Fanning the Flames (Romance Firemen Series) (6 page)

She forced herself to put down her phone and concentrate her efforts on the time she had remaining with Francine. In less than forty-eight hours, her best friend would be on her way to Europe, and this chapter of their lives would be closed.

The forty-eight hours flew by. The girls had a final take-out meal together, surrounded by scattered boxes and bags. On Monday morning, they ceremoniously shared a pot of coffee and split a single cruller between them. Then it was time to get on the bus, watching the clear blue skies and white beaches of the Cape roll by as they headed to the airport.

“I’m going to miss you so much,” Cassie whispered into Francine’s ear as they hugged at the International Departure gate.

“I know,” said Francine. “I’ll miss you, too. But it’s only a year. I’ll be back. Unless I meet some amazing Polish guy or something. And even if I do, I promise we’ll still talk. We can have coffee and donuts over video chat. I’m still going to want to know every detail of everything you do, especially where Brendan is concerned.”

Cassie rolled her eyes. “They’re calling your flight,” she said. “You better go. Call me as soon as you land. I miss you already.”

They exchanged a last hug, and then Francine was gone, leaving Cassie to make her way back to the Cape alone.

Arriving at Louisburg Drive was surreal. She was in the passenger side of a two-seater Mercedes, her overnight bag in her lap, while the little
U-Haul she had rented followed behind driven by Nick’s chauffeur.

“It’s just our little summer place,” Nick had warned her as he picked her up. “Don’t get too excited.”

But by Cassie’s standards, the house they arrived at was far from little. It was a mansion. Nick paused for a moment as he unlocked the door, turning to look out at the ocean.

The sun was setting, the sky a deep pink tinged with an orange glow. He smiled silently at Cassie as if they were living through the closing moments of a romantic movie,
and then opened the door.

The first floor of the house was decorated in lavish Colonial style, all white painted wood and thin-legged furniture.

“I’ll give you a proper tour of the house later,” Nick said. “First, I'll show you to your room. You can put your bag down and freshen up, if you'd like.”

Cassie followed him up the staircase and into the master bedroom. Except for the evening at the Four Seasons, Cassie had never seen a room like this except pictured in magazines.

It was airy and spacious, with an enormous window at one end of the room displaying the spectacular ocean view. At the other end was an equally spectacular canopy bed, draped in white linen and heaped with soft pillows.

“Like it?” Nick asked, watching her as she took in the view. “That’s our beach straight ahead. Want to see the rest of the house?”

Dutifully, Cassie followed him around. Along the way, he taught her how to work the coffee maker and the shower, and he showed her where to find the remotes to control the lights and the temperature.

He explained the styles in which each of the rooms was furnished, telling her about his mother’s penchant for design and how different everything looked years ago when his family first bought the house.

“Nick,” Cassie said as perched at the breakfast bar, sipping coffee. “Are you going to be staying here too?”

“Of course!” he laughed. “Unless my dad decides there’s something else he doesn’t feel like doing and dumps it on me. But as far as I know, there’s no reason why I shouldn’t be here as long as you are.”

“Ok,” Cassie hesitated. “So where’s your room?”

He laughed again. “Firstborn son of the Mandeville family, Cassie!” he said. “I’ll be in the master bedroom, of course.”

“But I’m in the master bedroom.”

“Yes.” Nick said, as though speaking to a child. “Oh, Cassie! Don’t be so provincial! Nothing has to happen, ok? If you’re uncomfortable with us getting intimate at this stage, we’ll wait.”

Cassie slid off her stool at the breakfast bar. “I don’t know if you’re joking…”

He shook his head “I told you before, I seldom joke.”

“Then I must have given you some serious mixed message or something, because I don’t do this kind of thing. I’m very grateful that you’re giving me a place to stay for a couple of weeks, but that’s all this is. I didn’t move in to be in a relationship with you. I’m sorry if I gave you some kind of signal that made you think otherwise.”

