Needs A Little TLC (Spinning Hills Romance 2) (23 page)

“Good idea. I’ll play the resident,” Ruby said.

“You
are
a resident,” Rosa said before turning to Jessica. “I’ll speak as a business owner. Let’s get going.”

Emily glanced at her watch. “Ooh. Holly and I have a meeting with a client,” she said, grabbing her purse from the counter. “I hate to leave you, but I have to go.” She squeezed Cassie’s arm.

“I’ll stay with her,” Sherry said.

Jessica, Rosa, and Ruby drafted quick, simple talking points and were off. Ruby’s were more dramatic and elaborate than Cassie would’ve liked, but she wasn’t in the mood to argue.

Cassie began pacing. “You should open up. I hate that you’re losing business because of me.”

“We’ll be fine. One morning will do no harm. Besides, Ruby and Rosa need this. They get antsy and take it out on each other if they don’t have lives to interfere with once in a while,” Sherry said in her usual calm voice.

“Well, I’m getting antsy, too. I’ll go nuts if my phone doesn’t charge soon. I need to see my schedule and I need to get moving. There has to be something I can do.” The tight ball of anxiety in her chest was unraveling, but not because it was going away. It was beginning to spread to her limbs.

“Why don’t I make you some tea?”

Cassie glanced back at her, suddenly curious. “Dandelion tea?”

Sherry smiled, looking surprised. “Sure. Dandelion root tea can do a world of good.”

Cassie walked back to the counter and sat on her stool again, watching Sherry. “How?”

“Well,” Sherry said, getting on her tiptoes to grab a basket from a shelf. “It tastes very good with honey, it aids in digestion, reduces bloating, purifies the blood, encourages healing, improves immunity . . . I could go on and on. I make one for Ruby and Rosa at least once a week.”

Cassie smiled at Sherry’s subtle way of taking care of her friends. “Then why do people hate dandelions so much?” she asked.

“They’re only pretty for a short period of time. Then they tempt unknowing people into picking them up and blowing the pretty white seeds all over the place, allowing more and more to grow and take over. The plant that remains isn’t attractive at all and kills the grass. They can be real bullies. It’s one of those things that doesn’t know to quit when it’s ahead. Someone has to stop them.”

Cassie thought about that for a while. “Sounds like my parents.”

Sherry looked back at her. “Taste the tea before you judge the weed.” She smiled. “And give your parents a chance. Maybe they’ll redeem themselves, too.”

Cassie hoped so. “I feel bad I didn’t know you were the one who brewed the tea,” she said, to change the subject.

Sherry put the tea in front of her and patted her hand. “Few people know, I think, and I’m okay with that. Some of us like to quietly go on about our business. I never did like to draw attention to myself. I’m happy just doing.”

Cassie smiled. “Like Sam.”

Sherry considered it. “Like Sam,” she agreed. “And I guess Ruby would be Johnny and Dan would be Rosa.”

“I can see that.” Cassie laughed. She tasted her tea. It was surprisingly good. And soothing. “You know, just because you’re quiet doesn’t mean you don’t have a lot to say.”

Sherry met her eyes. “The same goes for Sam. He has a lot to say, but he says it in his own way.”

The door jingled then and Sam came in. She and Sherry exchanged a look and a smile. “I’ve got some news,” he said.

They listened as Sam explained about Justin and told her the Moyerses had listened and changed their mind about her.

Cassie closed her eyes, letting the news sink in. Sam’s business would be okay. Nobody in town had purposefully tried to hurt her. She’d be able to concentrate her energies on just her parents’ troubles soon enough.

She got up. “I need to go for a walk. Alone. I’ll stick to the network of alleys.”

As if sensing her need for solitude after the emotionally draining morning, they simply nodded and watched her go.

The green, rain-soaked world around her smelled so good, so real. Cassie made her way to the river, to sit, smell, look around, and not think.

As she passed the elementary school from behind, where the playground was, she heard a small voice call out her name. She looked back to see Jake running toward her and instantly smiled.

“Hi,” he said, out of breath and clutching the chain-link fence.

