Road to Absolution (10 page)

“Tell me
anyway,” she pressed.

He slid his hand
to my waist and pulled me closer. “One of the girls at the shop volunteers at
the humane society and someone dropped off a litter of puppies. Don’t know
where they came from, but she called me because I mentioned I was lookin’ to
get a dog. When I had a night off, I went down and this tiny little thing had
figured out how to finagle her way out of the box they were in and she decided
my boot was her play thing. I was still wearing them. She was the only girl,
and I hadn’t really thought to get a girl, but she followed me everywhere and
would whine if I was separated from her. I picked her up and she fell asleep
against my chest. The rest is history. I couldn’t take her home that night
because she wasn’t quite ready, but I visited every day and took her home as
soon as I could.” He stroked my cheek. “What else could I name the little girl
who was tiny and clever and fearless? There’d only been one other female who
wrapped herself around my heart, and I missed her.”

“Ohmigod,” I
breathed and dropped my head onto his chest. He held me for a few precious
seconds before Cassidy stuck her nose between us. I giggled and knelt down to
pet her. “Well, that sure beats me being a bitch, huh, girl?”

Carter roared
with laughter before leaning down to kiss me. “God, I love you.”

“Stop being all
sappy and crap.” I blinked back tears.

“Yes, dear,” he
quipped.

Maverick jogged
up the steps. “Mom, can I swim?”

 “If
Grandad’s with you?”

“I’ll find him.”

“If he is, then,
yes. Go get your suit on.”

“You gonna swim
too, Uncle Carter?” Maverick asked.

“Not today,
buddy, but maybe another time. We can head to the pond.”

“’K.” He rushed
back into the house as Carter released me.

“Want coffee?” I
asked, and led Carter back into the house. The dog stayed on the porch.

“No, babe. I
need to head back. Mom’s losing her mind right now.”

I faced him
again. “In a good way?”

He shrugged.

“Maybe you
shouldn’t have come. I know she blames me—”

“Stop,” he said,
and closed the distance between us, pulling me to him again. “None of this is
about you.”

“How can you say
that?” I stared up at him. “I’m the one—”

“Damn it,
Cassidy, it’s done. We’re not talkin’ about it anymore.”

I let out a
frustrated groan. “We can’t continue this trend, buddy. At some point we need
to deal with a few things.”

“Not today.”

I rolled my
eyes, but nodded. “Fine, but soon.”

His response was
to kiss me. “I need to go. I’ll call you later.”

“Maybe I’ll
answer.”

Carter chuckled
and walked out the door.

“So?” Mom showed
up again, fast enough to indicate she’d probably been listening from the dining
room. She put the the vase of flowers on the kitchen table and faced me. “When
did that start?”

I sighed. “Less
than a week ago.”

“Have a seat,
honey. Let’s talk.” She took one herself and smiled. “Your dad’s keeping
everyone outside for a bit.”

I sat down and
dropped my forehead to my palm. “I don’t really know what to tell you. I’m
still not entirely sure what’s going on.”

“Start at the
beginning and we’ll sort it out from there.”

I filled her in
on the meeting at the club and our week so far, leaving out a few of the more
graphic parts.

“Wow,” she
whispered.

“Yeah.”

“It’s really
about time.”

I raised my
head. “What?”

Mom chuckled.
“Honey, you’ve loved each other forever. I knew you’d have to find your way
back to each other eventually.”

“Didn’t know
psychic was in your wheelhouse,” I grumbled.

“Don’t need to
be a psychic to know you’re meant for each other, but if you want me to be more
fabulous than I am, I’m good with that.”

I giggled and
then groaned. “I don’t know why he’s here.”

“Aw, honey, he’s
here for you.” She patted my arm. “And he’s making that fact known in a pretty
major way.”

“How’s that?”

“Cass, he hasn’t
been home in seven years. Not once. Do you know what that’s done to his mom?”

“I can imagine.”
I frowned. “But they’re still talking, right? Jaxon said they were.”

“I think so.”

I frowned. “But
you don’t know?”

“Honey, it’s
complicated.”

“Uncomplicate it
for me,” I said.

“Sheila and I
haven’t talked in almost as long as Carter’s been gone.”

“What?” I
gasped. “Why not? You were amazing friends.”

“Well, I
certainly thought we were, but she showed her true colors after he went off to
the Air Force, and quite frankly, I didn’t need the drama.”

“Why didn’t you
tell me?” I asked.

“Because you
didn’t need to be roped into her craziness, honey. It had nothing to do with
you after all.”

