Needs A Little TLC (Spinning Hills Romance 2) (8 page)

Time and time again, she’d told her mother to stop, but she wouldn’t. It was as if Sandy couldn’t. Her anger had become a poisonous compulsion. Cassie had gone as far as not speaking to her mother for a few months, twice, until her mother had sworn to stop complaining. The truce always lasted less than three months.

“As far as we know, Dad never strayed again, and he’s spent the last ten years trying to make it up to you, but you made the decision to only
pretend
to forgive and to make everyone else miserable.” The tenth anniversary of that day, when her mother had come to her dorm room at Ohio State, messed up and weak, was coming up in about a month. Cassie would never forget it. The first of her heroes had fallen off the pedestal she’d blindly built.

And one by one, they’d kept on falling.

“I guess neither of us is good at forgiving. That’s a good thing. It keeps you in charge.”

“You can’t compare us, Mom. I walked away.”

“You ran away. From all of us.”

“You’re impossible to run away from, Mom. And you know I can’t do anything halfway. If I’m going to walk, I might as well run.”

“Well, you had the option and I didn’t. There was too much at stake, you know that,” Sandy snapped. “And even though you ran, you’re right back where you started. Dreaming Sam’s dreams. I don’t get it.”

“I’m not living Sam’s dreams. I never did and I never wanted to. I’m where I want to be—where I’ve worked hard to be.” Cassie stood up, needing space. Apparently, she was good enough for her mom to confide in, but not good enough to be proud of. “And you may not understand that, but you understand numbers, and I’m so good at what I do that I’ll soon be number one.”

“Well, there’s that.” Sandy breathed in and out before calmly saying, “Let’s not bring up the past, Cassidy. It never ends well.”

I’m not the one who brings it up!
Cassie wanted to shout, but she didn’t want to keep arguing.

“And this all started when you mentioned Sam. I knew the boy was trouble ever since the Barbie and Ken incident.” The sparkle was back in her mom’s eye.

Cassie tried to smile despite the tight knot in her chest. Turning the charm back on was her mother’s version of a truce, and Cassie was too tired to keep fighting. “You were the one with the dirty mind. We were pretending Barbie had been kidnapped by evil Barbie ninjas. We couldn’t understand why you asked Sam to go home.”

“What’s a mother supposed to think when she finds a Barbie blindfolded, bound, and gagged, with leather strips, mind you, and a naked Ken hovering over her with a blue, anatomically incorrect penis?”

“Well, you weren’t supposed to think we knew anything about S&M! We were only six.” Cassie shook her head and giggled. “Ken was rescuing Barbie, and we couldn’t find his clothes, so Sam drew briefs on him.”

Sandy laughed. “Did he have to make them blue? I nearly had a heart attack, thinking that my little girl knew what blue balls were.”

“It was the only permanent marker we could find. Can you believe Sam made me turn around while he drew them on?”

Sandy rolled her eyes. “Yes, and what a gentleman he turned out to be.”

Cassie stopped laughing. A good memory buried by a bad one. As usual.

 

Sam climbed up Cassie’s porch steps, carrying her old bike. Again. Fresh start with Cassie, take two. This time, he’d attached brand-new hand brakes. This time, he’d actually say the words, “Let’s start over.”

The front door opened and Cassie and her mother stepped out onto the front porch. Sam caught acting like a fool, take two, he thought.

Mrs. McGillicuddy wasn’t the type of woman who had to purse her lips and narrow her eyes to let you know she wasn’t happy to see you. She could smile and remain bright, but her presence was so forceful that whatever she was really feeling radiated around her. At the moment, Sam felt as if a python was wrapping itself around his manhood, cutting off all circulation.

“Why, hello, Samuel. I see you found Cassie’s old bike. How nice of you to bring it by. Good-bye now.”

Sam didn’t know if Sandy McGillicuddy was saying good-bye because she was leaving or because she was dismissing him. His gaze settled on Cassie and he raised an eyebrow.

Cassie caught the look. “Bye, Mom,” she said, kissing her cheek.

