Kassidy's Crescendo (2 page)

The vow
, she thought.

Strength of conviction fed her spirit. She had made a commitment to God and her best friends to maintain a body and spirit of purity…despite overwhelming odds.

Aaron reached into a nearby cooler and palmed a beer, promptly twisting the cap and guzzling. Seeming to remember himself, he secured and opened one for Kassidy as well. Kassidy couldn't have cared less about indulging in a drink.

Now, Aaron fumed. “For real, Kassidy,
chill out
.” He hissed the words into her ear, his breath moist and hot. He monitored those around them who might be close enough to overhear. “A couple beers won't kill me, or leave me incapacitated. I just want to take the edge off. I had no idea you were so
uptight
about stuff like this. It's
harmless
. Get
over
it!” All at once, he guzzled the rest, grabbed another, yanked off the top and tossed the cap away, repeating the process. Drinking in defiance.

The untouched beer she held chilled Kassidy's hand. Condensation dribbled against her fingertips. The room was hot and stuffy, and the wavy layers of pot smoke were enough to make her gag. Now, how could Aaron be trusted to drive?

She set her bottle on a table, turning her back on Aaron as she pulled out her phone. Enough was enough. She needed to find a way home. Maybe Aileen or Siobhan or—

Aaron snagged her by the waist. As though sensing she was about to bolt, he held her tight while a sexy smile danced across his lips, while bedroom eyes roved her body in a way that didn't excite her at all, but instead, crested a further chill against her skin.

“Baby, I'm sorry. Don't be like this.” His beseech was low and placating. It turned Kassidy's heart to stone. “Stay with me; it'll be OK, I promise.”

He bent; his lips slid against hers. When he claimed her mouth, he made a low, throaty sound and snugged his hold on her waist, arms tight as he shifted against her.

This was way out of line, and way out of bounds. Kassidy grappled for sanity and ended the uninvited kiss with a sharp turn of her head. She shoved against his chest with all her strength. “No!”

When she pushed him away, Aaron bumped against the end table and upended her beer. A full bottle of pungent gold liquid poured across the table and onto the carpet as she fled from the room with just one goal in mind.

Escape.

She didn't look left or right. In the throes of outrage and an adrenaline rush, she ran as fast as she could, leaving the dimly-lit basement and its nightmares behind. She didn't stop until she reached the nearest well-lit gas station. She buckled against the cool stone bricks of the building, pulling out her phone. It took two tries for her trembling fingers to execute the sequence that would connect her to Maeve Callahan.

Maeve would be at Westerville High with her boyfriend Josh Andrews, hanging out in the decorated gym, dancing and laughing with classmates. Kassidy bit back tears of anger, shame and sadness. Why, oh why, had she left with Aaron?

“KC!” Maeve answered on the second ring. “Where are you and Aaron? We've been looking for you.”

Maeve sounded so chipper and happy. Music and voices distorted the connection, but Kassidy didn't care. She wanted her friend. “Maeve…oh…man…I need you. I'm so sorry, but I screwed up and I…I need your help.”

It only took seconds for the sounds of the dance to fade. Kassidy could picture Maeve dashing to a less crowded, quieter hallway of the school, or maybe outside to the parking lot…

“What's going on, KC? Where are you?”

“I'm an idiot. I'll explain later, but right now, I need you…I need you to pick me up at Jennings Gas Station on South Street. Can you do that?”

“We're on our way right now. Hang tight.”

Kassidy spoke a weak, though heartfelt ‘Thank you,' but Maeve was gone, the line already dead.

We. Maeve had used the word we. She'd be coming with Josh. Awash in a fresh bath of shame, Kassidy considered Maeve's boyfriend of just over a year. What a great guy. He was the quarterback of the Westerville Eagles, and had been the varsity squad's star since freshman year. A three-time member of the all-state football team, recruiters from colleges far and wide were chomping at the bit to get his signature on a letter of intent.

Josh possessed a sense of confidence and the same type of charisma as Aaron, but Josh was driven by a solid core of faith and character. He was devoted to Maeve, and treated her like a princess. He didn't care about what was ‘in' or who was ‘out.' He was too busy earning scholarship-worthy grades, leading his team, and living out his passion for football. Meanwhile, his love for Maeve shined, and his friends ringed him like a solid wall. For the life of her, Kassidy couldn't figure out why Aaron didn't understand the beauty in that equation…

She had yearned to find happiness with him, but that wasn't meant to be, and she refused to compromise. Leaning against the glass window of the gas station, she tipped her head back and took in a starlit sky, thinking: Thank God for Maeve…and the spiritual reinforcement of her sisters.

