Is this guy stalking me? Seriously? “No thank you, I would rather accept a ride from the devil himself. I can see myself home!” I stand up and stomp my way past him, trying not to wince at the pain in my ankle.
He laughs, “I’ve never seen a woman as stubborn as you. Good evening Miss Holt.” He tips his hat and walks to the other side of the square.
I walk across the square to go home, forcing myself not to limp. Good thing it’s only a couple of blocks to my house. When I get home I take some aspirin and head to bed. Men! Can’t live with them, can’t shoot them!
Chapter 7
As Cassie walks away, Logan makes his way to the bar and orders a beer. He normally doesn’t drink but he needs something after fighting with Cassie to help hide the affect she has on him. He needs to get his mind off of her brown eyes and that shadow he could see in the plunging neckline of that dress; the dress that showed off her curves. His jeans feel tighter the more he thinks of her. He finds a seat at an empty table and sits down to watch the couples on the dance floor. Time passes as Logan stares into his beer, trying to get Cassie’s brown eyes out of his head. A waitress brings him another beer and he drinks it without thinking about it. He gets up to leave about 45 minutes and three beers later and makes his way across the square, heading home to his empty house.
Chapter 8
I am running, trying to get away from him, trying to find a place to hide. My cheek is throbbing where his first blow landed. How can this be the man I love? What happened to him, I don’t even see the man I fell in love with in him anymore. The drugs and alcohol have taken over. I had no idea that he would react so violently when I gave him back the engagement ring. He catches up to me, grabbing my arm and pulling me around. His eyes, his crazy eyes! I must be hallucinating, they are glowing green, but that can’t be. His eyes are brown, not green. It must be the way the light is hitting them. I try to back away but he has a tight hold on my arm and is backing me into the corner, raining blows on my head and shoulders with his other hand. There is no escape. He is hitting me everywhere now, my head, shoulders, stomach, and legs. No, no, no, what did I do to deserve this? I scream and scream and scream… Help me James! James, where are you? Help me!
Chapter 9
I sit up, alone in my bed except for the ghosts of the past. My heart is pounding and I gulp in air, trying to get myself under control. The fight with James must have triggered the nightmare, I feel so alone right now.
The sun is streaming in the window, heralding the start of another day. I head downstairs to begin the day, lucky I woke up early as I told Mel to come in late to work this morning. I start the coffeepot, willing it to brew faster. Between the rum and the nightmare I have a killer headache to go with my sore ankle. I sit and drink my coffee, wishing Gram was here to comfort me. She always knew just what to say. I swear I can feel her stroke my hair, just like she used to whenever I needed comfort.
After some coffee and a hot shower I feel a little better. I wrap up my ankle and hope I can find some time to sit today. I open up the bookstore and I’m there for about 20 minutes before I hear the bell over the door ring. I turn and see a huge bouquet of flowers with feet. I recognize those shoes.
“You march yourself right back out of my bookstore. I’m not done being mad at you yet!”
James shifts the flowers to one arm, frowning at me, “Now Reggie, come on. I’m under orders from Marie to make this right. I shouldn’t have said what I did last night. I’m sorry Reg, you know I can’t stand it when we fight. Marie is on your side, she made me sleep on the couch last night.”
I glare at him, still angry at his hurtful words. “Serves you right, saying what you did. I can’t believe you took that deputy’s side instead of mine.”
“I don’t know what I was thinking. Forgive me? I even brought coffee…”
My mood lightens somewhat at the mention of coffee, reminding me what a good friend he can be. “Dammit! You know I can’t stay mad at you. Get over here and put those flowers down. I’m going to forgive you this time, but it better not happen again! Fighting with you makes me feel so alone.”
He comes over and hugs me, setting the flowers and coffee on the counter. I hug him back even though I haven’t totally forgiven him. When he sets me back on my feet he sees me wince at the pain in my ankle. “What’s wrong? What did you do to yourself now?”