Nick’s amusement was gone. He leveled his eyes at her. “Cassie,” he said sternly, “I’d hardly call it a mixed message. I know you’re telling me you want to take it slow, and I respect that. That’s why I’m saying nothing has to happen. But you’ve moved in. We’re living under the same roof. I don’t see the point in having separate rooms. I’d rather be near you, get to know you. Then when you’re ready, we can move forward.”

He tried to put his arms around her, but she dodged out of his way.

“Nick, you’re not listening.” She took a few steps backwards, one hand behind her back searching for the comforting feel of the door handle. “We’re not together. I can’t go straight from having a couple dates to sleeping in the same bed! I can’t believe you’d think that was ok! Look, it was really nice of you to offer me a place, but I think I’d better leave.”

Nick’s handsome face curled into an ugly sneer. “Oh? And where do you intend to go? It’s after dark and all your stuff is here.”

“That’s not your problem.”

“If you think I’m going to bail you out, you’re wrong. If you want me to spend any more on you, it’s time you started showing a little gratitude!”

Seeing Nick take a step toward her, Cassie dived out the door and fled. She kept running until she was sure Nick had not followed. Her pulse thundered in her ears as she rested on the sidewalk taking deep, ragged breaths.

Only then did she realize that her purse was inside the house hanging on the back of one of the chairs. As the chilly evening air gave her goose bumps, she realized her jacket was back there, too.

Then she felt the comforting bump of her cell phone in the pocket of her jeans. Heaving a massive sigh of relief she pulled it out and flipped it open.

Her relief didn't last long. As she scrolled through her contacts, she remembered how few of her friends were still in town. Her phone was full of old friends who lived in other states, teacher friends who were on vacation or visiting family, and names of people she barely even remembered. Finally, she selected a number to call.

“Hello?”

Cassie took a deep breath. “Hi Brendan,” she said, fighting to keep her voice steady. “It’s Cassie.”

“Cassie.” The warmth of his voice was so reassuring that Cassie wanted to cry. “How’s it going?”

“It’s… not great, actually. Look, Brendan, I’m so sorry to do this and I know I’ve no right to but everyone else I know is either out of town or I don’t trust them and I really, really need a favor. I didn’t know who else to call, I just…”

“
Cassie, Cassie, ssshhh,” he soothed. “It’s all right. What happened? Are you ok?”

“Nick -” she began, but couldn’t continue. The strain of the recent events hit her like water rushing through a broken dam. Tears coursed down her face and she battled to speak through huge, wracking sobs.

“Cassie, I’m coming to find you,” Brendan said. “Are you safe where you are?” She gulped an affirmation that she was. “Right, then stay there. Text me the street name. I’m getting in the car right now. Just hold on.”

He hung up. Cassie sat on the curb, head resting on her knees, taking deep breaths and waiting.

Cassie had never seen a more welcome sight than Brendan’s Dodge pick-up turning the corner and driving toward her. She collapsed into the cab and threw her arms around her rescuer.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she said. “You have no idea how much this means to me.”

“You’re okay though, aren’t you?” Brendan looked her over carefully. “You’re not hurt?”

She shook her head. “Nothing like that,” she said. “I’m ok.” Brendan waited patiently for her to explain.

Cassie sighed, “It’s just….When I got to Nick’s, at first everything was fine. But then I asked where his room was, and he said we were sleeping in the same room. I said I didn’t want that, that we weren’t in a relationship and shouldn’t be sleeping together, and he said...”

“Go on,” Brendan urged her gently. Cassie could see by the set of his jaw that he was angry but keeping his emotions in check.

“He said I had nowhere else to go and I should show a little gratitude,” she whispered. “Then he came toward me and I just ran! I don’t even have my purse. If I hadn’t had my cell in my pocket, I don’t know what I would've done.”

Good thing you did,” said Brendan. Cassie saw his jaw tense again as he cast a brief, angry glare toward the direction of Louisburg Drive.  He hid it quickly, replacing it with a reassuring smile. “Let’s get you to my place and we’ll figure out what to do.”