I sighed. “So,
how do you know he never came home.”

“Aidan kept me
updated. He keeps in touch.” Mom smiled. “Carter’s been to the beach once I
guess, but other than that, nothing… until now.” Mom smiled. “So, he’s announcing
to the world… at least our small one… that you’re his and he’s claiming you.”

“Ohmigod, Mom,
he is not.”

“Yeah, honey, he
is. Mark my words.” She smiled. “Now, go read or swim or whatever you want.
Mav’s happy, so you get to rest.”

“I don’t even
know what that means anymore.”

Mom laughed. “I
remember, honey.”

I grabbed my
Kindle, but before I let myself relax, I went in search of Mia. She was in her
room, throwing things from her suitcase into her dresser.

“Hey, can we
talk?” I asked from the doorway.

“Oh, we do that
still?”

“Mia,” I sighed.
“Babe, this all happened like three days ago.”

She raised an
eyebrow.

“Hand to God,” I
said, and raised my hand. “Saturday, actually, so what’s that? Six? I just
happened to be at a party and he was there. I did text you on Sunday, but you
didn’t respond.”

“Well, if you’d
said the great Carter Quinn was sniffin’ after your panties, I might have.”

Mia was always
colorful with her words. “Um… gross.”

She giggled and
threw her suitcase into her closet. “Well, I would have.”

“It wasn’t
something I wanted to text bomb you with. I figured if you had time, you’d
respond and if not, I’d talk to you this weekend.”

She sat on her
bed and patted the mattress. “Assume the position.”

I grabbed a
pillow and we laid down facing each other.

“So, he was at a
party. Details.”

I filled her in
on everything… and I mean everything. There really wasn’t anything I kept from
big sister Mia.

“Holy shit,
Cass. The man finally pulled his head out of his ass? I don’t believe it.”

“Mia, I’m really
the one to blame here.”

“Bullshit.”

I took a deep
breath. “Okay, well, we both have culpability in this and he’s apologized, I’ve
apologized, and we are making a conscious effort to move forward. I’ve missed
him, Mia.”

“I know you
have, honey.” She smiled. “He went and got fuckin’
huge
.”

“Tell me about
it.”

“Big dick?”

“Mia!” I knew I
was beet red.

“What? It’s a
logical question. Did him getting bigger increase or decrease the size of his
cock?”

“How would I
know?”

“What do you
mean? You haven’t seen it?”

I rolled onto my
back and ran my hands down my face with a groan. “Ohmigod, Mia. No, I haven’t
seen it.”

“I’d have
hoisted my sail up that mast and sailed the seven seas, or twelve. Let’s go
with twelve.”

“Ohmigod.” I
giggled. “It’ll happen. I just want to take it slow.”

“Then fast, then
slow again.”

“Mia!”

She giggled as
well and then took my hand. “He better do it right, Sass.”

“He will. Now if
I could just get him to quit telling me we’re getting married and put some kind
of effort into asking me, we’d be good.”

“He’s talking
marriage?”

I rolled to face
her again. “He’s talking, let’s go down to the courthouse and take care of the
legalities.”

“Romantic.” Mia
rolled her eyes. “Douche.”

“Don’t call him
a douche. He’s not a douche.” I smiled. “He’s up to something.”

“Oh really?”

I nodded. “Yep,
he’s just seeing if I’ll blink first.”

“Don’t blink,
Sass.”

“Bitch,
please
.
I don’t blink.”

Mia giggled.
“There’s hope for you yet.”

“God, I hope
so.” I squeezed her hand. “Can I go read now? I need a time out from my
adorable but very busy little boy.”

“I will go spend
some time in the pool with my niece and nephews and let you and Shannon go on
time out.”

“This is why we
love you best.”

Mia slid off the
bed. “Don’t you forget it.”

I stayed where I
was and powered up my Kindle. Mia’s bed was more comfortable than mine anyway.

M
AVERICK CRASHED AT about eight, which
suited me just fine. He’d been nonstop all day and had tired himself out, as
did my niece and nephew, which meant I got some quality time with my family
without kids.

I headed up to
my room about ten and found several texts from Carter on my phone. I’d left it
on my dresser, partly on purpose, partly because I’d forgotten to retrieve it
after my shower. Instead of texting him back, I called.

“Hey, baby,” he
said, sounding breathless.

“Hi, honey, you
okay?”

“Was just
finishing a run.”

I slid my watch
off. “Want to call me back?”