“Watch it James. You’re just getting back into my good graces, don’t push it…”
“Come on, Reggie. What happened?” he asks, helping me over to the couch. Gram put comfy couches and chairs around the bookstore, making it inviting to anyone who wants to just sit and read.
I explain how booze and five-inch heels don’t mix, glossing over my refusal of help from his deputy. No sense in giving him more ammunition. “I’m sure it’s only twisted. I wrapped it up, it will be fine.”
As usual, he can’t let it go. “Nope, you are going to the clinic for an x-ray. Someone has to watch out for you. You don’t seem to doing such a hot job at that right now”.
If he only knew… better to humor him, otherwise he won’t leave me alone. “How about I go get that x-ray after Mel gets here at 10?”
“Nope, no deal. You are going now, the bookstore can be closed for a while, it won’t hurt anything.” He flips the sign to closed and locks the front door. He helps me out the back door to his cruiser. He takes me into the clinic, smiling at Joanne.
“Hi James, Cassie. What can I do for you today?”
“Joanne, Cassie needs an x-ray of her ankle. She twisted it last night and it’s pretty swollen.”
“No problem, I’ll be right back with a wheelchair. Cassie, why don’t you get started on these forms. Everyone else in town seems to be sleeping in this morning so we should be able to get you taken care of quickly.”
She comes back with a wheelchair and helps me into it. I feel so clumsy and stupid, I hate being helpless. “I saw you dancing with the new deputy. He sure can move, and that southern boy drawl, makes me melt. Too bad I’m married or I would go after him myself.”
“I really don’t want to talk about it,” I reply, glad that we are at the x-ray room. We get the x-rays and I get wheeled back to an exam room to wait for Doc to look at them.
Doc comes in with the x-rays in his hand. “Good news Cassie, nothing broken this time. That’s what you get for wearing those stilts you call shoes.”
“Thanks Doc. Can I get out of here now? I have a bookstore to run.”
“As long as you promise to stay off that ankle as much as possible. Keep it elevated when you can, and take aspirin for the pain, and don’t forget to ice it every couple of hours.”
I roll my eyes as I’ve heard this all before. “Yeah, I know the drill. I promise to be good. Can I have my lollipop now?”
“You still have a smart mouth. Better hope it doesn’t get you in trouble. Now get out of here, I don’t want to see you back here for a while.”
“Yes, sir!” I say, saluting him.
He laughs as I limp my way back to the waiting room. James is standing by the door, talking on his cell phone, “I’m sure she’s fine. It’s probably just twisted.” He looks up and sees me, “Speak of the devil. No cast so it’s not broken. I’ll see you at lunch. Love you.” He puts his phone in his pocket, “Marie is glad you’re OK. You are to call her if you need help at the bookstore today. She also insists that you are coming to dinner tonight. No arguments.”
“Only because you asked so nicely. Now go protect and serve and let me run my bookstore. I’ll see you tonight.”
The rest of the day goes by with no drama. Mel and I close up the bookstore at 5 and I head towards home. I take some more aspirin and head next door for dinner. I walk in the back door and find James and Marie in an intimate embrace, just enjoying being close to each other. James gives Marie a kiss and lets her go. I can see the love in his eyes. “At least someone in this town knows how to treat a lady,” I comment, “unlike a certain deputy.” Marie looks be
hind me and smiles.
I turn and see said deputy leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed. “No one told me he was going to be here. Did that slip your mind James? They say the mind is the first thing to go… better go have Doc check for Alzheimer’s!” I say with a smirk to hide that I feel betrayed.
This makes everyone laugh, even the deputy. He’s actually not bad looking when he smiles, too bad I’ve sworn off men. Oh well, better make the best of it.
“Miss Holt, please accept my apology for my behavior last night. I don’t know what came over me. I can assure you I was not raised to treat a lady that way.”
