Autumn Dreams (44 page)

Cass felt as if she’d been slugged. Sold? “What? When?” She walked toward him. Tears welled. “But you knew I wanted it.”

“Got a great deal,” he said as she stopped at the foot of his stairs. “No mortgage. Full payment.” He chortled. “I’m going to Florida. Gonna buy me one of them condominiums on the beach. But hey, I wanted to thank you for coming over yesterday. It was nice of you.”

She turned, wanting to get away before she disgraced herself by crying in front of the terrible old man. When she saw Dan behind her semaphoring Mr. Carmichael to be quiet, she went cold all over. For a moment all she could do was stare, hoping she had misunderstood. His guilty expression was all the proof she needed.

“You
bought my house!” The pain of the betrayal sliced through her. “What are you going to do? Put a B&B right next to SeaSong? Is that what God has told you to do?” The idea of a B&B next door wasn’t that upsetting. After all, Seaside was a resort town full of hotels, boarding houses, and B&Bs. What was one more? The duplicity was what devastated her.

“How could you?” she whispered, all the hopes and longings of the last weeks in her voice. “How could you?”

Needing to get as far from Dan as possible, she began to run, the tears streaming down her face. She didn’t have on a warm jacket, but she didn’t care. She needed movement, distance. She sloshed through leftover puddles, which became deeper as she neared the beach and absolute sea level. Without thought she ran up the ramp onto the boardwalk. As she raced across it, she could feel the heavy thud, thud, thud of footfalls behind her. Dan.

She doubled her speed, practically diving down the steps that led to the beach.

“Cass!”

He sounded so close, too close. She tried to run faster, but the sand, all soggy from the rain, slowed her. Then a hand grabbed her arm and whirled her around. She staggered, caught her balance, and found herself face-to-face with a winded Dan. He held her by both arms.

“What?” she demanded. “You want to abuse me some more?”

He just looked at her, and she knew what he saw. Her eyes were puffy from crying, her nose red and stuffy. Her hair was a tangled mess, hanging about her face like dirty blond snakes.

He shook his head slightly in amusement, and she stiffened. If he laughed at her, she’d kill him.

“Cass, sweetheart,” he said, his voice catching and barely audible over the crash of the surf.

Cass, sweetheart
. Yeah, right. Like he could sweet-talk his way out of this one.

“Oh, Cass, you are so beautiful.” His hand pushed the straggly, windblown strands from her eyes and stayed threaded through her hair, cupping her head. “Sometimes I love you so much I can hardly stand the sweet pain of it.”

She stared at him, openmouthed. “You love me?” How many times had she dreamed of hearing him say that? “But you think I need a keeper! And you bought my house!” She started to cry again, turning her face into the comfort of his palm.

He wrapped his free arm about her and pulled her to him. He kissed her, crushing her against him.

No, you idiot
, she told herself.
Don’t enjoy this! He betrayed you!

But her heart wasn’t listening. Her arms wrapped themselves about his waist and clung. Forty years she’d waited for a kiss like this, for a man like this, and she’d never imagined it could be so, so—she smiled, if you can smile with your mouth thoroughly involved in other activities. There were no words, she suddenly realized. No words at all. That was why God invented kisses.

“What are you smiling about?” Dan asked as his lips skittered to her ear. His warm breath sent a shiver down her back.

“Your kiss.”

“Mmm.” He sounded quite pleased with himself.

“But Dan,” she said in a small voice. “How could you do that to me if you love me?”

“I did it because I do love you.”

He took away her dream because he loved her? She pulled back and stared at him, rebuke in her eyes. “This had better be good,” she said. “You’re breaking my heart here, you know.”

He leaned over and kissed her again. She couldn’t help it; upset as she was, she kissed him back.

“Doesn’t seem too broken to me.”

She sighed. “A lot
you
know.”

“I know you wanted that pile of debris with all your heart.”

She nodded, uncertain whether she wanted to hear his justification for the hurt he’d given her, not sure how she’d deal with the treachery. Because she’d have to deal with it. She knew she loved him irrevocably, in spite of the hurt he’d dealt her.

“I know you’ve been saving for several years for when Carmichael finally put it on the market. So I approached him with my offer.”

“You went to Mr. Carmichael? And he sold it to you just like that?” She stepped back, putting distance between them. She felt like a knife had been turned in her back. “But I’ve been asking him for years!”

