“Thomas and Cassi are soul mates or something,” he said, smiling ruefully. “Thomas fell in love with her the very first time he saw her but it took having to arrest her to figure things out between them. They only just got together. It was a long, sad story, but suffice to say, they’re damn near inseparable now.”
“Sweet…I think,” she said, giving him a quizzical glance. “He actually arrested her?”
“Yeah. Thomas is a stickler for the rules and Cassi, at the time, was breaking them. It turned out all right in the end but when Thomas went after her he had no idea that not everything was as it seemed. Cassi’s stepfather was a real bad dude. Killed her mother actually,” he shared.
“That’s awful,” she said with a short gasp. “What a terrible thing to have to go through. He’s in prison right?”
“Yep.”
“At least that’s something,” she mused. They came around the bend of Cassi’s place and Skye’s gaze widened when she saw the palatial southern plantation-style home. “Oh, wow,” she breathed, turning to stare out the window. “You didn’t say she lived in a mansion.”
“Oh? Yeah, her parents were loaded. But Cassi was always down-to-earth. She hung out with us more than she stayed here it seemed. But yeah, it’s a big place. See the stables over there.” He pointed toward the large, beautiful barnlike structure. “And I think there’s a tennis court around back somewhere.”
They parked and climbed out of the car. Nico slipped his hand into Skye’s as they went to the front door. Christian gave the door a knock and it was opened by Thomas who greeted Christian with a tight embrace.
“It’s about time you came by. I couldn’t believe it when Mama Jo called and said you were coming to town for a surprise visit. Come on in, Cassi is dying to see you.” Then he noted Nico and Skye and extended his hand to Skye. “Thomas Bristol, I’m this guy’s big brother. Whatever he’s told you of me is totally untrue. He always had a tendency to embellish,” he said, winking.
Skye looked to Christian who had the grace to roll his eyes and she laughed at their easy nature. “He’s said nothing but good things, I assure you.”
“Oh, well in that case, everything he’s said is true.” Thomas grinned and ushered them inside.
The house looked different from what Christian remembered, although he’d only been inside maybe twice, as Cassi’s mom hadn’t exactly been inviting to the neighborhood kids, particularly those whose parents didn’t travel in the same circles.
They found Cassi in the expansive kitchen, finishing the fixings for their lunch and when Cassi saw him, she immediately stopped what she was doing with a squeal and nearly bowled him over for a squeeze herself. “Look at you,” she said, pulling back to admire him like a fine painting. “You always were a cutie, even as a kid. Seems nothing has changed. How is it that you’ve escaped the clutches of some determined woman with her sights set on marrying you?”
He laughed at the thought of being tied down, though his gaze did search out Skye before he realized it. Mildly disconcerted, Christian retorted, Women in New York have wonderfully short attention spans, which suits me just fine.”
Cassi chuckled and turned to Skye. “So nice to meet you. This must be your son, Nico? Mama Jo said he’s a good boy and that’s coming from a very discerning source so he must be an angel.”
Skye smiled, ruffling Nico’s jet-black hair with love. “I tend to think so but I’m biased. It’s nice to meet you, as well. You have a lovely home.”
“Thanks, it was my parents’ place and I had thought of selling it but the market tanked and I didn’t feel like
giving
it away so I figured we’d keep it for a while longer.” She slid a look toward Thomas, adding slyly, “And maybe we might need a little extra room eventually so…who knows?”
Thomas coughed, his cheeks reddening, and used the opportunity to lead them to the table where a full spread of lunch choices awaited. Skye’s mouth watered and she realized how hungry she was. She settled Nico beside her and awaited their hosts.
Cassi followed and took her seat beside Thomas in the sunny breakfast nook. The windows were open and a cool breeze filtered through the room, giving it a fresh and rejuvenating feeling. She glanced out the large bay windows and sighed. “Boy, you must get tired of this horrible view,” she said, almost dreamily. The view from her apartment was the wall of another building.