“Hey, you.” Cassie beamed at him. She looked behind him, wondering if maybe he was escaping from his mean friends again. “It’s recess! What’re you doing all the way over here talking with an old person?” she asked.

He shrugged and nodded his head to a group of kids playing kick ball. “It’s not my turn to kick yet and I saw you and wanted to tell you that it won’t be okay in the beginning, but you’ll get used to it even though it’s hard,” he explained, a wide, understanding look in his eyes.

“Get used to what?” Cassie asked, waving hello at Mrs. Flannigan, who was watching them from afar.

“Your folks are splitting up. Mine split up, too. I wish they hadn’t, but I’m not as sad about it as Keith because we all still spend time together. Keith’s dad”—he looked back and pointed at a kid playing by the swings—“doesn’t spend time with him so he’s sadder. He locked himself in a closet the other day and his mom had to come to school to get him out. I hope your dad spends time with you,” he said, an earnest look on his face.

Cassie’s eyes widened. “Oh . . . right. Thank you, Jake. That’s so sweet of you. You are one great kid, you know that?” She reached over the fence and ruffled his hair. “It helps when you know your parents love you a lot no matter what, too, right?” she said, looking over at Keith again. Poor kid. “I think Keith could use a friend like you. Maybe you should invite him to play kick ball with you.”

Jake nodded and was about to say something else, but the kids he had been playing with started yelling over to him, telling him it was his turn. He ran off, waving to her and calling over to Keith to play with them, taking a little piece of Cassie’s heart with him.

Her cell phone beeped once and dinged twice, which meant someone had texted and a reminder had gone off. Cassie stifled a sigh and looked down.

The text was a request from her parents to meet them at their house in Columbus at six. The reminder was for an interview with Ralph, one of the part-time agents she often hired to help out with open houses, at one o’clock, in Cincinnati. With everything going on, she’d forgotten.

Ralph was a good guy, he’d be honest if he didn’t want to work for her, and he’d be a great asset if he did because he could work either the Dayton or Cincinnati markets, as needed. He had only recently gotten his license, but he loved old houses and was energized and raring to go.

Already she was dreading driving to Cincinnati, only to go all the way out to Columbus to meet her parents after. The to-and-from was beginning to take its toll.

Cassie took a deep breath. Her dad would be resigning that afternoon, but Cassie would stand beside them. That was something she couldn’t share. She owed them that.

She agreed with Jim, though. Once her dad resigned, the clip of the “stunning fall” would play for hours, and then there’d be nothing left to say.

Her mom had often talked of divorce once her father retired from public office or lost an election. That time had likely come. Maybe this new chapter in their lives would fulfill them in different, more important ways.

Nearly two hours later, Cassie was shaking Ralph’s hand at the door and welcoming him aboard, feeling relieved. Little by little, things were looking up. She hoped it would be the same for her parents.

Cassie turned back and looked at the old headquarters, the one comforting and familiar space where she could be alone at the moment. She still had a little time before she had to leave.

The scandal would need a few more days to die down. It would feel like an eternity. She looked down at her calendar, eager to get on with life. The day she’d asked Jessica to call Amador Construction caught her attention. Could it really have been almost a month since she’d first talked to Sam? What would she have done these past two days if she hadn’t been surrounded and supported by her old friends?

She wondered how her parents were being treated by the press, whether her statement and the interviews with Ruby, Jessica, and Rosa were working, and whether any other clients had left their roster.

She fired up her laptop and held her breath as she searched for news. Her stomach sank when she saw that her parents were the top story. She hit the
more sources
button and saw there were over seven thousand articles about them. It wasn’t unexpected, but seeing it filled her to the brim with the anxiety she’d so far been able to ball up and keep in her chest. She’d be meeting with them and dealing with it soon enough.

Her nerves buzzing in an unpleasant way, she searched for her own name and began to scan. A thumbnail of a video with an image of a hunched older lady caught her attention. It was Mrs. Ritty and her dog. Dread filled her and mingled with the anxiety until she thought she’d have her first-ever panic attack. She’d never forget how she’d almost scared the old woman to death. No way anyone would forgive and forget that.