Dan nodded. “That’s why he sold it to me.”

Cass stared, the shaft of pain cutting to the core of her heart. She began shaking. Then she spun on her heel and walked.
I wanted it. They both knew I wanted it. Still Mr. Carmichael sold it to Dan, and Dan bought it!

Lord, what am I to do? I’m dying here!

Dan caught her by the arm and stopped her. “I’m not doing very well here, am I?”

She looked at him, her eyes full of tears and hurt and love. “Dan, I don’t think I can deal with all this.”

He nodded, smiling.

The smile was what did it. The love and the anger overwhelmed her, and she lost control.

“Don’t you smile at me, buster!” she suddenly yelled, punching him in the chest. Her hand bounced off his ribs and she had to force herself not to slug him again. “You’ve just taken my choicest dream and buried it!”

He smiled some more, rubbing the spot above his heart where she had connected. “Your choicest dream?” he asked with a knowing look and a raised eyebrow.

She closed her eyes, struggling to get a full breath into lungs suddenly unable to inhale. He was her choicest dream, and he knew it.

“But you bought my house!”

He pulled her into his arms again and rocked her against him, ignoring her halfhearted squirming for freedom. “That I did, Cass. That I did. But I bought it for you, sweetheart.”

She stilled. “What?”

“As a wedding present,” he said. “You weren’t supposed to know about it until we got married and I could present you with the deed in a great romantic flourish on our wedding night. That way I would be the object of your undying affection for the rest of our lives.”

“A wedding present?” It was a good thing he had his arms around her or she would have collapsed with shock. As it was, she
grabbed his sleeves and held on, twisting his jacket hard in her fingers.
“My
wedding present?”

“Your
wedding present, Cass.” He smiled down at her. “There’s certainly no one else I want to marry.”

“You want to marry me?” Suddenly all the raucous gulls turned into glorious chimes, sounding the sweetest music she’d ever heard.

“More than anything I’ve ever wanted in my life. Cass, my sweet love, will you marry me and live with me in Carmichael’s atrocity?”

“Oh, Dan, yes!” She threw herself at him with such enthusiasm that he was overbalanced, and they fell to the sand. He landed on his back and lay with his head in the drenched sand. She lay beside him on her stomach, her arm draped across his chest. He put his free arm under his head and looked at her, squinting against the brilliant sun. She looked back. They stared at each other for several minutes, smiling, delighted with themselves, with life, and filled with hearts of gratitude for the miracle God had sent them in each other.

“I hate to tell you this before you buy me an engagement ring,” Cass finally said, “but you would have been the object of my undying affection without Mr. Carmichael’s house. You know that, don’t you?” She rested her chin on his chest. “But don’t even think of returning the gift. You’re committed now.”

“Totally,” he said, and she knew he meant more than just the house.

She grinned, then turned serious. “Do we have to wait until the renovations are done to get married?”

“I certainly hope not. I’ve seen the inside of that house, and it’s going to take a long time to make it livable. A very long time.”

“So we can do the deed soon?”

“As soon as you want. You’re the bride.”

She was the bride. Her heart swelled, and swirls of joy danced along her nerves. She had never felt so alive. A long-dead hope was being realized with the most wonderful man in the world.

“By the way,” she said. “You do know that you can’t order me around, don’t you?”

“You’re referring to our argument?”

She nodded.

“I do know. And I appreciate your independence. I was just so afraid I was going to lose you before I even had you, and it came out in anger. All night I kept remembering my fear, and I was in a state by morning. I’m sorry.”

“I understand,” she said. “I really do. If we hadn’t gone to Cape May the night of Jenn’s escapade, I probably would have said some harsh things to her, I’m sure.”

“I guess anger is easier to articulate than fear.” He pulled his hand from behind his head and took her by the chin. “Pointy thing. It’s making a dent in my chest.”

She pushed herself to a sitting position. It was the height of idiocy to lie on wet sand in November. She could feel the dampness all the way to her bones.

She sneezed. “Excuse me.” She sneezed again.

Dan climbed to his feet. “Come on, sweetheart.” He reached for her and pulled her erect. They started toward the steps to the boardwalk, hands clasped. As they hit the boardwalk, Dan started to jog. She followed his lead.

