Saving Cassie (Fairfield Corners) (3 page)

As Cassie walks away,
Logan makes his way to the bar and orders a beer.  He normally doesn’t drink
but he needs something after fighting with Cassie to help hide the affect she
has on him.  He needs to get his mind off of her brown eyes and that shadow he
could see in the plunging neckline of that dress; the dress that showed off her
curves.  His jeans feel tighter the more he thinks of her.  He finds a seat at
an empty table and sits down to watch the couples on the dance floor.  Time
passes as Logan stares into his beer, trying to get Cassie’s brown eyes out of
his head.  A waitress brings him another beer and he drinks it without thinking
about it.  He gets up to leave about 45 minutes and three beers later and makes
his way across the square, heading home to his empty house.

I am running, trying to
get away from him, trying to find a place to hide.  My cheek is throbbing where
his first blow landed.  How can this be the man I love?  What happened to him,
I don’t even see the man I fell in love with in him anymore.  The drugs and
alcohol have taken over.  I had no idea that he would react so violently when I
gave him back the engagement ring.  He catches up to me, grabbing my arm and
pulling me around.  His eyes, his crazy eyes!  I must be hallucinating, they
are glowing green, but that can’t be.  His eyes are brown, not green.  It must
be the way the light is hitting them.  I try to back away but he has a tight
hold on my arm and is backing me into the corner, raining blows on my head and
shoulders with his other hand.  There is no escape.  He is hitting me
everywhere now, my head, shoulders, stomach, and legs.  No, no, no, what did I
do to deserve this?  I scream and scream and scream…  Help me James!  James,
where are you?  Help me!

I sit up, alone in my bed
except for the ghosts of the past.  My heart is pounding and I gulp in air,
trying to get myself under control.  The fight with James must have triggered
the nightmare, I feel so alone right now.

The sun is streaming in
the window, heralding the start of another day.  I head downstairs to begin the
day, lucky I woke up early as I told Mel to come in late to work this morning.  I
start the coffeepot, willing it to brew faster.  Between the rum and the
nightmare I have a killer headache to go with my sore ankle.  I sit and drink
my coffee, wishing Gram was here to comfort me.  She always knew just what to
say.  I swear I can feel her stroke my hair, just like she used to whenever I
needed comfort.

After some coffee and a
hot shower I feel a little better.  I wrap up my ankle and hope I can find some
time to sit today.  I open up the bookstore and I’m there for about 20 minutes
before I hear the bell over the door ring.  I turn and see a huge bouquet of
flowers with feet.  I recognize those shoes.

“You march yourself right
back out of my bookstore.  I’m not done being mad at you yet!”

James shifts the flowers
to one arm, frowning at me, “Now Reggie, come on.  I’m under orders from Marie
to make this right.  I shouldn’t have said what I did last night.  I’m sorry
Reg, you know I can’t stand it when we fight.  Marie is on your side, she made
me sleep on the couch last night.”

I glare at him, still
angry at his hurtful words.  “Serves you right, saying what you did.  I can’t
believe you took that deputy’s side instead of mine.”

“I don’t know what I was
thinking. Forgive me? I even brought coffee…”

My mood lightens somewhat
at the mention of coffee, reminding me what a good friend he can be.  “Dammit!
You know I can’t stay mad at you. Get over here and put those flowers down.  I’m
going to forgive you this time, but it better not happen again!  Fighting with
you makes me feel so alone.”

He comes over and hugs me,
setting the flowers and coffee on the counter.  I hug him back even though I
haven’t totally forgiven him.  When he sets me back on my feet he sees me wince
at the pain in my ankle.  “What’s wrong?  What did you do to yourself now?”

“Watch it James.  You’re
just getting back into my good graces, don’t push it…”

“Come on, Reggie.  What
happened?” he asks, helping me over to the couch.  Gram put comfy couches and
chairs around the bookstore, making it inviting to anyone who wants to just sit
and read.

I explain how booze and
five-inch heels don’t mix, glossing over my refusal of help from his deputy.  No
sense in giving him more ammunition.  “I’m sure it’s only twisted.  I wrapped
it up, it will be fine.”

As usual, he can’t let it
go.  “Nope, you are going to the clinic for an x-ray.  Someone has to watch out
for you.  You don’t seem to doing such a hot job at that right now”.

If he only knew… better to
humor him, otherwise he won’t leave me alone.  “How about I go get that x-ray
after Mel gets here at 10?”

“Nope, no deal.  You are
going now, the bookstore can be closed for a while, it won’t hurt anything.”  He
flips the sign to closed and locks the front door.  He helps me out the back
door to his cruiser.  He takes me into the clinic, smiling at Joanne.