 

****

 

Kassidy's evening ended on a soul-quieting note when Maeve walked her to the front door of Kassidy's home, their arms linked. “We'll talk more when your nerves aren't jumbled and you've had a chance to settle down, but I'll tell you right now, KC—ditch him. Ditch him at the curb and don't ever look back.”

The fire of the Irish could be heard in Maeve's voice. That vindicated a wounded heart and made Kassidy smile. “I'm already there.” Kassidy flipped her hair aside. Long and thick, a dark shade of brown, it now reeked of pot smoke. Her clothes, too. First order of business, a shower and a quick load of laundry. She expelled a hard breath. “I'm so sorry about this—I didn't mean to pull you and Josh away from the dance when you probably wanted to celebrate. He had another amazing game.”

Red hair shone when Maeve shook her head. “KC, nothing is more important than friends.”

That choked her up. “I can't believe how stupid I was. How blind. I always get mixed up when it comes to my heart and who to love versus who not to love.”

“How so?”

Kassidy flung her hands in a frustrated gesture. “Oh, this whole situation is a classic example. Aaron is so great looking, and popular, and he was attracted to me. Now, I feel like I fell into a trap.” That fact, more than anything else, wreaked havoc on the part of Kassidy's soul that craved affirmation and affection. Her stomach still rolled. “Thanks so much for the rescue operation, Maeve, and thank Josh, too.”

Maeve cast a tender glance toward Josh's car where he waited and fiddled with his cellphone.

Kassidy followed the direction of Maeve's gaze. “Hang on to him. He's a good guy who hasn't let popularity and success go to straight to his ego. He doesn't compromise, and neither do you.”

Maeve took hold of Kassidy's arm. “Sweetie, you didn't either. You did a wonderful job of following your conscience. Aaron's loss, not yours.”

Kassidy dragged in a shaky breath, not willing to let herself off the hook just yet. “Whatever. I only know this: never again will I fall for the kind of guy who wins my attention with a sexy smile, a charming personality, and a handsome face. I need Mr. Strength of Character more than I need Mr. Gorgeous. Know what I mean?”

“Yeah, I do.”

Maeve's glance drifted to the car once again; the love in her friend's eyes made Kassidy believe that good guys, good days, and happy endings were possible at some point down the road. That wasn't a bad way to end the night.

“You'll be OK,” Maeve continued. “You'll hold on to your convictions, and you'll end up winning the heart of a wonderful guy. Believe that, KC. Believe it to your core, and never—ever—compromise yourself.”

With a soft, tearful exclamation, Kassidy launched into her friend's arms and hugged her tighter than tight. “Aww, Maeve, you're the best.” Her throat clogged all over again. “Love you.”

“Love ya right back. Now, get to bed, and forget about everything else. In the morning, let's rally the girls. We'll have lunch at the mall and do some shopping. That's what Saturdays are for, right?”

“You better believe it.” Kassidy hugged Maeve once more, feeling one hundred percent better and thoroughly determined to live out the decision she had made. No man—no matter how strongly she was attracted—would make her surrender her beliefs.

Ever.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

 

Present Day

Sweat rolled down the center of Kassidy Cartwright's back, trickled against her neck. Working hard, yet concentrating on making her motions appear effortless and smooth, she spun then took two measured steps to the left, crossing in front of Aileen Brewer, then behind Maeve Callahan as they worked their way through a morning exercise and dance session. The dancer of their troupe, Siobhan Douglas, swept majestically to the fore, executing a flawless
adagio
combination.

Though expansive, the dance studio was warm and humid. That didn't add any amperage to Kassidy's energy level, especially since a demanding cardio workout had recently concluded. Following a break, chief choreographer Elizabeth Portier now ran the quartet through elements of the stage show Sisters in Spirit would perform later tonight at the Hastings Theater in Danbury, Connecticut.

Siobhan launched into an elegant leap, lifted to one foot then spun and arched her back in time to the music as they continued to finesse a few of the more complex dance sections from their upcoming show.