“Hell, no. I’ve
missed your voice. Just give me a minute to cool down.”

“Okay.” I
grinned. “I talked to Mia. Everything’s good.”

“I wasn’t
worried, babe.”

“Well, I was,” I
countered.

He chuckled.
“You worry too much, Cass.”

“Just because
I’m paranoid, doesn’t mean no one’s following me.”

“Yeah, but I’m
following
them
, so I got you, baby.”

“Well, there is
that.” I smiled. “Are you really out running?”

“Treadmill.”

“At ten o’clock
at night?”

“Baby, you’re
not here, so I had to work off some pent up energy.”

I bit my lip…
hard.

“Babe, you
there?”

“Yes,” I said,
my voice husky. “I was just imagining how you might work off that pent up energy
in other ways.”

“I’m coming
over.”

“I don’t know if
I feel up to working off anything in my parents’ house, Carter,” I whispered.

“As much as that
sucks, I agree with you, but I
am
gonna come say goodnight,” he said.
“Do I have to climb the tree?”

I giggled. “Do
you
want
to climb the tree?”

“Not
particularly, no.”

“I’ll meet you
on the porch, then.”

“I’ll grab a
shower and be there in a few.”

“Okay, honey.”

I hung up and
headed to the bathroom to brush my teeth and freshen up a bit. I still had no
makeup on and my hair was in a messy bun due to doing nothing all day. I combed
it out, then pinched my cheeks for a little color rather than putting makeup
on. I’d just have to take it off again, and quite frankly, I couldn’t be
bothered.

Carter texted me
to let me know he was on his way, so I checked on Maverick who was sleeping
soundly and then slipped out of the house. It was rather cool, so I grabbed a
blanket and sat on the porch swing to wait for him.

“Hey, baby,” he
said as he jogged up the steps. His hair was still damp, but he smelled
delicious as he leaned down to kiss me.

“Hi.”

He sat next to
me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, pulling me close. “Missed you
today.”

“Me too.” I
smiled up at him. “How’d it all go after you left here?”

“Fine.”

“Fine, good, or
fine, meh?”

He sighed.
“Babe, I’m gonna say somethin’ and then you need to drop it.”

I pushed away
from him and sat up. “Well, that sounds crappy.”

“The shit I’m
dealin’ with with my family has nothin’ to do with you. I know you think you’ve
caused a rift or some shit like that, but it’s not true.”

“So your mom
doesn’t blame me for you leaving?”

“It doesn’t
matter.”

“It does to me,”
I said, and stood. “How can we make a life together if your parents’ hate me?”

“They don’t hate
you, Cass.”

I crossed my
arms. “Let me tell you a little secret about boys and their mamas. We are
viscious when someone hurts them and I can guarantee that your mother sees me
as the enemy in regards to you… especially, because I took you away from her.”

He smiled and rose
to his feet. “Baby, you didn’t take me away from her. And my mom might be
working some shit out in her head, but she does not hate you. But even if she
did, it wouldn’t matter. I choose you and I will
every
time. She knows
that.”

Well, that was
seriously nice.

“She does?” I
whispered.

“Yeah, honey,
she does.” He pulled me into his arms and gave me a gentle squeeze. “I love
you, Cassidy. It’s always been you.”

“I kinda love
you too.”

He chuckled and
I dropped my head back to smile up at him. He covered my lips with his as I
stood on my tiptoes and opened my mouth, touching my tongue to his and
deepening the kiss. Breaking the kiss, he cupped my face and stroked my cheek.
“I can’t wait to wake up with you every morning.”

I grinned. “You
think that’ll happen?”

“Hell, yeah,
it’ll happen. I still say we head to the courthouse sooner than later.”

“You’re an
idiot.”

“Why am I an
idiot?” he challenged.

I pulled away
from him, but he held tight. “The fact you don’t know why just happens to drive
home that you are.”

“I’m gonna wear
you down, Cassidy, you’ll see.”

I rolled my
eyes. “How long are you staying?”

“Tonight or this
weekend?”

“This weekend,”
I clarified.

“I’m driving
home with you.”

“What?”

“You let me know
when you’re ready to go and I’ll drive home.”

“What about your
truck… or bike, or whatever you drove down with?”

He smiled. “I
came with Jaxon. He’s leaving on Monday.”

I dropped my
cheek to his chest. “Are you telling me that you came down this weekend because
of me and that I don’t have to drive all the way home by myself?”

Carter chuckled.
“Yeah, baby, that’s what I’m telling you.”