“Hi James, Cassie.  What
can I do for you today?”

“Joanne, Cassie needs an
x-ray of her ankle.  She twisted it last night and it’s pretty swollen.”

“No problem, I’ll be right
back with a wheelchair.  Cassie, why don’t you get started on these forms.  Everyone
else in town seems to be sleeping in this morning so we should be able to get
you taken care of quickly.”

She comes back with a
wheelchair and helps me into it.  I feel so clumsy and stupid, I hate being
helpless.  “I saw you dancing with the new deputy.  He sure can move, and that
southern boy drawl, makes me melt.  Too bad I’m married or I would go after him
myself.”

“I really don’t want to
talk about it,” I reply, glad that we are at the x-ray room.  We get the x-rays
and I get wheeled back to an exam room to wait for Doc to look at them.

Doc comes in with the
x-rays in his hand.  “Good news Cassie, nothing broken this time.  That’s what
you get for wearing those stilts you call shoes.”

“Thanks Doc.  Can I get
out of here now?  I have a bookstore to run.”

“As long as you promise to
stay off that ankle as much as possible.  Keep it elevated when you can, and
take aspirin for the pain, and don’t forget to ice it every couple of hours.”

I roll my eyes as I’ve
heard this all before.  “Yeah, I know the drill.  I promise to be good.  Can I
have my lollipop now?”

“You still have a smart
mouth.  Better hope it doesn’t get you in trouble.  Now get out of here, I
don’t want to see you back here for a while.”

“Yes, sir!” I say,
saluting him.

He laughs as I limp my way
back to the waiting room.  James is standing by the door, talking on his cell
phone, “I’m sure she’s fine.  It’s probably just twisted.”  He looks up and
sees me, “Speak of the devil.  No cast so it’s not broken.  I’ll see you at
lunch.  Love you.”  He puts his phone in his pocket, “Marie is glad you’re OK.  You
are to call her if you need help at the bookstore today.  She also insists that
you are coming to dinner tonight.  No arguments.”

“Only because you asked so
nicely.  Now go protect and serve and let me run my bookstore.  I’ll see you
tonight.”

The rest of the day goes
by with no drama.  Mel and I close up the bookstore at 5 and I head towards
home.  I take some more aspirin and head next door for dinner.  I walk in the
back door and find James and Marie in an intimate embrace, just enjoying being
close to each other.  James gives Marie a kiss and lets her go.  I can see the
love in his eyes.  “At least someone in this town knows how to treat a lady,” I
comment, “unlike a certain deputy.”  Marie looks behind me and smiles.

I turn and see said deputy
leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed.  “No one told me he was
going to be here.  Did that slip your mind James?  They say the mind is the
first thing to go… better go have Doc check for Alzheimer’s!”  I say with a
smirk to hide that I feel betrayed.

This makes everyone laugh,
even the deputy.  He’s actually not bad looking when he smiles, too bad I’ve
sworn off men.  Oh well, better make the best of it.

“Miss Holt, please accept
my apology for my behavior last night.  I don’t know what came over me.  I can
assure you I was not raised to treat a lady that way.”

I see the self-satisfied
look on Marie’s face.  She must be the one behind this apology.  I stand there
with my arms crossed, letting my disdain for him show on my face.  I debate
whether to accept his apology.  Seeing the expectant look on Marie’s face I
decide I can be adult about this, “I accept your apology Deputy Miller.  We are
both adults, how about a truce?  And please, call me Cassie.”

He looks at me as if he
can’t believe I just said that, “And I’m Logan.”

Marie is smiling as she
says, “Dinner’s ready.  Let’s all head to the dining room.”

We sit down and eat,
talking about the dance last night.  We all avoid talking about the scene
between Logan and me.  I’m sure we put on quite the show for the whole town.  James
and Logan are talking about the department’s budget.  I watch Logan, wondering
how I can stand to live in the same town as him.  I know his apology is for
Marie’s benefit, but it doesn’t change the fact that he thinks I’m easy and
that I would go after married men.  I’m hoping this town is big enough for both
of us!

It’s been a good week.
I’ve gotten some quotes on adding a coffee bar to the bookstore and they
actually aren’t too bad; I may be able to swing it this year.  I send Mel out
to have lunch at noon with instructions to bring me back a burger and onion
rings from the drive in.  I should have a good hour to myself.  We usually
don’t get any customers at this time of day on a Thursday.  The sunshine today
seems to be keeping the customers away.  I settle in at the desk in the office
to go over the plans for the coffee bar.