She hit
play
quickly, before she could chicken out and turned away from the screen, as if just listening would be easier than watching it. “The lady who owns this office?” Mrs. Ritty was repeating. “Yes, I know her. She’s a kind soul. She picks up Tinkle’s poop for me every day.” Cassie turned to look at the screen, surprised. She watched Mrs. Ritty pause and squint into the camera. “Am I allowed to say ‘poop’ on TV?” Cassie looked down at the number of views and her eyes widened. The clip had gone viral.

She sat back and sucked on her lips, the whole thing sinking in. Who would’ve thought Mrs. Ritty could’ve done more for her reputation than her so-called crisis management team? Right now, she wanted nothing more than to share it with them. Rosa had been right. The world was on information overload, and something new popped onto the radar every minute. She’d only had a small window to get her message out and try to repair her reputation, and by extension, her firm and everyone who’d trusted her with their business and employment.

A month ago, she would’ve only been missing Jessica. Now she was imagining the reactions of old friends and new.

There were other things to look forward to. Tomorrow was another day indeed. A day in which she’d actually be grateful to be picking up Tinkle’s poop. The anxiety and dread began to subside until only a hollow acceptance of her parents’ mess remained.

Cassie sat back up and logged on to Red Realty’s blog. There were things she needed to say that she could only express there, in a space where she could connect with people who found her mostly because they felt the same way. It made her feel connected to the world, even as she was feeling quiet and alone.

Cassie continued to type, her heart in her fingers, until she had nothing left to say. She leaned back, full of emotion. Both her heart and her head knew what they wanted, and she couldn’t wait to share it.

She knew then that everything else was transient. Everything else would pass.

She shut the computer down, closed up, and headed to her childhood house in Columbus to meet with her parents. After that, no matter how tired she felt, she was going
home
.

I
t took some doing, but Johnny and Dan managed to convince Sam to sit with the Cornerstones and the Woodses during the soccer game. Sam was still smarting because Jenna Woods’s son had been the one to tease Jake about not being gifted. But Cassie had been on his mind all afternoon, and he was also grateful to the lot of them for standing by her.

Their group ended up being the loudest on the bleachers. The force of their combined voices cheering the kids on must’ve reached the field and inspired the kids, because for the first time that season, they won.

Dr. Cornerstone and Sam even hugged in a moment of shared euphoria.

“Let’s celebrate!” someone shouted, and before anyone could remember that it was a school night, an impromptu bring-your-own-meat-and-pop barbecue was planned. They’d regroup at Star Springs Park within the hour.

Jake was ecstatic. His first win. The smile on his face reminded Sam that celebrating the good moments was as important as being there during the hard ones. Jake and his team deserved their celebration.

Heather would be off work by then and he called to let her know. He thought briefly of calling Cassie and asking her how she was doing, but the image of her driving from Dayton to Cincinnati and then to Columbus, all worn out, stopped him. She had a lot going on. Too much. The last thing he wanted was to turn her into a distracted driver by texting or calling her. He’d call her tonight, and if she needed him, he’d go to her, wherever she was.

By the time Cassie got to her parents’ penthouse apartment, she was feeling more exhausted, and relieved, than she had in ages. Her father was about to resign. Her parents were finally going to get a divorce. No more listening to her mother’s constant complaints about her dad. They wouldn’t be spending enough time together for him to bug her, and her mother could soon complain about him to whomever else she wanted. There was no longer a career or perfect image to protect.

She walked into the modern-looking foyer, and there they both were, just beyond, drinking coffee on the terrace, looking calmer than she could have imagined. It was almost surreal. Cassie walked out, sat down, poured herself some coffee, and waited.

“You did a great job with your statement. It was a little too personal for my taste, but people seemed to have responded favorably,” her father said.

“I had help,” Cassie replied.

“You turned the debate about you into a debate about a politician’s extended family and their right to privacy before it got back to men who abuse power,” her mom explained. The last part was delivered with more restraint than Cassie would’ve thought possible.

“So . . .” Cassie said, taking a sip of her coffee.

Max looked at Sandy, as if he expected her to be the one to deliver the news.

