by Cate Cameron
“I’ll talk to Emily,” Cassidy said grudgingly. The claws were retracted, and Will realized that Trevor had been right. She sighed, letting a little more tension leave her body. “And, you know, thanks. For the offer, I mean. And for looking after the roof. I—”
She turned away, then, clearly not wanting to go back and revisit her moment of weakness. Will didn’t want to rub her nose in it, either, especially now that he seemed to be getting what he wanted. Emily would come stay with him. And for whatever reason, he was almost as happy about the idea of Cassidy being under his roof, which was something he didn’t want to think about too hard.
Chapter Seven
Everything was completely out of control. There just wasn’t enough time to do everything that needed to be done. Closing the diner at eight, gobbling sandwiches for dinner as Cassidy and Emily drove to the house, cramming their clothes into garbage bags for transport, trying to think of what else they’d need in the next couple weeks and packing it up, emptying the perishables out of the fridge, catching the cats and easing them into their carriers, remembering to bring their litter boxes and food, checking Finnegan and Nanny to be sure they’d be okay overnight, and all the while being stupidly conscious of each breath she, or more importantly Emily, took. Now that Cassidy knew about the mold, it felt palpable, as if every time she inhaled she could feel the unnatural thickness of the air, the spores finding the nooks and crannies of her lungs.
Breathing the clean outside air was a relief, and she let herself take a moment to just stand still and watch as Emily gave Finnegan a neck-scratch and dutifully patted Nanny. Moving the animals to Casa Connelly? She couldn’t argue that it would be much more practical to have them close, but adding herself to Emily’s adventure was already an imposition, and Cassidy felt overcommitted and vulnerable. “If you stopped helping at the diner after school, Em, you could take the bus here and look after them. And then…”
And then what? They could impose on Will to come and pick her up every day to drive to his place, or Cassidy could take more time away from the diner to play chauffeur. Neither option was ideal.
“I could,” Emily said, clearly ready to help. She slipped through the gate, blocking Nanny’s escape attempt with a practiced knee, and nudged into Cassidy’s side. Not quite a hug or a snuggle, but a bit of sweetness all the same. “We’ll figure it out, Cassy-Cat.”
“You know, there are a lot of things I miss about your mom, but that nickname is not one of them.”
“Cassy-Cat, Cassy-Cat,” Emily quietly singsonged, backing toward the well-packed truck like she was trying to lure Cassidy along. “Come on, pretty Cassy. Let’s go for a nice car ride.”
It was just a game, just Emily being silly. Or at least, that’s what it mostly was. But Cassidy couldn’t ignore the feeling that she was being lured into a trap. Emily was the bait. And the trapper? He was handsome and wealthy, ready to domesticate her and give her an easy, captive life. At least until he got what he wanted from her.
“Let’s go,” she said, trying to sound decisive. She was stupid to imagine Will Connelly thought of her as anything but a tool, a way to make his daughter’s life easier. That reminder helped, and she followed the directions to the new house with a slightly lighter heart.
Her courage weakened a little when she pulled up to the massive stone gateposts and peered through the wrought-iron gate to see a well-lit driveway leading out of sight. She couldn’t see the house, but she could imagine it.
“He lives here?” Emily whispered.
“It’s a rental. He’s just staying here, like we are.” Cassidy rolled down her window and reached out to hit the intercom’s green button.
Will’s deep voice came through the speaker as the gate swung open in front of them. “Come on in.”
“Wonder how that gate swings when the driveway’s covered in the snow,” Cassidy said. Surely everything couldn’t work perfectly here, could it? There must be some snags?
But that wasn’t the attitude she should have, not in front of Emily. So she plastered a smile on her face, a falseness that became more genuine when she looked over and saw the girl practically bouncing with excitement. “Oh my God, is that the barn?” Emily almost yelled.
The building looked more like a shopping mall. Huge, with gables and banks of windows and lights everywhere. Will thought Nanny and Finnegan were going to live there?