I hear the bell over the
door.  Great, someone is here.  I get up and walk out to the counter, wondering
who is here at this time of day.  I walk around the last bookshelf and almost
run into the deputy.  He grabs my arms to steady me when I almost fall over a
chair trying to back away.  “Slow down there Miss Cassie, don’t want you to
reinjure that ankle.”

“My ankle is fine,” I say.
 “No thanks to you,” I mutter before looking up at him, wondering what he could
possible want.  “What can I do for you today?”

“I’m looking for a book on
plumbing.  I need to replace a pipe and I don’t want to call a plumber.”

“I believe those are back
in the last row” I say as I head that direction, “we have some really good
basic books.”  I reach the section and turn around, and he is right there
behind me.  “Hey, no tailgating!” I smirk.

He chuckles, and blocks
the aisle.  I move to go around him, but he spreads his arms to block my way.  He
puts his hands on both of my arms and holds me still.

“What are you doing
deputy?” I ask, confused, looking him in the eyes.

He holds my gaze and
murmurs, “Trying to get you out of my head.”  He lowers his head and touches
his lips to mine, nipping at my bottom lip.  I gasp at this unexpected
development, and he takes advantage of my open lips to deepen the kiss, moving
his hands to my back, pulling me closer.  The kiss feels like it goes on forever,
the touch of his lips sending shock waves through my entire body.  I can feel
how the kiss is affecting him, I can feel how hard he is getting against my
leg.

Somewhere in the back of
my brain the sound of the bell over the door registers but I can’t seem to
move, can’t pull away.  “Hey Reggie, where are you?”

That seems to break the
spell, allowing me move back and out of Logan’s embrace.

“Shit,” I mutter under my
breath, “how in the hell did I let that happen?”  I look up at Logan.  “This is
never going to happen again!” I whisper, not wanting James to hear.  “Here’s
your damn book!”  I make my way around Logan and over to the counter.

“Hi James,” I say
brightly, hoping I don’t look like someone just kissed me thoroughly, “I was
just helping Logan find a plumbing book.”

Logan steps out from
behind the bookshelves, looking as calm as always; the rat!  “Hey boss.”

I make my way over to the
register and ring up Logan’s book.  “That will be $15.84 Logan.  Will that be
cash or charge?”

He hands me his credit
card, and waits for me to swipe it.  I return it to him with the receipt.  “Sign
here.”

I sure hope I’m not
turning as red as it feels, I feel like my face is on fire.  James looks at my
face knowing that something had just happened.  “What happened, Reggie?  Do I
need to take Logan out back and beat the crap out of him?”

Logan smirks, “Nothing
happened that she didn’t ask for. See you later, Darlin’.”  He walks out the
door, whistling.  Smug bastard!

“What the hell was that
all about?  Did he take advantage of you, Reg?”

“God, James, just butt
out!” I yell, trying to process what just happened myself, and trying to calm
down.  “I’m fine, nothing happened.  Now are you here for a reason or did you
just decide that today was a good day to make my life hell?”

James holds up his hands,
“I’m sorry Reg.  I just stopped by to see if you wanted to go to lunch.”

“No thanks.”  I smile at
him, thankful that he is still my best friend.  “Mel is bringing me back a
burger and onion rings from the drive-in.  How about tomorrow instead?”

James looks over my face,
not completely satisfied that I’m OK.  “You’d tell me if something was wrong
wouldn’t you, Reg?”

“You know I would,” I say
with my fingers crossed behind my back, what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.  “I
tell you everything.”

“OK, just so we’re clear
on that.  I better get back to work.  See you tomorrow.”

Finally, I thought he
would never leave!  I go over and lock the door, changing the sign to closed.  I
go into the office and sit down at the desk to get back to work.  Problem is, I
can’t concentrate now, I keep replaying the kiss in my mind.  I jump when
someone bangs on the door.

“Now what?  Can’t I get
any peace and quiet today?” I stomp over to the door and see that it’s Logan.  I
unlock the door and let him in, re-locking it behind him.  “What now?  You
didn’t humiliate me enough already today?”

“I think we need to talk
about what happened Saturday night, and what happened here today.”

“There isn’t anything to
talk about.  We shared a kiss, big deal.  It’s not going to happen again.  If
that’s all, you can leave now.”

“Don’t think this is over.
 We are just getting started, Darlin’.”  He makes his way over to the door and
unlocks it.

“What makes you think this
isn’t over?  Nothing happened and nothing will happen.  Now, get out of my
store!  And don’t call me Darlin’!”

He walks out the door and
I lock it behind him.  I turn around and lean back against the door. Great,
what am I supposed to do now?