Sandy set her cup down. “Jim Carney thinks we can bounce back from this.”

Cassie sputtered and coffee dripped out of her mouth, down her chin, and onto her shirt. “Excuse me?”

“Don’t look at us like that, Cassidy. Your father might be a serial philanderer—”

“It was only that once,” her father said, jaw clenched.

“—second-rate politician, and no-good husband, but he cares about his constituents. He will be resigning this afternoon, and it will be unbelievably hard.” Her mother’s voice trembled and she swallowed a few times before continuing. “But Carney believes the faster the better and that you and I should stand beside him. The media always moves on after the resignation.”

Cassie looked at her father and was shocked into silence. He had tears in his eyes. She had never in her life seen him cry. “We’ll be taking two years off, during which time we will enter therapy, volunteer for charitable organizations, and donate to worthy causes in order to repair our reputations,” Max further explained.

As affected as they were, it was odd how they both sounded like the whole thing was a means to reelection and not to actually repairing their marriage or characters. Divorce was obviously off the table.

Cassie didn’t know what to say. “Are you two nuts?” was all she could think of.

Her mother’s eyes hardened. “This is what we do best. We care about our state and our country and we’ve done a lot of good. And others have come back before us. The comeback is about knowing when to quit in the first place. Even the congressman who sent that picture of his penis to everyone almost came back. His problem was that he did it again, not that he did it the first time.”

“And that governor who was caught with his mistress was elected to Congress only two years later,” her father chimed in.

Cassie felt sick. Her parents didn’t get it. They’d never get it. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe in second chances, it was that her parents couldn’t see they were no longer in it for the right reasons.

Her father got up and put his hand on her shoulder. “I also wanted to tell you that I know this has been hard on you, too, princess. I know and I’m sorry.”

Was he? Cassie looked up. “I’m not a princess, Dad. I never was. I never belonged up and above and away from reality. I accept your right to do whatever you want, but please accept that I want no part of it. I thought I could stand beside you, but I can’t.”

Home. All she could think of was going home. She didn’t want to spend one more moment thinking and worrying about her parents because it wouldn’t do anybody any good anyway. It felt as if her life had been on pause and she couldn’t wait for it to begin again. She couldn’t wait to tell Sam that she wanted to buy her grandmother’s house and she couldn’t wait to see what he’d do with it.

She climbed into her Mustang, took a deep breath, and got ready for one last drive.

 

The park was full of squeals, chatter, and laughter. Sam and a dad he didn’t know were grilling hot dogs, hamburgers, steaks, and chicken. Nobody knew whose was whose, but kids kept coming up and asking for more and so they kept on grilling. The sun was slowly disappearing and pink and orange streaks lined the sky. Soon, the park’s antique lampposts would light up.

A few people had offered to take his place, but Sam wasn’t in the mood to mingle or talk. He felt good for Jake, who was having a great time running around with his teammates, but he was worried about Cass.

Somehow, a small celebration for the kids had turned into a meal for anybody who happened to walk by. Nobody minded, as long as meat and buns kept miraculously appearing. Only Tess Carpenter complained because it was impossible to tell which steak was the one she’d brought. Sam let her have her pick and she held up the line a good few minutes while she decided. She finally chose one and walked away, mumbling how she doubted whether the soccer team had reserved the park and paid a deposit.

Sam doubted it, too. So they agreed on something. He caught sight of his mom then, and she shot him a look as if she understood about Tess. Sam nodded at her, knowing they were once again okay. With Dan around, they’d be bound to have more arguments, but it was what it was.

Heather came by then, carrying trays of cupcakes, and she called the team to the front so they could each get their treat. Emily and Holly rushed over to help her out, and Leo, Dan, and Johnny, who was doing a pretend victory lap around the park with a giggling Gracie, and Jake, hauled the kids over. Heather was saying something to him, but he couldn’t hear through all the noise so he bent closer. “Cassie,” was the only word he caught.

“Cassie! We won!” Jake yelled.

