by Unknown
“You own your dance company, don’t you, Cassie?” Kevin said, ignoring him.
“Yes, but I think my situation is a lot different. I still work part time from home while I build my business, so it’s not as scary for me. I can ease my way into it. And the business side of things isn’t so bad yet either, though someday I hope to add some more teachers and locations. I love being my own boss, but I also appreciate the steady paycheck from my other job.”
Noah set his sandwich down. “It would be a conflict of interest for me to start a construction company while working for another one, so easing my way into it isn’t an option. I’d have to land a big job before I’d even consider it, and the likelihood of that happening is, well… highly unlikely.”
“I get it.” Kevin said, all humor gone. “I do. I just don’t like seeing you go through layoffs every time business dies down. That’s all.”
Noah shifted in his seat, uncomfortable with the topic, especially in front of Cassie. In her eyes, he was probably the guy who couldn’t hold down a job and the coward for not daring to go out on his own.
Why had he lingered in the basement again? Oh, right. Because he thought his brother-in-law had a filter.
“Maybe the impossible will happen, and you’ll land that big job someday,” said Cassie, her eyes sympathetic.
“Yeah.” And maybe he’d become an astronaut and fly to the moon too.
Noah pushed his chair back and stood. It was time to cut his losses and get out of here. “Thanks for lunch, but we’ve got to get going.”
Cassie nodded. “It was good to meet you, Kevin.”
“You too. It’s nice to finally put a face to the woman that Noah keeps going on and on about.”
Unbelievable. Noah wouldn’t be surprised if Kevin started chanting: Noah and Cassie, sitting in a tree… How old was his brother-in-law? Two?
It was definitely time to go.
“He’s joking,” Noah said to Cassie on his way out.
“He’s right. I am,” said Kevin. “Sort of.”
Noah practically shoved his brother-in-law through the front door and waved goodbye. One step forward, ten million steps back. That’s what today had been. And it was all thanks to a guy who Noah couldn’t really be mad at because he’d just spent four hours of his time helping Noah hang drywall.
Cassie hugged her arms to her chest as she watched Noah drive away. If he’d known the courage it had taken for her to open that basement door and invite them up for lunch, he would have been impressed. But now that he was gone, she wasn’t sure if it was courage so much as stupidity.
He’s a good guy.
Her heart yearned to believe it. Every time he was near, her pulse sped up, her heart danced, and her mind was put at ease. But the moment he walked away, doubts invaded like a loud mayday.
The scary fact was: Cassie didn’t know Noah well enough to trust him yet, but the only way to get to know him was to spend more time with him. So she could either run like crazy in the opposite direction, or force herself to open that basement door and walk down the stairs.
Today, she’d chosen the stairs.
Why? The way she was feeling now, with her heart alternating between leaping and seizing, she didn’t know what she was doing. Landon had only been gone nine months. Nine months! Cassie wasn’t ready to start dating again and doubted she ever would be. She liked living on her own and being independent. She did.
But she’d also really liked dancing with Noah, eating ice cream with Noah, laughing with Noah, and thinking about Noah.
He was like a song that was stuck in her mind, replaying over and over again. Noah, Noah, Noah.
Cassie went to her room and threw herself onto her bed, burying her head beneath her pillow as she screamed at herself, at the world, and at Landon. When she had no more screams left in her, she rolled to the side and came face to face with a picture of her parents on her nightstand. They were sitting in the back of a Jeep holding hands and laughing. Cassie had snapped the picture during a family vacation to Cozumel when she was a junior in high school. Her mother’s hair was a windblown mess, and her father didn’t have much hair to speak of. And yet they adored each other. It was the kind of relationship Cassie had once yearned for with her future husband. The kind she didn’t get.
But could she? Now? With Noah? Or was it just a pipe dream for her?
Cassie flipped onto her back and pulled her phone from her pocket. Unable to resist, she sorted through her text messages until she came to the ones sent by Noah. She reread them. She smiled. Her heart leapt. Hope flared.
She tapped Reply to the last message he’d sent.
I love my basement. Thank you for fixing my design and for taking the job. You’re incredibly talented.
Her hand hovered over the Send button for only a moment and then it was gone. Her heart leapt and seized until his response came.
Thank you.
It was short and sweet, but it left Cassie feeling better. Maybe she’d made his day a little brighter the way he’d done for her so often. She set down her phone only to here it chime again.
Speaking of your basement, want to go shopping for flooring next week? You need to make decisions on that soon.
Cassie stared at the message, trying to figure out what he meant. Was he telling her to go shopping on her own, or was he offering to go with her?
The chime sounded again.
It can be our first official date or just two friends picking out flooring. Your choice.
Cassie closed her eyes, trying to reconcile the trill in her heart with the warnings in her mind. The warning won out. With shaking fingers, Cassie took a deep breath and replied to the message.
Friends, she wrote.
He responded immediately. Kissing friends?
That made her smile. Friends, she wrote again.
Holding hands friends?
Friends.
Dating friends?
FRIENDS! She was laughing now.
Can’t blame a guy for trying. Wednesday morning work for you?
I’m teaching a pre-Irish class that ends at 10:00.