Mrs. McGillicuddy swept past him, shooting Cassie a significant look, before taking the cold front she carried off with her. “I fixed the hand brakes,” he said to Cassie the moment her mom slammed the door to her white Jag.

“Why?”

Sam could pretend she was referring to the hand brakes, but with her arms crossed and eyes hard, she was in confrontational mode.

He shrugged one shoulder and shifted from one leg to the other. “Peace offering.”

Cassie nodded. “I think we can manage peace.”

Sam took a step back, preparing to leave, his goal accomplished, but a long, drawn-out sigh and professional eye roll from Cassie stopped him. “What?”

“You think you can fix my old bike, grunt ‘peace offering,’ and we’re good?”

“You want to talk?” He should’ve known. Johnny was always saying women had a biological need to talk things out.

“I think we need to set boundaries if we’re going to be effective business partners, and that requires talking, yes.” She flashed him a halfhearted version of her old mocking grin and Sam looked away.

In his experience, everyone had a type, and Cassie had always been his. Eyes perpetually lit up with good intentions, pretty face sprinkled with freckles, and flaming hair that matched her vibrancy . . . she had always looked too damn loveable for his own good.

She peeled away at a layer of old paint on the porch post. “Jake looks just like you, and he has so much of Johnny and Dan in him, too. If what happened hadn’t happened, then Jake might not be here.” She sighed. “Meeting him made me realize that being mad over something that happened ten years ago doesn’t make sense. I’m also where I am because of what happened, and I like where I am.”

Sam stood very still, letting her words seep in. This was a new start indeed.

“But, like I said, we need to establish some boundaries,” she continued, when he didn’t speak. “We’re not friends anymore, either.”

“You picked up with Johnny and Dan exactly where you left off.” He looked up and shook his head when he saw the alarmed look in her eye. “I don’t mean to say we should pick up where we left off, but maybe we can be friends, too.”

Her smile was wide and genuine now. Her lips looked as soft as he remembered them. A zing shot from his chest out to his limbs and he shifted again. “It feels as if Dan and Johnny have been living next door all these years. But I don’t know about us trying to be friends again, and it’s not because you were once my boyfriend and you hurt me. The pain that still lingers is that you were my
best friend
and you hurt me, just when I needed you most.”

“I’m sorry.” Simple words, but he felt them deeply. Always had. Taking a deep, steadying breath, he took a chance and said, “For what it’s worth, I tried my damndest to reach out after you left, but your father wouldn’t tell me where you were and your mother wouldn’t even talk to me.”

Cassie’s eyes widened. “You went to my parents?”

They locked gazes. So many things he wanted to say. But he never knew how to start these types of conversations. When it came to the important things, people heard and believed what they wanted to hear and believe. He swallowed hard, not sure he had any right to question her about anything. “You say I let you down just when you needed me most . . . but I was in the dark, Cass. Something was going on, but you wouldn’t let me in.”

Cassie’s gaze flicked away. “You’re right. I didn’t let you in. We were both young and stupid, and I get that, Sam.” She shook her head and took a step back. “I also know I should be over everything that happened, and I think one day I will be, but I’ve learned I have to take care of my heart and it’s telling me I’m not there yet. I know the past will come up sometimes because, well, we’re here.” She swept her arm expansively and then settled her hand on her old bike. “But you need to stop bringing it up on purpose. It—it makes me feel as if I’m falling back instead of moving forward. What I need is to be part of the team that makes others see how magical this town can be, and what I want is to rise to the top in my chosen profession and niche. I’m lucky the two go hand in hand. It’s good to be back.”

 

Sam wanted to say that it was good having her back, but that seemed like the sort of thing she was asking him not to do. He would stick to her rules, but there was one more thing he needed to know so he could move forward too. “Why did you stay away so long? Answer and I’ll let you be. No more personal remarks or questions.”

Cassie drew in a sigh and nodded. “I didn’t mean to stay away this long.” Her eyes met his again. “But once I had this vision of what I really wanted to do, I had a burning desire to go out and just do it. My way. I could see it so clearly, I couldn’t stop, even though it’s been three steps forward, one step back most of the time. It’s been a fulfilling ride. One I needed.”