Then around another bend and Cassidy stopped worrying about the animals. Will thought Cassidy and Emily were going to live in that?
It was huge and modern, all strange angles and expanses of glass, and, again, more lighting than made any sense. The amount of electricity the place must burn was outrageous, but the owners probably didn’t have to worry about their utility bills.
“Whoa,” Emily whispered.
Cassidy didn’t have anything to add to that reaction. She pulled the truck up to the front door where Will was waiting for them, a relaxed smile on his face, as if he welcomed hillbillies to his mansion every day.
“I’m glad you’re here,” he said, and it sounded simple and genuine. It even sounded as if he were including Cassidy, not just Emily. That was the kind of smoothness some people had.
But she couldn’t let herself get distracted by thinking about any of that. “We need to get the truck unloaded,” she said instead. “And then Em should go to bed. We’ll keep the cats locked in her room, okay?”
He looked a little startled. Maybe there should be more small talk when people arrive for a multi-week visit, but Cassidy didn’t have the energy for that. “The cats can roam around, like they do at your place.”
“Our house could probably fit in the garage, here. We should keep them contained until they’re used to it all, and know where their litter box is.”
“Oh. Okay.” He nodded as if he were happy to be learning more about cats. “So, there’s a housekeeper, but she’s gone home for the night. And the guy who looks after the grounds lives above the barn, but he’s gone to bed as well. I mentioned the horse and the goat to him, and he said he can pick them up tomorrow, if you want. So what should I carry, and where should it go?”
He was being far too pleasant. There was no trace of gloating, no recognition of the fact that he’d won two decisive points in whatever game they were playing. Emily was under his roof, and Cassidy owed him a favor. Damn it.
“The garbage bags have our clothes, so those should go to our rooms.” She knew she sounded grumpy, but she didn’t care.
She wasn’t a sore loser, not usually. The problem was, this wasn’t really a game. Not to her, at least. She could feel Emily slipping away from her, slipping toward—toward what? A better life?
If that was the case, Cassidy couldn’t stand in the way. But she needed to be sure that it was best for Emily. Just because Will had money didn’t mean he was a better parent. He didn’t know Emily, and Cassidy did. So she wouldn’t walk away, wouldn’t concede defeat. Maybe she felt like an interloper, an alien in this fancy house with all the damn lights, but she’d stick it out, making sure Emily felt safe and Connelly felt watched.
Although right then, she realized, she was the one being watched. Em had grabbed a garbage bag and was wrestling it into the house, but Will was just standing there, looking at Cassidy.
“She’ll be okay,” he said gently. “Everyone will.”
So easy for him to say. Probably easy for him to believe. Not for her, of course, but she forced a smile anyway. None of this was his fault, and he was doing the best he could. “Thanks for making room for us.”
“I’m glad you’re here. Thanks for giving it a try.”
Then he smiled at her like they were friends. Like they were just two people who liked each other and were going to hang out for a while.
Yeah, this was a trap. He might not know he was setting it, but that didn’t really matter. Cassidy needed to step carefully.
Unless it was already too late.
…
The rental house was out of
school bus range, so Cassidy had reluctantly agreed that Will should drive Emily in the morning and pick her up in the afternoon. He was stupidly nervous about the whole thing. Cassidy had left for work before either Emily or Will woke up, so he’d been the adult-in-charge for Emily’s entire morning routine.
Well, Marion, the housekeeper, had taken care of the nutritious breakfast requirement, as well as the healthy bag lunch. But Will had watched her as she worked and surreptitiously slipped another couple oatmeal cookies in. Emily was thin, and oatmeal was healthy, and it was hard to concentrate on schoolwork when you needed a snack. Or so he imagined.
It was strange to drive with Emily, just Emily, without Cassidy listening to their conversation and steering them in whatever direction she thought best. Strange and a little scary, because what the hell did he know about talking to a thirteen-year-old?