11:00? I’ll buy you lunch this time. From one “friend” to another.
A silly grin played on her lips. K.
Have a good rest of the weekend, Cass.
She loved how he took the time to add her name. You too, Noah.
Cassie set the phone down on the counter, a little in awe of the way his text messages had put her heart and mind in harmony with each other. In that moment, she felt peace, and it was a good feeling.
Her phone chimed again.
BTW, I’m sure your parents would love it if you dropped by for Sunday dinner.
And just like that, the spell was broken. Why had she ever confided in him about her family? If Noah ever offered to take her cliff jumping, Cassie would know better than to agree. He’d probably take her to the tallest cliff he could find, give her a nudge, and say, “Off you go.”
The man apparently didn’t believe in baby steps.
Even through her heavy coat, the bite in the early evening air made Cassie shiver. Warmth was only a few steps away, and yet she stood rooted on her parents’ front porch, growing colder by the second.
Open the door and walk in, Cassie told herself, listening to the muted voices and laughter of her family. This was ridiculous. She’d been raised in this house. It was her home and always would be. Why, then, did she feel like a guest who should ring the doorbell and wait to be invited inside?
Maybe she should ring the doorbell.
An engine rumbled up to the curb behind her and then died. Cassie stiffened, knowing there was no way out now. Slowly, she turned around, surprised to see one of her sisters.
“Cassie? Is that you?” Tina shaded her eyes at the lowering sun, and her breath fogged up the air around her.
“It’s me,” Cassie said quietly, shivering again.
Tina had been the sister Cassie had been closest to growing up. They were three years ap
art, but they used to do everything together—at least until Tina had married and moved to Ohio. Cassie hadn’t talked to her in over two years.
“You’re here!” Tina rushed forward and threw her arms around her sister, hugging her tight. “I’ve missed you so much!”
“I’ve missed you too. What are you doing in town?” Colorado was a long drive from Ohio.
“Spring break.”
“Oh.”
Tina’s husband gave Cassie a quick hug, then ushered two of their three children around the sisters toward the house. The third, he carried in an infant seat. Tina’s children looked so old and tall, and now they had a new baby. Cassie watched them disappear inside. She’d missed so much over the past few years. Too much.
“I was going to drop by your house later tonight,” said Tina.
“You were?”
“I know you’re missing Landon—and you always will—but you can’t keep pushing us away. You need us just as much as we need you, and I’ve had it. It’s not right to feel like you don’t even know your own sister anymore.”
Of all her siblings, Tina was the most blunt and vocal of the lot—the type of person to step directly on something versus tiptoeing around it like the rest of her family. Maybe it was a good thing she was in town. Maybe easing back into “normal” wouldn’t be so difficult with her here.
Assuming it was possible.
The front door opened, and Cassie’s mother’s voice rang out. “Cassie?” A smile stretched across her face. “You’re here!” She rushed forward and enveloped her daughter in a hug while the rest of the family all gathered at the front door.
“I don’t believe I know you, young lady,” her dad spoke up next. “You look a little familiar, but I can’t quite place your face.”
“Oh, stop it.” Her mother slapped him lightly on the arm.
But Cassie didn’t want the teasing to stop. She wanted it to go on and on, wanted all of her siblings to join in. She wanted them to joke and tease and erase all the awkwardness that would inevitably come once the hugs and welcome homes had passed.
“I’m your sixth daughter and the baby of the family,” said Cassie. “Ring any bells?”
“Well, whaddayaknow, the prodigal daughter has returned!” his voice boomed. “Should we kill the fatted calf?”
“Please no,” said Cassie. “I’m now a vegetarian.”
“What?” All humor gone, her father gaped at her. Not eating meat was a sin in his eyes.
Cassie nodded. “It’s true. I only eat gluten-free bread, yogurt, and carrots.”
“Shut up.” Tina grabbed Cassie’s hand and tugged her toward the house. “We all know you couldn’t survive off of yogurt and carrots if your life depended on it. And gluten-free bread? Yuck.”
“Believe it or not, it grows on you,” said her brother, Matt, apparently a fan of the bread. Cassie gave him a questioning look as she passed, and he shrugged. “Mel’s allergic.”
“You poor thing.” Tina clasped her sister-in-law’s hand as she passed. “I had no idea.”
“Neither did we until a couple months ago,” Mel said wryly. “But I feel a whole lot better since I went off of it.”
“Now she’s trying to get us all on a gluten-free diet,” Cassie’s other brother, Jake, muttered.
“Hey, all I asked is that you try the rolls,” Melanie said.
“Who’s dat?” a little voice called out. Cassie searched the room, pausing when she saw a little girl sucking her thumb while pointing the index finger of the same hand at Cassie. She looked about three or four. Which of her siblings had a daughter about that age?
Melanie crouched down, answering the question. “That’s Aunt Cassie, sweetie.”
“Aunt Caffy?”
“Yes, Aunt Cassie.” Melanie gently removed her daughter’s thumb from her mouth. “She’s really nice.”
“I don’t know her.”
“That’s because you were sick the last time she came.”
“I’m not sick.”
“Not anymore. But you were… a while ago.”
