Another Chance (29 page)

“Why did you break up with Patrick?”

“Do you remember the party Patrick threw not long before you left town?”

“The one that got out of hand, and there was a mess when we got home?”

“I guess, I don’t know I didn’t stay for very long. It was pretty bad when I left though.”

“Patrick said you didn’t show up.”

“I did, and I caught him in bed with Vicki Chalmers.”

At that, Jane did a double take and stared at Cassie.

“Mrs Cross, I was a mess. Patrick and I had sex on the Friday night for the first time, and on the Saturday night he was with someone else. I couldn’t face him after that. It felt as if my heart had been ripped out seeing him with someone else after he told me he loved me.”

“Oh, Cassie, I wish I’d known,” Jane said, “Patrick was so distraught he barely passed his first year at university. Oh there were other girls eventually, but he never really got over you. I’m surprised that you’re giving him another go if that’s what happened.”

“I resisted at first,” Cassie said, “he wore me down. Besides, he swears he can’t remember a thing about what happened, thought I hadn’t even turned up that night.”

“I harboured quite a grudge against you for so very long. You broke his heart, but I can understand why. I wish you had told us about Sophie earlier.”

“Not long after Sophie was born I came up to find Patrick to tell him about her but when I got here, he was with another woman and thought it was best to leave things as they were. She had me. Then I met someone who became practically her stepfather, so she’s had a good life.”

“So what happened to him? Did you break up?”

“Mark died just over a year ago. He had cancer. It was how I ran into Patrick again, we were at the hospital getting another opinion. He helped us through the diagnosis, and then Mark went downhill really fast.” The tears were gathering again and not just in Cassie’s eyes this time.

“Patrick was there for me when Mark died, and he waited as best he could for me to be ready to be with him. Now I am ready, and I swear to you, Mrs Cross that I do love him, I never stopped.”

At that moment, Jane believed the woman before her. Her heart ached for the child who had lost her parents and the young woman who thought the man she loved had cheated on her.

“It’s all right, Cassie. We’ll make things right. I look forward to getting to know you again, and I can’t wait to meet my granddaughter.”

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

They had spent the rest of the weekend back at Patrick’s place, making love and spending time catching up with each other’s lives. It was with a heavy heart that Cassie said goodbye to him on the Sunday as she readied herself to drive home.

“We don’t have to keep doing this, Cassie. Move up here with me, you and Sophie. Make a fresh start and we can be together all the time and not say goodbye like this.”

“Okay.”

He paused, looking at her as if he couldn’t quite believe what she said.

“Pardon?”

“I said okay.”

“Okay what?”

“We’ll move to be with you.”

Cassie laughed at the expression on his face. “Keep up, Cross, I said yes to moving in with you.”

“I heard you, but I’m not sure if I believe you.”

“Why not?” She asked, laughing.

“That was way too easy.”

“Patrick. I want us all to be together. After this weekend I don’t want to go home, I’m going because I have to. So I’ll go home and resign, work out my notice while we organise the move up here.”

He grinned and pulled her to him for a kiss. “That sounds wonderful. I’ll be here waiting for you and Sophie. I can’t wait to tell her.”

“We need to do it together, I won’t say a word until we’re up here and you and I are ready.”

Kissing her goodbye, he held the car door open while she climbed in. “I wish you weren’t going back now.”

“So do I but I’ve got to do this properly. Mr Smedley has been great, and I need to give him time to find a replacement for me at the store and we need to pack. As much as I would love to go back inside and jump back into bed with you, I have to be a grown up and sort out the rest of my life so we can be together.”

He closed the door, leaning in the window to give her one final kiss. “It sucks being a grown up sometimes.”

Cassie laughed. “Yes it does, but I am just glad we found each other again.”

“We’ll make it work this time, Cassie.”

“You’re right. We will” She kissed him and started the car.

“Drive safely, Cassie.”

“I will. Call you tonight?”

“I’ll be waiting.”

She thought about him all the way home. Whatever had happened when they were younger didn’t seem to matter anymore. This was their fresh start together with their daughter. It made her feel warm inside.

Sophie was over the moon when Cassie told her about the house, showing her photos that she had taken of the place. “My room looks amazing, Mum,” she said excitedly.

“So I’m losing you two to the big city,” said Lauren.

“There is plenty of room for you to come and stay with us, Lauren,” Cassie said, “we won’t be that far away.”

“Maybe it’s time for me to start looking for a job up there.”

“That would be awesome.” Sophie was so enthusiastic about everything it made Cassie smile watching her daughter planning her new life.

“Well it’s still going to be about a month away as I have to hand in my resignation tomorrow. Patrick can support us while I find another job, he made that clear, so I’m not worried about that.”

“What about the house?” asked Lauren.

“I haven’t decided what to do about that yet,” said Cassie, “so I might leave it as is while we settle in up north and take my time working out what to do. It doesn’t feel right to sell, and it would be weird having tenants here, but we’ll see how things go.”

Mr Smedley was sad to see Cassie’s resignation. “How on earth will I ever find a replacement?”

“You have a month, I’m sure there are plenty of capable people around.”

“I’m sure they are, but they’re not you, Cassie. You’ve been with me for so long now, this place is really going to miss you. It’s so good to see you happy again though. When Mark died I never thought I’d see that sparkle in your eye again, but it’s back.”

“I am happy,” she said, “happier than I ever thought I would be again. I’m very lucky to have been reunited with my first love and we’ll make a real go of it this time.”