He let Emily control the radio and took mental note of the musicians she seemed to enjoy. Was he too old to go to a concert with her? Had he missed the cool-dad stage altogether? Maybe he could let her invite a couple friends, and then be super-cool when he pulled out backstage passes. Yeah, there was definitely potential in that.
He wondered if Cassidy would approve. Damn, the woman was only twenty-nine herself; maybe she liked the same bands Emily did and would want to go to the concert with them.
A ready-made family, he thought, and wasn’t as freaked out as he should have been. “I’m going down to the city after I drop you off today,” he told Emily. “I thought about asking you if you’d like to come with me, but I’m mostly going to be doing business stuff, and your aunt wouldn’t like it if you missed school again.” He caught himself. It wasn’t fair to set Cassidy up as the heavy. “I mean, I wouldn’t like it if you missed school. Or maybe you wouldn’t like it, either.”
“I’d be fine with it. But, yeah, Aunt Cassidy probably wouldn’t be. Especially because—” Emily shifted in her seat to look at him. “She’s worried about you. Like, I don’t know, worried you’re going to try to take me away. But you’re not going to do that, are you?”
“That isn’t my plan,” he said carefully. “Your opinion is very important in all of this. You’re old enough to have a significant voice in what you do. And I think your aunt would agree with that.” Not that he’d discussed it with her, but he was pretty confident he was right. “I have no intention of ripping you away from Cassidy. She’s done a great job with you so far, and I really respect that. I want to figure out a situation that works for all three of us. Sound good to you?”
“But what if you can’t?”
“That’s not something I’m even considering.”
“But maybe you should consider it. What if there just isn’t something that works for all of us?”
Will didn’t answer right away. He drove, and he considered, and when he pulled up in front of the school, he put the car in park and turned to look at Emily. “I hear what you’re saying. But, honestly, I just don’t accept that there are things I can’t do. Obviously, I’m not a superhero. I can’t fly. But anything that’s remotely possible? I truly believe that I can make those things happen. I’m smart and healthy and well-educated and determined; I have financial and interpersonal resources and a perfect track record of achieving everything I’ve set out to do. So now my primary goal—and I mean that, it’s the most important goal in my life right now—is to find a way for you, me, and Cassidy to be okay with our future relationships. I’m going to make that happen. Absolutely.”
It felt like an important moment. Emily gazed at him, and for the first time he felt a tie to her that was more than theoretical. He saw her assessing him, evaluating the probabilities, and reaching her conclusion, and he saw himself in her. Was it narcissistic to be excited by the little buzz of recognition? Maybe, but he didn’t care.
“Okay,” she finally said with a decisive nod. “Okay. That’s what will happen.”
It felt good. He and Emily had a project, an important one, and they’d work together to achieve it. She grinned at him as she slipped out of the car and then jogged over to join a cluster of girls who’d been giggling and staring at them for a while.
He had a goal, he had the beginnings of a plan, and everything would fall into place. He’d be backing out of his school-pick-up duties that night, before he’d even managed to perform the task a single time, but Cassidy had said Em could take the bus to the diner whenever needed, so that shouldn’t be a problem. He’d just stop by and confirm things, and then head south.
Everything was going well, and things were under control. That was what he believed right up until he pulled the door of the diner open and saw Cassidy’s eyes narrow as she glared at him. Shit. He didn’t know what she was mad about, but he had a feeling he wasn’t going to be making it out of town quite as easily as he’d planned.
Chapter Eight
As usual, William Connelly looked completely calm and pleased with himself. Cassidy could barely bring herself to pour him coffee as he perched on a stool at the counter. Ever since she’d called the bank to find out why her automatic withdrawal hadn’t come out of her account—it would have been a lot more satisfying to dump the coffee pot on his lap and see how smug he was with that to deal with.
There were two tables of people still finishing breakfast, so she tried to keep her voice low as she hissed at him, “You paid the hospital bill?”