“It doesn’t suck,” Cassi admitted cheerfully. “This was my dad’s favorite room because of the view. Okay, disclaimer time—I didn’t make any of this food. I have no talent in the kitchen since I grew up with a live-in chef. It will be good, though, because I’ve used this catering service before and it went over like gangbusters.”
Thomas grinned and leaned over to kiss Cassi. The love that flowed between them caused a pang of yearning in her own heart. She risked a glance at Christian who had begun to dig into the fruit salad with gusto and she wondered if it was true that soul mates were possible. It was easy to make that assumption hearing Thomas and Cassi’s story and then seeing them in person but what about the average person? Did she have a soul mate? Had she already met him? Was he sitting across from her eyeing the southern fried chicken like a starving man? She giggled at herself and he looked up. “Don’t stand on ceremony, get yourself some of this grub before it gets cold,” he advised, eliciting a smile on her part.
As she loaded Nico’s plate and then her own, she wondered what life would be like if she had the option of indulging in her desire to test out the soul mate thing with Christian.
Belleni’s face popped into her head and she kicked it away. No bad thoughts today. Nothing was going to keep her from having a good day. She deserved it after all she’d been through in the past five years. One day off didn’t seem too much to ask. If she allowed thoughts of that nature in her head, she’d have to start thinking of what a terrible mess she was in and that she’d jumped ship without any sort of viable exit plan. She’d have to admit she was screwed in the worst way and that would cause her chest to tighten and panic to follow. So none of that. Today was all about living in the moment. Tomorrow would come soon enough.
“I scared,” he said in a small voice. “I don’t wanna ride the horse. Too big.”
Skye bit her lip, disappointment in her gaze. “We don’t have to ride the horses, sweetheart. We can do something else if you want.”
Christian agreed, not wanting to scare the boy further, but he felt the same letdown as Skye. Thomas, catching Christian’s gaze, jumped in to save the day.
“Hey, how about this…Cassi and I were planning to take a ride into town to pick up some ice cream, would you like to come with us?”
Nico lit up at the prospect of ice cream but he looked to Skye first. “Can I, Mama? I’ll be good. I promise. Please, please, please.”
Skye looked at Thomas and Cassi, uncertain of what to do and Christian didn’t want to pressure her so he just waited for her decision but he couldn’t say he wasn’t sending a silent prayer that she’d agree.
“Are you sure it’s okay?” she asked Thomas.
“It’s good practice,” Cassi interjected, grinning at his brother and he almost laughed at Thomas’s expression. It was somewhere between willing to do anything for Cassi and fear at becoming a father. Not that Christian was worried. Thomas would make a great dad. He just had some personal demons to work over before he could take that step with confidence. Christian knew without a doubt he was going to be an uncle soon given how Cassi was pushing. And he liked the idea. Kids were great. He even wanted a few of his own eventually.
“Well, if you’re sure,” Skye said, delighting in her son’s happiness over such a small thing. “Promise you’ll be good and you’ll remember your manners?”
“Yes, Mama,” Nico promised fervently.
“All right,” she said, and then added to Thomas and Cassi, “Thank you so much. This is very kind of you.”
“No problem. We’re going to have fun,” Cassi said, extending her hand to Nico who eagerly slipped his hand into hers. “When you return just pass the horses over to the groom and he’ll take care of them for you.”
“Thanks,” Skye said, watching as they left the barn with her son in tow. He could tell she rarely did something like this and it wasn’t easy for her. It only cemented his belief that she was an amazing mother. Unfortunately, it also made him wonder who Nico’s father was and why he wasn’t in the picture any longer. Hopefully, he’d get the answer to that question and a few more running around in his head before long.
“Let’s get going, the sun will be gone if we wait much longer,” he said, helping Skye into her saddle and ensuring she was secure and ready before swinging onto his own horse. He gave her some pointers and then they took the horses out of the enclosure and onto the trail.
The trail meandered in an easy loop through a canopy of green, leafy trees and curved alongside a creek that was quite swollen and moving swiftly due to the recent storms. The sound, coupled with the natural calls of the birds, made for a peaceful ambiance that immediately soothed the ragged edges created by living fast and hard in the city.