I see the self-satisfied look on Marie’s face. She must be the one behind this apology. I stand there with my arms crossed, letting my disdain for him show on my face. I debate whether to accept his apology. Seeing the expectant look on Marie’s face I decide I can be adult about this, “I accept your apology Deputy Miller. We are both adults, how about a truce? And please, call me Cassie.”
He looks at me as if he can’t believe I just said that, “And I’m Logan.”
Marie is smiling as she says, “Dinner’s ready. Let’s all head to the dining room.”
We sit down and eat, talking about the dance last night. We all avoid talking about the scene between Logan and me. I’m sure we put on quite the show for the whole town. James and Logan are talking about the department’s budget. I watch Logan, wondering how I can stand to live in the same town as him. I know his apology is for Marie’s benefit, but it doesn’t change the fact that he thinks I’m easy and that I would go after married men. I’m hoping this town is big enough for both of us!
Chapter 10
It’s been a good week. I’ve gotten some quotes on adding a coffee bar to the bookstore and they actually aren’t too bad; I may be able to swing it this year. I send Mel out to have lunch at noon with instructions to bring me back a burger and onion rings from the drive in. I should have a good hour to myself. We usually don’t get any customers at this time of day on a Thursday. The sunshine today seems to be keeping the customers away. I settle in at the desk in the office to go over the plans for the coffee bar.
I hear the bell over the door. Great, someone is here. I get up and walk out to the counter, wondering who is here at this time of day. I walk around the last bookshelf and almost run into the deputy. He grabs my arms to steady me when I almost fall over a chair trying to back away. “Slow down there Miss Cassie, don’t want you to reinjure that ankle.”
“My ankle is fine,” I say. “No thanks to you,” I mutter before looking up at him, wondering what he could possible want. “What can I do for you today?”
“I’m looking for a book on plumbing. I need to replace a pipe and I don’t want to call a plumber.”
“I believe those are back in the last row” I say as I head that direction, “we have some really good basic books.” I reach the section and turn around, and he is right there behind me. “Hey, no tailgating!” I smirk.
He chuckles, and blocks the aisle. I move to go around him, but he spreads his arms to block my way. He puts his hands on both of my arms and holds me still.
“What are you doing deputy?” I ask, confused, looking him in the eyes.
He holds my gaze and murmurs, “Trying to get you out of my head.” He lowers his head and touches his lips to mine, nipping at my bottom lip. I gasp at this unexpected development, and he takes advantage of my open lips to deepen the kiss, moving his hands to my back, pulling me closer. The kiss feels like it goes on forever, the touch of his lips sending shock waves through my entire body. I can feel how the kiss is affecting him, I can feel how hard he is getting against my leg.
Somewhere in the back of my brain the sound of the bell over the door registers but I can’t seem to move, can’t pull away. “Hey Reggie, where are you?”
That seems to break the spell, allowing me move back and out of Logan’s embrace.
“Shit,” I mutter under my breath, “how in the hell did I let that happen?” I look up at Logan. “This is never going to happen again!” I whisper, not wanting James to hear. “Here’s your damn book!” I make my way around Logan and over to the counter.
“Hi James,” I say brightly, hoping I don’t look like someone just kissed me thoroughly, “I was just helping Logan find a plumbing book.”
Logan steps out from behind the bookshelves, looking as calm as always; the rat! “Hey boss.”
I make my way over to the register and ring up Logan’s book. “That will be $15.84 Logan. Will that be cash or charge?”
He hands me his credit card, and waits for me to swipe it. I return it to him with the receipt. “Sign here.”
I sure hope I’m not turning as red as it feels, I feel like my face is on fire. James looks at my face knowing that something had just happened. “What happened, Reggie? Do I need to take Logan out back and beat the crap out of him?”
Logan smirks, “Nothing happened that she didn’t ask for. See you later, Darlin’.” He walks out the door, whistling. Smug bastard!
“What the hell was that all about? Did he take advantage of you, Reg?”
“God, James, just butt out!” I yell, trying to process what just happened myself, and trying to calm down. “I’m fine, nothing happened. Now are you here for a reason or did you just decide that today was a good day to make my life hell?”
