Cassidy Lane (14 page)

“Damn, Cassidy.” Harper
picked up the bottle and topped off her wine after she was done telling him about Brandon. “Two
thousand
text messages?”

She gave him
a sheepish look. “Am I crazy? Is he crazy? I feel sort of silly for getting so wrapped up in this, but I can’t help myself.”

“I don’t think
it’s crazy at all. I love that story. It’s very romantic. And modern, when you think about it.”

She nibbled on
her thumbnail. “You sure it’s not weird? I don’t want to turn into one of those freaks who have horrible social skills because all their interactions with other people are online.”

“Shut up, you
know you’re great with people. I can’t wait to hear what happens when you see him in person.”

“I’m almost afraid
of that, to be honest. Part of me thinks he might be too good to be true.”

Harper patted his
chest. “Don’t say that.
I’m
not too good to be true, am I?”

“Definitely not. If
you weren’t set on marrying a Jewish girl, I might throw my hat in the ring—despite my advanced age.”

“See? Good guys
exist, at least for Jewish girls. And from what you’ve told me, Brandon sounds like a stand-up guy too.”

Cassidy twirled the
stem of her wineglass between her fingers. “I think he is too. I think he’s the real deal.”

“And he’d be
lucky to have you. Remember that when you’re in California, OK? Promise?”

“You sound like
Danielle.”

“Well, Danielle is
clearly one smart woman. I know that douche bag Dean really messed with your head.”

“He wasn’t exactly
a douche bag. He just wasn’t…in love with me.” She frowned.

“Well, regardless, he
didn’t treat you very well in the end, and there’s no excuse for that.”

She narrowed her
eyes at him. “Are you sure you’re only thirty years old? You sound like my dad right now.”

“I know we
always joke about it, but thirty isn’t that young, Cassidy. Maybe in New York City it is, but not in the rest of the world.”

She sighed. “I
guess you’re right. I remember when I was in junior high school, thirty might as well have been fifty it seemed so old to me.”

“Well, I may
be a few years younger than he is, but this guy Brandon had better treat you right. Otherwise he’ll have to answer to
me
.” He patted his chest.

She smiled and
sipped her wine. “Thanks, Harper. And I hope Vanessa’s as nice as you say she is, because if not, she’s going to have to answer to
me
.”

Chapter Nine

HER TRIP TO
California was finally here.

Almost.

The day before
her flight, Darlene took Cassidy by the arm and gently led her to a manicure table. “Welcome back, love. Can I get you some tea?”

“That would be
nice, thanks.” Cassidy took a seat, then closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. The salon once again smelled of cinnamon.

Darlene returned with
the tea and a heated wrap, then sat down across from Cassidy after she’d secured it around her neck. She reached for her hands. “Have you been nibbling since I last saw you?”

Cassidy bit her
lip. “A little, but I’m trying, I promise.”

“No need to
make me any promises, love. Sometimes trying is all we can do.”

Cassidy thought the
comment was a bit odd and wondered what Darlene meant by it. She noticed that the woman looked tired today, with small dark circles under her eyes. She wanted to ask if anything was wrong but remained silent, unsure whether that was an appropriate question.

A few minutes
into the manicure, she decided to speak up.

“Are you OK?”
she asked quietly.

Darlene nodded without
looking up. “Don’t worry about me, love. I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure?”

She kept her
eyes focused on Cassidy’s hands. “Yes, love. Now please, let’s not talk about me. Are
you
having a nice day?”

Cassidy hesitated for
a moment, then smiled. “I am, actually. I’m off to California in the morning, for a week.” Cassidy said it casually, but the truth was she’d been thinking of practically nothing else and felt as if tomorrow would never come.

“Is that so?
You going for work?”

“A little work,
a little pleasure, I guess.”

“Sounds nice, love.
I’ve never been.”

Cassidy wondered how
much traveling Darlene had done in her life. She remembered how she’d played the character game after first meeting her. That day she’d painted a vivid picture of who Darlene was, a depiction that still held true in her mind, incorrect though it must be.
Loving
w
ife, mother, and grandmother, talented singer and cook
. Was any of it real? All she knew for sure was that Darlene had a warm, gentle way about her that immediately put her at ease. Darlene was also clearly a private person, so Cassidy didn’t want to pry with questions about her personal life. At least not today. Right now she was content to enjoy the moment, simply letting her mind wander to what lay ahead.

She reached for
the teacup with her free hand as Darlene worked on her nails, humming softly as she filed.

As Cassidy sipped
the tea, she felt her lips curl into a shy smile
.

That night she
could barely sleep, but as she finally drifted into slumber, her thoughts were consumed by a single thought.

Brandon Forrester is
going to kiss me tomorrow.

“Do you live
in San Francisco?” The young woman seated next to Cassidy asked over the din of the flight attendant’s announcements before takeoff.

Cassidy adjusted the
buckle of her seat belt. “I’m from there, but I live here now. What about you?”

The woman pointed
to the floor of the plane. “Born and raised in Westchester, live in the West Village now.”

“Are you going
out there for work?”

The woman shook
her head as the plane slowly rolled toward the runway. “A wedding. Although I’m a bridesmaid, so I guess technically that means I’ll be working too.”

“That should be
fun. I haven’t been to a wedding in quite a while.”

“To be honest,
I’m really getting sick of them. This is the
tenth
one I’ve gone to this year, and the third time I’ve been in one. I’m going broke!”

