Last One Home (6 page)

Cassie looked up from her phone and knew she must have gone pale. “I don’t know yet.”

“Yet? What’s the problem?”

Thrusting out her arm, Cassie handed her cell to her friend. “Here, listen to the message and let me know what they say.”

“Who called?”

Cassie didn’t have time for explanations. “Just listen, and don’t ask questions.”

Teresa reached for the phone, pushed the appropriate buttons, and pressed it to her ear. Intent on watching Teresa’s face, Cassie didn’t notice that Rosie had come into the room.

“Mr. Greenstein is here for his haircut.”

Cassie’s gaze didn’t waver from the shop owner. “He’s early. Tell him I’ll be there in a couple of minutes.”

Rosie left the room and Teresa handed the cell back to Cassie.

“What did they say?” Cassie asked, doing her best to keep the quiver out of her voice.

“Well, my dear, it looks like you’ve been approved.”

Cassie closed her eyes in order to absorb the sheer magnitude of the news. “They approved me?”

“They sure did!”

“They approved me,” she repeated, louder this time, so excited that it was impossible to hold still. She leaped to her feet and pumped her fists into the air. “I’m going to have a home. A real home for Amiee and me.” No more stove with no oven and nonworking burners. No more leaky bathroom faucets and a hot-water heater possessed with an evil spirit.

“They want you to stop by their office tonight after work, if possible.”

“I’ll be there.” Cassie danced around the table, so overcome with joy that she could barely breathe. For the first time in her young life, Amiee would have stability. She would live in a neighborhood, have a sense of place and of belonging. At last Cassie would be able to give her daughter the roots Amiee had never known.

Cassie understood that this house wasn’t a gift. She’d be expected to volunteer a number of hours, making her own contribution in return for this amazing opportunity. How many hours depended on what kind of house was available to her.

A foreclosure would require one hundred and eighty hours of volunteer work and not necessarily on the house that would be hers, but on whatever house needed work. Three hundred to five hundred hours was what was expected if her home was being built from the ground up.

“I told you about the conversation I had with my sister, didn’t I?” Cassie cried, covering her mouth with both hands, unable to hold back her glee. This good news was almost too much for her to absorb, especially following on the heels of hearing from Karen.

“Cassie,” Teresa said, laughing. “I believe you’ve told everyone.”

“Have I?” She must have done something very right to have received two tremendous gifts in a row. First the offer from her sister and now this. Cassie longed to toss out her arms and twirl around and around as if to say her life and her heart were open and receptive to all the good things that awaited her. She’d paid her dues in misery. She’d made mistakes and learned her lesson. From this point forward, Duke and all the anguish he’d brought into her life was done. Finished. Caput.

Cassie’s last appointment of the day was Mrs. Wilma Scott, who came in weekly for a wash and blow-dry. The elderly woman was close to eighty and continued to live in her own home. Raising her arms above her head had become difficult, so she had a standard appointment once a week to have her hair washed and styled. Cassie had grown fond of the older woman and enjoyed their weekly meetings.

When she’d finished, Wilma gave her a generous tip and Cassie walked her to her vehicle. “I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to drive,” she muttered, as Cassie held open the driver’s-side door. “I suppose there will be the time when I’ll need to consider moving into one of those assisted-living complexes. At my age it’s difficult to make significant changes, but then that’s life.”

“It is,” Cassie agreed, as she handed Wilma the seat belt, stretching it out to make it easier for the older woman to snap it into place. “I’ll see you next week.”

“You do good work, Cassie. I wanted to look especially nice tonight. I’m taking my nephew and his wife out to dinner. They have two girls in college and can’t afford an evening out, so it’s my treat.”

“You’re so thoughtful,” Cassie told her. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been treated to dinner by anyone. If she could manage a dinner out, Amiee would insist on KFC.

“John and I never had children of our own, so I’ve adopted my brother’s three. I enjoy spending time with them. Thank you, Cassie. No one does my hair better than you.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Scott.” Cassie closed the car door and stepped back as Wilma pulled out of the parking space and headed down Fourth Avenue.

As soon as she’d finished cleaning up her station, Cassie collected her purse and headed for the Habitat for Humanity offices. Her heart hummed with joy the entire way. She couldn’t wipe the smile off her face. She sent a text to her daughter and promised to be home as soon as she could. But she didn’t tell Amiee why she’d be late; she’d save that surprise for later.

Megan Victory glanced up when Cassie entered the office. A man stood next to Megan’s desk, dressed in work jeans, with a tool belt strapped to his waist. He glanced toward Cassie and frowned. It seemed he didn’t like what he saw, which might possibly be her hair. Teresa had recently cut and styled it as part of a stylist competition held at the Tacoma Dome. One side of Cassie’s head was shaved close and the other side was left long and cut at an angle so that it fell forward over the side of her face. Teresa had added purple highlights to the tips of her brown hair.

“Cassie,” Megan said, “meet Steve Brody.”

“Hi,” Cassie said, doing her best to ignore his less-than-welcoming stare.

He acknowledged her with a sharp nod and no smile.

“You’ll be working your sweat equity with Steve supervising
your hours,” Megan explained. “Steve’s a volunteer working under Stan Pearson, who’s employed by Habitat.”

“Five hundred hours if it’s new construction,” Steve reminded her. He looked down at her hands and her carefully manicured French nails. “You better trim those back if you expect to be of any use at the building site.”

Cassie bristled and glared back at him. “Let me worry about my fingernails.”

“It’s called sweat equity for a reason,” he returned, “with emphasis on the
sweat
. When you’re working with me I expect you to work, and to work hard.”

Cassie looked at Megan. “Don’t worry, I’ll carry my share.”

Megan frowned and glanced toward the project foreman. “Steve, is there a problem?” she asked.