“We both need hot showers and dry clothes,” he said. “I can’t marry you if we’re in the hospital with pneumonia. And, love, I do want to marry you. Soon.”

Fourteen Months Later

C
ASS AND DAN
stood at the front door of what was formerly the Carmichael place. It was now SeaScape, the newly refurbished home of Mr. and Mrs. Dan Harmon. Mike, their black lab, named not after Brenna’s boyfriend as everyone thought but after Mr. Carmichael, quivered with excitement beside them. He’d been in this place many times during its restoration and loved it. Here he had the run of the house instead of being confined to the kitchen and family room like at SeaSong. Here there was no old cat to make his life miserable.

“Ready?” Dan asked Cass.

“I’m ready,” she answered. “But are you certain you want to do this? I’m not exactly a featherweight.”

“You’re beautiful,” he said. “I love you all fat and pregnant.”

“Right. I glow.”

He reached for her and lifted her in his arms. Cass was pleased to note that he didn’t even grunt with the effort.

“All those months at the gym have paid off, haven’t they?” she teased.

Dan grinned and stepped across the threshold into the front hall, Mike dancing beside him. “Welcome home, Cass.” He set her on her feet, pulled her close,
and kissed her. He barely flinched when one of the babies poked him. Twins. He couldn’t believe it.

Mike bumped them with his nose.

“And welcome home to you, too, old boy.” Dan ruffled the animal’s ears.

Mike grinned and raced off to see what mischief he could get into.

“A puppy and babies? Are you sure you’re up to this?” Dan had asked when Cass gave him Mike on Father’s Day.

“We’ll have several months to train him before the babies come,” Cass said.

As they watched Mike rush to explore, Cass shook her head. “All I can say is that I hope the twins train more easily than he has.”

She turned and leaned her back against Dan’s chest. She looked around the lovingly refurbished place, at the shining hardwood floors, the sparkling windows, the crisp white trim, the wonderfully restored chandelier that sent shards of light shining through its crystal prisms. Granted, she hadn’t been able to do quite as much of the work as she’d done on SeaSong, but there were enough of her brush strokes on the walls and varnish strokes on the woodwork to make her feel satisfied.

“Oh, Cassandra Marie.” Her mother rushed up, arms spread wide. “Don’t you love this pretty house? I’m so glad you could come and visit. We have lots of food.” She gestured vaguely to the kitchen where Cass could see her sisters-in-law at work. “There are some, uh, people out there fixing, uh, things.” She dimpled at Dan. “And you brought your friend.”

“I’m Dan, Mom.” He bent to kiss her.

“Dan.” Mom drew back slightly and held out her hand. “So pleased to meet you.”

Dan straightened before making contact with Mom’s soft cheek. He extended his hand. “The feeling’s mutual,” he said, remembering the doctor’s advice that they go to Mom’s universe since she was unable to come to theirs. Correcting her, the doctor said, would only distress her.

Cass leaned in to hug her increasingly frail mother.
Thanks, Father, for letting this be one of her good days
.

“And Cassandra Marie, I hate to say this in front of—” She looked at Dan in question.

“Dan,” he supplied again.

“Nice to meet you, Dan.” Mom smiled sweetly at him, then skewered Cass. “You need to lose weight, dear.”

Cass bit back the half groan, half laugh that threatened to bubble out. “You’re right about that, Mom. Soon. I promise. Now why don’t we go into the living room?”

“There are people in there,” Mom whispered.

“I know. It’s our family.”

Mom stared into the crowded living room where everyone except Bud and Jane, the Colorado Mertons, had gathered. She frowned. “Are you sure? I don’t see Mama and Daddy. Or Elsie.”

“They couldn’t come today,” Cass said, taking her mother’s arm. “But look. There’s a wonderful seat for you next to Tommy.”

“His name is Tommy? He’s big.”

“They’re all big around here.” Cass forced herself to smile. “Tommy’s your son.”

“Oh.” Mom let herself be led to Tommy who assisted her to the seat beside him.

As Cass walked to the antique rocker that Dan had found for her at an estate sale in Hammonton, she wondered again how her father did the Charlotte thing twenty-four hours a day. At least he’d put their names on the waiting list at a very nice retirement community with excellent health care facilities, knowing it was only a matter of time before her care was beyond him.