“Project, ladies! Don't just swish and swoosh! Engage your audience!” Elizabeth prowled the floorboards, scrutinizing each of them, her face patterned by a scowl. “We know you can sing and dance, but you need to look outward, and you must maintain synchronicity. It's part of what draws the eye of the audience. Focus! The flow of motion must always remain cohesive—always instinctive in appearance!”

Kassidy bit back a seething hiss in response to those sharp observations and comments, eyeing Aileen to the right, Maeve to the left. “I'm enduring this kind of punishment at roughly six thirty in the morning on a Friday because
why
?” The muttered question met with stifled snickers from her friends. “Would it be wrong for me to trip her? I promise I wouldn't hurt her
too
badly.”

Aileen kept moving, light brown hair flowing against her back and shoulders like silk; urgently she nudged Kassidy to continue rehearsing and spare them all a further display of Elizabeth's wrath. Yeah, Kassidy thought. Like that was even a remote possibility.

“Elizabeth is a tyrant—a cruel vixen of torture, but Liam tells me she's also the best in the business.”

Following Aileen's sotto voce declaration, Siobhan twirled past, murmuring, “Darlings, trust me, compared to my teachers at the New York Dance Academy, she's a cake-walk.”

“No, no, no!” With a sharp, jarring hand clap, Elizabeth brought the practice session to a halt then punched the mute button on the portable stereo. “Your foot movements aren't syncopated. Try again. Face the mirror and repeat the last sequence, following my lead. I want you to glide—glide like angels!”

Over the next quarter hour, a floor to ceiling mirror and the barks of a drill-sergeant became Kassidy's greatest adversaries. Relief—and exhaustion—overcame her at once when Liam Douglas pushed quietly through the doorway, followed close behind by their tour manager, Drew Wintower.

“Liam!” Aileen left decorum behind, charging into his waiting and open arms. Liam was Siobhan's big brother—and Aileen's fiancé.

“How's the love of my life?” He muffled a loving growl against her neck, which made Aileen giggle. Liam lifted her off her feet in a continuing snuggle.

Kassidy nudged Maeve, then Siobhan. “You know, if I didn't love her so much, I'd be jealous out of my mind.” She cast a menacing glower toward Siobhan. “Although I count you in the same lot as our Ailee now that you and Dr. Wonderful are engaged.”

Siobhan's response to that tease was a girlish sigh of delight and a happy squiggle.

To Kassidy, it seemed as though her friend's petite frame couldn't contain all the happiness she felt. After the horrible year Siobhan had endured, no one deserved it more.

Siobhan lifted her left hand to study the sparkly diamond solitaire recently installed upon its third finger by orthopedic surgeon AJ Cooper. “He
is
wonderful, isn't he?”

“That and then some. We owe that man big time for bringing you back to us, Siobhan. Your dance moves are better than ever since your recovery from the car accident.” Maeve's praise spawned a beatific smile from the spritely blonde. “But with two of you now engaged, that leaves just me and KC on the bachelorette list. Who'll it be, KC? Who falls next? You or me?”

“Oh, Maeve, get serious. It most certainly won't be me, so have fun at the altar.”

Siobhan issued a twinkling laugh and tweaked Kassidy's waist, causing a jump and a startled yelp. “Don't throw down the gauntlet of challenge in front of God, KC. Remember the old adage? While mankind plans, God laughs.”

Kassidy's gaze drifted to the spot where Drew Wintower stood—tall and strong of build, with short brown hair, delicious eyes of deepest brown and a magnetic aura that never failed to stir a quickening in Kassidy's spirit. During the past few months, he had become somewhat of a fixture in the Sisters in Spirit family. As the group's tour manager, he oversaw the production and promotion of their show as a thirty-city tour gained steam across North America.

A heady influx of attraction caused her heart to spin free.

Then crash.

Sure, Liam had eagerly brought Drew aboard when tour plans came to fruition—and if Siobhan's brother recognized and believed in something substantial to Drew's character, that was enough for Kassidy. So much so, that during the past several weeks she'd even allowed herself to flirt with him a little, and thoroughly enjoyed their rapport and the swing of electricity that sparked between them. But another, darker game-changer remained in place that prompted Kassidy to keep her deepest emotions firmly in check. The man left no question that while he respected and admired the Christ-centered tenants that governed Sisters in Spirit, he wasn't a fellow believer.