Steve met her look and then reverted his attention back to Cassie. “Not on my side. I apologize if I was rude. I simply want to make it clear exactly what I expect.”

“I got the message,” Cassie said pointedly.

“Good.” He held her look an extra-long moment without flinching.

“Okay, I’m glad we’ve got that settled,” Megan said, rising to her feet. She leaned forward and rested her palms on her desktop. “Steve, I’ve gotten to know Cassie over the interview process and I believe you won’t have any worries. She’s an excellent candidate. I don’t have any doubts that she’ll prove herself.”

He crossed his arms. “I’ll look forward to that.”

Cassie was grateful for Megan’s support and thanked her with a smile. She wasn’t about to let Steve Brody intimidate her. Nor would she let him walk over her. It was unfortunate that they’d started off on the wrong foot, but as far as she was concerned, the problem was his and his alone.

“I expect you at the work site tomorrow at six p.m.,” Steve
said, directing the comment at her. “We’re working on a project for the Young family.” He handed her a sheet of paper with the address.

Cassie mentally reviewed her schedule for Friday. Her last appointment was set for five for a wash and set, which meant she’d be cutting it close. Also there was Amiee to consider.

“Problems already?” Steve asked.

Cassie squared her shoulders and refused to give him the upper hand. “I’ll be there at six.” And she would do everything within her power to make it happen.

Steve left first, and the instant he was out the door, Cassie faced Megan. “What’s his problem?”

Megan’s look was full of apology. “I can’t say. He’s probably had a bad day. Try not to take it personally.”

“Don’t take it personally?” Cassie repeated. “Why would he take such an instant dislike to me?”

“My guess is that it’s because you’re pretty and petite. I think you might remind him of his wife.”

“Someone actually married that Neanderthal?” Not a great question, seeing as she’d married Duke.

“Alicia died three years ago.”

That brought Cassie up short, and she was immediately apologetic. “Oh … sorry.”

“Alicia had cancer and did a lot of volunteer work at the store when she was going through her treatments. After she died, Steve started doing volunteer work with Habitat. He’s an electrical contractor with something like fifty employees, so he’s always working, either at his own business or here. Personally, I think he uses Habitat as a means of dealing with his grief. He’s a great guy once you get to know him.”

“Children?”

“None. From what others told me, Alicia miscarried three
pregnancies. It was later that the doctors learned she had cancer, which might have been the reason she was unable to carry a baby to full term.”

His wife’s death might explain some of his bad attitude, but not all. “Did you ever meet his wife?” Cassie asked.

“Once at a fund-raising event. It was clear Steve was crazy about her. He’s been angry with the world ever since, so when I say don’t take it personally, don’t.”

Cassie would do her best to avoid clashing with Steve Brody, although she didn’t know if that was possible.

“Kill him with kindness,” Megan suggested.

“Can’t I just kill him?” she joked, and they both laughed.

Megan’s idea wasn’t far off base, though. She would do her utmost to play nice with the bad-tempered Mr. Brody.

Cassie stuck her head in her daughter’s bedroom. “Amiee, time to wake up for school.”

Amiee moaned, rolled over, and pulled the blanket high up, covering her head.

“Amiee.” To say the twelve-year-old wasn’t a morning person would be a gross understatement.

“Five more minutes,” Amiee pleaded.

“I’ve already given you five minutes. If you don’t get up right now you’ll miss the bus.”

“Okay, okay.”

“And make your bed.”

“Mom …”

“No arguing.” Cassie wondered if the day would ever come when her daughter would cheerfully greet mornings with a smile. That was part of her problem, Cassie supposed—she was a natural-born dreamer.

About ten minutes later Amiee stumbled out of the bathroom, dressed and with her hair combed. Cassie had breakfast on the table: cold cereal, toast, and milk. She was in a rush herself. Because she had to get to the Habitat site by six, she could not run
behind at all today or she’d be in trouble. Cassie was determined to make this opportunity work. Getting a real home for Amiee and her was too important to risk.

Furthermore, she had something to prove to the arrogant Steve Brody. If he didn’t think she could pull her share because she had a French manicure, well, he was in store for a big surprise.

The house she was assigned to work on that evening was nearly finished. Cassie hadn’t yet met the Youngs, who would eventually move into the home, but Megan from Habitat had told her about George and Shelly. At one time they’d been homeless and lived in their car with their family until they were accepted into a shelter. Slowly, a little at a time, they’d worked their way into a position to apply for a Habitat house.

The Youngs’ home was nearing completion. Megan, from the head office, had explained that this evening they would be finishing the work on the roof. Frankly, Cassie couldn’t think of a better spot for her to prove her worth. She’d never been afraid of heights and was ready to show Steve Bighead she had a strong work ethic.

Amiee sat down at the table and glared at the cereal. “Again?” she said, and moaned.

“Cereal is good for you. Besides, I got it on sale.”

“I’ve had it every morning for a month. Next time don’t buy ten boxes. I don’t care if it was only ninety-nine cents a box. I need variety.”

“Okay, fine. I’ll fix you a poached egg tomorrow.”

“Mom,” she said, and groaned, “poached eggs are gross.”

“Protein, my darling,” she announced with panache. “You need protein to get those brain cells activated. And weren’t you telling me you have a history test first thing Monday morning?”

As if she was being expected to eat glue, Amiee lifted her spoon and took her first tentative bite.

“You’ve got your homework in your backpack?”

Amiee glared at her.

“Okay, sorry I asked.”

Cassie moved about the kitchen, putting away the milk and the sugar bowl as she took the clean dishes from the drainer and stacked them in the cupboard. “Remember, Rosie is picking you up on her way home from work.”

Amiee glanced up. “How come?”

“Two things. The youth group at church is having pizza night and—”