James holds up his hands, “I’m sorry Reg. I just stopped by to see if you wanted to go to lunch.”
“No thanks.” I smile at him, thankful that he is still my best friend. “Mel is bringing me back a burger and onion rings from the drive-in. How about tomorrow instead?”
James looks over my face, not completely satisfied that I’m OK. “You’d tell me if something was wrong wouldn’t you, Reg?”
“You know I would,” I say with my fingers crossed behind my back, what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. “I tell you everything.”
“OK, just so we’re clear on that. I better get back to work. See you tomorrow.”
Finally, I thought he would never leave! I go over and lock the door, changing the sign to closed. I go into the office and sit down at the desk to get back to work. Problem is, I can’t concentrate now, I keep replaying the kiss in my mind. I jump when someone bangs on the door.
“Now what? Can’t I get any peace and quiet today?” I stomp over to the door and see that it’s Logan. I unlock the door and let him in, re-locking it behind him. “What now? You didn’t humiliate me enough already today?”
“I think we need to talk about what happened Saturday night, and what happened here today.”
“There isn’t anything to talk about. We shared a kiss, big deal. It’s not going to happen again. If that’s all, you can leave now.”
“Don’t think this is over. We are just getting started, Darlin’.” He makes his way over to the door and unlocks it.
“What makes you think this isn’t over? Nothing happened and nothing will happen. Now, get out of my store! And don’t call me Darlin’!”
He walks out the door and I lock it behind him. I turn around and lean back against the door. Great, what am I supposed to do now?
Chapter 11
Logan walks down the street, gets in his cruiser and bangs his fists on the steering wheel, trying to get himself under control, and will his libido into submission. How can such a flirtatious little tramp have such an effect on him? He thinks about the dream he had after the dance, the dream he hasn’t had for at least six months. The dream he started having when he was nine; the dream of blood and knives and death. He doesn’t remember specifics other than he is supposed to protect Reggie, the same as all the other dreams before. This little tramp can’t be the Reggie from his dreams, can she? He pulls his phone out of his pocket and selects a number. When he gets voice mail he says, “I found Reggie. She’s here in Fairfield Corners. Call me.”
Chapter 12
I close the store at 5 pm and make my way home. It’s been a long day and all I w
ant to do is relax. I decide to take a nice long bath before I make dinner. I walk in the house and notice that Gram’s picture is on the bookshelf again. I think I’m losing my mind. My keys keep disappearing and showing up in the oddest places such as the freezer or the medicine cabinet in the bathroom upstairs. I reach out to move the picture back to the mantel, but it jumps off the shelf and lands on the floor, breaking the glass.
“Oh no!” I pick it up and see that it didn’t hurt the picture. I carry it out to the kitchen to throw away the broken glass. The glass is still stuck to the frame so I have to take the picture out. When I slide the back off, I find an envelope with my name on it in Gram’s handwriting. Why in the world would she hide this in here? I open the envelope and find a letter dated three days before she was killed:
My dearest Cassie,
I hope you never have to read this. You are my life, you always have been. Strange things have been happening here in the house and at the bookstore. I keep finding the front door open and the picture on the mantel of the two of us keeps moving to the bookshelf. My glasses are disappearing and reappearing in the strangest places. Either the house is haunted or I am losing my mind. You know my views on the paranormal so I vote for a ghost. At the store, the door locks and unlocks itself for no apparent reason. I have also felt an oppressive presence both at the house and at the store, I have felt it watching me as if it’s studying my movements and waiting to pounce. It may just be an old lady’s imagination, but I felt that I had to warn you to be careful.
I have discussed my fears with James, but you know him, you say the word paranormal and he quits listening. I love him like my own grandson but he can be so close-minded sometimes. He has been doing extra patrols by the house but the phenomenon continues.
Please be careful and remember that I love you!
Love always,
Saving Cassie (Fairfield Corners) Page 3
