaking in a bubble bath a few minutes later, Caasi lifted the sponge and drained the soothing water over her full breasts and flat stomach. Her big toe idly played with the faucet spout. Her medium-length chestnut hair was piled on top of her head as she lay back and let the hot water refresh her.

  Steam swirled around the huge bathroom as Caasi got out of the tub, wrapped a thick cotton towel around herself, and moved into her bedroom. She didn’t feel like going out tonight. A quiet dinner and television would be more to her liking, but she knew Edie and June well enough to realize they wouldn’t easily let her forgo their monthly dinner.

  An hour later, Caasi entered Brasserie Montmartre, a French restaurant Edie had raved about the previous month. Caasi didn’t mind checking out the competition. The Empress’s own small French restaurant served—in her opinion—some of the best food in town.

  Edie waved when she saw Caasi. June apparently hadn’t arrived yet, and Caasi wondered if she would, since June’s baby was due any time.

  “Greetings, fair one,” the pert brunette said, as Caasi pulled out a chair and sat down. It was a standard joke among them that, of the three, Caasi was the most attractive. She accepted their good-natured teasing as part of the give-and-take in any friendship. They were her friends, and heaven knew she had few enough of those.

  “You look pleased about something,” Caasi said. Edie was grinning from ear to ear.

  “I am.” Edie took a sip of champagne and giggled like a sixteen-year-old. “I should probably wait until June’s here, but if I don’t tell someone soon, I think I’ll bust.”

  “Come on, give,” Caasi urged, and nodded at the waiter, who promptly delivered another glass and poured for her. Good service, she mused.

  “I’m pregnant!”

  Caasi nearly choked on the bubbly liquid. “Pregnant!” she spat back. Not both friends at the same time. It was too much!

  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Freddy more excited.”

  “But you’re the one who said—”

  “I know, but I changed my mind. It’s crazy, but I’m really happy about this. The doctor said there’s no reason for me to lose my figure, and he’s already put me on a high-protein diet. Freddy’s agreed to the natural-childbirth classes. From what we’ve read, it’s the best way for the baby. June’s taking them now, and I’m hoping she can let me sit in on one of her sessions. And then there’s the nursery to do. I think Freddy may make the cradle.”

  “Slow down,” Caasi said with a light laugh. “My head’s spinning already.”

  “What do you think?” Edie scooted her chair back and arched her shoulders.

  “Think about what?” Caasi shook her head.

  “Do I show?”

  “Show? Good grief, Edie, you can’t be more than a couple of months along!”

  “You’re right.” She giggled, her dark eyes dancing. “And no more than a sip of champagne for me. I’m completely off alcohol and caffeine. I was just hoping …”

  “Hoping what?” A tall blonde waddled up behind them. June’s protruding stomach left little conjecture as to her condition. One hand rested against her rib cage as she lowered herself into the third chair. “Champagne?” Round blue eyes sought those of the others. “What are we celebrating?”

  “Babies, in the plural,” Edie supplied with a wide grin that lit up her whole face.

  June looked blank for a minute.

  “It seems our Edie has found herself with child,” Caasi informed her.

  “Edie?” June whispered disbelievingly. “Not the same Edie who marched in a rally for zero population growth when we were in high school?”

  “One and the same.” Edie laughed and motioned for the waiter, who produced a third glass.

  “We’re talking about the girl who was afraid to eat lettuce because it could ruin her perfect figure.”

  “Not the one who said, ‘Lips that touch chocolate shall never touch mine’?” June’s eyes rounded with shock.

  “ ’Fraid so,” Caasi said.

  “Would you two quit talking about me as if I wasn’t here?” Edie demanded.

  “A baby.” Caasi looked from one to the other and shook her head. “Both of you. Wasn’t it yesterday that I was your maid of honor, June? And Edie, remember how we argued over who got which bed our freshman year?”

  “I always thought you’d be the first one to marry,” June said to her in a somber tone. “Caasi the beauty. Blue-gray eyes to die for and a figure that was the envy of every girl in school.”

  “The fair one,” Edie added.