He blinked, then nodded. “I should have told you. I meant to—I just didn’t realize you’d find out so quickly.”
That was all? He thought the problem was with the timing of his notification? “You should have minded your own business!” She saw a couple heads turn toward them and forced herself to lower her voice. “That was my bill. My responsibility. I had a payment plan.”
He was still frustratingly calm. “It was your sister’s bill, not yours. I’m not sure why you’d have to take responsibility for it when it’s so much easier for me to take care of it. And your payment plan was either going to drive you into bankruptcy or keep you deep in debt for over a decade. That’s not a plan. It’s a disaster.”
“Who do you think you are, coming in here and taking over?” She shook her head and stopped worrying about who overheard what. “You have money? Big deal. I looked it up. You were born with money. You think you’re impressive because you were able to use the money you were born with to make more money? You think you know anything about my life or my disaster just because you can hire snotty lawyers and pay a few bills?”
“Okay, ‘disaster’ was the wrong word—” he started, but she didn’t want to argue about a stupid word choice. This was much bigger.
“I let you do one thing, pay for one stupid roof repair, and now it’s all out of control! We’re living in your house, and you’re paying my bills without even asking. You couldn’t be bothered to even check whether it was okay? You can’t buy your daughter, you know. And you sure as hell can’t buy me!”
“Give me a break. I’m trying to help you out, not buy you. And remember that this isn’t really about you anyway. It’s about my daughter, the one nobody bothered to tell me about for thirteen years.” His eyes were a bit narrower, now, and it felt good to know he was getting angry. They’d been getting too close, too easy with each other, and it had made her careless. But if the two of them were angry, she’d be able to use it to keep herself sharp.
“I came by to tell you I was going to the city,” he said now, the words level but falling like weights onto her shoulders. “And while I’m there? I’m going to be doing a hell of a lot of other things to help my daughter. I’ve got people setting up a trust fund and rewriting my will and taking care of medical insurance. And I’m going to be talking to child psychologists and education experts and whoever else I want, and when I’ve heard what’s best for Emily, I’m going to make it happen. So brace yourself for more changes.”
Her fear made her even more aggressive. “You honestly think a bunch of strangers in New York are going to tell you what’s best for a
girl they’ve never even met? You’re deluded. You know nothing about being a father, and nothing about Emily!”
“I know education is important. I’ve seen the SAT scores from the local high school, and they’re a disgrace. And I know it’s my job as a father to make sure she gets the education she deserves.” He leaned a little closer, dropping his voice so the others in the diner wouldn’t hear him. “And I know that time with parents is important. Quality time, not doing her homework in a booth while her aunt tries to keep a restaurant running and stresses about bills she can’t pay. So I’ve done something about the bills part of that. I’m planning to do more—”
“What more?” Cassidy demanded. “You want her to move away from here, to go to school, let me guess, in the city? And you think you’re going to be giving her more quality parenting time than I am? You’re not her parent! You’re a sperm donor and a curiosity, not a parent.” She was out of control now, she knew. All the stress of the last few days, the last few months, was roaring out of her. She should stop, but she didn’t want to. “You didn’t change her diapers or clean her when she puked all over herself, you didn’t comfort her when she was bullied at school, you didn’t hold her while she sobbed when her mother died. You’ve never told her no, and you probably think you never will! You’ll just buy everything for her, buy her a fantasy world instead of letting her learn to live in reality. You think it’s bad parenting because a kid does her homework in a booth instead of a mansion? No. You don’t know shit about parenting, so you’re in no place to judge mine!”
“I wasn’t part of all that because your sister didn’t let me be part of it. And I’m not judging your parenting. I think you’ve done a great job, given the limitations of your situation.”
“The limitations of—” She stopped. Being angry didn’t feel good anymore. The energy was gone, and she was left feeling exhausted and sad. But she had enough pride to keep that from showing, at least. “You’re on your way to the city? Fine. Go. I’ll take care of Emily while you’re gone, because that’s what I do.”