Sam nodded slowly and stretched his arm out to shake her hand. Ten years was a long time, and at that moment it was hard to know how much of it mattered anymore. They’d cleared the air as much as they could and this time their deal felt real. This time, it felt as if she was really back.

“See you tomorrow, bright and early,” she said, heading back inside.

Sam left her office with a renewed sense of purpose. His burdens felt lighter. Dan and Johnny were his partners, too, but Cassie brought a different energy to the game. An energy that gave his plans a brighter glow. They were both out-of-the-box thinkers, but while Sam stood outside the box and carefully studied it from all angles on the ground, Cassie buzzed all around it and kept taking action until she got it right.

Setbacks had always been a given with her, but so had huge leaps that took her above and beyond.

His light mood lasted until he sat down in front of his computer and logged in to his bank account. It was the first of the month, and he was about to drain the account. He was one to two months behind on many properties, but the bank was working with him. It was a delicate juggling act, and his business was teetering on the edge.

The houses had only recently come on to the market, but he would be closing on one of Lisa’s listings within the week. If he sold at least two more houses and closed before the beginning of the following month, he’d be back on track. If he sold at least three more the following month, he’d be ahead. If the momentum kept going, he’d eventually make a killing.

He’d taken a huge, but calculated risk when he’d invested in his hometown and a load of its aging properties. He hadn’t counted on how much even an amicable divorce could cost. His estimates, which he’d researched and thought were on the high side, were wrong.

Though Heather had a good job as the manager of a trendy women’s clothing store, his alimony and child support had been set according to his income from the year before, and he and Heather had only recently been able to get their house under contract. Sam had gone too modern when he’d improved it, wanting to please Heather because she’d already compromised by buying an old house. It’s why Heather had been the one to move out. She’d been living in her new, modern apartment for nearly a year and she loved it. But it had taken them that long to find a buyer who appreciated their old house.

Thankfully, they’d be closing later that week and Sam would be moving into the upstairs apartment. With Johnny.

But Sam was operating on a deep belief that his investments would pay off and he’d soon be able to settle into a smaller home, maybe even into one of his rehabs. Only lately had doubts crept in. Staring at an empty bank account did that to a person.

“Sam?” His mom’s voice came from the door.

Sam looked up, glad to have a reason to shut his laptop down. “Hey, Ma.”

“Is Dan around?” Sam stifled a sigh. She could clearly see his brother wasn’t there.

“Nope. Not here.”

“Oh good. It’s not that I don’t want to see him,” she assured him with an earnest look in her eyes. “It’s that I know I make him uncomfortable.”

Sam studied his mom, wondering how she could be such a good mom to him and Johnny, yet such a terrible stepmom to Dan. It had always troubled him deeply, not having an answer to that. It was as if she kept allowing spite and pettiness to take nips and bites out of her mostly good heart. He resented the fact that she refused to control it.

“What brings you by?” he asked, pasting a smile on his face. It was no use calling her on anything that had to do with Dan. It had always made things worse and had taught him to just shut the hell up.

“I heard Cassie’s back. I stopped by to see her this morning, but she wasn’t in and it looked like she’s still setting up and not ready for visitors. Have you seen her?” She knew very well he’d seen her, argued with her, signed a contract with her, and nearly killed her, all in two days’ time.

“I’ve seen her.”

“I know you’re not one to share much, but I was wondering how you’re feeling about it all. You never forget your first love, after all.”

Sam chuckled despite himself. His mom had always loved Cassie. A huge part of that had been due to the fact that she was Senator McGillicuddy’s daughter. “I’m not sure I had a first love, Ma. I’ve had good friends.”

“Well, whatever you two were, you were inseparable. I know her parents never liked you much, but look at everything you’ve achieved. When you finish your projects, your properties will be valued at millions of dollars. And you’re just getting started. I’ve been running the numbers, and they’re nothing to turn your nose up at.”

Running her mouth off to other people was probably what she’d been doing. She was technically right, but she was confusing value with profit and wasn’t thinking about the fact that he was currently holding too many illiquid assets. But he didn’t have the heart to set her straight. In her head, she was selling her son to Cassie and the McGillicuddys.