“I’ve missed this,” he admitted wistfully, drawing in a deep breath of the pine-scented air. “Not the horseback riding, per se, but this place. Home. I love the city, don’t get me wrong but there’s nothing like the place where you grew up.”
“It’s a beautiful place,” she agreed, an appreciative smile wreathing her face as she surveyed the area, delighting in the tiny, early wildflowers popping from the earth in their eagerness for sunshine.
“You moved as far from the Bible Belt as possible, to Manhattan to dance, right?” he said, remembering the small detail from a previous conversation.
“Yes, that’s right,” she confirmed, though her lips had compressed. There was something she didn’t want to share. He figured it had something to do with how she ended up as an escort. Well, everyone had skeletons, so he wouldn’t press too hard on that nerve just yet. Besides, he had her talking and that was something. She parceled out information like a miser with money and her reluctance to share only fired up his need for more.
“So aside from dance, what did you enjoy doing?”
She sighed, frowning slightly as she considered the question, then answered with a shrug, “I was pretty focused. Obsessive even about making it to be a prima ballerina. Although my sophomore year in high school I was named Corn Queen for the Harvest Festival. I remember thinking at the time it was a big deal. Now it seems kind of silly.”
“Not silly at all. I think it’s still cool. And since it’s confession time, I was named Prom King my senior year.”
She laughed. “That doesn’t surprise me at all. You have the kind of looks that stop girls in their tracks. You probably broke a lot of hearts throughout your high school career.”
“I hope not,” he murmured with a self-deprecating grin. “I never took myself that seriously and I really hate being labeled. I went out of my way to be uncool but it backfired and suddenly I was cooler than before.”
She cocked her head at him. “How exactly does one go about being uncool, I wonder?”
“Oh, well, in my case I purposefully didn’t wash my hair for a week and wore the same clothes every day, then I found this perfectly awful bowler hat in a thrift store and wore it to school, too.”
“A bowler hat?”
“Yeah.”
“I see how that could totally ruin your street cred.”
He barked a short laugh. “The next thing I know guys are walking around with their version of the funky hat. Some pulled it off better than others. I never set out to be a trendsetter but it happened anyway so I just stopped resisting it.”
“You poor thing,” she said, fighting laughter. “Forced into coolness. The horror.”
“Listen to you, Corn Queen, I know you probably took your share of hearts, too.”
She shrugged. “Maybe. I was too busy dancing to pay attention.”
“No high school boyfriend?”
“I didn’t say that,” she answered coyly.
“Ohh, the lady of mystery returns. Okay, so what was his name and what made you turn your head his way?”
“It was a long time ago, I hardly remember.”
He wasn’t buying that line of bull. “I happen to have it on good authority that girls always remember their first crush, their first kiss and all sorts of other firsts. So out with it, if you please.”
“Nosey.” She sniffed playfully before relenting. “If you must know, his name was Bobby and I first noticed him in English class. He was a football player and so I hardly paid attention at first but then I saw him totally immersed in a book that wasn’t required reading and it made me wonder what else about him was a contradiction.”
His brow arched. “Okay, you were way more mature than me at that age. I expected you to say something like, he had a great ass or something like that.”
She bobbed her head in earnest. “Oh, he did have a great ass, and amazing abs and the most—”
“I get the picture,” he cut in as she giggled. “I know, I asked. It’s my fault for going there.” An easy silence followed and Christian was tempted to keep things light for the sake of continuing a great afternoon but as much as he enjoyed the playful banter, there were real questions swirling around in his brain that were becoming more insistent.
“What happened with Nico’s father? Why isn’t he around?” he asked, holding his breath for an answer. As he expected she withdrew and he wished he’d kept his mouth shut but it was already out there. “I’m sorry if it’s a painful situation, I just wondered why anyone would walk away from such a great kid, but equally, why the hell would someone walk away from you?”