The room went silent, and Cassie’s heart shredded. But she had no one to blame but herself. She shouldn’t have stayed away so long. She shouldn’t have stayed away at all. Cassie should have stood up to Landon and lived her life the way she’d wanted to. If she had, she wouldn’t be standing in the middle of a tension-filled room, wondering how to explain to a sweet little girl why she didn’t know her aunt.
Tina was the one to finally break the silence. “You don’t know her yet, sweetheart. But you will.” She shot a meaningful look Cassie’s way. “Right?”
Cassie swallowed and nodded. “Right.” She squatted in front of the little girl and gave her a soft smile. “Like your mom said, I’m Aunt Cassie. What’s your name?”
“Ella,” she said, and her thumb went back in her mouth.
Ella had been toddling around the last time Cassie remembered seeing her. Now look at her. Walking and talking, with light brown hair so long she could have been named Rapunzel. “I hope we’ll become very good friends.”
Ella eyed her with skepticism. “I’m a dancer.”
“Really? Me too. In fact, I teach little girls about your age how to Irish dance.”
“Iwish?” Ella’s expressive eyebrows drew together.
“Yes,” Cassie said. “Maybe after dinner I can teach you a few skipping steps. Would you like that?”
Ella nodded slowly, then rewarded Cassie with a timid smile.
Cassie returned it and stood, feeling everyone’s eyes on her.
“Since when did you start teaching dance?” Tina said in her blunt way.
“Aren’t you still working for Hansen Imaging?” asked her mother.
Cassie let out a breath and looked around the room. She was tired of being the aunt her nieces and nephews didn’t know or didn’t feel comfortable around. She was tired of not knowing what was going on in her siblings’ lives or if they were coming from Ohio for spring break. She was tired of keeping her distance. Tina was right. She needed her family. And maybe—hopefully—they needed her too.
“Yes, I’m still working for Hansen, but only part time. I also teach Irish dance in a small studio I’m leasing on the southwest side of town. But starting next fall, I’ll be teaching in a brand new studio I’m having built in my basement with the hope that I’ll be able to one day teach full time.”
Talk of her new studio made Cassie think of Noah, and a warmth massaged her heart. There was no accompanying fear or anxiety, just a quiet, peaceful gratitude for his friendship and encouragement to come home. And though Cassie wasn’t ready to tell her family about the guy who was finishing off her basement, she was finally ready to tell them the truth about Landon.
Carpet samples were way too small. How was Cassie supposed to know what an entire room would look like from a small little swatch? There were too many choices. Nylon or polyester? Plush, frieze, textured, or cut? Not to mention all the color options. And then there was the tile for the bathroom and the complicated dance flooring, with its subfloor and all of its choices.
She felt a headache coming on.
“How will I ever make up my mind?” Cassie whispered to Noah.
“It’s called trusting your instincts.”
“Instincts? I’m supposed to have an instinct about carpet samples?”
“Doesn’t everyone?” Noah grinned. “Isn’t one calling out to you? Telling you that it’s the one you’ll be able to coexist with for the next ten to fifteen years?”
Ten to fifteen years? Noah wasn’t helping at all. Cassie frowned at the samples, willing one to shake or glow or whatever carpet samples did to call out to a person.
“Which one would you choose?” she finally said.
“Uh-uh. This is your house, your carpet, your choice. I’m just here as a friend, remember?”
A friend who was sitting way too close for comfort, Cassie thought as the touch of his shoulder sent a bunch of tingles down her arm. “Friends
are allowed to give opinions.”
“No. Only dates are allowed to do that,” said Noah. “If you really want my opinion, you know what you have to do.”
Despite her distress about all the decisions facing her, Cassie couldn’t help but smile. “Okay, fine. It’s a date. Now if you were me, what would you choose?”
Noah blinked as he shook his head. “Wow, that was easy. I should have gone for more. Like a kiss or boyfriend status or—”
She nudged him. “Stop it. I need you to help me, not tease me.”
“I wasn’t teasing,” he murmured, pulling the samples toward him.
Cassie bit her lower lip to keep from smiling. Being with Noah was like opening the door to a gorgeous spring morning, with light, cheery blue skies, chirping birds, and the promise of warm sunshine. How could anyone shut the door on a day like that?
But wasn’t that how she’d once felt with Landon? Cassie thought back, trying to remember. Dates with him hadn’t included picking out carpet samples. They’d gone to movies, out to dinner at expensive restaurants, or hung out with his friends. Landon’s flirting had been different too. More suave, sophisticated, and—looking back—not very genuine. It was like he’d memorized a bunch of lines, and Cassie had fallen for every single one of them.
Was she doing the same thing with Noah? Cassie watched him from the corner of her eye, wanting him to be real, to be the person he seemed to be. She was falling for that guy.
“Okay,” he finally said. “What we need to do is narrow this down. Is there a style you like better than another? Would you rather have this shorter, textured kind, or something more plush, like this?”
“Plush, definitely plush.”
Noah tossed the textured carpets aside. “Do you want this stuff that looks and feels like a shaggy dog”—Cassie giggled—“or something more organized, like this.”