Cassidy smiled. “I
remember those days. Let me guess: are you in your late twenties?”

“I’m twenty-eight.”

“The year I
was twenty-seven, I went to
thirteen
weddings.”

The woman’s eyes
got big. “No way.”

“Yep. Two of
them were even at the same church
and
reception hall, on back-to-back weekends. I even wore the same dress. It was totally different crowds, so I figured why not? I called them the Groundhog Day weddings.”

The woman laughed.
“I like your attitude. Are you married now?”

Cassidy tensed a
bit as she realized she was a full decade older than the woman. “No, still haven’t met the right guy yet.” She wondered what she must be thinking.
Does she find it sad that I’m not married?
Or do I seem independent and cool?
Cassidy hoped it was the latter, but she knew if their roles were reversed, she’d probably be thinking the former. When Cassidy was twenty-eight, it hadn’t occurred to her that she’d still be sitting at the singles table ten years later. At least there weren’t any weddings to attend in her near future.

“What about you?
Are you going to the Bay Area to visit your family?” the young woman asked.

“More or less.
A little bit of work, but I hope not too much.”

“What do you
do?”

“I’m an author.”

“For real? I’ve
never met an author before.”

Cassidy smiled and
half shook her head. “Meeting me is not that exciting, trust me.”

“What do you
write?”

“I guess you
could call it women’s fiction, with a hint of romance. But definitely not like those romance novels that have heaving bosoms on the cover. And definitely no corsets.”

The woman reached
for her purse. “What’s your name? I’m totally going to read your books.”

“Cassidy Lane.”

“Molly Benson. It’s
so nice to meet you.” She jotted down Cassidy’s name on a piece of scrap paper and tucked it into her wallet.

“What about you?
What do you do?” Cassidy asked.

“I’m in my
first year of business school at Columbia.”

“One of my
good friends is applying there. How do you like it?”

“It’s kind of
a grind, but it’s also fun being back in school. Sort of a trade-off, I guess.”

“What were you
doing before?”

“I worked at
an advertising agency. Sounds glamorous, but I hated it.”

Cassidy gave her
a knowing smile. “I used to work in advertising. I hated it too.”

Molly leaned toward
her and lowered her voice. “I think everyone who works in advertising hates it, at least secretly. That’s just my opinion, of course, but I’m pretty sure I’m right.”

Cassidy laughed and
reached for her own purse. “Do you mind if I write that down? My new book is about a woman who works in advertising, so I may have to use that line.”

Molly put a
hand on her heart. “You’d quote me in a book? What an honor.”

Cassidy scribbled on
her pad of sticky notes, then tossed it into her purse. “Sure. I have to get my material from somewhere, right?”

Molly rubbed her
hands together. “This is so cool. Now I’m even more excited to read your books. I love a good romance, and God knows I could use some in my own life.”

I could too
,
Cassidy thought.

After they’d chatted
for a bit longer, Molly drifted off to sleep. Cassidy felt a pang of envy as she watched her lean against the window, her breathing even. Despite Cassidy’s normal aptitude for napping, she knew there was no way she’d be able to get any shut-eye right now. She’d barely been able to fall asleep last night and had awoken bright and early this morning, so giddy with anticipation she almost felt as though she’d had a couple of drinks.

She booted up
her laptop and set it on the tray in front of her, planning to work on her book as a way to pass the time. But her brain had other ideas, and she ended up staring at the same sentence over and over, not registering or writing a word. No matter how hard she tried to focus, her mind remained fixated on a text Brandon had sent her shortly before she’d gone to bed:

Soon I’ll be able to kiss you good night for real.

She smiled at
the thought of what the message meant, feeling a bit silly but unable to stop herself. She’d read the text over and over in the cab on the way to the airport, and now it was burned into her memory.

Maybe it really
is my turn.

She silently willed
the pilot to fly faster.

Eventually she gave
up hope of getting any real writing done and shut down her laptop. She decided to watch a movie, hoping that might keep her distracted—as well as help the flight go by more quickly. They were due to land at three thirty, and Brandon was picking her up from her parents’ house at seven. She planned to go for a run in between, knowing from years of experience that exercise would help calm her nerves. She doubted it would clear her head, however. Her every thought was permeated with visions of their first kiss.

He’s really going
to kiss me!

As she navigated
the buttons on the video screen mounted on the seat in front of her, she replayed what she could remember of last night’s conversation with Brandon before he’d sent her that playful text message. He’d called to get her parents’ address, and they’d ended up talking for an hour. The details were fuzzy now, but one thing he’d said as they were getting ready to hang up burned brightly in her memory:
I can’t wait to see you.

It was such
an earnest comment that it made her cover her mouth with her hand, even though she hadn’t said a word. She’d never dated a man who was as unguarded as Brandon was being with her. He always told her what he was thinking, and how he was
feeling
, straight up, with no pretense whatsoever. With other men she always had the feeling they were putting their best foot forward, that they were playing it cool, that she’d never really know what was going on inside their heads unless the relationship became serious, which it never did. But from day one it had been different with Brandon. He made her feel special, included, interesting,
important
. Maybe he was like that with everyone in his life, which only made her admire that quality in him more. He was open, and sincere, and
real
, and she wanted to pinch herself when she realized that in a few hours he’d be standing right in front of her.

As she scrolled
through the video options, several of which were romances, she couldn’t help but smile. She felt like she was starring in one of her own, and she couldn’t wait to see what happened next.