Brendan’s home was a whitewashed clapboard house on a quiet street, cozy and compact. He left Cassie to settle herself on the overstuffed couch and returned a few minutes later carrying a sweater in one hand and two mugs held precariously in the other.

Cassie accepted the sweater with thanks and pulled it over her head. It was vast and baggy, hanging on her like a blanket. She snuggled down inside it.

“Tea.” Brendan pressed the mug into her hands. “None of your coffee nonsense here. Hot tea with two sugars and a little drop of rum. Best thing for shock.”

She looked at him
skeptically. “Thanks, but I don’t usually drink tea.”

“Cassie, I’m a fire fighter. I’ve been specially trained in dealing with people who have been through traumatic experiences and on the first page of the manual, there's a recipe for this kind of tea.”

He regarded her solemnly. “And underneath the recipe, it says specifically not to stand for any objections, but to make sure the traumatized person drinks it. Now drink.”

She sipped the tea. It was strong and sweet, the sugary rum mixing with the hot tea. Whether it was the drink, the warmth, or Brendan’s calm presence, Cassie began to feel a lot better.

“Now for practicalities,” Brendan said, slurping his own tea and pushing a packet of Pepperidge Farm cookies toward Cassie. “You’ll need a place to stay tonight. I'll change the sheets and you can have my bed. I’ll take the couch.”

“I can’t do that!” Cassie said. “I’m imposing on you enough already! I can’t kick you out of your bed! If you’re willing to let me sleep on your couch, that’s more than enough, way more. Tomorrow, I’ll call my parents and arrange to head down to their place.”

She hesitated, dropping her gaze and staring intently at her mug. “Brendan, I’m really sorry. I made a stupid decision and you tried to warn me not to. I should've listened.”

“Ah, Cassie,” Brendan sighed, ruffling his strong hands through his hair. “If anyone needs to apologize, it’s me. I didn’t handle that well at all. I had my doubts, but I shouldn’t have expressed them like a two-year old throwing a fit. Even if I didn’t think moving in with Nick was a good idea, I should have talked to you properly instead of just going quiet like that. I’m sorry.”

Happy to have her friend back, Cassie put her arm around Brendan and hugged him close.

She found herself telling him how shaken she had been by the changes in her life lately, more than she had ever anticipated, and how her lack of security had led her to make such a bad decision.

“I just felt trapped,” she explained. “All my life I’ve known what I was doing, I’ve been in control. I’ve been lucky, I guess. Francine’s like a sister to me. When my parents moved south, it didn’t feel like such a big deal because Francine and I still had each other. I know she’s only a flight away, same as my parents, but none of them are here, you know?

So when the apartment fell through – literally – it was the first thing I’d ever had to deal with by myself. I really, really didn’t want to go running to mom and dad and have them solve my problems. I thought the better thing to do, the more adult thing to do, would be to accept the help I’d been offered up here. I thought I was a good enough judge of character to keep myself out of trouble.”

She gave a rueful smile. “Guess I was wrong about that.”

“Ah, don’t worry about it,” said Brendan, giving her a squeeze. “We all make mistakes.”

“I just…I thought I had made things clear enough. With Nick, I mean. I told him over and over that I didn’t want to go to bed with him. I told him I didn’t even know if I wanted a relationship with him. He agreed we would be friends and we’d talk about dating again once I was settled. Was I being ambiguous somehow?”

“Doubt it,” Brendan said. “You were clear enough with me.”

“Which is so stupid considering I actually want to be with you—” Cassie stopped herself in mid-blurt. Brendan was perfectly still, watching her and waiting for her to continue.

“Oh, God!” Cassie buried her face in her hands. “I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to say that. I had no right to.”

“But is it true?” he asked, gently moving her hands away.

“I don’t know!” she said. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you ever since we met, and I wanted to say yes when you first asked me out, but I thought I shouldn’t because of Nick. I’ve never had two men interested in me before. I didn’t know what to do! I kept thinking about you and looking forward to seeing you, but Nick seemed so broken and he told me all about his ex-wife. She left him for another man, and it seemed so harsh to tell him that I didn’t want to date him because I thought I liked you.”