I squeezed his
middle. “Sometimes, Carter Quinn, I love you so much I think I might explode.”

He laughed and
kissed my head. “Well, don’t do that… it’s messy.”

I grinned and
nodded.

“You gonna make
out with me a little more before I have to leave?”

Smiling up at
him, I licked my lips. “Um, duh.”

He led me back
to the swing and the make out session commenced.

* * *

Ace left Cassidy an hour later and
walked home. He arrived to find his mother in the kitchen, surprised to see she
was still awake. “What are you doing up?” he asked, kissing her cheek.

“Waiting for
you,” she said.

“Why?”

“Because you’re
making a mistake and I don’t want to watch it happen again.”

He braced
himself. “And what mistake would that be?”

“You taking up
with Cassidy Dennis again.”

Ace frowned as
he sat at the island. “Mom, you need to quit with all of this.”

“I’m just trying
to understand what this new obsession with you is.” She crossed her arms and
faced him, leaning against the sink. “We never see you… you haven’t been home
in almost a decade, haven’t even been to the beach house in more than two
years, and now you’re suddenly here?”

“I’m here, Mom,
I thought you’d be happy about it.”

“I
am
happy about it, honey. What I’m concerned about is you disappearing again.
We’ve seen you twice in the last year and that’s because we came to Portland.
Before that it was once in two years.”

“I’m not gonna
disappear, Mom.”

“Forgive me if I
don’t believe you.” She frowned. “She took you away from me and then Aidan
followed because he does whatever you do, including “protecting” the crazy
Cassidy Dennis. I can’t help but think it’ll happen again.”

“First of all,
she’s not crazy, and if you say that again, I’m out of here for good. Second,
she didn’t take me away from anyone, Mom—”

“She got
pregnant with another man’s baby, Carter, what would you call it?”

“Be very careful
how you proceed, Mom,” he warned. “Cassidy was young and she made a mistake,
but I could have easily made the same one and you know it. Regardless of her
getting pregnant, though. She’s not the reason I left. I left because of my
career.”

“You left
because she broke you.”

“Damn it, Mom, I
did not!” he snapped.

“Hey, what’s
goin’ on?” Jaxon asked as he walked into the kitchen.

“Nothing, Jax,”
their mom said.

Jaxon sat next
to Ace at the island. “Where’s Dad?”

“Asleep.”

“Is that why
you’re yellin’ at Carter?” Jaxon pressed.

“I’m not yelling
at anyone.”

“Kinda sounds
like you’re yellin’ at Carter.”

She jabbed a
finger between the brothers. “You two better not gang up on me or we’re going
to have a problem.”

“Mom,” Ace said
with a sigh. “No one’s gangin’ up on you, but you need to hear me on somethin’
because I’m not gonna keep goin’ around and around on this subject. Cassidy’s
gonna be part of this family one day… if I had my way, it’d be tomorrow, but
she’s making me wait and I think it might have something to do with you and
your opinion of her. So, you need to fix it. If you don’t want to fix it, that’s
your choice, but you want me in your life, you will love my girl and mean it,
because if you don’t, I’m gone.”

His mother
gasped and threw her hands in the air. “See?”

“See what, Mom?”
Ace challenged.

“She’s taking
you away from me again.”

“Fuck me, woman,
I can’t talk to you right now.”

“Don’t you dare
talk to me that way,” she warned.

Ace took a deep
breath. “Mom, I love you. I will always love you, but you’re not hearing what
I’m telling you.
I
am the reason Cassidy did what she did. This whole
fucked up situation is on me and I will do anything to fix it because I love
her. I have always loved her. She’s it for me and you know it. Whether you
choose to believe my reasons for leaving and staying away or not, those reasons
have nothing to do with Cassidy and more to do with me workin’ shit out. I’m
going to marry her and I’m going to adopt her little boy because in my heart
he’s mine and he always will be. You either get on board with this and make
them both feel loved or we’re done.” He crossed his arms. “By the way, what
happened to the letters I asked you to forward to her.”

“You can’t be
serious.”

“You didn’t send
them, did you?”

She had the good
sense to lower her head.

“Where are
they?” he demanded.

“I threw them
away.”

“Fuck me,” he
growled. “I’m going for a walk.”

He walked out of
the house and stamped down his anger. Cassidy was right and he hated that she
was right, more because the thought of her feeling unloved was beyond him.
Shit!

He pulled out
his cell phone and sent a quick text before heading Cassidy’s way.