“You did? That’s great!” Sam turned in the direction of the voice. “You deserve a prize.” A tired, but cheerful Cassie was smiling at Jake. Her eyes flitted past Heather to look at Sam, but then she paused and looked back at Heather. Her smile didn’t waver at first. She simply squinted a little and tilted her head. Slowly, her eyes widened and her smile faltered. “You’re—you’re Heather?” She turned her face to look at Sam, a question in her eyes, and he simply stood there, like an idiot, not knowing what to do or say. Heather remained similarly frozen beside him. Cassie looked at her again, her face flushed. “You’re the girl—” She looked at Sam again. “You married her.” It was a dumbstruck statement.

Sam was aware of voices quieting and people turning to look at them.

“What’s wrong?” Jake asked, his voice loud now that chatter had died down.

Cassie blinked, turned to look at Jake, and then began nodding over and over again. “Nothing. Nothing. I just . . . I’m tired. And I suddenly remembered something. I have to go.”

 

Cassie walked away, as fast as she could, looking steadily ahead, aware that the stupidest smile the world had ever seen was pasted on her face, aware of the whispers and stares, and of being a colossally ridiculous and out-of-place fool.

It was her. The girl she’d caught Sam kissing.

He’d married the girl she’d caught him kissing.

He’d said he could barely remember the moment because he’d been drunk and hurt. But he’d married her. Had a child with her.

Cassie finally reached her car, swung the door open, turned the ignition, and left, her chest feeling heavier and heavier by the moment, thinking of Jake’s little face asking her what was wrong.

Nothing was wrong. Heather was his mom.
She
was Jake’s mom. That was what mattered. Everything else was history.

Sam, especially, was history.

 

Sam watched her walk away. Awkward and alone. To go after her would make it even worse for both Cassie and Heather and would confuse Jake further. He felt Heather’s hand snake up his arm and heard her clear her throat. He knew he had to do something. Move past the moment so people would follow. Feeling like a jerk, Sam began to turn the hot dogs. The man next to him shook himself out of it and did the same.

“Cupcakes,” Holly said, with forced cheer. The kids ran up to get them and the squealing was back. It was like a signal. The people around them soon continued what they had been doing before. Soon, everything was back to normal.

The whole thing felt like a farce. He felt Dan’s eyes boring into him and Sam finally looked up. Dan nodded behind him and saw that Johnny had quietly gone after Cassie. But somehow, Sam knew it was too late. Cassie was gone. Nobody had wanted to go after her and make it worse for her, and she’d gotten away.

Sam carried on, the dutiful, robotic neighbor, until every last person had been fed and every last piece of garbage had been bagged.

He hugged a sleepy Jake good-bye and Heather tried to catch his eye, but he simply wasn’t in the mood for her knowing look.

When he got upstairs, he locked himself in his room before Johnny could get to him. The past few weeks had felt like a marathon and that had been fine with him. Life had always been like that with Cassie, but Sam was a distance runner. He could handle it. It was the slow-motion soccer celebration at the park that had drained him.

For the first time in a long time, he didn’t know what came next. He’d seen the stunned, betrayed look in Cassie’s eyes. Had felt it deeply when she’d tried to shake herself out of it for Jake’s sake.

He lay back on the bed and searched for her blog on Johnny’s tablet, hoping for insight. Her last post was dated that very day and the last two paragraphs told him everything he needed to know and sank him into acute despair. They’d been so close this time around.

Cassie got up early to cancel every appointment and call every office to say she’d be completely unavailable and unreachable. Jessica would require an explanation, so she called her when she knew she’d be busiest with the kids and waited for her voice mail to beep. “Turns out Sam married the girl I caught him tongue-wrestling with. I need a day to process it. I’ll call you tomorrow.” She then turned off her phone and threw it in a basket with her overflowing laundry.

One day. All she wanted was one day to come to terms with and accept the fact that most people lied. And the most convincing liars were those who believed in their own goodness—and therefore believed in the lies that allowed them to uphold their delusion.

In all her life, she’d never allowed herself to throw an ice cream–wolfing, pajama-wearing pity party for one. She’d always thought that if she could just keep moving, she would leave everything that hurt behind.

It didn’t work that way. A person couldn’t outrun what they were carrying with them.