  “The aunt-to-be,” Caasi murmured, in a poor attempt at humor. “Always the bridesmaid, never the bride.”

  “I find it more than just ironic,” Edie said with conviction. “It’s high time you came down from the lofty twentieth floor and joined us mortals.”

  “Edie!” June snapped. “What a terrible thing to say!”

  “It’s the champagne,” Caasi said, excusing her friend.

  “In this instance it’s a case of loose lips sinking ships.”

  “Ships?” Edie inquired.

  “Friendships!”

  “To friendship.” Edie raised her glass and their former good mood was restored.

  “To friendship.” June and Caasi gently clicked their delicate crystal glasses against Edie’s.

  “By the way, who’s paying for this?” June questioned.

  “I don’t know,” Caasi joked, “but I’m only paying one-fifth, since both of you are drinking for two.”

  They all laughed and picked up their menus.

  As Edie had promised, the food was superb. With observant eyes, Caasi noted the texture and quality of the food and the service. Such scrutiny had been ingrained in her since childhood. Caasi doubted that she could dine anywhere and not do a comparison to the food at her hotels.

  “What about next month?” Caasi eyed June’s stomach.

  “No problem. Doc says I’ve got a good five weeks.”

  “Five weeks?” Edie looked shocked. “If I get that big, I’ll die.”

  “You know, Edie, if your shoes are a little too tight, don’t worry,” Caasi teased.

  “My shoes?” Edie looked up with a blank stare.

  “After being in your mouth all night, they should fit fine.”

  Edie giggled and stared pointedly across the table. “I swear, the girl’s a real wit tonight.”

  They divided up the check three ways. Although Caasi wanted to treat her friends, June and Edie wouldn’t hear of it.

  Sitting back, she watched as the waiter took their money. No matter what her mood at the beginning of these gatherings, Caasi always felt better afterward. Even Edie’s remark had flowed off her like water from an oily surface. These two were like her sisters. She accepted their faults and loved them nonetheless.

  Large drops of rain pounded against the street as the three emerged from the restaurant.

  “How about an after-dinner dessert?” Edie suggested. “I’m in the mood for something sweet.”

  June and Caasi eyed each ot
her and attempted to disguise a smile.

  “Not me.” June bowed out. “Burt’s at home, anxiously awaiting my return. He worries if I’m out of his sight more than five minutes.”

  Edie raised both brows, seeking Caasi’s response.

  Caasi shrugged. “My feet hurt.”

  “I thought I was the one with tight shoes,” Edie teased, looping her arm through Caasi’s. “Come on, be a sport. If you’re extra-nice I’ll even let you take me up to your penthouse suite.”

  Caasi smiled. “I suppose something light and sweet would do wonders toward making me forget my problems.”

  “What about you, June? Come on, change your mind.”

  June shook her head and patted her rounded stomach. “Not tonight.”

  The hotel lobby at the Empress was peacefully quiet when Edie and Caasi came through the wide glass doors. The doorman tipped his hat politely, and Caasi gave him a bright smile. Old Aldo had been a grandfather when the hotel hired him twenty years before. Other employers would have retired him by now, but Caasi hadn’t. The white-haired man had a way of greeting people that made them feel welcome. That quality wouldn’t easily be replaced.

  The sweet, soulful sounds of a ballad drifted from the lounge, and Edie paused to hum the tune as they waited for the elevator.

  “Nice,” she commented.

  “The piano player’s new this week. Would you rather we have our dessert down here?”

  Edie’s nod was eager. “I think I would. I’m in the mood for romance and music.”

  Caasi’s laugh was sweet and light. “From the look of things, I’d say it’s been a regular occurrence lately.” Her eyes rested on her friend’s still smooth abdomen. They chose to sit in the lounge in order to listen to the music.

  The hostess seated them and saw to their order personally. The crowd was a good one. Caasi looked around and noted a few regulars, mostly salesmen who stayed at the hotel on a biweekly basis. The after-work crowd had thinned, but there were a few die-hards.

  The middle-aged man at the piano was good. A portion of the bar was built around the piano, and Caasi watched as he interacted with the customers, took requests, and cracked a few jokes. She’d make sure he was invited back again.