“That’s great love,” he said, “I’m really pleased for you, Cassie.”

Now came packing up. Cassie was sure it would take the full month to do that. She sighed at the size of the task. Her grandmother had lived in the house for years before Cassie moved in, and there was a lifetime of things to sort through.

The phone calls started two weeks later, Patrick had just spent the weekend, and when the phone rang at 3am Cassie thought at first that it was him being cheeky. She smiled even though she was half asleep, picking up the phone beside the bed and lying back down. “Hello?”

There was silence. “Patrick?” She was confused now. Who would call at that hour? When there was no response she hung up. Settling back down to sleep she put it down to a wrong number but then it rang again and again. There was no one. When it happened a third time, she left the phone off the hook to get some sleep. Not that sleep would come as she wondered who was calling her.

“I’m sorry, Miss Warren, all we can tell is that it’s a prepaid number. We can block it, but as we don’t know who it belongs to we can’t do much more than that.”

“Fine, do that. What happens if I contact the police?”

“If they give us a warrant we can give them all the information that we have on the number, but it really isn’t much. We can always change your number too.”

“I would rather try blocking it first in case it’s something being done by mistake. If it happens again, I’ll call you.”

“No problem. I hope this sorts it out for you.” The woman on the other end of the phone sounded so cheerful, too cheerful. Cassie yawned as she disconnected the call, hoping for a better nights sleep.

The next two nights were quiet before it started again. Cassie covered her head with her pillow before leaving the phone off the hook. Sophie woke her in the evening to a call from Patrick. “You all right baby?” he asked.

“I’m fine, just tired. We’ve been getting weird calls in the middle of the night. Phone company can’t stop them, I’m about to change the number though it’s only going to be working for another two weeks.”

“What do you mean the phone company can’t stop them?”

“It’s some prepaid phone. They don’t know who it belongs to, and they blocked the first number, but now another number is calling.”

“Cassie, have you spoken to the police?” He was concerned now, something didn’t feel right.

“Not yet. If the number gets changed and the calls happen again then I will.”

“I’m worried now. I love you and Sophie, and it bothers me that you’re getting these calls.”

“We’ll be there soon enough, Patrick, and you can watch over us. We’re fine, and I’m trying to get everything sorted so we can be with you.”

He relaxed a little at her words. “This whole thing still bugs me. I’ll feel better when you’re both here.”

“I will too. I can’t wait to be there and sleep in our bed.”

“Our bed.” The way he said it, she could hear him grinning.

“Yes, our bed. Now let me catch up on some sleep, and we’ll talk again really soon. I miss you.”

“I miss you too, Cassie. I want you here.”

“I know.”

He planned to make it down for the weekend but was called in to the hospital at the last moment. “Cassie, I have to help out. I’ll see you the weekend after anyway when you arrive here.”

She pouted. “I understand, but you had better make it up to me when we get there.”

“I will. I swear”

After spending the weekend packing, barely anything was left in the house apart from furniture and some final personal items. Exhausted, she went to work on Monday. By the end of the day, Cassie was dead on her feet and looked forward to getting home for a bath and sleep.

In the car park, she discovered someone had slashed her car tyres. This time she called the police, telling them about the calls and now this. “Can you think of anyone who might have a grudge against you?” They asked.

“Not that I know of.”

“An ex boyfriend?”

Cassie shook her head. “There’s no one in my life like that. I have no idea who would do such a thing.”

Lauren had arrived to give her a lift home while the car was being towed to have the tyres replaced. “What about Ian?”

“If he was going to do anything he would have done it by now.”

“Who’s Ian?” asked the policewoman.

“A friend of my partner, when Mark died he propositioned me.”

“And you turned him down?”

Cassie nodded. “I wasn’t interested. I can’t see him being the type to do this.”

“When people get upset they do all kinds of things. Give me his details anyway and we’ll chat with him.”

Patrick was even more concerned now. “Cassie, get up here with Sophie. You’re not safe.”

“I haven’t finished my notice period yet, it’s just a few more days.”

“Do you think it’s Ian?”

“No, I don’t. He might have been a bit of a dick about it, but he’s not nasty.”

“I’m coming down.”

“Patrick, you have work too. We’ll be there at the end of the week, just four days to go.”

She was sure she heard him growl into the phone. “If that’s you telling me off, I know I’m not doing what I’m told.”

“So I can punish you?”

“It depends on what the punishment is. Whether it’s a good punishment or a bad punishment.”

He laughed. “There’s a lot of things I want to do to you when you get here.”

“Really? Better tell me more.”

Ian showed up at the store the next day. “Why the hell did you tell the police you thought I slashed your tyres?”

“I didn’t. Lauren brought your name up as someone who might have a grudge against me. I didn’t tell the police I thought it was you.”

“Well it sucked. I wouldn’t do anything like that to you, Cassie, and I sure as hell would deal with anyone who did. No one screws with Mark’s girl like that.”

“I didn’t think that you would. I’m just coming up blank as to who it could be.”

“It’s not me, Cassie. I swear.”

“I believe you, Ian. I’m sure the police will get to the bottom of it. I’ll be leaving town at the end of the week anyway. If someone’s got a grudge against me, then that will knock things on the head.”

“You going to go live with that doctor?”

Cassie nodded.

“We would have been good together, Cassie, but I know you’ve got to follow your heart. Good on you.”